JANUARY : WHAT’S IN STORE?

I thought I’d try this month, to post a photo each day illustrating how I save money.

Here is today’s offering:

I received a gift set of 3 body scrubs over Christmas, and nice as they are, I don’t use body scrub.  Body Shop (UK) very kindly allowed me to change them for the equivalent value in glycerine soap. These lovely soaps are also currently on offer at 3 for 2, so I scored 6 soaps. That’ll keep me going for a while.

Today’s tip : change it for what you do want.

Expenditure: nil; Saving: £8.

Subsequent photo tips will be hosted on flickr and tweeted from my Twitter account.  Click here for the next in the series.

DECEMBER : MY 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

I am sipping wine as I write this, surrounded by boxes. Christmas has come early for me and the cat, in the shape of a snowball competition on Vouchercloud. I won week 2. There is one more competition you can enter this week, if you are interested. Meanwhile, I have been happily preoccupied with arranging deliveries and unpacking boxes, and very happy to be home. 2 hours creative problem-solving has never been so rewarding !

I am well pleased with the prizes, more so because this was a skill-based competition, not a random draw. It leant itself to analysis, and required patience and attention to detail: skills that were once valued in the workplace. The jobcentre say I should mention the achievement on my cv. There is life in this old dog yet!

NOVEMBER UPDATE : CHRISTMAS IS A-COMING

October – where did October go ? I blinked and suddenly the fireworks are over and it’s the run-up to Christmas.  My bag situation (see last month) might be sorted – I have been promised a new bag for Christmas – but I am still half-inclined to fix up the old one.  Thwarted in my mission to splurge on a new bag, I couldn’t resist treating myself to this :

I am smitten with the Papermania Enchanted range for making Christmas cards.  If you decide to have a go you will also need sticky pads from poundland.

But the singular advantage of this post being so inexcusably late is that I now have the link for Jacquie Lawson’s animated Advent Calendar : another treat (sigh) and one I hope will enchant my grandson.

I will also be sharing with him our family Advent Calendar (right) but whether it will survive the ordeal – who knows? Good job I have a couple spare
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I’m finding new delights on my Sony Ericsson Xperia phone- the most significant of which is synching it with my Google+ calendar.  I’ve never had (used) a calendar on my phone before and this is something of a new experience for me.  Thankfully the phone doesn’t count the days to Christmas…
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November’s Challenge, just in case you were wondering, is to find enough space in my living room to raise a 5ft xmas tree. At the time of writing, my living room looks very much like Santa’s workshop in the rush hour.

Want to join in ? Nip along to the link below!
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PERSONAL CHALLENGE : OCTOBER UPDATE

September was fun- far too much fun for me to get any work done. I did a bit of sewing, that’s all. Distracted ! I should say. Hot on the heels of the Amazon win, Sony Ericsson drew my name for a sparkly new Xperia X10 phone. I had barely enough time to upgrade the sim card before being whisked away on a private yacht (only slight exaggeration) for a glorious week afloat with a good friend.

Back home, it is time to admit that my trusted companion of the last 30 years has expired.  I’ve mended this, my favourite bag, twice but this last is truly beyond me.  I don’t know what will replace it.

I have two bags in a similar design but neither are leather, and I’m not sure I even need such a big  bag any more (especially since the style is now fashionable). Mine had just 2 zip compartments, one inside & one under the flap, and room for a pair of shoes (just). I can’t bear the thought of a twee grandma bag with pockets everywhere and ubiquitous magnetic catches. Maybe I should take a class in working with leather …

October’s challenge therefore, is to sort out the bag situation.
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Nip along to the link below and join in.

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The spanish computer

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. ‘House’ for instance, is feminine: ‘la casa.’ ‘Pencil,’ however, is masculine: ‘el lapiz.’

A student asked, ‘What gender is ‘computer’?’

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer’ should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men’s group decided that ‘computer’ should definitely be of the feminine gender (‘la computadora’), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

However, the women’s group concluded that computers should be Masculine (‘el computador’), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

Who won?

PERSONAL CHALLENGE : SEPTEMBER

September, already nearly a week gone.  I’ve been pleasantly delayed by a windfall from My Cup of Tea : winning some Amazon vouchers for sending in a recipe. Yes, windfalls make it onto the Hot100 List  too.  But with only 44% achieved can I add more than 4% this month?  I’ve made a good start with +1% in the first week

#unlisted : bit more off the hedge. I am pleased to report the controlled descent of the last of the bay tree leaders, now standing at 6 ft.  But there is plenty of scope to cut back some more.

#44 More space in the lounge/diner.   Turns out the babywalker was on loan from a friend, so it is going back this week. Hooray !  This month’s focus is to fit an extra shelf to a bookcase- which would be easy but for the need to get to B&Q and is really only possible by car.  I don’t have a car – I’ll have to talk nicely to darling daughter.

#unlisted : Reinstate Sew-sew Sunday.  Babysitting has cut across my weekends and my sewing projects are starting to pile up.  My first task is to neaten the hem on a summer skirt, something I would normally use the over-edge foot for.  Except it has gone missing.   I am interested to see how else I might do this.  Or I might just order up another foot.

#31 halve my catalogue account.  Currently standing at £48, this payment is just a bit out of my comfort zone and somewhat ambitious.  But it has to go because 40% APR is too much to pay.  Btw, I’m not clearing this in time for Christmas- I am getting rid of it for ever.

A question for you: If you had £50 to spend on Amazon, what would you buy?

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Nip along to the link below and join in.

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AUGUST CHALLENGE : MY PROGRESS ..?

What happened to August – where did it go ? I’ve seldom seen a month pass so quickly and with so much happening. Some of my personal challenge went well, and some fell ever–so-slightly short.  I am surrounded by boxes as we speak.

#36 Improve BMI : My target was to stay under 12 stone 8lb (175 lb) for the whole of August and -except for 2lbs after an 8oz steak – all measurements were within the agreed parameters.  I am no heavier than when I started. That’s good.

That’s amazing when I take into account how many fruit crumbles I’ve eaten.

#unlisted : finish chopping down the Bay tree. Not quite. I have been majorly distracted by the ongoing harvest of blackberries, plums and apples, but the bay tree trunks are coming down nicely. 1 to go. The Bay tree is to the right of picture. I’ll try not to fall off the ladder for this last one.

#18 Payment for work done : a total breeze. My Excel graphs were a winner- many thanks !  If only I could do this more often !

#41 More space in the lounge/diner – #fail.  Soon after I penned the challenge, my daughter decided to clear out her garage. All her baby stuff came round mine, and half of it still awaits a resting place.  However, I have decided I would rather store it here than have her take it down the skips.  This is only my first grandson, after all. There could be more to come.

August has been a good month for me and I am well pleased with the outcome. I just really, really need somewhere to put the babywalker.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE : AUGUST

I might have mentioned previously that I write update a Hot100 List in January.  I am steadily working through that but progress has slowed to a trickle with only 40% achieved.  To spice things up a little I’m sharing my personal challenges for August.

#36 Improve BMI : If I breathe in, strip naked, and take off a pound for the enormous weight of my hair, I can make 12st 8.  My challenge is to stay under this weight for the whole of August.  12st 8 is one of my tipping points, if I can stay below then the next tipping point after this is 11st 10.  But I do so like an Eton mess and I have at least one dinner out in the next few weeks.

#unlisted : finish chopping down the Bay tree  laurus nobilis  at the side of the house, before it becomes the side of the house.  Ladders, hand saw… plasters…

#18 A persuasive conversation about a job every month (interview or test).
Or quite possibly, payment for work done- might that also count?
I am trying to measure here how much closer I am to getting work, so winning a small piece of work will definitely count.  Maybe I can get a reference out of it too.  But- I had the persuasive conversation last week, so can I count one for last month and then the payment count again as one for August ?

#41 More space in the lounge/diner  An ongoing problem.  If I’m going to fail on any of these challenges, I’d prefer to fail this one.

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Nip along to the link below and join in.

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Question of Tax

I lost it recently, I really did.  It took me several days to calm down, and since then I have gradually come to the conclusion that I misheard or misunderstood what my daughter was saying over the phone.

She rang me asking for details of her employers over the last 6 years.  A bit of probing revealed that she was working her way through the ‘employee benefits’ package and had come across a company offering to check to see if she was due a tax rebate.  On a no-win, no fee basis.

Like a bullet train once she gets going, I had barely time to digest this before she was reading the small print at the bottom of the page, with her finger poised to click ‘submit’.

-I’ve just got to read this, Mum, and then I can send it.
“Vat is 20% and our fee is 49p in the £1 on any refund due to you…”

I can’t tell you if she clicked or not, because the next few minutes I was SHOUTING through a red haze.  I routinely check my tax and have claimed back both hundreds and smaller amounts- including the time the tax office counted one employment twice.  I checked a friend’s tax for him and found he was owed £500 – all he had to do was write to the tax office.  How could anyone think about paying for this elementary service ? How dare this company cream 50% off my daughter’s refund !
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I blame the government:

• For making the tax system more complex
• For loss of numeracy in schools and
• For failing to hire competent officials in the tax office

All these things conspire against us and the end result is that a large chunk of the population will never find out if they’ve paid too much income tax.

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Here’s my favourite site for calculating UK income tax (PAYE):
http://www.i-resign.com/uk/financialcentre/tax_calculator.asp

Fish out last year’s P60 –it lists what you earnt that year and what you paid tax on – and check the whole year earnings.  Keep your P60’s forever.

And just in case you think I made this up, here is a link to a site nearly as bad as the one my daughter found.  http://taxrebates.com/services.html   (clickable)

‘Our confidential tax refund service is offered on the following basis:

•      No tax refund = No fee
•      For every £1.00 refunded, you receive 59 pence’

It’s your money… (oooh I’m off again…)

Stage 5…?

I have been unemployed too long.  3 years, one and a half months.  What have I been doing since my last (paid) job? The answer is here – but you could be forgiven for thinking I have been running a one-man QA exercise on Jobcentre Plus.

Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal *

There are 4 stages in JRFND:

• Stage 1: (0-3 months) Self managed job search including Back to Work group sessions.
• Stage 2: (3-6 months) Directed job search – typically after 3 months.
• Stage 3: (6-12 months) Supported job search with mandatory activities and sanctions for failure to comply.
• Stage 4: (12-24 months) entry to the Flexible New Deal and work with a Provider.

So: what comes after Stage 4?
I have come to the end of JSA Stage 4 – and they don’t know what comes next.

I suspected something was amiss when the computer caught a case of hiccups and invited me in for a six-monthly review – 3 times in two months.  Today, Aseem put in a workaround which will shunt me off to service provider #4.  He didn’t say for how long: except that it was pending the government’s new initiative.  They said that last October.

What happens next Monday:

98% certainty-

• I have an induction session with service provider #4.
• They will ask everybody if they have brought a cv, and I will be the only one.
• We will all be required to take elementary English and number tests….
• …including anyone who has brought along their GCSE / A level certificate.
• I should have an anger management option before Monday.

The only variable, and therefore interesting thing- will be how many computers they have, how much time I get on them, and whether the printer works, if at all.

2% certainty-

• They will be able to pay the cost of my bus fare on the day.

*Excerpt taken from:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/jcp-eia-fnd-stage-management.rtf
Published 23 December 2009