Money seems to be going out very quickly now that Christine has mastered the web and how to make transactions. So in a spare moment I decided to review the budget and this got me to looking at the benefits we get from being over 60 and retired. By the way I am of course writing this while sitting in the Bahamas for two months, that’s not classed as a benefit as it’s not a holiday I am simply visiting family.


To start with Christine has her retirement pension as she is over 60, she obviously believes there was a mistake on her birth certificate because she still claims to be 45 but accepts the pension because “it’s their fault if they make mistakes”. But it is really the extras that interest me at the moment.


We now get a Winter Fuel Allowance £200, very nice, probably get Christine part of a new coat to stay warm. There are Cold Weather Payments, roll on plenty of cold days, its easy to say that sitting out here, and the Warm Front Scheme, I think I have one of those.


Because of her pension Christine gets a £10 Christmas bonus, wow can’t wait for that it can get us a third of a turkey from Marks and Spencer.


We both qualify for bus passes for reduced travel on local buses and National Express. Unfortunately a girl from the village works in the issuing office and Christine refuses to show her birth certificate with the wrong age on it. So no bus pass, Christine also points out that the bus service to our village is very sparse and she has not been on a bus in the last 25 years and has no intention of starting now.


Free prescriptions are now available, typical though I haven’t needed any yet. But that’s something to look forward to! Free eye tests and free NHS ‘complex’ lenses. I always thought NHS specs were stylish, can’t see Christine in them though. If you use Boots you also get Advantage Points which can be saved for their Christmas 3 for 2 offers. Seems a deal to me.


Planning is essential now particularly with all the decorating we need to do because I can only shop at Focus on a Tuesday and B&Q on a Wednesday. Over 60s discount cards you see. I point out my project management skills will be required to ensure we don’t run out of paint, etc. Christine does point out (she does this a lot) that neither of them sell Farrow and Ball or Zoffany. I can’t win.


We can get 50% off fees for learning about Horticulture, Landscaping and Garden Design from Capel Manor Colleges in London. Christine would like that she could go away Monday and come back Friday, I could get used to that. We also qualify for 50% off a course on how to prepare for retirement at the University of Wales in Bangor but is that sufficient to encourage anyone to go to Wales, it would if Charlotte Church was at the next desk.


So there it is. Will the income match the outgoings? Very unlikely but there is hope for the future because when I’m 75 I get a free TV license and free passport, tax allowances and pensions go up but this will only be for me because Christine in ten years will still only be nearly 50.