The Retirement Thread

[PaulSB]

This is a precursor to scrapping the triple lock altogether I think . It's just a question of when and I fear it won't be long

You could well be right but, and as usual avoiding politics, it would take a very brave Tory chancellor to scrap it. In 2019 60% of over 65s voted Conservative. If many of those people suffer badly over the next 12 months the triple lock will return.

 

[Dave7]

Disable data transfer over network until you actually need it.

If I understood that I could try it

 

[Tenkaykev]

I swapped to a Lebara SIM only deal recently and cut my mobile bill to a fiver a month.

I was with Plusnet mobile for quite a few years and very happy with the service. There are a couple of "not spots " locally where I couldn't get a signal, one of them being the Recreation club that's the meeting place of our running club.
It was only after receiving an Email from Money Saving Expert that I dug a little deeper and used the OFCOM site to pull up a map of our area and use the drop down box on the maps page to see and compare the coverage maps from the various providers. Vodafone ( Lebara ) were by far the best coverage locally so I switched to a deal that gave me unlimited texts and calls, plus 6 GB of data for £5.99 per month on a rolling 30 day contract. I've since " upgraded to 10GB for £6.99. I rarely if ever get near that but now I never have to be concerned about running out of data.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/ofcom-checker

 

[BoldonLad]

Good plan. I've been with Tesco mobile for 4/5 years. A bundle is data, phone and texts which lasts for 4 weeks. The cheapest is £5 which covers my needs most of the time. I only get 250mb but rarely use that. For £7.50 it's 2GB and £10 is 10GB. All can be renewed at any point.

If we're going abroad I usually whack a tenner on it to cover eventualities.

Another Tesco Mobile fan here. I have SIM Only Contract, same for my wife, and, two of my offspring, all on one account, so, we each get "family perk", and, I can limit any "overspend" by the offspring. Each contract is currently costing £9.00/month, although mine is shortly to drop to £7/month on renewal. All have unlimited minutes and texts. The Data allowances vary between 2GB and 12GB, depending on when each individual contract was renewed. Been with them for over ten years, and, I think, I am right in saying, monthly cost has either stayed same, or, reduced, at each renewal.

 

[Dirk]

Car's cleaner than it's been, inside and out, for 3 years.
That's 35 quid well spent.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've completed a quordle for the first time this afternoon, first four out of four.

 

[rustybolts]

This is not fair. Everyone has won accept me .

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh4ugYiXF-Q

 

[ColinJ]

If you win the big one, you know who your best friend is

I have an agreement with my sister-landlady. Starting with my first full pension payment later this week, I am going to buy £80 worth of PBs every 4 weeks. Any wins will be split between us.

I have told miscellaneous family members that there are two ways to access my future puzzle game millions...

1. Offer me support and encouragement now while I am developing the games.
2. Laugh at my puny efforts, tell me that I will be lucky to even make ones of pounds let alone millions of pounds, but be prepared to grovel mightily later!

All but one currently fit category 2...

This is not fair. Everyone has won accept me .

No wins here, but I only have 13 left after cashing in thousands to get me to my pension.

Good day all. Not been on much as I have a problem with my mobile.....it is devouring my data usage. I am trying to find the reason.

If I understood that I could try it

Dave - make sure that mobile data is switched off unless you are out and about and actually need it. (I see that Classic has suggested something similar while I was typing.)

The main thing is to make sure that any updates are only done over wifi. They can easily eat up GBs of data.

Ha - I just did a 2 GB update (over wifi) and checked the settings after restarting my phone. The setting has been changed to allow updates over mobile data. I changed it back!

I am assuming that you have an Android phone? Go into the Google Play app. Click on your avatar picture in the top right to call up a menu. Click Settings/General Network preferences. Set App download preference and Auto-update apps to Over Wifi only.

 

[ColinJ]

I have finally got all the queued security updates installed on my phone and have been trying out Android 12...

I am slightly irritated that A12 puts a gesture bar on the bottom of the screen which cannot be hidden on its app launcher.

Some apps don't seem to handle the top of screen notification bar very sensibly. That bar on my phone includes the selfie camera so there is no point in just hiding the notification icons if the app can't use the rest of the space. My Memory Map app ends up leaving an ugly blank black bar. For my nascent puzzle game I have at least 'painted' the unusable areas with the background texture used by the app.

 

[Sterlo]

Email from SSE saying my energy bill will go up £537 this year. Oh well. It was expected, but certainly not welcome.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My deal runs until June 2023 but I'll be surprised if they don't try and worm out of it somehow

 

[classic33]

If I understood that I could try it

It's a means of limiting(stopping) access to the internet, unless you need it.
There should be the option in the top bar of your handset, where the clock/time is displayed. Slide that down and have a look at what's visible.

 

[classic33]

I have an agreement with my sister-landlady. Starting with my first full pension payment later this week, I am going to buy £80 worth of PBs every 4 weeks. Any wins will be split between us.

I have told miscellaneous family members that there are two ways to access my future puzzle game millions...

1. Offer me support and encouragement now while I am developing the games.
2. Laugh at my puny efforts, tell me that I will be lucky to even make ones of pounds let alone millions of pounds, but be prepared to grovel mightily later!

All but one currently fit category 2...


No wins here, but I only have 13 left after cashing in thousands to get me to my pension.





Dave - make sure that mobile data is switched off unless you are out and about and actually need it. [B[(I see that Classic has suggested something similar while I was typing.)[/B]

The main thing is to make sure that any updates are only done over wifi. They can easily eat up GBs of data.

Ha - I just did a 2 GB update (over wifi) and checked the settings after restarting my phone. The setting has been changed to allow updates over mobile data. I changed it back!

I am assuming that you have an Android phone? Go into the Google Play app. Click on your avatar picture in the top right to call up a menu. Click Settings/General Network preferences. Set App download preference and Auto-update apps to Over Wifi only.

How long were you typing before posting, there's a four hour time difference.

 

[ColinJ]

How long were you typing before posting, there's a four hour time difference.

I started typing, saved the draft, went out to score some Warfarin, picked up a Metro, got food in, made some porridge, ate the porridge, made a mug of tea, drank the tea while solving the Metro Quick and Cryptic crosswords, did a few other things, and then finally... came back on the forum!

Okay...?

 

[welsh dragon]

Car's cleaner than it's been, inside and out, for 3 years.
That's 35 quid well spent.

View attachment 633539

I have my own cleaner. His name is Mr WD

 

[classic33]

I started typing, saved the draft, went out to score some Warfarin, picked up a Metro, got food in, made some porridge, ate the porridge, made a mug of tea, drank the tea while solving the Metro Quick and Cryptic crosswords, did a few other things, and then finally... came back on the forum!

Okay...?

Ay, I suppose so.