Ms Smith had applied for the Domestic Purposes Benefit in March 2004 but failed to advise the ministry she had begun a relationship in 2009.
She received an overpayment of $9303 and when spoken to about the offending, admitted it and began paying the money back at $10 weekly.
By this stage the relationship had ended and her ex-partner had left, she told the Times-Age.
She is the mother of two children, aged 10 and 2. Her youngest son has serious bowel issues which he has undergone surgery for.
Times were extremely tough throughout the relationship, she said. Her ex-partner gave her $100 a week to pay rent, power and feed the children.
"I've been doing a lot of crying. I'm so ashamed and embarrassed it got this far. I wanted to stop my benefit but I didn't know how I was going to feed my children and pay the rent. I was really worried."
When she spoke to her ex-partner about the situation, he wasn't prepared to help out any more financially, Ms Smith said.
"He just didn't care. I was trying to pay for everything myself ... I hate that I had to lie to get money and survive but there was little choice. He refused to help us and I didn't know what else to do. I was scared. It was either do this or my babies would have starved and we wouldn't have had a roof over our heads."
She said she was scared of upsetting him because he would become angry.
She said she knew of lots of people who were wrongfully collecting benefits they weren't entitled to and warned them to do something about it before they, too, had to go through the court system.
"It's just so hard for them to survive today. It's not easy but you have to be honest with [Work and Income]. This doesn't make it right and only makes things harder in the long run."
She has sought the advice and support of an advocate.
"There are people out there who can help you. You just have to ask."
Wairarapa Advocacy Service manager and advocate Trevor MacKiewicz said clients were telling him many people they knew were breaking the law the same way Ms Smith had.
His advice was to "come clean".
"I'm hearing about this just about every day, that people are ripping off the system. We discourage that. It's just giving beneficiaries a bad name."
He believes the reason is people are struggling to survive financially.
"It's just getting harder and harder for them to live so they resort to dishonesty. But if they do this they are just going to have another set of problems to deal with. They are scared all the time of getting caught."
But his staff would work with them to ensure they were getting what they were entitled to.
"In a lot of situations we can work with them ... there is help available but many don't know that. It's just better to be honest."
As for women living in abusive relationships - "she has to leave basically ... they don't need the hassle of a conviction".
Last year, seven Masterton people were convicted of benefit fraud.
A Ministry of Social Development spokesperson said clients had an obligation to advise the ministry of any change in their circumstances.
If people were in abusive relationships they needed to discuss with their case manager what financial support could be available.
"We can also refer them to appropriate community groups or agencies who have the tools to support people who find themselves in this situation."
