Ho much can a beggar make per day/week?

JONJO THE MISER

I ask this question because im really interested, i mean if your on the dole and also Beg i assume they would make a good few bob per week, ive heard of professional beggars before but i dunno how much one could make per week from begging.

annabellee77

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

I ask this question because im really interested, i mean if your on the dole and also Beg i assume they would make a good few bob per week, ive heard of professional beggars before but i dunno how much one could make per week from begging.

Have no clue but your username made me laugh with the name of this thread :D:D

SV

like I said, hundreds of thousands.

engrish?

SV wrote: »

like I said, hundreds of thousands.

I'd love some of them right now



http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_113308_401906_-rankin.jpg

Trinity

Depends on your strategy

see my sig

Edit- which is probably too big and i thought we were not allowed post pics in AH??

TorresDaLegend

They did it on the adrian kennedy show one night, your man went out for 3or 4 hours and made 2euro, and ?1.50 came from one guy all together :P so not very much, although i have heard of "professional beggars " makin ?600 a day :O

consultech

I reckon about €50 is possible per day plus dole, plus benefits, plus whatever other handouts they can claim = You're better off begging than earning a €25k salary - tax - doctors/dentists/medicine etc costs.

Cuddlesworth

Begging makes little money. Aggressive begging/conning makes a mint. Giving people sob story's for a couple of Euro around places where people get or take out money(ATM's, ticket machines etc...).

ronnie3585

Bout' three fiddy.

K4t

You don't wanna get into begging. It's shameful and demeaning.

The real money is in hoaring yourself.

JONJO THE MISER

I reckon if you could set yorself a goal of 100 euro per day it would be good, that would be 500 per week plus 200 dole plus 60 rent allowance, not bad at all.

Schism

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Bout' three fiddy.

God damn loch ness monsta.

204 per week.

408 xmas week.

SV

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

I reckon if you could set yorself a goal of 100 euro per day it would be good, that would be 500 per week plus 200 dole plus 60 rent allowance, not bad at all.

Ohh, you gave yourself weekends off?
Must be nice being your own boss..

tbh

I used to chat to a guy who was selling those little religious cards on Grafton st. I bought him a wee radio one time but other than that, he would never take money or food off me. He was well into his 80's and was a really nice guy, very honest and very funny. He said he only used to sell the cards for something to do, he was living in a home - I think it was a religious run thing for homeless elderly, and had no family so got lonely sitting in.

Anyway, I'd look out for him and see him the odd time, but then I stopped seeing him around and assumed he'd died. Imagine my surprise when about two years later there's a picture of him on the front of the Sunday World! He'd just died, and the headline was "King of the Beggers"! he didn't smoke or drink, and so all the money he got, he just saved. He'd 80K cash and two houses I still laugh thinking about it, fair balls to the guy

Degsy

You can make a fortune begging.
I remember the grafton st punks in the late 80's would stand outside freebird records "tapping for odds" and easily make 20 quid an hour..and that was then.
If you spendd all day at it and hassle the right sort of people(older,hippies gone to seed and neo-liberal ****) you can probably make 700 quid or more a day.
The invention of one and two euro coins is a godsend for beggars.Years ago if you wanted to give somebody a pound,you had to peel off a note which is pschologically hard to do..now you could have 10,12 quid in your pocket in loose change..and very few people will only hand over 20c if they're going to cough up.

TedB

I can take in c. 100 quid a day on my better days. Depends how aggressively I market my story tho - sometimes just standing over someone on the hapenny bridge and not letting them past gets me a few bob.

My name is URL

Ive not heard of many Irish beggars make that much. They usually have a few coins in a cup or hat, hardly ever notes.

When I lived in San Fransisco there were a group of pan-handlers that litterally made hundreds of $ per day by helping people carry shopping to their cars etc.

And some war vets get the sympathy bucks for dragging themselves around on carts, coz they got no legs

Irish beggars are fcuking boring

Degsy

tbh wrote: »

I used to chat to a guy who was selling those little religious cards on Grafton st. I bought him a wee radio one time but other than that, he would never take money or food off me. He was well into his 80's and was a really nice guy, very honest and very funny. He said he only used to sell the cards for something to do, he was living in a home - I think it was a religious run thing for homeless elderly, and had no family so got lonely sitting in.

Anyway, I'd look out for him and see him the odd time, but then I stopped seeing him around and assumed he'd died. Imagine my surprise when about two years later there's a picture of him on the front of the Sunday World! He'd just died, and the headline was "King of the Beggers"! he didn't smoke or drink, and so all the money he got, he just saved. He'd 80K cash and two houses I still laugh thinking about it, fair balls to the guy

Reminds me of that disgusting trinity "character" Mat the Jap..he used to guilt the students into buying him drink and food,some of them would give him money to show how sound they were and he scabbed tickets to all the TCD balls and events and would drink for free all night.
One day he was found dead in his hovel with over 100 grand in a plastic bag...the laugh was on the do-gooders there!

K4t

Degsy wrote: »

..and very few people will only hand over 20c if they're going to cough up.

10c is my max tbh.

If everyone gave that they and charities would do fairly fckn well. It's just a pity not everyone is as generous as myself.

tbh

My name is URL wrote: »

Ive not heard of many Irish beggars make that much. They usually have a few coins in a cup or hat, hardly ever not

they clean the cups out man! would you drop any cash to a beggar with a fiver in his cup?

I know a busker on grafton street - in fairness, he's one of the good ones - who was claiming he was getting 500 a day in summer and 200 in winter in '02

I refuse to give them anything.

It's more than likely just going to feed their habit.....




collecting stamps.

Phototoxin

sometimes just standing over someone on the hapenny bridge and not letting them past gets me a few bob.

harassment?

Also I find its more alturisitc to feed beggars as i) they cannot complain and ii) you know its not going on drugs/whores/YOREMA/etcetra

DTrotter

How much if you get a child to stand in?

Bob Z

They make about 450 to 800 before tax.....except they dont pay any tax.

Degsy

tbh wrote: »

they clean the cups out man! would you drop any cash to a beggar with a fiver in his cup?

+1
I used to date a bird who used to give her two favourite beggers 20 quid each whenever she saw them..you may be sure they didnt leave that sticking for people to see.
The reverse of the toilet attendent beggers..they leave a 2 euro coin on thier saucers so you think thats how much you have to pay them for the toilet roll.

JONJO THE MISER

I reckon you got to market yourself right and beg at the right times, Saturday evening and sunday morning masses im sure you would get a good few bucks by looking really depresed and have dirty clothes and being non agressive and polite, then the lunch time crowd outside the big office buildings, then head over to the colleges when grant day comes, i reckon with the right strategy you could end up making 200-300 per day on average.

Biggins

Also boils down to location, location, location.

Being at the right place and the right spot at that place makes a difference.
* There's no point in planking yourself at a spot where people are just steeping off a train or bus, etc.
* No point at being at a corner as as soon as people go around it, they have already half missed you.
Life would be harder if you were outside a place that has a high numbers of those coming and going at high speed (dentists, doctors, some supermarkets, etc).
* Ideally you want a spot that people are at more leisurely, relaxed, in a more public place than out of the way, in a center of a street than at the end of it. Not near a bank machine because folk go up to it and quickly duck away with their note cash.

I knew beggars over the years that used to row over various spots from Dublin, London to other European cities. Some rare places for them was right little earners.

TwoShedsJackson

Degsy wrote: »

Reminds me of that disgusting trinity "character" Mat the Jap..he used to guilt the students into buying him drink and food,some of them would give him money to show how sound they were and he scabbed tickets to all the TCD balls and events and would drink for free all night.
One day he was found dead in his hovel with over 100 grand in a plastic bag...the laugh was on the do-gooders there!

When ever anyone is described as a 'character' in Ireland, it always seems to mean 'a useless alcoholic chancer that people haven't the nerve to tell to fu<k off while he's scrounging.'

Paparazzo

I used to know a guy on middle abbey street in dublin that would come onto our shop and change the money he made begging. In about 2-3 hours he'd have £60 and he'd go home. That was around 1994-1995, the guy is probably living in Dalkey now.

bakkiesbotha

<Recounts tale of person asking for help, which was refused out of meanness>

<Justifies self with "I wouldn't mind, but they aren't short of a few bob.">

SIX PACK

rarnes1 wrote: »

204 per week.

408 xmas week.

Christmas Bonus is gone head

An Fear Aniar

rarnes1 wrote: »

I refuse to give them anything.

It's more than likely just going to feed their habit.....
.

Absolutely right. If you give money to someone on the street you're either:

(a) helping someone to stay homeless for another night.
(b) being conned by a professional beggar.

It's not the Middle Ages and it's the worst thing you can do.

.

CutzEr

An Fear Aniar wrote: »

Absolutely right. If you give money to someone on the street you're either:

(a) helping someone to stay homeless for another night.
(b) being conned by a professional beggar.

It's not the Middle Ages and it's the worst thing you can do.

.

But that also applies if you don't help them.. OH SHOITE! WE'RE TRAPPED!!

ScumLord

There's no money in begging, connings where all the good moneys at.

Degsy wrote: »

If you spendd all day at it and hassle the right sort of people(older,hippies gone to seed and neo-liberal ****) you can probably make 700 quid or more a day.

That just can not be true. If someone did make that much money it must be a rarity. If they are getting that much in a day I'm buying a begging for dummies book and switching profession. I could accept that on a good day they could make €100-200 but €700! The practicalitys of dealing with that much change just puts it beyond possible in my books. Maybe busker's could make good money, especially the ones you see in Galway but straight beggin I don't think so.

YFlyer

In Limerick the guy that plays the tin whistle at the corner down from Nancy Blakes must make a fortune. i have seen tenners and fivers in his hat.

An Fear Aniar

CutzEr wrote: »

But that also applies if you don't help them.. OH SHOITE! WE'RE TRAPPED!!

NO!!!!!!, it's not the Middle Ages!!!!

People can get temporary accomodation and then be moved into longer term accommodation. Look up homelessness services and see for yourself. The State has an obligation to house everyone who presents themselves as homeless - it's a human rights thing.

.

mickdw

ScumLord wrote: »

The practicalitys of dealing with that much change just puts it beyond possible in my books.

They are not stupid, when they 'earn' about €50, they change it to notes so they have no problems dealing with largw volumes of coin over a whole day.
Even €1 every 5 mins is €96 for an 8 hour day.

ScumLord

mickdw wrote: »

They are not stupid, when they 'earn' about €50, they change it to notes so they have no problems dealing with largw volumes of coin over a whole day.
Even €1 every 5 mins is €96 for an 8 hour day.

I'd say you'll lose about an hour changing that coinage into notes, unless you have a thing going with some shop, they're still going to want to count it all out.

stovelid

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Images/ExternalImages/ProductsDetailed/28/020928.jpg

JONJO THE MISER

I mean even a 10 a hour is better than a min wage job plus you get to be outdoors, i wonder if you went to Aus and started beging in Bondi with a cardboard sign saying { No Money Irish Homeless please Help, go raibh maith agat ) i think you could make a few bob for a while off the Irish backpackers then just head off to St kilda and then Perth or wherver there is big Irish communties, could pay for a nice holiday down under.

admiralofthefleet

not really begging but a mate of mine used to make anything up to €300 on a saturday busking in merchants arch, her weekend was paid for by the kind folk of dublin

derry

Last I saw from many charities in the UK and europe who research the subject is that earning from begging have fallen dramaticaly this year since the economic crisis

Also in ROI there is now a begger or busker or whatever every ten meters. This is probaly due to economy going pear shaped and many from the building trade thrown on the dole and later social welfare

Also the new law that doesnt make begging illegal means that there is no risk to go to jail for the activity aswas the case a few years back.

In simple maths there isnt the same amount of money in ROI and there is more beggers so it highly likely that begging is no longer as lucrative in earning than previous years and would probably follow the european average less than 30 euros per day based on the last from the last set of stats on survey for the subject that I saw on line .

It seems that when begging earning drop substainsialy the jail population grows explosivly alongside crime as often some people need a lot more than what the social welfare is giving .

Often it seems the money they need is to pay back illegal money lenders who are into leg breaking to get thier money back.Sometimes it can also be for addictions like drugs or alchol and that also have money lending systems that break legs or worse.


It seems to me its a no brainer that jail costs of 2000 euros a week which get imposed on us tax payers versus paying the social welfare of 200 a week there is no real choice for the ROI tax payer but do the best possible to keep the people outside from jail system .If giving a few bob to beggers helps keep them out of expensive jails because they dont need to mug you or whatever it will help keep taxxes down .Sorta win win if you ask me

In Holland the government supplys the drugslike herion smack and cocaine which they can buy very cheap being a governmnet they get good rates not like drug users . This has reduced street crime and jail populations a lot as drug addicts no longer need to steal €500 a day to feed the habit and go a center where if they wish to give up they can apply for assistance there and then

For ROI they used to imprison the beggers which again was stupid and the new law means that stupid practice is finished .

The issue is all over europe and is less frowned on as I found traveling and working in most of europe
I have lived in spain and there the unemployment is often 30% plus and there are many beggers with even college degrees as I found out in my travels and work there .
I had one encounter with a begger who was begging in front for the shop come helping me to fix my car which had broke down in the busy street.I had my own set of tools and am fairly mechanical but I couldnt figure the problem.The begger a young guy about 30 using his broken english and my broken spainish explained he was a mechanic by trade.Sure enough he figured the problem the linkage to the gear box was faulty and was able to sort it in a few minutes with the few bits and bobs of spare nuts and bolts in my tool box.
We had a short a chat I gave him the going rate for fixxing a car and he was happy. Best i could figure with the lingo problem it seems that as a qualified mechanic after they finish a mechanic apreticeship in Spain the only way to stay always employed is to save up and buy your own garage. The big car fixxing chains keep cutting staff every time there is a blip in the economy and employing younger cheaper aprentises.
He said begging was earning about half the salary of a typical working man and often required to do it 7 days a week .He figured if he did busking he could match his working income but he said his music guys friends say the spots are often only good for a few selective hours and also you cant play musical instruments more than a few hours a day as it is tiring for the musles or fingers etc so its not for sure a safe bet as a income source

I imagine that its similar in Ireland that there might be one or two pros who make bigger money in begging but the majority are only getting a few extra bob maybe 20 euros a day to increase the kitty for thier cost for living in ROI
Trying to survive on the social security 200 a week isnt easy.
I really dont know how the families with young kids manage.I for one if I was married on the rates they give for social welefare to families what with shoes for school and school books costs and all the other stuff in this near total jobless screwed up economy would seriously decide to learn the guitar and busk so as to feed the family as there is no way there is eneough money on the socail welfare to keep the family going.

Only the civil servants with secure civil servant jobs can think it isnt nessary to beg for them.Not that many of them earn very much and are close to the bread line with depts .Also bear in mind they often have oonly got a secure income provided they dont get sick or the economy doesnt goes belly up altogether so it isnt absolute security like say a government minister gets after few years service with big pensions for life .

The rest for us not in secure employment even working in the shaky banks our mouths are limited .Our ability to spout rightous indignation crap against beggers from our mouths is limited in size to only as big as our last pay cheuque .
So when we walk into the office on friday and get our walking papers we might also find in this jobless economy after a few months with bills mounting and income fixxed on social welfare rates might need to start some begging to feed the kids or the dog or the canary whatever the reason is .

I just hope that most of us never have to try to find out how profitable or not profitable the ecomics of begging on the streets is.

I remember the good old bad days of late eighty times and half my mates left ROI and many said they survived in London busking until, they found a job or busking in between jobs as the economy there goes through a wobble of some sort like the crash of 89 that threw thousands of builders many who were Irish out of work for several years in London 89 crash .

Basically I give some money to beggers as they probably need it and sometimes have fed and housed some partiucaly in spain as half of them were really cool dudes when you got talking to them.Like everywhere a few wer wobbilies but having been practiced in stret life in europe was able to figure the difference most times

One of them I met was a Portugese guy and his spanish partner who was also a unemployed trained nurse but both were really good flute players .Seems he was formaly a bomb disposal army guy in the parchute regiment of Portugal.He was full for stories as he traveleld the world .In one case he explains when he was younger conscipted to the army on real bad pay .One day they frog march his army team platton whatever to the airport and stick them on a lagre jet plane .A few hours later the plane lands and a amercan army guy enters the plane and decalares welcome to Beurut Lebonon and here are your blue helmets.He said that with the miserable portugese army pay he had to beg from richer army guys in the USA army for some telephone credit to ring home to tell his family he wasnt going home any time time soon and that he wasnt in Portugal anymore .He then got blown up walking towards a suspisious Mercedeze car which was a car bomb and injured with schrapnel to his face and a long hospital stay so you would think he was a real bad dude with a big knife scars all over his face where they lifted fivety bits of metal from him and left another ten bits inside him .Later he went with the BBC and helped them in China Peking Timeen sqaure and said the west has no idea the scale of the killing. He figures he saw at least 20,000 killed there in the small section that he was in and the square was huge so 200,000 died that at least was his minimum estimate .
He was then busking as he had to desert the the Portuge army call up which called him up to go fight something maybe the gulf war 1 ,I forget , so he wasnt exactly able to leave Portugal with anything much and Spain was hostile for the Portuge for work sorta like the english Irish story .

As he said the spainish dont need bomb disposal abilties in the average factory ,resterant or hotel and his scars make it difficult to look the sales manger part which he had done in Portugal. He confirmed that busking with music was iffy one month up more than a average worker and another month down less than a average worker wages . Also it much harder to make money in winter months as it can get very cold in Spain in Madrid in winter and the fingers get cold with wind instruments. I know that he when he did get work he wouldnt do busking but the work in Spain wasnt so frequent as in very seasonal and half of Africa was coming to spain and would work for a lot less money than the spainish or portuge could live with. this meant more and more spainish and portuge were forced to do begging or busking as working for bad food crap housing and €0.30 cents an hour wasnt a real option where cost were ramping up rapidlily similat to the rest of europe .

Another young french couple I helped with housing in my city I lived in for a short while when I lived in France were also living in France and had a farm they had bought .Problem was they needed to get money to pay the local taxxes as the farm couldnt earn any income enough to pay the local taxxes which were very steep so many hundred euro per acre whatever .The only solution was busking.No social welfare in France pays the government local taxxes as that would be circular logic .So if you dont want to loose your house or farm you better find the cash to pay local taxxes from somewhere. Social welfare is for food and rental accomidation a flat county counsil house whatever so forth but not for private houses or private farms local taxxes .The result was they needed to busk in a city where the money was to found .They did an average of a few days in month to keep heads above the water and pay the government what they demanded

Apart from the French government demanding money taxxes from them they could feed and cloth themselfs and were producing electricity and everything they needed and were totally independent from the main stream life in the cities .I visited the farm and the life was good there goats chickens donkey crops you name it .
It was just the problem to find money to feed the french government with thier armies and police and scrounging civil servants all taxxing the hell out the people as last I saw france taxxes were nearly 60%.

Basically in Europe there isnt such a very negitive attide like what we find in ROI or the UK to the idea that we should jail or hassle street buskers or beggers as there is so much unemployment all over europe and they need to live also so its more like live and let live .

The ROI regime is all set to follow the French model of economics basicaly a communism sytem and make taxxes orbital closer to 60% as the economy cant feed the bloated government system and they need the money to pay the fat cats .Im all right jacK what about you too

So when in dought its simple "but for the grace of God go I " and give them a few coins as it could easily be us next week the way things are going as we go into the neo communist fachist Lisbon treaty Europe regime hell:eek: that dont care for the poeples

Derry

TwoShedsJackson

You think anyone in AH is going to read that wall of text?

JohnGalt

Slightly off the point, but I don't think it is worthwhile for anyone to beg on the streets. It is not worth the risk. I am far from the worst kind of guy you will come across, so I am pretty sure worse things have been done, but the other day I was accosted by a beggar, and it really annoyed me, so I poured my hot coffee all over her hands. It was straight out of my thermos, and it was really hot, it may have scalded her hands, so even if she "earned" the kind of money some people are talking about here, it isn't worth it, when there are scumbags out there who will do things worse than that

White_Feather

JohnGalt wrote: »

Slightly off the point, but I don't think it is worthwhile for anyone to beg on the streets. It is not worth the risk. I am far from the worst kind of guy you will come across, so I am pretty sure worse things have been done, but the other day I was accosted by a beggar, and it really annoyed me, so I poured my hot coffee all over her hands. It was straight out of my thermos, and it was really hot, it may have scalded her hands, so even if she "earned" the kind of money some people are talking about here, it isn't worth it, when there are scumbags out there who will do things worse than that

I hope your talking the pi*s!! How dare you do that to somebody! No matter how much she annoyed you, just walk away! Scumbags out there?!? Of course, but i think your actions were below that!

I saw this guy before begging on o connell bridge. I used to see him everyday and felt sorry for him so one day I went into BK and got him food, went back and he told me to f*ck off, that he wanted the money! That really annoyed me, so I never really give to beggars now since!

AnonoBoy

The only place a proud man should beg is in the bedroom


"....pleeeeeassseeeeee can we just try it the once?"

King of Kings

i used to work as a bouncer and got to know a guy who came up from limerick to dublin (he was orginally from dublin) each weekend

used to beg around south william street and said he made 700 on a fri & sat night each week , throw in the dole and the free housing he had in limerick with his missus - the dude was rolling in cash.
although he still looked like a bum.

galwayrush

I work 60 hours a week, 50 in the workshop, and 10 begging some of my customers to pay me.

Venom

ScumLord wrote: »

I'd say you'll lose about an hour changing that coinage into notes, unless you have a thing going with some shop, they're still going to want to count it all out.

I know a few people who ran various types of retail shops and they always were looking for coins daily so Im sure alot of shops would do a deal with beggars.

derry

galwayrush wrote: »

I work 60 hours a week, 50 in the workshop, and 10 begging some of my customers to pay me.

The story of the planet .Ultinatly the reswt of the world who are not the top fivety rich list like the Queen for England who owns half of the UK canda and Australia some 6,000,million acres in total or Rockerfellr with gazzilion of $ then your in the beggging line to get paid down stream of the big honey pot.The begger in the streets is the last in begging chain

Derry