Preparedness for when

jk0

rosiepup2000 wrote: »

Re towing a car being harder than it looks....too many years ago when I was a student my friend's car conked out and he asked me to tow him to a garage. His car was stuck at the bottom of a long, steep drive outside his student house. Neither of us had a proper tow-rope. We tried washing line (!) which for some inexplicable reason snapped as soon as I drove off. In the end I got behind his car and drove up very slowly until I made contact with his bumper and then pushed him up the drive, out onto the road, through at least one junction and quite a way along a main road and into the garage. I was quite proud of the fact that neither of our bumpers got dented too much!


Re the State Pension Age, the Govt wants to bring forward the increase to 67 sooner than previously planned, this page makes it a bit clearer:
https://www.gov.uk/changes-state-pension


Changes to the State Pension age

The government has proposed that:

• people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 will reach State Pension age between 66 and 67
• people born on or after 6 March 1961 will reach State Pension age when they’re 67 or older

This change hasn’t been approved by Parliament yet.


At the moment my SRP age is 66, but if these changes do go through I will be pushed back (again!) to 67...or older (ominous music).


Edited to add - sorry to double post the same info!

Hmm. I wouldn't count on pensions even being paid at the ages they tell you now folks. I suspect the ages will be pushed back every few years as the cost of having lots of generation X's retiring looms ahead as unaffordable.

paidinchickens

Sorry if someone has already posted this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26531807

MPs grant powers to close local hospitals

Hollyberry

My pension age is currently 66, but I'm fully expecting that to change. I always tell OH I'm expecting to die in harness.

jk0 If you have an open fire, holly clippings are great to start it, but they flare up like crazy, so don't use too many. Another potential use is to block the bottom of the hedge to avoid the local passers by stuffing their rubbish in it for you.

[Deleted User]

OK, so I've plugged my CFL table lamp into the Jump Starter pack.

The room is about as well lit, as when I have my main room light (fitted with a 60W frosted incandescent bulb) switched on.

I'm thinking I might invest in another Jump Starter pack, when I have the cash available.

It'll be neat having proper room lighting, when most the rest of the area are on candles.

Plus, there'll be no generator noise, to draw attention to me.

Might be an idea to get some lined curtains though.

Witless

One thing that surprises me about the vehicle & home prepping is the apparent absence of fire extinguishers: essential IMHO.

newthrift

We have fire extinguisher at home and my OH has one in his lorry but never considered it for the car!!

As for the pension age talk I'm a way off at 23 - current would be 67 I'm sure by the time I get there they will raise it to 80...here's to winning more than £25 on the lotto:rotfl:

bob think I'm going to have a look at those jump starter packs. Based on where we live and usually more than one power cut per year as it is AND having holiday cottages, may come in handy!

siegemode

Witless wrote: »

One thing that surprises me about the vehicle & home prepping is the apparent absence of fire extinguishers: essential IMHO.

Good point thanks, I recon if the car caught fire it would be safer to get out quick, call 999 and stand clear. Then claim on insurance. As for the house it's been on my list along with a fire blanket but not got round to researching the right ones to get for when we have spare cash.

jk0

siegemode wrote: »

Good point thanks, I recon if the car caught fire it would be safer to get out quick, call 999 and stand clear. Then claim on insurance. As for the house it's been on my list along with a fire blanket but not got round to researching the right ones to get for when we have spare cash.

I should buy the biggest one you could handle IIWY. This one is screwed to the bottom of my stairs:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001ACOZQW/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Witless

I prefer the top of the stairs, that way you have the chance of another way out: depending on where the fire is.

[Deleted User]

Witless wrote: »

One thing that surprises me about the vehicle & home prepping is the apparent absence of fire extinguishers: essential IMHO.

I have one (6kg) in the house, as well as one (1kg) in the car.

I'm actually thinking of replacing the one in the car, as I'm not sure 1kg is large enough. :think: