To think my universal credit feels generous.

[MoonBaby1]

I got to my early 40s without ever needing to claim but circumstances find me single and paying the lions share of child related outgoings.

I work full time on£31,000 and have found out this year thanks to applying that I get on average about £800 from UC. It has been an absolute life changer and will hopefully be able to afford a modest uk holiday actually during the summer holidays and pay the school back some debt im in for after school care.

So many benefits bashing threads so I just wanted to present another side that as a cash strapped mum of two who works full time, UC is making a positive difference to our life. I didn't even think id qualify!

Yes, flexible.

The OP has shared the positive aspects of Universal Credit.

It's 2026. Walking out of a job without having another job in this climate is not logical.

It only allows 6k of savings before the universal credit stops so that incentivizes holidays for those able to save

Many people are able to work; they choose not to.

Then they will be on jobseekers... £94pw. Could you live on that?

UC tapers off from £6k... it actually fully stops at £16k.

For one I’m not your dear

now I hope you’ve at least 6-12 months worth of savings then cos that job might go bye bye

or you could become injured and have to claim

so never say never cos it could be you next needing a helping hand that you are begrudging others for.

It stops at £16k.

Certainly not, but it seems many claimants are doing just fine.

Not on that amount.
Anyone on more than that will be sick/disabled, have disabled kids, be a carer (although I think they get LESS than a job seeker), be a single parent to kids.
None of those things come across as people "choosing not to work".

OP earns £31k and gets £800 UC top up. Right now, someone that has been assessed as not fit to work gets a little over £600. How is that right?

Begrudge the OP for arranging a caravan holiday while claiming she's struggling on benefits?

A misappropriation of money.

She did not say she was struggling on benefits. She said she was "cash strapped" BEFORE benefits, as she was paying a lot towards childcare.

A caravan holiday you re begrudging someone on a top up of benefits that is working and paying taxes is misappropriation yeah right.

One would assume groceries and utility bills would be the priority for a cash-strapped, single mother with two children.

We could bring back the Workhouse tomorrow, and the MN thread would be full of folk complaining that the gruel is too thick and why bother giving them candles in the bunkhouse if they don't have any reading material anyway.

And if she has a bit left over after that?
Is she meant to call the DWP and give it back?

One would assume people would mind their own fucking business and let her manage her own income as she sees fit, tbh,

OP is cash-strapped with a stingy ex-partner.
Perhaps save the money for a 'rainy day'?

For real, there was a poster on here that said people on UC that don't work don't need clothing (and therefore money for clothing), because they are not going out to work. They were serious too.

It's Mumsnet, dear. A forum.

Did she actually ask for your opinion on how she should spend her money?

Yes, and the people you respond to, or tell they should go to a museum instead of modest holiday, are actual people... not just a name on a screen.

If OP was sat in front of you in real life, would you be brazen enough to tell her the things about herself that you have said on here? Or are you hiding behind a keyboard?

You are stressing the obvious. Contextualise the title thread.

Naturally, such a post will garner opinions.

We don't know what sacrifices OP has made while she lived without UC, that's made her feel like she can afford a holiday. Maybe she only ate once a day, or all of her clothes and white goods are free from FB marketplace, or maybe she only uses her electric off peak and never turns the central heating on.

We don't know, nor do we have a right to know.

What I do know is that if you're on more money than OP is getting and you can't afford a few days a year in Skegness, as some posters are claiming, that's not a fault with the benefits system. That's a fault with your budgeting.

Make better choices.

I absolutely would and have done it before.

You're not going to look me in the eye and convince me you're cash-strapped while you're looking to arrange a holiday.

Absurd 😂

I can afford a holiday because I cut back on other things.. It is either/or.
If I was not cash strapped, I would not have to make such choices.