Am I right

Hi ...I think my other thread has probably reached a climax and i am very grateful for all the replies and encouragement But i have another dilemma .....
Basically i had a very heated discussion with a acquaintance who classed me as a benefit scrounger because I would not consider taking a minimum wage job...this is because with my present commitments and personal benefits I am "sinking" slowly with about 8 months buoyancy left...If i took a minimum wage job I would lose ALL my personal benefits I.E. PPI and insurances and sink like a stone ....morally i knows i am obliged to find a job regardless of the wage that i do appreciate ...but practically i would be committing financial suicide meaning i would lose my house as the worst case scenario...Wot are your thoughts do you consider me a scrounger ......PS before this I had worked for 20 years without claiming a penny in benefits.....

Re: Am I right

Of course you're not a scrounger Steve, you are looking for work not sitting on your backside doing everything you can to avoid it. That's what a scrounger is. You've paid into the system all your working life, they do not!
When I had to stop work through ill- health at 58, the firm paid me for six months, then six months half pay. Then I had to claim Employment Support Allowance, the same per week as you get on JSA. The first time I'd claimed in my life. I had to attend three interviews and eventually a tribunal that year just to keep it. Thank god I reached retirement age last November and could come off it. The rubbish in the media about benefit scroungers is cruel, most people on benefits would rather work.

Re: Am I right

Steve I don't think 'benefit scroungers' would bother to ask such a question and I don't think the reply would concern them .

You are clearly in a very difficult position as are many 'genuine' people can I ask what kind of job are you looking for?

Re: Am I right

The national minimum wage is about 1/2 of what i have been used to earn and budgeted for .....If I had not bought a house and rented , i would get my rent paid for ...if that was the case i would not worry as much

Re: Am I right

I am a service engineer I have for the last 20 years worked mostly on showers and taps for major companies (Triton showers and Bristan) prior to that i done domestic appliances and commercial catering and refrigeration. Unfortunately in 20 years things in that field have moved on and i am to far out of touch to do that again

Re: Am I right

...Steve good service engineering are not easy to find, could you not go freelance repairing domestic appliances.

Re: Am I right

unfortunately i am no longer 'qualified' as having not touched appliances with 20 years i am to far out of touch ...also when i was made redundant i asked the question about going self employed but was given bad advice from the job centre .....this meant i did not pursue it as they said the government had suspended all the enterprise schemes etc designed to help new businesses start ..NOT TRUE

Re: Am I right

Of course you are right Steve, you are trying your upmost best to find work in a workless market, we had depressions, recessions, before, call them what you like they all mean the same thing, I think this is my fourth or fifth and they didn't kill me off yet , they are always followed by better times when employers cannot get workers and have to import them. If you start letting this get you down you may well end up sick and then it will cost the state a lot more than it is now. This whole sorry mess has to end soon, so hang in there.

Re: Am I right

I have got to see 'my adviser' next week at the job centre they have already made me re submit my claim with a 47 page form ....The next step is for THEM to give me jobs to apply for regardless of wages and suitability ...failure to comply sanctioning of benefits...This i know is true they done it to my wife ...she was a carer for the elderly ...when she lost her job last year they sent her for a job caring for mentally handicapped teenagers my wife is 5ft 2'' she had no experience no training and would not have stood a chance against a 16 year old disturbed adolescent .. she refused the job and lost her benefits for nearly 6 months ...when we complained i was told to support her ...then i got made redundant ...because of this governments attitude to the unemployed and the fact everyone is tarred with the same brush , i am now in debt have no work and dreading the future ......but what the hell i am not the only one lol

Re: Am I right

My definition of the word scrounger is someone who knows how to cheat the benefits system, is claiming dole, using the money for drugs or booze and has no intention of getting a job.

You do not fall into that category Steve. The way you come across I'd say you were genuinely frustrated at not having work to go to through no fault of your own.

I take your point about not wishing to work for half the wages you used to enjoy. From what I understand, you still have a mortgage to pay, plus utilities and feed yourselves as well.

Is your missus also looking for a job as well? Is she also drawing dole? I don't know how the system works I'm afraid.

Before my partner died we were enjoying approximately £800 per week coming into the household so there were no problems moneywise but, when he died very suddenly, I still had a mortgage to pay on my own, and my car payments as well, and my full-time take home wage then was just £250 a week and I had no savings so was literally living on my wage. I managed because I had to, but I cut back on things that were unnecessary to my way of life, such as certain insurances, mobile phone, cable TV and other things.

It was a struggle but, fortunately for me, I finished paying for my car in September 2008, and my mortgage in 2010, but now I'm drawing pension and still have to work part-time to keep up some sort of quality of life because, even though I have full pension, I can't possibly live on it.

It can be done, Steve, and if I'm being honest with you, if you took a lesser paid job to start with, you'd be back on the job ladder and earning again which would give you back some sort of self-esteem, and once back in work, you could look around for something better.

I don't know how you're managing to pay your mortgage if you're just getting dole money, but a low paid job would surely be more than dole? I honestly don't know because I've never drawn dole so I don't know what it involves.

I take your point about not going back to the job you used to do on electrical appliances because after 20 years you're out of the loop and and regulations have changed enormously in that time. Whilst looking for a job, would you not consider going back to College to "catch up" again?

But, you are not a scrounger. Best of luck.