To think saving on Universal Credit is extremely difficult?

[FirmGreyMember]

It feels like Universal Credit doesn’t really leave much room for saving once basic living costs are covered. I know in theory people say to put even small amounts aside but in practice it seems very difficult when most of the money goes on essentials.

AIBU to think there’s very little opportunity to build savings on UC?

There are threads on here where people have talked about how to save and on what and got some helpful responses. Maybe tell us what you get and what you spend on so there could be some practical suggestions on making savings.

Your header suggests you want to discuss a different topic, I.e that UC is not enough to make savings.

People piping up with 'it's not designed to be saved' or 'should be bare minimum until you get a job again' are simply not thinking things through.

The OP is not suggesting that there should be plenty left each month to put into a big fat savings account for a fancy holiday.

She is making the point that, if people are unable to save even a little and can barely cover outgoings, then they will be less likely to ever escape the cycle of poverty.

Everyone needs a buffer for emergencies, change of circumstances, etc or they end up in crisis and / or debt when unexpected and unavoidable costs crop up.

Ok. Good Night.

It can be very challenging for 2 people working full time what if you need a filling a working person has to pay out 60 odd quid or new glasses do you have to pay for either of these?

Surely its up to you to improve the situation & provide your own buffer not rely on the government to do it.

I’ll echo what others are saying its meant to be a basic income not to be saved but I do agree with your sentiment.

its so easy to get trapped in a desperate and vicious cycle of living on the breadline & not being able to fix/replace things that need fixing. Once in there it can be hard to escape

Not people on benefits fault your crap with money if your income was that low you would be entitled to uc

Is that not the point?

Yes and yes I pay dentist and opticians being on uc doesn't mean you get these things for free

Thats a bit harsh without knowing someones circumstances. I’d say there are a whole host of people who are just above the limits for UC or not entitled cos they don’t have hoardes of kids they can’t afford. Its not always about being bad with money…

I agree - many working households are also under huge pressure and can struggle to build any buffer, especially when unexpected costs crop up. My point wasn’t that this is unique to people on Universal Credit, only that for many on UC the room to save can be extremely limited too. Financial fragility exists across the board, which is part of the wider issue.

If you mean benefits being designed to cover basics only, perhaps. My point is that having no realistic room to build even a tiny emergency buffer can leave people permanently financially vulnerable.

UK spending on "welfare" (benefits and pensions in 2013-14 was 11.7% of GDP, 27.5% of total expenditure.

In 2023-4 the figures were 11.18% and 25.13% respectively.

In 2029-30 they are predicted to be 11.14% and 25.06% respectively.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2024

So nobody needs to panic. Nobody needs to be silly. Nobody needs to scaremonger. Everything is perfectly stable.

You've ignored my point of course. because its inconvenient for you to accept the truth. Benefits aren't a savings account for people on benefits. The benefits bill is bigger than income tax revenue. That is not going to end well.

• i.e. the state is spending more on those not working than it raises from those who are.

Not harsh realistic people need to stop wanting everything now and actually save for things. This is the reason people have no money cars on finance, mortgages they can't afford, expensive mobile phone contracts so they can get the newest iPhone. Days out, eating out being the norm rather then a treat once or twice a year, kids in multiple clubs. According to someone on here the other day she pays £200 to get her hair done and according to her thats a normal average amount.

Britain’s welfare bill exceeds income tax revenue. Labour’s answer? More cash

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/04/labour-welfare-bill-income-tax-revenue/

Gosh that statistical blip was an utter gift to the welfare retrenchment fans of MN. It's the equivalent of The Note to the austerity government in 2010!

HMRC have a bank account they accept donations into. Try that. It's easily accessible online.

You shouldn't be able to save on UC and it shouldn't be a lifestyle where saving is a consideration.

Yes yes I know I posted on a goady benefits post. I cant help it.

Why are you asking me to send money to HMRC? Have they recruited you? 👀 Dodgy scammer.

But they’re not really a safety net anymore are they? They have become the backbone of an economy where a living wage doesnt actually cover the cost of living. Almost half of UC claimants are in work.

for example a single parent working full time in Tesco will qualify for a universal credit top up because Tesco aren’t paying enough for them to eat, have their kid in childcare and keep a roof over their head. So the government tops up this shit wage to make it just about manageable, meanwhile Tesco reports profits of over 3 billion a year, not to mention all the grossly inflated salaries of their senior staff.

Benefits are no longer a stop gap. They are totally essential long term support for a huge amount of people and if that makes you angry direct that anger towards a failing government, unfettered private rents and big corporations paying criminally low wages.

So if a person is disabled so on uc for life they can't save to buy a new fridge. Are only healthy people allowed fridges?

Yes but people on uc have it better with certain things like prescriptions, if I went for a filling I would automatically be skint and I think if uc claimant and could save money working people would be even more frustrated. I know people on pip who can save and go on holidays etc. I know people on UC who can go abroad I think it depends on how you spend your money many people have top of the range phones nails done etc, takeaways if you are saying you don’t have phone contracts, subscriptions tv go the salon regularly for nails and hair and don’t have pets or holidays you just have enough to eat and heat pay your bills with nothing left over then that’s shit but everyone I know who gets UC are not worse off than me.

You wouldn't like to know what I am saving for whilst on UC. Probably make some frith at the mouth.

If my fridge breaks and im not allowed to save to buy another one what will happen to my champagne and lurpak. Warm champagne is gross

I see @FirmGreyMember point and agree.

Being poor is expensive.

I have posted this before but I had a bit of a ding dong with my father about it a few years ago. He was saying that people on benefits are poor because they are shit with money as they use Brighthouse type companies (it still existed then), despite his own GRANDSON being on benefits due to a disability that means he is unable to work (agreed by DWP). So I said to him that if their washing machine broke, him and my mother would just buy a new one for (say) £500. A person on benefits doesnt have that money sitting there to be able to do that so they have to get a credit deal somewhere that will accept people on benefits , like Brighthouse did. They marked up their products massively so the £500 washing machine would be £750 then add a huge APR but, and its a big "but" the payments are £5 a week so affordable to a person on benefits. So in the end the person on benefits ends up paying £1500 for a washing machine that cost my well off father £500.

A couple of hundred quid in savings would have allowed that person to buy a cheap machine (google tells me that a new machine can be got for less than £200, delivered) instead of spending hundreds in interest just so their kids can have clean clothes.