I WAS in wonderful Whitby last weekend and it reminded me just how much York has changed in the short time I’ve lived here.

Whether you want to lay blame at the door of the council, the Government or the credit crunch, the fact of the matter is that York city centre is becoming a run-of-the mill city for shopping, albeit in a more picturesque setting.

And this is coming from an outsider, so I’ve no doubt that those born and bred may have some strong opinions on the matter.

The little, quirky independent shops add to York’s atmosphere, in my foreign opinion anyway, but they just seem to be fading away and it’s a real shame.

As one The Press web commenter pointed out, certain areas of the centre are looking shabby and I wonder how long it will be before the lovely architecture stops distracting the tourist throngs and they notice what people who live here day-to-day see every time they walk down the likes of Coney Street.

I don’t want to sound like I’m slagging the city off. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a damn sight better than a many other places in the country and there are still plenty of reasons for residents to be proud of their city.

Sadly, I have no suggestions to magically fix it – that is, assuming that the majority of people feel the same way and think there is in fact something to change. I’m not ruling out the possibility my opinions may be in the minority and that York is moving forward and giving tourists/consumers what they want.

But judging by how many of my friends (many of whom were born here) reminisce about the York days of yore, I don’t think I’m far off the mark.

•I’VE been reading that someone of my age should be putting 25 per cent of their income into a pension fund.

When I worked out what the figure was based on my income, I almost fell off my chair in laughter before being struck dumb as I realised this was not a joke and I was falling drastically short of the required monthly savings.

I work a lot, I have a house with bills to pay, a car and the other usual suspects of outgoings that leave me pretty skint. So quite where I’m meant to pull this ridiculous amount of money from each month (no rude suggestions please), I just can’t fathom.

Thankfully, I have absolutely no desire to arrange a pension fund, I never have.

Maths may never have been my strong point, but trying to make sense of the private pension system left me with a migraine and I always came to the same conclusion.

Why should I let someone else decide how much of my money I can access each year and why on earth would I risk losing thousands and thousands of pounds if it all goes wrong, as it appears to have for so many of late?

I mumbled something along these lines to co-workers when I worked in a large insurance firm. After looking at me as if I was mad, they tried and convince me that “it’s just something you have to do” – without actually being able to answer my question.

That’s just the thing – not one person can give me a good enough reason to convince me to enter into one of these schemes.

I do plan on having some sort of provision for later life, but I’m not working to the Government guidelines of retiring at 60. I bore too easily and the thought of having nothing to fill my days strikes fear and dread into my core.

I know plenty of people who have pensions and quite a few people who don’t and, like me, aren’t planning to get one either.

But I’m baffled as to how folk my age should prepare and save for our dotage when most of us can’t afford to save for Christmas. All the money-saving experts in the world can’t make money grow on trees.

Fact is, if I tighten my belt any- more, I may crack a rib.