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 he is,shame it took me so long to realise, think I kidded myself, kept thinking he'd change,worked hard at my marriage as I believed in it! For a while ive thought what an idiot ive been but then shook myself and said no,im just decent and am walking away with my head held high knowing I did my very best! But back to U C,I hardly know anything about it,but so far from my experience its for anyone,yes for unemployed people that don't work at all and get everything paid for them or for people like me that are working but are struggling to make ends meet for whatever reason,the only thing I am finding it hard to get round is the stigma,like everyone on it are bums, we aren't!

This is what is so wrong. And it needs to be addressed.

Exactly.
I said upthread about a friend who is amazing at budgeting. She has an eye for deals, and if she needs anything she always turns to places like freecycle first. The money she saves goes on seeing her favourite bands.
She is on UC... just LCWRA, no other money.

It makes no sense when people who are working and taking home over twice what she is saying it is not right she can afford stuff they can't. They can, if they do the same. Budget. If someone on less than you can afford a holiday, then there is no reason you can't either.

Wait though,apparently until we are divorced he should be giving me marital spouse payments as 1 adult child has additional needs plus I earn less than him,I never knew this until I read it on a online legal site,but yes no child maintenance as they are adults

Good for you, dear.

While there are many bums claiming UC, I don't paint everyone with the same brush.

It is, however, ridiculous to post a thread about the perks of UC while being cash-strapped and planning a holiday.

Yes its rather shortsighted to say the least, it would upset many like me!

If your adult sons are disabled then they surely are claiming Uc and PIP themselves and can contribute to the rent and house running costs? They could be getting well over 1k a month each with UC with LCWRA and even standard rates of PIP? May be less if under 25.

Someone can't work but can go and see her favourite bands all the time?

1 is disabled, the other works full time and does contribute to the home thankfully .

I would check the disabled one is getting everything they are eligible for as with three adults sharing costs you should be ok. Apologies for previous post, I thought you had said both were disabled.

When I was poor years ago, I was so good at budgeting! Would spend time going to 2-3 shops for my food shop eg Farmfoods had great deals on bread & milk, Aldi was great for fresh fruit & veg but didn't have a great range of other products at that time.

My family had so many days out with Tesco clubcard vouchers! Theme parks, city sightseeing tours, farm parks. Sun £9.50 holidays, had a few of those too! Clothes bought in sales for next year etc. If there was savings to be had I was on it!

Now I'm on a decent salary I’m time poor so don’t look for discounts as much. Do my big shop in Aldi though! Tesco etc are so expensive!

This says it all.

She goes about 3 times a year. Needs a hotel stay etc.
3 nights away from home a year does not mean she can hold down a job, FFS.

Also my disabled son has done unpaid work for sainsbury's but needed a mentor/ helper for him to accomplish this,thankfully theres a fund for this,its a scheme run by mencap/ mind in my local community, my son thrived,loved it and got on fantastically with his helper, the most sad part was my son actually asked could he come into sainsbury's an additional day to do more work,so he was doing 3 days every week unpaid .I had no problem at all with this as he was learning life skills,getting involved in the community and learning to work/ contributors society, he did this for 1 year,we wrote a CV,mencap gave him a glowing reference, sainsbury's said he'd done fantastically but refused to even give him a partime job,BUT they were quick to let him volunteer for a full extra day,hurt him and me a great deal!

That sounds like the autistic lad who was working for free at Waitrose. Asked for a paid job, and they said no. Happy to use his free labour though.

Nothing to apologise for! Thankyou for your kind advice 😊

seriously?

I just wanted to add that in regards to disability benefits for people who require social care support eg carers, day centres, residential placements the LA take the majority of the benefit to pay for services. Familes aren't allowed to take 'rent' towards household bills if they have the person living with them unless there is a proper rental agreement in place. The LA leave the person with the mobility part of their PIP and set amounts for Disability Related Expenditure which is minimal and doesn't usually cover costs. They also have to leave the person with a minimum to live on (food, clothes, bills, entertainment etc) which is approx £100 per week. Some people qualify for CHC funding so this doesn't apply.

well capitalism only functions when they can get workers as cheap as possible, so whats wrong with knowing your true value ?

exactly my point about capitalism perfectly, companies will happy to pay as little as possible

those two things are not the same, im sure others can make a better point,

When you're shopping for groceries would you not busy the cheapest produce?

I know. It is pretty offensive.

Although on another thread, a couple of posters decided that people who go to day centres are taking the piss and could get a job too.

depends if i want low quality version vs high quality version, you pay peanuts you get peanuts

for example cyber security would you pay higher wages to get a kevin mitnick type level of skill or would you pay cheap and hire a uni grad who thinks there the bread and butter ?