To think saving on Universal Credit is extremely difficult?

This is what I don't understand whether on benefits or not people still need to save for things like a car breaking,new boiler, Christmas, new washing machine ect ect. I don't understand what people don't understand about this.

I think some people just look at the immediate situation and feel it’s unfair that someone who’s maybe not working or working less and getting UC top ups is able to afford to save when plenty of people who don’t qualify for UC can’t afford to save at all. And yes that is a problem (there should always be an immediate advantage in working more, so the differential between benefits and wages needs to be far greater) BUT of course in the long term people in work are going to have a far better older age. It must be grim relying on state pension or pension credits.

But most people on uc can't get back to work as their disabled, carers or already work

I'm on UC and I save £50 a month and any money gifted by parents/family etc. I have 4.5k in savings. I have a disabled child and a car to run. If my car breaks down I need to be able to fix it. This thread makes me feel pretty awful that anyone would want to deny me that £50 a month. It isn't a lot and I sacrifice to be able to save it.

This

It’s not a savings scheme. It’s supposed to just be a safety net until you can get back to work or increase your income.

And therein lies a massive problem. It’s crazy that people should be disincentivized from working. And of course in the longer term, it doesn’t help the person who deliberately keeps their hours/ earning low because any occupational pension will be peanuts compared to if they’d made higher contributions

I put some of my benefits into savings

Not everyone on UC is barely scraping by.

I work so get a UC top up but have two disabled children. One is on HRCLRM and the other MRCLRM.

We can afford to go on an abroad holiday annually and I pay £200 a month into my SiPP pension, £50 a month into my LISA and we don't struggle on a day-to-day basis.

It's not helpful to tell people to work ft since many work part time because working more will not benefit them financially since it will be deducted from UC.

Why are you so bothered then? You don't get to decide how your taxes are spent and if someone on UC decides to try and save good for them.

I don’t think they are separate issues. There are plenty work working people that also have ‘no room to build even a tiny emergency buffer which leaves people permanently vulnerable to crisis.’ The benefit system should not be providing a safety buffer that a large amount of working families can’t achieve.

I have Disney Plus AND Netflix. 😎

Lucky you being a TAB.

How would you cope if you were too ill to work? What about if you and your DH split up?

Why should someone like me pay for your child benefit? Or the school your child attends? Or for 100 other things I don't directly benefit from?

The answer is because we live in a society and we pay for things for others in that society so we all benefit.

OP

Could you try the '1 p challenge'? Ideally you start it on Jan first. You put 1p in a jar or a bank account on day 1, then 2p on day two, 3p on day three etc

You can do it in any order so you can start (if you have it) with £3.65 which is the maximum. If you go on the money saving expert site there is a printable sheet you can tick off.

It is possible to save, but it depends how miserable you are prepared to be.

My carer has managed a couple of trips to Japan on UC, before anyone starts screaming that he gets too much UC he does not put the heating on in his flat. And I mean never, not even when it is snowing. He has a £20 budget for food each week.

He doesn't have a fridge so saves a bit of electric that way. He walks rather than take the bus.

When he gets to Japan he stays in hostels.

He doesn't go out drinking, or to the cinema or to anything else. He doesn't buy clothes unless he absolutely has to.

YABU to expect to gave savings from UC. If you're claiming due to unemployment only bit well and not illness/disability then you're getting paid to provide for your basic needs aamdm is generally looked upon as being temporary until you secure a job and getting paid a wage.

If you're long term ill and/or disabled your ability to provide financially for yourself is extremely limited and so higher rates of benefits are payable. So you may have a better chance to save some money because you can't work to improve your finances and need government assistance.

I think most people on UC could save a small amount, even if it’s just £5, on the basis that most people manage to celebrate Christmas and other events (as they should be able to) and “splash out” a bit, even if it’s only a “very little bit”.

In order to watch normal TV I would need to get a TV license.

... which would cost more than what I pay for Netflix.

Please explain your working out.

I believe you are allowed savings of about.... 6k I think? I'm honestly not very well versed with benefits, but I'm sure it's something like if you have 6k your benefits aren't affected at all, then up to (I think) 16k you can still claim but your benefits are reduced every month.

Which is understandable- I can imagine the DWP being like "well why should we be paying you every month when you have 16k in the bank?"

But like I said I honestly do see both sides. The frustration of hardworking people seeing people on benefits with thousands sat in the bank, and the frustration of people perhaps in similar situations to me where it is just completely situational that they've ended up on UC.

It hasn't been (and continues to not be) the easiest but I'm here, I have a roof over my head, I have my 3 lovely children and DP, and (most importantly) my 3 kitties.

It could be worse ❤️

And so sorry by the way - that sounds very tough.

Wouldn't you just have lost any savings though - had to live off them until they had been run down to the point you were eligible for UC? In reality I've read the stories of people who saved and it didn't make them any better off when disability struck.

This comment section went exactly as I thought it would when I read the original post.

The thing is, I do get it. I've been on both sides.

I went from working full time since I left school, up until a couple of years ago. I had a great career in STEM. I wasn't rolling in money by any stretch, but I was comfortable.

I was also stupid not to save anything then. Because when I ended up with a brain tumour that made me develop a chronic condition which has rendered me unable to work, I could really have done with hindsight.

Not in a million years did I ever imagine I'd end up on benefits. Unable to work. It's a complete shock to the system.

And this is the reality for a lot of people.

There's no way I could save now. I scrape by every month - literally. I count down the days until the next pay day.

But I get it. I'm not supposed to be rich! I'm on benefits!

The unfortunate thing is, when most people think of people on benefits, they think of the ones who have never worked a day in their life, never contributed, the "scroungers" portrayed in the MSM, the ones who pretend they're ill so they can claim PIP etc.

And they do exist, nobody here can deny that. But we aren't all like that. And many people who claim benefits DO also work! It isn't like every person on benefits is unemployed.

But I repeat - I understand. I get that I'm not gonna be able to save up now, afford luxuries etc. These aren't circumstances of my own making but this is my life now. I accept it! It isn't the best but what can I do?

I just wish I'd been more savvy back when I could have been. Those meals out almost every night weren't really worth it tbh 😂

The government encourages savings on UC up to £6000 to £16000 - see previous posts about their help to save schemes. It's obviously rarely possible to do this depending on individual circumstances but it is recognised that allowing people a measure of stability against minor set backs is a positive thing for the whole of society. Obviously low wage jobs should pay enough at least for this modest level of saving too. The fact that they often don't does not mean we should be trying to take this right away from UC claimants, many of whom do not have the option of working due to disability or caring responsibilities.

Is this a joke! You expect people to pay tax for you to save up!

All well and good, but if your monthly income is barely enough to cover your regular day to day expenses (food, housing, utilities, essential transport) and leaves you with £2 at the end of the month (if you're lucky), you literally don't have the money to budget for putting aside a little every month for those expected additional costs. Discretionary spending just doesn't exist, not even for a bottle of cheap plonk once a month or a couple of takeaways a year, or in some cases not even shoes for the children.

That's what this whole thread started with - UC doesn't allow for long term budgeting just basic day to day costs.

I was waiting for the "that's different" comment!

ETA and I need the response so I can tell DS whether he is allowed Netflix or not.

[Whisper] he has Disney+ too!!