From: hummingbird 
Newsgroups: uk.finance uk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Savings ( was Re: Britain's Debt Pandemic - New Statesman. Is economic meltdown on the way ?
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 19:01:57 +0100

On 21 Oct 2005 07:58:57 -0700, joseph.hutcheon@virgin.net
 mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...

>hummingbird wrote:
>
>> On 21 Oct 2005 05:48:37 -0700, joseph.hutcheon@virgin.net
>>  mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
>
>> >Indeed, which is precisely why 'baskets' of commodities are used,
>> >rather than one single item.  RPI or any other measure can only ever be
>> >a general indicator; some essentials are staying the same price, or
>> >getting cheaper (eg food, clothing) while others are getting more
>> >expensive (gas/leccy, council tax).  An argument that does have some
>> >force is that OAPs may find it harder to get to cheaper outlets for
>> >food and clothing, so are forced to pay over the odds at corner shops
>> >and such.
>>
>> But my earlier point is that OAPs etc spend a much larger proportion
>> of their income on the essentials like gas/elec/CT etc, so their
>> inflation is higher than a person who spends their money on the latest
>> gadgets etc.
>
>Don't they get help with fuel costs?

There is the govt Xmas heating handout but I'm not sure at what age
that kicks in w/o checking and it doesn't cover Council Tax. Of course
there are other benefits people can claim if they want to surrender
their privacy and take a course in form completion!

-- 
"Turkey should join the EU 'because it is a European country'"
...Jack Straw 2nd October 2005 in Luxembourg.
BBC: "only 22% of citizens across Europe want Turkey to join the EU"