One of the lucky ones.....

As the 1st April swiftly approaches, many people are living in fear and uncertainty because of the up and coming changes to the benefits system. Will they have enough money to pay the rent, probably not, thanks to the 'bedroom tax'.? Will they have enough money to survive on once the move from DLA to PIP starts? How much money will they have to find to cover the shortfall caused by the reduction to council tax benefit?

I have been worrying about these things over the last few months, and thankfully, I am one of the lucky ones.

I rent a from a private landlord, so although I do have a spare room, I will not be penalised for it yet. My flat isn't a great place and it isn't in a great location, so the two bedroom place costs per month only £2 more that the Bristol Housing Benefit allowance for a 1 bed place, which is what me and hubby are entitled to.

I live in Bristol, and thankfully Bristol City Council have decided to cover the Council Tax Benefit shortfall, which means I wont have to find money towards council tax from the £110 pittance that me and hubby survive on.

I really don't know what I would do if I had to pay towards my rent and council tax, there is no spare money, I would due to no fault of my own be unable to pay. Would this give me a criminal record? Would I end up in jail? I don't know. A criminal record would damage my chances of getting a job, my latest plan is to train to be a Science Teacher, I don't think you can teach will a criminal record. How many people will end up stuck on benefits for longer because they can't pay these new charges and end up with a criminal record?

After nearly 6 months on the dole I finally have a job

I finally have a job, YAY, and my husband has a job interview next week, keeping everything crossed that he gets it.

My new job is not ideal, so I am still job hunting, but it is a job which is much better than being unemployed.

I am going to keep updating this blog because there are so many issues facing unemployed, underemployed, sick, and disabled people, and the lowest earner in the UK at the minute that I feel the need to continue raising issues and campaigning for the fair treatment of everyone. I hate what the UK government and popular press are doing to the poorest and most vulnerable people in this country.

Good luck to everyone still searching for a job, or fighting against the corrupt and unfair systems that stigmatise poor and vulnerable people. We can succeed, we can change things, and we can ensure that everyone in this country can have a reasonable standard of living no matter what their economic situation is.

Laters xxx 

UPDATE - I don't have a job, I failed the trial, so only did 1.5 days. I found that I was unable to harass people on the street to convince them to sign up for a direct debit to a charity. Despite the charity being a really good and deserving one, I could not detach myself from how the people I was begging for money would feel. It was raining, and cold, they obviously had places they needed to go, etc. I am not cut out to be a chugger (charity mugger), but at least I gave it a go.

UPDATE 2 - I now have an interview in mid April. If I pass this interview, in September I will be training to be a Secondary School Science teacher. :D I'm still looking for other work in the meantime.