Who are they kidding? I was gobsmacked...when you're down, you are down, you do not need another kick in the mouth...cant be in the teeth cos the dentist has taken most of them out at my expense. And when he lands you with another top band of treatment, no not lands, formally tells you off because you need a bloody crown...and the costs. "It will only cost £219.00!"
"Ah, can I pay in instalments, please?"
"Er, no!"
If you just so happen to have suffered from poor dental hygiene then dental treatment is a very high cost. Thank goodness my health cert says that we can afford the first £376 of such treatment. Get real NHS the top band is only £219 pounds...pounds...pounds!
So, scrutinizing the workings they say that as couple we only need £113 to live on per week, plus the cost of any mortgage and council tax which is a grand total guide of two hundred and forty so pounds...surely after lasts week shopping they left off a few zeros! Or perhaps put the decimal point in the wrong place!
Then they have a cheek to compare that against our income, which sadly works out that we have a surplus of just over hundred pounds a week spare..yep you guessed, they didn't come shopping with us at Lidl, or was it Aldi...As my wife says, "We have to live like Kings for the first week of the month and paupers for the rest!"...lol.
...allowable expenses...
This called for some research. Well, frankly on GOV.UK I have no idea how in typing into the search engine for allowable living expenses other than what the heck has taking a trip to the outer reaches of the third world got to do with allowable living expenses. Der???????????
Maybe, they do not want you to know what their ridiculous figures are whilst paying MP's another few grand on top of their salaries. Or to the fact that our top brass are trying to keep public pay rises to less than 1%...it certainly feels like a them and us world! But I knew that anyway.
Even, under Income Support rules, have suppressed allowances...as a family you no longer are given allowance for any children as this is deemed to be taken care of under tax credits...so the first rule of any guide is that as a couple you only need that £113 a week to live...live a life of what?
I delve further through internet pages looking for material, even the Irish acknowledge that they do not expect those on the lower income scale to live a sub-standard life...they should have the right to clothe, drink and be merry just like any other person.
And, upstairs I find our last thwarted claim for council tax...but that is of sad reading as well, as a family of four you ought be able to live on £240 a week. Ha, ha more austerity!
Actual needs...
So, on having researched depressingly for a serious answer to my whoa, I end up in a wealth of debt advice sites...now this is more like it, the true cost of what one would need to live on and still scrape the barrel of life...or go bankrupt!
Why is it that insolvency rules are vastly different from what the government says you actually need to live on...well that's easy to answer they obviously do not like fat cat bankers, along with public workers and those on social benefits and UKIP of course!
Well, relieved to discover that we actually would need £1700 plus a month to live, which works out something like £412 to live like the Irish. Compare that to £240 under income support rules then that's a short fall of £180 a week...so who are they kidding? Well, haven't a clue, perhaps this should read "...who are they killing?...". That would be more apt.
Now, going back to our claim for health costs, I take away all the costs quoted for children and as a couple we would still need £1500 at least each month, which is a weekly sum of £350 plus so on taking away our present income we are £10 short...and they claim we would be £106 in surplus.
Crickey, even creditors would recognise that a family of four would require to spend on food shopping alone £100 pound a week. Take this off the £240 and that £140 has to go towards all your other costs...well can tell you that wont go far given consideration to travel (petrol £20/week), school dinners (£2 per child per day), pocket money (my kids are robbing me), mobiles and internet (everyone in the house lives like an adult), clothes (shabby chic looking and shoes don't last), gas and electric (£30 a week)...pets, laundry, social activity.
...no more blood in the stone...
And it goes on and on...need I not say. Yes, the answer is to earn more if one can...read somewhere that there are more going into self-employment, which is what I am doing, and my good wife exceeds herself doing extra hours but one can only squeeze the stone so much.
But at sometime when one is branching out on a new path there will be tough times but one would steely expect some decency of aid when there is no more blood in the stone...but in measures of austerity the government is stating tough, big time, and it hurts.
Not that I am shocked, with a thread on Mumsnet, there are many scraping the barrel with whatever comes in an equal amount goes out. And it makes no surprising read that probably 50% of the nation are in the same situ as us...but in a modern day world it is sad, especially so when the government has been fighting pointless wars and the cost of petrol has remained a constant high.
It has nowt to do with austerity...more like lying about the true cost of living. Now to go and stick to budget plan; get a nice cuppa on; what no milk??? Oh shite, cant be bothered to walk to Tesco just to save 10p...the Coop is just ten doors away!
Farewell, God bless and amen.
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