A mum-of-two pocketed almost £10,000 due to a dodgy Universal Credit claim.
And Jacqueline Graham, 32, has to pay back under a tenner a week to the Department for Work and Pensions.
The benefits scammer racked up the huge overpayment bill by claiming to be a single mum.
But in reality she was living with husband Thomas at her Eastgarth home.
She's now been hauled to court over her bogus £9,778 claim which prosecutor Claire Erving said: "She was not entitled to that".
North Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard Graham's claim had initially been genuine after her spouse had left.
But the relationship - described as "messy" - was eventually rekindled, yet Graham continued the claim.
"She accepts that she should have disclosed that," said Gregg Stephens, mitigating.
Tuesday's sentencing heard Graham was interviewed twice, where she denied it.
But after documents - including one from insurance firm Esure - linked the pair, Graham owned up.
She pleaded guilty to dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances affecting entitlement to benefit.
She's now been fined £130 - barely 1% of the sum she illegally claimed between April 2017 and November 2018.
And the court heard she's repaying the DWP at £35-a-month.
At the current rate, the sum won't be repaid for 23 years - meaning Graham will be on her mid-50s by the time the debt is settled.
However Graham is now back in work, in a phone-based role due to a spinal injury suffered in April.
And her brief said she wanted to put things right, backed up Graham eventually admitting what had happened.
"This is not a case where she's set out to defraud the benefit agency," he claimed, adding her run-in with had scared her straight.
"She's not enjoyed the experience at all (of being in court).
"She's not going to put herself in the position in the future."
Magistrates also ordered her to pay £75 in court fees.
