50 word Moneyfesto - Small changes for a big difference 2013

Wise_old_girl

clairehfromwestsussex wrote: »

Millions of pounds of unused medicines are incinerated every year. 9 in 10 prescriptions are dispensed for free. If every item instead attracted a fee of just £1, this would make each and every one of us think before we get a prescription dispensed.. am I going to use this? This would save the money the NHS spends on dispensing medicines that are never taken.

This cost could be reduced if doctors prescribed an initial supply so that people to check if they suited, then the same prescription could be valid for the rest after the trial amount used. Often 3 mths supply prescribed and only a week used - I have known elderly relatives have supplies of drugs which "didn't suit me" or "I don't take those anymore" such a waste!

rachy1981

Hi
I did some volunteering over Christmas and I realised that there are large chunks of our society who get ignored or forgotten about.
I met some single guys, families and older people at a lunch on Christmas Day who couldn't afford to 1. buy any Christmas Dinner or 2. heat their homes for the day (if they had one in the first place) so they had come to the charity meal to get a bit of both. It was heart breaking. Homelessness is an uncomfortable reality for folk over Christmas who would rather forget that such people exist in the midst of such a happy time. I am as guilty as the next person. Bottom line - homeless people are ignored.
I was then told about a lot of elderly and disabled people who are trapped at home and forgotten about in the sense that although someone comes every few days to bring them shopping, check their medication etc. noone provides them with companionship, asks them how they are or is willing to take them out for the day etc They either have no family or are too enbarrassed to actively seek any of these for themselves. All of these people have neighbours nearby and all of them have a landline. Bottom line is housebound elderly and disabled people get forgotten about.
What I'm driving at is, could we all set aside say, two hours every week to go and visit someone nearby/ pick up the phone to a neighbour/ help out at a Shelter? I'm not sure it needs an incentive, just maybe a Government campaign? Imagine if millions of people re-engaged with the 'old' community spirit that our parents and grandparents go on about? I reckon it would transform our society in that a lot of these 'hidden' individuals would suddenly be able to form part of, and therefore contribute to, our communities again. Just an idea...

ace3

Every time I send something through the post office they try and push some product of theirs at the end of my transaction. I live with my mother and they push things for me to give to her! NO MORE :mad:

rosegarth

STOP THE FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE WITHDRAWING GRATIS VISAS FOR CHERNOBYL CHILDREN COMING TO UK FOR RECUPERATIVE HOLIDAYS FROM BELARUS & UKRAINE.

Up to now the UK have provided visas free of charge for these children but are now proposing to charge £86 per child from April 2013.

antrobus

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Improve Money Rules In 50 Words
What easy changes should our politicians make?

Politicians like big 'legacy' issues, but miss those little easily-implemented changes that help us all. So we want yours...

...

I've even got a strapline for you Martin - 'Little Things That Mean a Lot'. Not that anyone's ever thought of it before, or anything like that.

http://everything2.com/title/Little+Things+That+Mean+a+Lot

fruitypuds

Politcians in the Commons need a Code of Conduct. On TV, they set an example for public behaviour, and currently they show us how to bicker, hurl insults and make empty promises, when they could encourage a diplomatic, sympathetic and kind population who problem-solve and work together.

ljane_2

My 50 work manifesto.

I would like the school day & year standardised, not decided individually, so we can plan our lives. Including inset days. All day school on last day of term. School breakfast and after school clubs available to ALL, not a postcode lottery.

Thank you

jondaro

Put a £100 one-off pot-hole tax on the annual road fund tax BUT the additional £100 goes directly to the county council wherever the vehicle is registered SPECIFICALLY to be spent on pothole repairs over & above their planned budget. Figures of the income/expenditure would be published monthly for local accountablity

anniecave

Wise_old_girl wrote: »

This cost could be reduced if doctors prescribed an initial supply so that people to check if they suited, then the same prescription could be valid for the rest after the trial amount used. Often 3 mths supply prescribed and only a week used - I have known elderly relatives have supplies of drugs which "didn't suit me" or "I don't take those anymore" such a waste!

Can there not be a way of re-cycling un-used medicines, perhaps given to third world countries? I had a hospital operation recently, when I left I was given 5 different medicines, 1 of which I never even took. Still sitting unopened in the packet.

cm233lh

Every person, no matter how young should be able to transfer their tax allowance to anyone they choose. Singles and childless working couples would pay more; families would pay less tax than they currently do.