A Friend Of The Family...

attended Mum's funeral(today I thanked him for doing so)I think I have caught everyone that attended so I can avoid putting anything in the local free sheet.

He lost his wife approx a year ago with...sadly with cancer. Coincidence, both Mum and his wife were both called Kathleen. He had problems with her care(like us)

But he is a big believer and he says Mum is with his wife in a better place and he gets comfort from that thought. He still misses his wife and still weeps buckets and he needed bereavement counselling, he talks to her, has photo's around his home and writes a letter to her every day(he told me on the phone today)

But like me he is struggling financially. He said he puts two hot water bottles in his bed at 8pm and he says they are still warm in the morning...That's a thought. And to avoid using some of the cost of a light bulb and I suppose you have to be careful doing this he uses those tea lights(He called them night lights)so he has some light for safety.

Sometime to think about he says that they last for around 3 hours before they go out. I'd have to see what I could put them on as they can get quite hot...

If I lit them at midnight and they went out around 3am, it is soon daylight again but one energy saving light on the landing shines into all the bed rooms and the toilet and bathroom even the stairs if I leave the doors open so that probably uses little in the way of power and is probably safer. And one light is doing so much.

He says that he pays £50 a month with N Power for gas and electric, if so that's cheaper than what I may end up paying with EDF...perhaps whilst I am deciding to go with EDF and have a cooling off period and am taking the meter readings, I should ask questions of my current suppliers.

Now, his daughter is disabled(I believe uses a wheelchair and she is given quite a few benefits)it appears that she is a beneficiary in a will and is to receive approx £16,000 and she has to accept it, if she doesn't the DWP will ask why she has refused it(for people reading outside of the UK, that is the Government Department that pays out and decides if you are entitled to state help)

Not unlike myself, it is going to push her over the line where she receives help and so to make it last a little longer she is going to have to move to another area and a property that doesn't cost as much and then even if she spends it, when she reapplies for state help, they have told her that she may not get benefits for six months and then because the benefits are changing there is no guarantee when she reapplies she will fit the criteria for what has replaced what is available now and some of them will no longer exist. Its the last part of that worries most of us the most.

Not coming off State help and having to use the money that you have come into but wondering if you can apply and be awarded it again. It would be lovely if when you get some extra money, they would allow it to used towards those emergencies that always come up or just to make a life a little more bearable so you might be able to replace items that wear out or need repairing or perhaps put the heating on more often. Or possibly so when you retire, there is a little bit of a safety net. £16,000 doesn't go very far these days. Whether you work or don't work.

If they'd allow you to keep such an amount you might not have to ask for so much help from the State in the future. If it was £50,000 or £100,000 I might understand their reluctance. I'm not sure that many these days will ever be in a position to have such an amount in savings...especially if you cannot work or you keep losing your job and have to keep using your savings up.

Believe me, if I could stop taking help and having to jump through all the hoops to get it, I would...Most of those who have health problems would feel that way. Occasionally, though its unlikely that I'll win, I have taken to buying the odd lottery ticket. And I have gone for the one that offers the biggest prizes played across Europe. I have avoided scratch cards so far.

DLA(Again for people abroad)is kind of payment to help with daily costs that being ill incurs, it might be to get a taxi somewhere if mobility is bad, help towards heating costs, something to help you get around your home etc...)supposedly to try and give you some interdependency.

From next year, it is given a new name and becomes something else and is reduced by 20% before you get it.

If you are really poor and now receive Income support(that is going to be coupled with Job Seeker's Allowance)and again be harder to get. JSA for readers abroad is another benefit given whilst you try to find employment and again you have many conditions attached to obtain it. And the Government keeps saying they want work to pay so these benefits many think are generous are anything but...

But a lot of this is not being reported in the media so many of those affected are worried, being stressed and are walking into the changes blind...

The only way anyone really can survive on State help is if everyone in a household is doing all that they have to be entitled to it perhaps there are are two or more living in the household(perhaps adults and children who are of working age)and they pool their money together. But a couple or a single person really struggles.

I was told of another change that is coming in that will affect pensioners in a year or two...

They say they'll raise the State pension to £140 for a single person(and that was welcomed by many)but that will now push a married couple over a certain amount income wise and so where they might have been entitled to extra help, they will find a lot of that withdrawn and then using the increased pension they will find themselves worse off so they probably would have been better off with a lower state pension as they'll be spending more of it.

I hate talking about money matters...but for many of us it is a big part of our lives and our future...