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gumbo-67

gumbo-67

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Terri
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Ok first off may be the wrong title.

A few months ago I got my present job. I have to get a taxi to work every morning as no other way other than a 2+ hour walk and i get the bus home. now this takes up just over half of my take home wage.

Now some people at work have said that i would be better off stopping work and claiming housing benefit and tax credits, Which i know we would be. The thing is I feel this is wrong. i have a job and i know i am lucky to have a job and the system is to help people that are not as lucky (ok most of the time, or should be). Now we have claimed working tax credits as we were told we should do but the other one to do with rent we are not doing because we are not entitled to do so.

Am I wrong in thinking that i am better off working even if it is not in the money sense?
 
thought about a cheap 50cc moped? after the initial outlay they are nothing to run.

also RE claiming benefits, is there no system in place to help top up your expenses, surely the system isn't a you work or your don't thing is it? sorry I have little knowledge on this.
 
If you are on a low income should get working tax credits and may get some help with rent and council tax.
Your best bet is to call DWP and have a chat to them.
 
i have thought about a 50cc but alas it is finding the outlay first off and not only that it is me i am not very strong and the last time i had one years ago i wasn't very stable on it.
no help with topping up i am told and i have spoken to DWP and we are going to get tax credits but how much we are not sure but no help at all with anything else.

I just do not get how giving up working would be better.. ok money may be and that is a big maybe. but what about self respect? (maybe the wrong word) bt i live in a remote area and the only real contact with the outside world is at work. and i enjoy my job.
 
gumbo-67 said:
I just do not get how giving up working would be better.. ok money may be and that is a big maybe. but what about self respect? (maybe the wrong word) bt i live in a remote area and the only real contact with the outside world is at work. and i enjoy my job.
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sounds like you have answered you own questions Terri.. money isn't everything but obviously it is needed.. have you struck a deal with the taxi firm as you are regular guaranteed customer? might be able to shave a few quid off.
 
I'm taking it that your employer can't change your hours to give you a later start time? Have you thought about putting a Lift Wanted ad on Gumtree and in your local shop if it takes small ads? Sometimes even word of mouth about an ad can bring something, so I'd think it is worth trying as there will always be people driving to work early, including bus drivers, posties, airport workers, etc, plus the normal shiftworkers in some of the places that run 24/7. I think it also shows any prospective employer that you were making all efforts to carry on working, so that would be to your advantage if/when another job crops up. Good luck!
 
strumstrum said:
sounds like you have answered you own questions Terri.. money isn't everything but obviously it is needed.. have you struck a deal with the taxi firm as you are regular guaranteed customer? might be able to shave a few quid off.
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Yep done that first thing i did 80p off per trip is all i could get but i am going to try again.. at £13 a trip i am sure they could manage more

Peter your right i have spoken to her and no way i can start later so i could use the bus they are very good and try and give extra hours when i am sat for 4 hours after work waiting on the bus. As for other people going to work from my area... the village has about 8 houses. next place is where i work. lol when i say remote it is remote. well with regard to most places.. i wait on the road for the taxi and not one car has ever passed me. but a good idea about the shop. i'll have to ask.
 
Now you have a job it might be easier to find another that's closer by. Mopeds aren't realistic in Scottish weather. There is the bmw C1 which is a moped with a roof. I don't know whether it is more stable than other types of moped.

Are there any colleagues that could be a potential car share for some of the week? (just noticed you've already thought of that and there isn't!)

A 2 hour walk is about 6 miles I'm guessing. Is there pavement/cycle path all the way? I'm wondering about some kind of electric assisted push bike/trike/glorified skate board if there is a safe route all the way there. And you have a good set of water proofs!
 
srichards said:
Now you have a job it might be easier to find another that's closer by. Mopeds aren't realistic in Scottish weather. There is the bmw C1 which is a moped with a roof. I don't know whether it is more stable than other types of moped.

Are there any colleagues that could be a potential car share for some of the week? (just noticed you've already thought of that and there isn't!)

A 2 hour walk is about 6 miles I'm guessing. Is there pavement/cycle path all the way? I'm wondering about some kind of electric assisted push bike/trike/glorified skate board if there is a safe route all the way there. And you have a good set of water proofs!
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LOl where is work is the closest place to work. first place we get to when we leave the single track road with no path or cycle path.. and it is all up hill on the way home :( . i was hoping the woman next door would get a job with us but my boss didn't like the fact she turned up for the interview stinking of drink.... we could have shared costs.
 
The C1 would be very vulnerable to side winds and in winter the screen would freeze up like a car's. The extra weight of all the bodywork does the performance no favours. They are also both motorcycles rather than mopeds so need assorted tests to be taken before they can be ridden on the road. An example without an MOT will be around a grand...

Probably cheaper than an electric assisted bike though.
 
That is the thing they cost and then all the tests i looked into it and when we get sorted it will high on the list but in the winter i really do not fancy risking the hill's down into work on anything other than 4 wheels.

But again i just don't see the idea of giving up work as right. ok I quit my last job but i could afford to then but things change.

i'll have to hope i win the lottery i think (would help if i played it mind you)
 
Can you look into seeing if the county connect service runs up there? I have it here as I'm rural although not like you.. It's a bus service that you pre book online and within places takes you where you need to go, it's more a personal bus service so you could book for a week at a time etc


Sent from Button Moon.....
 
Nope we get nothing like that we have a limited bus service and that is next to useless. even if you had a "normal" job yo really have to work 9-5 monday to friday. sad to say i wish they did.
 
Sounds pretty tough. I like Peter B's suggestions. But if thats not going to work how about trying to get someone who works at (or near) your workplace and who has a car to come and collect you and you reimburse the petrol money plus a bit for their time? Should still be cheaper than a taxi.
 
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Difficult decision and I applaud you for working, but these must have been factors you considered when applying for the job?

I do know of others offered 15 hours a week so they can keep their benefits, who have declined as too much effort.
 
neil_g said:
if its really that bad, then isnt the only option to move house to closer to town (or wherever the jobs are)?
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That's a bit drastic.

I'd find out if somebody that drives to work would mind taking a detour and picking you up.
As said above it only sounds like a few miles. If you offer the person say £5 a day, it's a £8 saving for you and somebody else gets a few quid extra each month.
 
Good on you for wanting to work in what are clearly difficult circumstances. The is may/will not be practical in the worst of the weather but how about a bike - cheaper than a moped and less maintenance? Would it be possible to ride part of the way and then pick up a bus or train (even if it meant going in the wrong direction, initially). Is it worth trying other taxi companies to see if they could do you a better deal?

Good luck

Dave
 
ecoleman said:
That's a bit drastic.

I'd find out if somebody that drives to work would mind taking a detour and picking you up.
As said above it only sounds like a few miles. If you offer the person say £5 a day, it's a £8 saving for you and somebody else gets a few quid extra each month.
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sounds like that has already been investigated.

drastic, maybe but as byker said it must've been a consideration of moving to a remote area.
 
I know what you mean about working out in the sticks, though. Back in the days when I was a tomato greenhouse worker, it involved a commute into the deepest darkest depths of the Kent countryside (and on the highest hill of the county too so it involved a climb from my coastal home at sea level to 450 feet above sea level 11 miles inland) and the nearest village bus stop was two miles away. So, I needed a car to get me to work, but towards the end it was costing me more to keep the car than what I was earning as a tomato picker - and I could only afford to buy 13 years old bangers. I did try using a 125 cc motorbike for a short time, lovely in the summer but horrible in the winter when it's dark, wet and/or icy and the visor gets misted over as I wind your way around those dark narrow country lanes.
Anyway, the place ceased trading about three years ago and I fell into the role of being a home carer for an elderly mother and thus I'm now on Income Supports earning only a third of what I used to earn while in full time employment - but because I gave up the car as there was no need for me to commute everywhere, I ended up being better off financial wise anyway! Even though I am paying into what is a relatively small mortgage out of my own pocket.
And people wonder why there are migrant workers everywhere in agriculture as they are happy to slum it out in on site trailers, the owner of the firm then get paid rent. But that's a different matter for another time.
 
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DorsetDude said:
Sounds pretty tough. I like Peter B's suggestions. But if thats not going to work how about trying to get someone who works at (or near) your workplace and who has a car to come and collect you and you reimburse the petrol money plus a bit for their time? Should still be cheaper than a taxi.
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The only tuogh bit is the distance i love it here. i have had a couple of lifts home ans reimbursed the petrol money but it adds on about half an hour to the persons travel time and at 5am in the morning it may as well be ten hours.
Byker28i said:
Difficult decision and I applaud you for working, but these must have been factors you considered when applying for the job?
your Right they were i was getting nothing so half of something is better.. we didn't know that while i wasn't working we would have been entilted to housing benefit but i still would have taken the job.
I do know of others offered 15 hours a week so they can keep their benefits, who have declined as too much effort.
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Yes well i know people like that too. i am on a 16 hour a week contract but boss has upped that to 20 and more if she can when she can to help.

neil_g said:
if its really that bad, then isnt the only option to move house to closer to town (or wherever the jobs are)?
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Yeah if i could afford nearly double the rent and the council tax would go up. moving closer to town is in town. and up here the rents are shocking well i think they are.. and as i said before i love living here.

i'll keep doing what i am i am not going to give it up and sit about and let others pay for me to sit on my fat backside i just think that is wrong.. what i was getting at was how others think it is ok to do so.
 
neil_g said:
maybe but as byker said it must've been a consideration of moving to a remote area.
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Neil i moved in with someone who was living here already. but that is another story which has been gone over sometime ago.
 
neil_g said:
fair enough :)

i think the rent increase may offset the cost of commuting though. although i guess you'd be no further forward in the long run.
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you would think but far from it... Add on extra council tax and water rates (we don't pay that where we are) but still looking.
 
What you do need to do is look at way of reducing the cost of travelling so the suggestions so far are good. Even reducing the amount in the short term, once or twice a week, will make a big difference. Moped or small scooter is the obvious choice, as they are cheap to run and buy and you can ride them on a car licence? (best check that). Electric bike would be cheap but costly to buy initially.
 
yoyr right Byker and that is something i am looking into most of the above but i have no car licence. sometimes it seems like a catch 22 situation. While doing it the way i am hard to save to get the money together to buy one of the above.
 
So to summarise then:

You cant get a car as dont have a licence.
Moped no good.
Cycling no good.
Cant get lift in from someone going your way.
Cant ask someone from the destination to come and get you.
Cant get a bus in.

Short of buying a helicopter I think you've had it then.

Sorry If Ive misread the answers a bit. :)
 
to answer the moped one you can drive a 50 cc moped on a car licence if you passed before 1993 i think it is but still have to sit a cbt and that is about £85-£125 but as you dont have licence thats out the window how about one of them fold up push bikes and do the run to work as from what i seen you type its down hill and get the taxi home the up hill? if its a fold up bike and smallish it should fit in the taxi saves you £13
 
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I get where your coming from with this Terri, I think it's a pride thing...I know the one occasion I was on benefits it was terrible I felt like the lowest of the low and frankly any job would have have won for me even if I could be better off without the job :)
 
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