Tax and the pensioner

I am now on my fifth tax code in four months and poorer in cash, although Walter maintains I should not moan as it is important to pay the correct tax. However, I feel aggrieved as I would not have noticed the missing cash, had the taxation office taken the correct amount of tax out last September. Every penny counts when you are a pensioner. To be fair, it is not entirely the fault of the Taxation Department. I completed a form sent to me last November, a 'checking up on you type of form'. Of course I did not read the instructions correctly and where it said 'enter your weekly state pension' I entered the amount I received monthly. Consequently I received notification of a new tax code which meant that half of my teachers' pension would be taken up in tax payments. Panic! The man in the tax department laughed and said no one receives that amount of state pension and duly corrected everything. Another tax code and more letters from pension offices arrived on my doorstep. Then at the end of March yet another letter arrived from the taxation office stating that I owed them a considerable sum in back taxes which meant that my teachers' pension would be reduced drastically. I experienced considerable palpitations before I made contact with yet another man in the taxation office. After hearing more laughter, he said 'no problems, I can see where the error is' and duly rectified it. So now I have a new, new, new tax code and fingers crossed it is the correct one this time. But the overall amount of money I receive is still less than it was six months ago. I hope it is correct. I want to trust them but there is a niggling feeling that maybe all is still not well! And I am not in control! In the meantime the coffee is still great, especially when the weather is sunny and we can drink it on our terrace. Even though there are weeds between the pavers, and we are surrounded by dead plants killed off by a bitter winter. The coffee is great! And we can still afford it, thank goodness!