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As the clocks go back and temperatures fall, winter can bring extra pressure on household finances.
According to Age UK, it’s often an “expensive time of year”, with higher energy bills and Christmas on the horizon. StepChange added that the rising seasonal costs can “put a chill on even the strongest of household budgets”.
Wages
If you worked a night shift when the clocks changed, you may be entitled to extra pay this month.
Will Burrows, a partner at Bloomsbury Square Employment Law, told The Sun that hourly workers or those paid for set hours should receive an additional hour’s wage.
If your Sunday pay rate is higher, that enhanced rate should apply to the extra hour, too.
Car Repairs
Car insurers record the highest number of single-vehicle claims in winter, said Policy Expert, as ice, rain, and snow increase the risk of drivers losing control.
The RAC advises planning ahead before travelling: check your route, ensure you have enough fuel, and keep oil and fluid levels topped up. Avoid potholes and poor road surfaces to reduce the risk of costly damage.
The Festive Season
Shoppers are expected to spend an average of £1,371 in the six weeks before Christmas, reported The Independent, even though around a third of people feel worse off this year.
The run-up to Christmas is rarely cheap, especially with gifts and social events to consider. A strict budget and shopping list can help prevent overspending.
Lower daylight levels can affect serotonin and mood, and shopping can trigger a dopamine boost, making impulse spending more tempting — something to stay mindful of.
Energy Bills
As the weather cools, many households will turn up the heating, says Which?, leading to higher energy costs.
Simple steps such as draught-proofing and adjusting boiler settings can make a difference.
Ofgem also suggests small changes like washing clothes at 30°C and using heating and hot water only when needed, potentially through smart controls.
Crime During Darker Months
Met Engage warns that burglaries and car crime often increase in winter, as longer nights give criminals more cover.
Locking doors and windows, using alarms, and installing motion-activated outdoor lights can help prevent break-ins.
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Autumn Budget
With the Autumn Budget due on 26 November, MoneyWeek suggests tax rises and spending cuts are likely, driven by weak growth, high borrowing costs, and pressure on public services.
Although there are rumours of changes to property taxes and pension relief, Fidelity warns against making any rushed financial decisions based on speculation.
Feeling in control of your career isn't always easy — and many professionals say they're struggling to get there.
Just 45% of Americans say they have control over their career right now, according to LinkedIn's latest Workforce Confidence survey. But that sense of control varies widely depending on the type of work people do.
Those in business development (59%), healthcare (57%), and accounting (56%) are the most likely to feel in charge. Professionals in HR (55%) and real estate (53%) also report higher confidence.
On the other hand, workers in customer support (33%), media and communication (36%), and marketing (39%) are significantly less likely to feel they're in control. That may reflect broader uncertainty in these sectors, especially as AI reshapes roles and the job market continues to shift.
For more than two weeks now, during the government shutdown, Imelda Avila-Thomas has been trying in vain to get approved for unemployment compensation to help cover essentials such as food and mortgage payments for her family while she’s on unpaid furlough from her federal government job.
She kept asking questions and was ultimately sent a hyperlink to upload proof-of-income documents, which she did earlier this week. But Avila-Thomas, who works for the Department of Labor in San Antonio, said the system still deems her ineligible for benefits, saying it cannot verify her wages. She wonders whether someone who might help her has also been furloughed.
A mother of a 12-year-old daughter and local union leader, Avila-Thomas is among the thousands of furloughed federal workers trying to navigate the unemployment system — a sharp increase, but still a fraction of the 670,000-plus furloughed workforce, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The dollar amounts and length of benefits vary by state.
About 26,000 federal workers filed initial claims from Sept. 28 through Oct. 18, according to raw data published by the Department of Labor. Some 3,300 applied in the week that ended days before the Oct. 1 shutdown start.
Furloughed workers have some factors to consider. For instance, if they receive back pay as expected when the shutdown ends, they would need to repay the unemployment aid. For Avila-Thomas, refunding the money later is preferable to taking on debt.
Avila-Thomas has worked at the Labor Department for 16 years. Her husband is a disabled veteran who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs and is still working with pay, but they have had to cut back on tutoring for their daughter, who has dyslexia, and with one income now, they’ve gone to a food bank.
“This would cover that — the essential basics,” said Avila-Thomas, whose local American Federation of Government Employees covers Labor Department workers in several states. “And yes, in an ideal world, everybody would have six months' worth of savings. And the reality is, most of our members are coming to that point where they can no longer pay those regular bills.”
She has applied for part-time work and said she isn’t looking for a handout.
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Federal workers’ jobless aid relies on states
Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees relies heavily on state laws and processing.
The specifics vary. Massachusetts has a high-end weekly benefit of $1,105 per week for up to 30 weeks. In Mississippi, it’s no more than $235 weekly for up to 26 weeks. Roughly half the states pay less than $600 a week maximum, according to U.S. Department of Labor numbers.
Not everyone gets the maximum weekly rate. Some states offer fewer than 20 weeks. And the limits can grow in some states when unemployment rates are particularly high.
Around the nation’s capital, the maximum weekly payment is $444 in Washington, D.C., $430 in Maryland, and $378 in Virginia.
In Texas, where Avila-Thomas lives, the weekly maximum is $605 for up to 26 weeks.
States normally issue payments within two to three weeks after someone’s claim is approved, the Labor Department says. And most states also have an initial “waiting week” for which benefits are not paid upfront. Beneficiaries typically receive money for that week only later; if they exhaust all the weeks they’re allotted, the National Employment Law Project says.
States are responsible for verifying an applicant’s job and earnings with their federal employer. But the Department of Labor has warned that the shutdown may delay processing of this information by federal agencies.
Many workers have not received forms normally sent by their employing agencies that are used to verify employment and earnings, according to the National Employment Law Project.
Questions have come up about states’ varying requirements that people prove they are job hunting while receiving unemployment checks. The Labor Department has said waivers of the requirement may apply for the furloughed federal workers under state laws, noting they face ethics limits on outside work. And some states have specified that work-search mandates won’t apply to these workers, waiving them for several weeks or longer.
But in Texas, Avila-Thomas said she has not received a clear answer. Many of her job matches could present a conflict of interest, she said. The Texas Workforce Commission did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the work requirement for those workers.
Those still working without pay are ineligible
About 730,000 federal employees have kept working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, and they are generally not eligible for unemployment benefits. They will receive back pay after the government is reopened. Workers on reduced hours could be eligible for unemployment.
“Excepted” employees working without pay are typically necessary to respond to emergencies or ensure national security, such as air traffic controllers and airport security screeners.
The Trump administration has said pay will continue for some groups, including FBI special agents and military troops. Paychecks never stopped for some other workers whose departments, such as the Postal Service, rely on their own revenues or certain other funding sources.
There have been other wrinkles specific to how this administration has handled the shutdown, as well.
Earlier in October, the Trump administration threatened that back pay for furloughed federal workers would not be guaranteed, though he later backtracked on it. Trump has also sought to lay off more than 10,000 federal workers during the shutdown. A judge has blocked the layoffs while a lawsuit challenging them plays out.
Avila-Thomas said workers like her are ready for the shutdown to end.
“We’re ready to get back,” she said. “I think I’ve driven my family crazy with things and projects.” ___
This story has been updated to correct the name of the American Federation of Government Employees.
The crises at the heart of the government shutdown fight in Washington were coming to a head Saturday as the federal food assistance program faced delays and millions of Americans were set to see a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.
The impacts on basic needs — food and medical care — underscored how the impasse is hitting homes across the United States. Plans by the Trump administration to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on their grocery bills.
It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second month on Saturday,.
“This is more than a crisis,” said the Rev. John Udo-Okon, who runs the Word of Life Christian Fellowship International food pantry in the Bronx, where hundreds more people than usual lined up in the New York City borough as early as 4 a.m. Saturday to collect groceries. “Right now, you can see the desperation, you can feel the frustration that the people are going through.”
But back in Washington, there was little urgency to end the government funding impasse. Lawmakers are away from Capitol Hill , and both parties are entrenched in their positions.
The House has not met for legislative business in more than six weeks, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., closed his chamber for the weekend after bipartisan talks failed to achieve significant progress.
Thune said he is hoping “the pressure starts to intensify, and the consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real for everybody that they will express, hopefully new interest in trying to come up with a path forward.”
The stalemate appears increasingly unsustainable as Republican President Donald Trump demands action and Democratic leaders warn that an uproar over rising health insurance costs will force Congress to act.
“This weekend, Americans face a health care crisis unprecedented in modern times,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said this week.
Delays and uncertainty around SNAP
The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island ordered that the government needed to tell the court by Monday how it would fund SNAP accounts. McConnell, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration needed to either make a full payment by Monday, or if it decides to only tap $3 billion in a contingency fund, figure out how to do that by Wednesday.
“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” McConnell wrote in his order.
But that still leaves uncertainty about whether the department will use additional money or only provide partial benefits for the month. The SNAP program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs about $8 billion per month.
Benefits were already facing delays because it takes a week or more to load SNAP cards in many states. Some governors and mayors have stepped in, using what money they have available to fill the program that feeds about 42 million Americans.
“People are just nervous, scared,” said Jill Corbin, the director of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry in Norwich, Connecticut. ”It’s not really a definite answer that we have right now.”
As people lined up early Saturday for hot meals and groceries, the organization had 10 extra volunteers to help newcomers navigate the process. On Wednesday, some 400 families visited the food pantry, and 555 people received hot meals.
“It’s kind of like everything is unraveling at the same time,” Corbin said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York criticized Trump for spending Saturday at one of his Florida golf courses, saying on social media that “Trump and Republicans are illegally withholding SNAP benefits.”
“Millions of children could go hungry,” he added.
Democrats demanded this week that the government fund SNAP, but Republicans responded by arguing the program is in such a dire situation because Democrats have repeatedly voted against a short-term government funding bill.
“We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no on government funding, now 14 different times,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference Friday.
Trump injected himself into the debate late Thursday by suggesting that Republican senators, who hold the majority, end the shutdown by getting rid of the filibuster rules that prevent most legislation from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators. Democrats have used the filibuster to block a funding bill in the Senate for weeks.
Republican leaders quickly rejected Trump’s idea, prompting the president to double down on the demand Saturday night.
“Don’t be WEAK AND STUPID. FIGHT,FIGHT, FIGHT! WIN, WIN, WIN!” Trump posted on social media, arguing that Democrats would terminate the filibuster rules if they regain the Senate majority. “We will immediately END the Extortionist Shutdown, get ALL of our agenda passed, and make life so good for Americans that these DERANGED DEMOCRAT politicians will never again have the chance to DESTROY AMERICA!”
“Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!” he added.
Health care subsidies expiring
The annual sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act health insurance also begins Saturday, and there are sharp increases in what people will have to pay for coverage. Enhanced tax credits that help most enrollees pay for the health plans are set to expire next year.
Democrats have rallied around a push to extend those credits and have refused to vote for government funding legislation until Congress acts.
“Millions of Americans in every state across this country are waking up to drastically higher premiums for the same health care coverage they’re already on.” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in a statement.
If Congress does not extend the credits, subsidized enrollees will face cost increases of about 114%, or more than $1,000 per year, on average, health care research nonprofit KFF found.
Some Republicans in Congress have been open to the idea of extending the subsidies, but they also want to make major changes to the health overhaul enacted while Democrat Barack Obama was president. Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the benefits, but has not guaranteed a result. And he is demanding that Democrats first vote to reopen the government.
So the country waits and watches for Congress to act.
T.J. McCuin, whose family owns and operates farmers' markets in Mesa and Apache Junction, Arizona, said 15% of the markets’ customers use SNAP benefits. “Hopefully this isn’t a long-term problem because once those benefits run out, then it’s going to start to hurt,” he said.
😀 It's Berkshire Hathaway earnings Saturday! 😀
And it was a whopper of a third quarter for Warren Buffett's industrial and insurance giant:
🔥 Operating earnings: +34%
🔥 Total cash on the books: a record $386.1 billion
Buffett is poised to step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at year's end, handing the baton to successor Greg Abel. That baton will include Abel running the storied Berkshire annual meeting and writing Berkshire's famous annual shareholder letter.
All of this reminds me of what Brooks Running CEO Dan Sheridan told me Friday on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid:
"Warren Buffett is the GOAT of capitalism. I mean, is there anybody who's done it better? How fortunate are we as a brand to be owned by Berkshire Hathaway? There is so much guidance and wisdom that we've had from Warren over the years — and, now, Greg is stepping into this role and I couldn't be happier to be supported by Berkshire. I always say I've got the greatest job in the industry because of our ownership structure."
Berkshire has owned Brooks since 2006.
Don’t text and meet. Choose presence.
A WSJ article this week reports that “CEOs are Furious About Employees Texting in Meetings.” I bet they are. I was always a little peeved when I didn’t feel like CEOs were listening to me, too.
This issue of texting in meetings is important. Jamie Dimon is quoted in the piece saying, “This has to stop. It’s disrespectful. It wastes time.” Those are the two issues, right there.
From the perspective of the meeting itself, the issue is whether people are paying attention so that the work of the meeting is getting done well and efficiently. If people are tuning out with texts or other work, they’re not contributing well to the meeting, and may not even need to be there.
This depends on the kind of meeting, of course. If it’s just a broadcast of info, if the presentation is not engaging, then people will tune out.
But if the meeting is making a decision, either pay attention or leave the meeting and do something else.
That’s the efficiency part. But the disrespect is an important cultural component.
Are you okay with your date texting while you’re talking? Or a job interviewer texting while you’re explaining why you’re fabulous? How does that make you feel? It’s a matter of simple courtesy and respect.
I once had a boss who indicated our one-on-ones were over, not with a recap of next steps or a note of inspiration, but by simply turning to her computer and typing. You get used to it, but it’s not the best way to close a meeting.
The keyword here is “presence.” In coaching, presence is a cardinal principle. Imagine being coached by someone who seems distracted or (OMG!) texts mid-conversation. Presence means being fully conscious, aware, observant, curious, responsive, and empathetic.
Bosses might not be able to get employees to pay attention. As individuals, we can try, but we won’t always be able to get the people we are meeting with to put down their phones and focus.
But you, all by yourself, can focus on being present. Try this out for a week: Put your phone down in meetings and don’t touch it during the meeting. Big meeting, small group, one-on-one, doesn’t matter. Put it down and focus. Be present.
It’s harder than you think, but if you keep at it, it gets easier. The payoff is that you see more, observe more, and can deepen connections with teams and individuals. In the end, being present will make you more effective at what you’re doing.
If your job requires you to persuade people to do something they may not want to do, you’ll need to bring the best version of yourself. Be fully present to be more effective.