Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

droopsnout

Strewth!! Then you have reason to be dissatisfied!!

On the other hand, you don't think that Mr Cameron would restore things to their 1993 levels, do you?

S-d-w, I have eight years to go before getting my State pension - if they still exist by then. That makes 2016. This could affect me therefore.

So what I'd like to know is where they would like me to work. If they could find me a nice little job here, that is within my physical and mental/emotional capabilities, I would be pleased to have a good honest go at it. (I do already do a little voluntary work at my local tourist office). But, as Dave in Spain is hinting at, if they say we'd have to go back to the UK to find work, that seems rather silly. (English understatement there).

And, if they'd like to pay the hotel bill for my 13-week stay for Work-Focussed Assessment, I won't object. 50 million other voters might, though.

So, like Dave, I'd rather like to know just how the proposals are likely to affect ex-pats. It couldn't possibly be that they hadn't thought of this little complication. Could it?

Dave, do you have a link to the Green Paper, please?

droopsnout

To answer my own question, there is a useful page here, including a link to a pdf of the Green Paper.

martyn4764

droopsnout wrote: »

Unfortunately, I haven't come across anything quite like Quidco or Pigsback over here.

Hi Droopsnout

There's a cashback site called http://www.touslesrabais.com - haven't actually earned enough to cash out yet, but a number of purchases from alapage and amazon.fr have all tracked OK.

HTH

Martyn

droopsnout

Ooh, that's fantastic, Martyn. Thank you!!

Amazon.fr isn't listed on the site at the moment, though. But FNAC and rueducommerce are.

P.S. If you want to refer me to get extra reductions, let me know.

missile

droopsnout wrote: »

(I do already do a little voluntary work at my local tourist office).?

Have you informed your "local" :rotfl: job centre Plus?

seven-day-weekend

One thing I do know droopsnout, is that when my husband had his last IB50 (the questionnaire) to fill in, they sent it here to Spain and it was bilingual. The bit the Dr had to fill in was bilingual.. I rang and asked if he had to have a medical, where would he have it? and they told me Malaga, with an English-speaking Doctor.

So maybe if they want all expats on IB to have medicals, they'll do them in their country of residence?

As it happens, my husband didn't have to have one(they passed him as unfit for work on the basis of the IB50) and we are hoping now that he won't be having one before he gets his pension in January 2014. TBH, we're hoping that us oldies are not the target group and will be put on the back burner.

I agree though, it is a worry if you have to rely on the money.

droopsnout

missile wrote: »

Have you informed your "local" :rotfl: job centre Plus?

I'm pleading the Fifth Amendment.

Dave_in_Spain

Hi Droopsnout. This link leads to the consultation area for the proposals of the DWP website http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/noonewrittenoff/
I have one more year than you before my state retirement pension. My greatest concern is that for my Personal Capability Assessment, the doctor was only allowed to assess the condition he (not I) thought was most disabling. He had 9 to choose from and 2 more have been added since then, and the real problem is that for most of them medication for one prevents effective medication for another because of potentially lethal interactions. If this system has not been improved I will be forced into work I cannot do. (Incidentally, the doctor still wrote that he thought I had "substantially underestimated" my degree of disability). The other concern is that by changing the name and type of benefit to "Employment Support Allowance" are they trying to circumvent EU rules on the payment of benefits to expats within the EEA? And no, David Cameron will not change a thing. He has already put himself behind the new proposals, just a week or so after voting to keep his own 23K a year unaudited perk.

Dave_in_Spain

I fully agree about learning the language. All the Ayuntamientos where I live provide free language and cultural classes to promote integration. Virtually none of the Spanish hereabouts speak English. Here is a link that will take you to the Virtual Classroom of the Instituto Cervantes (under the auspices of the Spanish Foreign Ministry) where you can assess your Spanish learning requirements and access courses to suit your level.

seven-day-weekend

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

One thing I do know droopsnout, is that when my husband had his last IB50 (the questionnaire) to fill in, they sent it here to Spain and it was bilingual. The bit the Dr had to fill in was bilingual.. I rang and asked if he had to have a medical, where would he have it? and they told me Malaga, with an English-speaking Doctor.

So maybe if they want all expats on IB to have medicals, they'll do them in their country of residence?

As it happens, my husband didn't have to have one(they passed him as unfit for work on the basis of the IB50) and we are hoping now that he won't be having one before he gets his pension in January 2014. TBH, we're hoping that us oldies are not the target group and will be put on the back burner.

I agree though, it is a worry if you have to rely on the money.

Hey...guess what??....my husband had an IB50 (questionnaire) come through today. Should've kept my mouth shut!

We'll be jumping through the hoops for the next few months. Will keep you posted!