The Diary Of Onebrokelady Aged 60 And A Half

[Deleted User]

@Onebrokelady, you need to sort the tax issue as a priority. Get signed up on that website and stop prevaricating lol!
Best wishes.

Onebrokelady

[Deleted User] said:

@Onebrokelady, you need to sort the tax issue as a priority. Get signed up on that website and stop prevaricating lol!
Best wishes.

But it’s what i do best 😀😀

Cherryfudge

Onebrokelady said:

[Deleted User] said:

@Onebrokelady, you need to sort the tax issue as a priority. Get signed up on that website and stop prevaricating lol!
Best wishes.

But it’s what i do best 😀😀

There is a very good reason we procrastinators have never formed a support group... ;D 

Onebrokelady

I went on the Gov website and as I suspected I was unable to figure out what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know how to explain this but I am thick as a brick so unless there are written instructions showing me a step by step way to sort this out ( if I even knew what I’m sorting out ) I will not be able to do it. This is partly why I end up in so much trouble with money. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING FINANCIAL apart from basic maths to pay my bills and do my shopping. This is why I kept putting it off and now upset and embarrassed and I won’t be mentioning anything about it again 😟

[Deleted User]

Onebrokelady said:

I went on the Gov website and as I suspected I was unable to figure out what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know how to explain this but I am thick as a brick so unless there are written instructions showing me a step by step way to sort this out ( if I even knew what I’m sorting out ) I will not be able to do it. This is partly why I end up in so much trouble with money. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING FINANCIAL apart from basic maths to pay my bills and do my shopping. This is why I kept putting it off and now upset and embarrassed and I won’t be mentioning anything about it again 😟

Don't be daft! Don't put yourself down. You are doing fine.

daisy_1571

We are all good at some things,  ok at others and rubbish at others so no need to feel embarrassed or upset.  You wouldn't think that if you were 'confessing' your eyes are brown or you are left handed or don't understand Chinese.  

Sometimes, and this totally might not be you, but sometimes we misunderstand something at school and it just never is corrected so we go through school with that blank and think we can't understand something.   Or we get told something 'you're thick', 'you're never going to amount to anything' etc and that sticks so we self sabotage and it becomes true.  Sorry, this is maybe inappropriate, not meaning to insinuate anything, just random examples.   But its entirely possible you are not rubbish at everything financial.   Maybe you are. Maybe you are just rubbish at one aspect.   Who knows.   Anyhoo,  its immaterial, there are plenty people who do understand.   Ask a friend, family member, colleague or hr person, union rep, citizens advice or other advocacy service?   Get them to write down step by step then you can do it again yourself if you need to.

You can sort this, deep breaths, its okay   

Daisy xxx

mybestattempt

Onebrokelady said:

I went on the Gov website and as I suspected I was unable to figure out what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know how to explain this but I am thick as a brick so unless there are written instructions showing me a step by step way to sort this out ( if I even knew what I’m sorting out ) I will not be able to do it. This is partly why I end up in so much trouble with money. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING FINANCIAL apart from basic maths to pay my bills and do my shopping. This is why I kept putting it off and now upset and embarrassed and I won’t be mentioning anything about it again 😟

You don't have to respond, but I thought I should let you know that if you have a friend or relative who could help, they can register with HMRC as your "trusted helper" and have access to view your personal tax account to assist you.

Muddy_Walker

OBL - please don’t put yourself down!!!!! Pensions can be incredibly difficult to fathom out even for financial people let alone us mere mortals 😊
it doesn’t help that a lot of the wording is a foreign language to us - a bit like medical terms that make perfect sense to you wouldn’t mean a thing to the likes of me. I understand the basics of medical stuff but couldn’t tell you the ins and outs of it.
just a suggestion but perhaps if you copy some of the pension text on here but change the figures so that part can remain private - would that help? 

From what I’ve read of Baron Dales posts he has a good understanding and having been a teacher may be able to explain it in a way that you (and us) can follow?

jwil

Please don't be upset and embarrassed, the gov website is not always clear on what you need to do and financial stuff can be very intimidating.

The first step if you don't have one already is to set up a personal tax account. https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account.  Go to that link, and click on 'start now'.  On the next page, if you don't have a government gateway number already (i.e. if you've never used any of the online services), then click on 'create sign in details' and then follow the steps from there to create the account.

Once you've got that account, you will be able to at least see your current situation, even if you don't understand it (and that's ok!).  You can worry about the next steps after that.

foxgloves

@OBL - I wasn't even able to set up a Government Gateway account for months! The fault was at their end, not me at all, but it was certainly very frustrating. All sorted now because I refused to let it lie, but I can well understand how off-putting it is to feel you have encountered seemingly impossible-to-penetrate barriers. 
I hope you can find someone to help you.
F x