It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

littlemoney

QueenJess said:

Well that was a totally pointless budget wasn’t it? Almost predictably hangs out the poorest to dry.

The budget is never about helping people and is just political play. It is clearly stating that they don’t think poor people matter, only rich people (who they also assume don’t care either) and rich lobbyists do. I really hope they are wrong about this and it isn’t the way to win the next election. I have slightly more faith in human nature that people do care.

The budget always  has one eye on the next election to ensure they get voted back in. Nothing a government does is for the good of the electorate, only the good of the politicians to ensure re-election or a very well paid job once they leave politics.

It's every man for themselves and I don't care who I tread on to get what I want approach these days. There is no care for others from what I have seen. If you can't look after yourself then tough luck you wil be cast aside.

London_1

littlemoney said:

 The budget always  has one eye on the next election to ensure they get voted back in. Nothing a government does is for the good of the electorate, only the good of the politicians to ensure re-election or a very well paid job once they leave politics. 

It's every man for themselves and I don't care who I tread on to get what I want approach these days. There is no care for others from what I have seen. If you can't look after yourself then tough luck you wil be cast aside.

I would love to struggle on the 80k plus that politicians live on and eat in their subsidiesed restaurant in the House of Commons.
My friends and I were talking at our weekly coffee morning on Tuesday (our highlight of our social calendar, free coffee with our Dobbies loyalty cards )and were saying that come the winter many of us will be thinking of ways to save on fuel .

I wonder how many of you remember the Reading Rooms in Libraries from years ago. We are going to investigate our local libraries, and see what sort of things are laid on part from books to entertain the older communities.

Locally to me most of them seem to be open plan, but at least nice and warm and perhaps a brisk walk to the library then an hour or so in the warm may help us cut back on our heating indoors  

I do go to a book club once a month at one, I must ask next time I go and see what the librarians think about perhaps using some of the spare space for other things. 

When you live on a limited income you have to think of ways to strech things out a bit.Plus being stuck indoors isn't very healthy for older people we need social interaction. 

Where I used to live there were 'pop-in parlours' for older folk ,but there seems to be nothing locally at the moment in my area I may even email the council and see what they have ,although its obviously down to funding I guess .

Anyone got any ideas how to keep a bunch of old ladies warm and happy this coming winter (apart from a bunch of old men obviously ) 

JackieO xx

warby68

My mum is 87 and thankfully can afford the increases so far although she is nonetheless worried by them. She wants to pass on her money but I keep making sure she spends it on what makes her comfortable. Not easy - she's from the wartime generation.

Anyway, my suggestion for managing heating expenses a little is to take turns spending the day at each other's homes if you have a few local friends and suitable mobility. Obviously it provides social interaction as well (as long as you all get on well enough to spend that much time together !)|. It costs no more to keep 4 people warm than 1 as long as they're together. 3 houses can then switch off for a while.

ladyholly

Thanks to the personal allowance being frozen I will now pay tax as my state pension plus small NHS pension take me over so any increases will be at least partly eaten up by tax. This will increase over the next years as I understand the PA is frozen until 2026. This will mean many more people will pay tax in the coming years but great news!!! In 2 years time it will only be 19% not 20 as at present. Sorry to be sarcastic but this is from a govermnment that is committed to levelling up and helping the poorest in society. 

middlewife

Where I used to live there were 'pop-in parlours' for older folk ,but there seems to be nothing locally at the moment in my area I may even email the council and see what they have ,although its obviously down to funding I guess .

Anyone got any ideas how to keep a bunch of old ladies warm and happy this coming winter (apart from a bunch of old men obviously ) 

JackieO xx

Hi JackieO   I volunteer for a befriending charity where I live. They have a scheme linked with AgeConcern where once a week they book out tables in coffee shops for people who just want a natter.  Things are just getting going again round here so might be worth contacting them . Adult Social Care "should " be able to tell you whats going on I've had mixed results from them. Otherwise your GP surgery (if you can get through) should have a social prescriber who may be able to set up something if there are a few of you. Otherwise you might just have to put on your lippy and share a man or two 😁

Living_proof

We have a new initiative and an old library has become a community hub with some people running their start up businesses, others repairing upholstery, learning to cook etc. There is a thriving group called Red Tent where women meet up once a month for crafts, a three course dinner and a natter, all welcome. Once a week there is a Knit and Natter during the day and I may be tempted to learn to crochet once my garden is in reasonable shape. JackieO how about a sewing bee for quilting etc?

euronorris

The 1% income tax reduction is so minimal though. Even if you earnt £50k pa, that 1% reduction only equates to £374 pa extra in your pocket. For many people, especially those struggling, that monetary amount will be far less. And its not even coming for another 2 years, by which time they could decide not to proceed with it anyway.

London_1

Some great ideas there chums , don't fancy sharing some old goat though
We have a weekly coffee morning at Dobbies and it consists of the 6 members of my quiz team. At the moment we are not quizzing as one of our members is due to have a heart op. shortly so we are keeping her out the pub, and in the coffee shop her OH is our honorary chap, and great fun as well.The rest of us are widows so he gets outnumbered by us all.

There used to be a knitting group locally, but it tailed off after the lockdowns, so maybe its time to get it going again. I did used go to a history meeting once a week, but sadly our tutor died two months into the first lockdown, and we all still miss her as she was a great teacher and super friend.

Even U3A seems to have disappeared locally. There used to be a walking group from my local library but that to seems to have gone I suppose its all the cuts and councils just haven't got the cash anymore

annieb64

I must see what our library has to offer. We've been here two months and haven't joined yet . Quilting would be good as the quilt would keep me warm while I work on it.

We are trying to keep the bills down. This house is a new build so should be better insulated than our old house. Wish we could get MIL to move. She's alone in a large four bedroomed house. It has an archway between the sitting room and dining room and an enormous hall so is hard to keep warm.

tooldle

ladyholly said:

Thanks to the personal allowance being frozen I will now pay tax as my state pension plus small NHS pension take me over so any increases will be at least partly eaten up by tax. This will increase over the next years as I understand the PA is frozen until 2026. This will mean many more people will pay tax in the coming years but great news!!! In 2 years time it will only be 19% not 20 as at present. Sorry to be sarcastic but this is from a govermnment that is committed to levelling up and helping the poorest in society. 

The levelling up agenda (as far as I understand it) is about boosting productivity, pay and jobs, living standards, spreading opportunities and improving public services. This does not necessarily translate to helping the poorest in society, although I can see why voters may have interpreted it thus. In my area we’ve had this type of scheme for a while. A lot of the funding goes to up skilling  (often at a very high level), with aim being to stimulate the knowledge economy I.e. bring expertise and new products into being. Intellectual property can be sold to create an income stream or, it can be used to create jobs. The impact trickles down the chain. It isn’t a given that persons at the bottom of the chain will have better jobs, but there is job creation even if at minimum wage. 

@London_1 Does your council have Local Area Co-ordinators. In my city there is a team of LAC’s with some areas having several. The LAC’s are the people who organise /co-ordinate the local activities i.e. the lunch clubs, coffee clubs, walking groups, various fitness activities, litter picks, fundraising, Covid support etc. They also facilitate others to set up interest groups. They tend to work very closely with the local councillors. Maybe your missing activities have been moved across to a similar set up?