I think it is worth
getting a job.
But if I'm honest, I wouldn't know where to start.
That's the God's honest truth.
I think that's what it is with me - it's more fear that I'm going to do wrong
and they're going to get rid of me.
Interviewer: How did you meet?
Outside the pub.
Yeah, I was...
She asked me for a lighter
and I didn't have one.
I was a bit drunk.
I was a bit drunk and
cracked on to him straight away.
I'm 11 years older than him.
I've always been on Jobseeker's but
because Aaron's now moved in,
it's the right thing to do now isn't it, close claims down and start on this now.
You've seen on telly how it's messed a lot of people up.
I'm hoping it doesn't.
A lot of people have killed themselves over it, haven't they?
Good afternoon.
Your first payment is going to be the 4th of September.
Because, it is so long before your payments,
you can get an advance.
Any advance you do get is repayable
but we don't take it off you in one great big sum.
Right.
You can repay it back over a monthly budgeting plan.
That's fair enough.
I can do it here and now for you.
If you could for it for me now.
That's no problem whatsoever.
What it is, I've got a daughter as well.
That's no problem.
I've got to get her school uniform.
It will be in your account by the end of today.
On the 5th of September when you receive
your first Universal Credit monthly payment,
£105.11 will automatically be deducted from it.
That's fair enough, at least then it...
Are you happy with that?
Yeah, because it's...
Once I press 'done', that's gone.
Yeah.
You done?
Yeah.
I'm going to end up falling on the floor, me, when I go check my bank in a bit.
Well, it'll do us, won't it?
Pay the rent.
Yeah.
We can get it in one lump sum now and go treat ourselves, instead of,
you know, thinking how we're going to live day by day.
Hmm, I'm happy that's why.
The advance money now has all been spent.
And that's been spent on bills,
food,
clothing and...
Fun stuff.
Fun stuff, really.
I got myself a new phone.
I was sick and tired of using a brick.
Some footwear and
got my hair done - so that was nice as well.
I got myself new clothes, this, that and the other, and
some nice food - I've enjoyed eating some nice food as well.
It's been brilliant, yeah.
Interviewer: Do you think you deserve to treat yourself?
Yeah, of course. Everybody does - yeah, of course.
I'm not being funny but
we're not all born with silver spoons in our *bleep* arses.
Do you know what I mean?
So
yeah, I do think it's right that we treat ourselves.
£530 odd quid, for what, a family?
It's ridiculous.
I was under the impression that I would only be paying about £100 and...
What was it, £110 or something like that, a month?
My stress levels have been
through the roof.
I've been really anxious - I've had that feeling in my throat where
I've been smothered.
Interviewer: Do you feel like, they shouldn't have offered you so much money?
I wish they hadn't now.
I wish they just would've, I don't know.
I got too tempted and
too giddy.
I went wild.
Lesson learnt.
Don't *bleep* do it again.
How are you doing?
I'm not too bad.
Okie dokey.
All right, not a problem.
It's happening all the time
because if the advances are available,
and the customers are taking them,
then most customers are coming back to us with problems about paying their advances.
The £532,
that's all she's got left basically to live off.
So if we divide it by, say 31 days,
your average month, it's £17.16 a day to live off as a family of three.
So it's crazy really that so much can be offered.
But it has.
September has been absolute -
it has been hell.
You know what I mean, we've had to use food banks.
It did mess us up to be honest.
We had to eat pasta.
We had to eat a lot of *bleep* pasta, ain't we?
But
I don't want to go through that again.
Never again.
It's all right giving you the advances, but in reality
It does - it can hit you like a ton of bricks.
But
But, you just - again you live and learn , don't you?