Pounds and Sense is a UK blog covering financial and other matters from an older person's viewpoint. I'm Nick, a now-retired freelance writer & editor.
West Midlands, England
Joined December 2016
- Tweets30.2K
- Following1.3K
- Followers2.7K
- Likes60.4K
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Last chance to take advantage of the current Trading 212 welcome offer. If you haven't done this before, you can get a free share worth up to £100 just for signing up. See trading212.com/invite/FMJXdY… Offer closes 3rd Nov 2026.
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Hundreds of thousands of hard up households will not get the £100 payment to help with fuel bills, analysis by @policy_practice shows bit.ly/4ite81Z which points out also that many of them are not getting means tested help as they don’t claim it.
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Switch to EDF Energy and get a FREE £50 credited to your energy account. Zero-carbon energy at low online prices. Terms and conditions apply edfenergy.com/quote/refer-a-… #ad
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
🚨 ONE TAX-FREE ALLOWANCE GOES UP. THE OTHERS STAY FROZEN!
Andy Burnham says if you put in the extra hours, more of that money should stay with you.
💷 £380 A YEAR.
✅ Side-hustle allowance rises from £1,000 to £3,000 in April 2027.
✅ Around 400,000 people save £380 a year on average.
Meanwhile, for employees:
❌ Personal allowance: £12,570. Frozen until 2031.
❌ Higher-rate threshold: £50,270. Frozen.
❌ National Insurance thresholds: frozen too.
📉 By 2030–31, my calculations show the extra annual tax + NI from freezing thresholds rather than raising them with inflation from April 2027:
🔴 Basic-rate employee: £392
🔴 £60k employee: £1,175
Different groups, so not a direct comparison.
But here's the question for Burnham.
If people working extra hours should keep more of their money, why are the main tax thresholds still frozen?
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Today's Daily Sceptic update is here. A bearded Oxford lecturer with giant fake boobs sparks outcry; Donald Tusk mounts coup to 'save Polish democracy'; and Chris Morrison on Friederike Otto's claim that climate change killed 32,619 people this summer. dailysceptic.org/todays-upda…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Last chance to take advantage of the current Trading 212 welcome offer. If you haven't done this before, you can get a free share worth up to £100 just for signing up. See trading212.com/invite/FMJXdY… Offer closes 3rd Nov 2026.
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
There you have it.... You need to eat a thousand gherkins a day to be better off under this @UKLabour Budget if you're a regular working person that doesn't claim benefits...
That's beyond me however much I might want to stick it to the Man 😂
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Today's update on the Daily Sceptic is here. Ofcom wants ID checks for all social media users over 16; Labour's Budget will send Net Zero costs soaring, warns Paul Homewood; and teacher Joe Baron exposes the rampant antisemitism in Britain's schools. dailysceptic.org/todays-upda…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Time is running out to take advantage of the current Trading 212 welcome offer. If you haven't done this before, you can get a free share worth up to £100 just for signing up. See trading212.com/invite/FMJXdY… Offer closes 3rd Nov 2026.
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Tax rates on income from savings interest are set to rise by four additional percentage points from April 2027. Here’s what you can do to protect your cash moneyweek.com/personal-finan…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
An ISA reversal will be welcome news to many, but did chancellor John Healey miss opportunities in his first Budget? moneyweek.com/economy/uk-eco…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
New on PAS: The £3,000 Side Hustle Tax Break poundsandsense.com/the-3000-…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Good news for those with a “side hustle” - the £1k trading allowance will increase to £3k from April 2027. Happy days if you are selling things on Vinted, eBay, Etsy 😀 #AutumnBudget
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
My total taxable income is under £15,000 a year but because I live in a Band E house I don't qualify for an extra £100 towards my energy bills. No 'breathing space' for me then 😒
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Flu vaccines have only limited effectiveness. At least as important is to boost your body's defences, in particular with Vitamins C/D and Omega-3 oils. See my recent blog post for more about this: poundsandsense.com/stay-heal…
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
Just 5 days left to take advantage of the current Trading 212 welcome offer. If you haven't done this before, you can get a free share worth up to £100 just for signing up. See trading212.com/invite/FMJXdY… Offer closes 3rd Nov 2026.
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
The price of natural gas is the same all across Europe.
That the UK's sky high electricity prices are 'because of the price of gas' is self-evidently untrue. Other countries pay the same gas prices but have much lower electricity prices.
We must look elsewhere for the cause of our predicament
Could it be our 'world-leading' renewables?
PoundsandSense 🇬🇧 retweeted
The move will reverse former Chancellor Rachel Reeves' plans to cut the cash ISA limit from £20,000 to £12,000 a year for under-65s (previously due in April 2027). 🗑️
Here's what we know: moneysavingexpert.com/news/2…
ALT MSE news headline: Budget 2026: Cash ISA limit to STAY at \u00A320,000 for under-65 \u2013 as plans for 'starter investment ISA' announced