I wish Eat out to Help out was still around. Make it reasonable to eat out in London!
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# ? Sep 3, 2020 17:09 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 14:20 |
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it is! lots of restaurants are continuing to offer it off their own (green)backs and deliveroo are giving a fiver off orders over £20
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# ? Sep 3, 2020 17:18 |
Breath Ray posted:it is! lots of restaurants are continuing to offer it off their own (green)backs and deliveroo are giving a fiver off orders over £20 I've noticed deliveroo and ubereats have massively increased their delivery charges. £4.50 delivery on lots of outlets now. They are trying to push their subscription model. I felt like I had to eat out during EOHO to get some of my tax pounds back ha.
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# ? Sep 3, 2020 17:27 |
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NGC773 posted:I've noticed deliveroo and ubereats have massively increased their delivery charges. £4.50 delivery on lots of outlets now. They are trying to push their subscription model. Interestingly around my way they've dropped most of them to £2. NGC773 posted:I felt like I had to eat out during EOHO to get some of my tax pounds back ha. Work as a government contractor for 7 years and you'll be in the black for life
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 10:21 |
Jaded Burnout posted:
Yeah I could do with a 3 day a week, £90,000 pro rata contractor job!
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 11:11 |
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NGC773 posted:Yeah I could do with a 3 day a week, £90,000 pro rata contractor job! 5 day per week £120,000 pro rata but yes
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 11:25 |
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Lucky buggers, I'm a perm CS so have to deal with forever bad pay (The non-cash benefits, especially work/life balance and disability support, make it super worth it)
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 11:55 |
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mfcrocker posted:Lucky buggers, I'm a perm CS so have to deal with forever bad pay To be fair I tried to go perm like 4 times and there was always something blocking it. The cash is traded off for no pension, no paid holidays or sick leave, no career progression, and being let go with a week's notice (in my case). The permies seemed to also have more support around setting up jobshares and part time. As they saying goes, when civil servants get together they only talk about pensions, when contractors get together they only talk about tax.
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 12:03 |
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Jaded Burnout posted:To be fair I tried to go perm like 4 times and there was always something blocking it. The cash is traded off for no pension, no paid holidays or sick leave, no career progression, and being let go with a week's notice (in my case). The permies seemed to also have more support around setting up jobshares and part time. Yeah, I've done the contractor bit before (though not in the civil service) and the pay was nice but I've been very grateful for the support you've mentioned over the last couple of years. I've also seen the ruthless cutting of contractors you mentioned there - it's such a contrast to permies where it's near-impossible to lose the job once you've got it.
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 12:45 |
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mfcrocker posted:Yeah, I've done the contractor bit before (though not in the civil service) and the pay was nice but I've been very grateful for the support you've mentioned over the last couple of years. I've also seen the ruthless cutting of contractors you mentioned there - it's such a contrast to permies where it's near-impossible to lose the job once you've got it. Now I have a bit of a best-of-both in that I'm contracting for a US company at London contractor rates but they have an unlimited holiday/sick day policy. It is something of a relief.
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 12:51 |
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mfcrocker posted:Yeah, I've done the contractor bit before (though not in the civil service) and the pay was nice but I've been very grateful for the support you've mentioned over the last couple of years. I've also seen the ruthless cutting of contractors you mentioned there - it's such a contrast to permies where it's near-impossible to lose the job once you've got it. Theres a nice sweet spot of you get in at one of the "arms length" organisations/quangos where you can get market rate pay with reduced red tape compared to being a civil servant
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 13:20 |
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An interesting week for me; Furlough is ending so the company is laying off 1/3 of it's workforce (i'm a 52yr old no frills basic worker bee). I decided to take voluntary redundancy as work is "restructuring" afterwards, leading to fewer hours & pay which will reduce the redundancy package for further layoffs (1400 ppl when i started 19 years ago will now be 210 in a big empty factory).... i can see where it's going. I can't see me getting anything other than 6 months JSA and then sweet f.a. till i die or hit 67 (hopefully not in that order). With my age and very mild multiple sclerosis job prospects are in the current market. Finance Bit: Own my home outright, no debt, residing in Northern Ireland (the UK bit) so cost of living ain't terrible. Should have 100k in savings when i leave + another 65k if i cash in investments. How long can i live on what i've got? Thoughts? edited for spelling Just Another Lurker fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Sep 4, 2020 |
# ? Sep 4, 2020 16:01 |
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fluppet posted:Theres a nice sweet spot of you get in at one of the "arms length" organisations/quangos where you can get market rate pay with reduced red tape compared to being a civil servant how do you mean reduced red tape?
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 16:03 |
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Just Another Lurker posted:An interesting week for me; Furlough is ending so the company is laying off 1/3 of it's workforce (i'm a 52yr old no frills basic worker bee). Does that include your redundancy payment? Also how much do you spend a month? Is it just you or do you support a family? Really with the time horizons mentioned, assuming you have a decent enough pension when you hit 67 you need to make what you have last 15 years. Can you live on ~ £800 a month? (That's the cash you stated divided by the 180 months before you hit retirement with an emergency fund of £18,000 (roof caves in or whatever). Are you then also in a safe place regarding your pension etc.
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 18:24 |
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Breath Ray posted:how do you mean reduced red tape? Because civil service jobs are such a "job for life" type deal, the process of getting hired on is very formalised and excruciating. Like it takes months, even if you already have security clearance. I'm assuming an ALB will hire like normal people, so you're probably looking at 2 to 3 weeks of paperwork like with contracting.
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# ? Sep 4, 2020 22:56 |
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Cast_No_Shadow posted:Does that include your redundancy payment? That includes the redundancy payment, no family or dependents to support but only a state pension(that bit WILL be fun, assuming obesity don't get me first). Went through all that i spend money on over a year and came up with £6500 (£540 a month, yes i have no life) once i stripped my spending down to a livable amount (no more Amazon Prime, booze & computer stuff for me i guess). Slept on it overnight and hopefully brought a bit more rational thought on my situation; get my 6 months JSA (free time to start loosing that weight) and then throw my name into a recruitment agency grinder and see if i can get a small part time job to keep going and hold onto what i can for retirement. Does that sound a bit more sane? Appreciate the reply. :-)
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 06:51 |
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Some kind of part time Job would probably make it much easier for you. I assume you've got your 35 years of NI contributions under your belt already. State pension comes in at about £750 a month iirc. If I were in your situation I'd want as much of that money you'd saved to support me through retirement (which could last a long time) where I 100% can't and 100% wouldn't want to work. Right now, as you say you're still able to work and its not terrible. A part time job makes your maths a lot easier.
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 08:14 |
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a recruitment agency is unlikely to get you a part time job at the moment. could you turn your computer skills into a job?
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 16:12 |
Just Another Lurker posted:An interesting week for me; Furlough is ending so the company is laying off 1/3 of it's workforce (i'm a 52yr old no frills basic worker bee). Check this out because I am not 100% sure but I don't think you can claim JSA if you have sizeable cash/capital on hand "You cannot get any of the means-tested benefits (income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit or Universal Credit) if your capital is above the upper limit of £16,000."
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 16:22 |
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Also JSA is dogshit amounts and you need to be actively seeking employment anyway.
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 18:42 |
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Jsa just about covers the cost of travelling to the job centre
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 19:39 |
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Breath Ray posted:a recruitment agency is unlikely to get you a part time job at the moment. could you turn your computer skills into a job? Truth on the agency prospects (numerous youngsters in the same boat) and really not sure on the computer front but will keep it in mind. NGC773 posted:Check this out because I am not 100% sure but I don't think you can claim JSA if you have sizeable cash/capital on hand I was aiming for Contribution-based/New-style Jobseeker’s Allowance as i read that savings do not affect it but that is does affect the Income Based JSA (£16,000 cap). Think i still have to go to the Jobcentre to get Class 1 Credits for my National Insurance contributions to the State Pension. Not been on the dole since the late 90's so this crap is a nasty reminder. I checked out MoneySavingExpert and looked into doing online surveys (safely) for money. Poor speech from my M.S. rules out voice related over the phone work. All the helpful replies are getting me focused on what can & should be done. :-)
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 23:15 |
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Matched betting could net you a couple of hundred a month untill your accounts are restricted.
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 13:03 |
ed balls balls man posted:Matched betting could net you a couple of hundred a month untill your accounts are restricted. I have always wanted to try this but I really don't like the idea of several bookies having my personal details. I have a friend who has registered account with 30+ bookies online but he has made 5k from it the last 12 months.
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 13:05 |
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NGC773 posted:I have always wanted to try this but I really don't like the idea of several bookies having my personal details. I have a friend who has registered account with 30+ bookies online but he has made 5k from it the last 12 months. Set specific things up for the account helps with the separation and also keep control of things. A new email address, PAYG SIM in another phone + separate bank account. Makes things marginally more effort in terms of moving money around and checking another email, but it definitely helps with the personal details bit. Then the only 'real' information that they have is your postal address + copy of your ID that you need to give them to prove who you are.
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 13:32 |
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Thing is, as mentioned it's only good until they decide to restrict your accounts - it's not really a consistent source of income. I miss the days of absurd blackjack bonuses
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 13:35 |
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Sad Panda posted:Set specific things up for the account helps with the separation and also keep control of things. A new email address, PAYG SIM in another phone + separate bank account. Makes things marginally more effort in terms of moving money around and checking another email, but it definitely helps with the personal details bit. Then the only 'real' information that they have is your postal address + copy of your ID that you need to give them to prove who you are. So it's worth noting that they take the postal address and ID to perform KYC in line with various pieces of legislation, which are either aligned or the same as those that the banks have to comply with. The documents you provide are sufficient to run a full credit check to verify your identity, which lets them know a fair bit more about you. Because the funds will be held in a client account at the bookies bank they'll also have an agreement in place saying that they'll provide any information required at the request of the bank or law enforcement. I don't say any of this to put you off matched betting - I did it myself for a while back when it was more profitable. My point is simply that when you register an account with a bookie they know who you are and they know everywhere you bank. None of this should be a concern if you're just doing some matched betting yourself, but if you get into things like registering multiple accounts in friends and families names you're opening yourself up to some potentially very serious consequences.
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# ? Sep 10, 2020 17:55 |
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Soylent Green posted:So it's worth noting that they take the postal address and ID to perform KYC in line with various pieces of legislation, which are either aligned or the same as those that the banks have to comply with. The documents you provide are sufficient to run a full credit check to verify your identity, which lets them know a fair bit more about you. Definitely. They can still find out lots about you, but that level of segregation is useful to keep your main accounts disconnected. Much easier to track profit when you have a separate betting account. Same with all the emails and SMS they send. You still have to meet KYC guidelines, but that doesn't involve them ever having to use my regular email or spamming my normal phone number.
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# ? Sep 10, 2020 18:31 |
Is there anyway to do matched betting in physical bookies? There is a street with about 8 different bookmakers on that is close to me. I wonder if I could check odds online then go make the bets in person in the stores. Maybe odds won't be as good?
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 09:53 |
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NGC773 posted:Is there anyway to do matched betting in physical bookies? There is a street with about 8 different bookmakers on that is close to me. No, cause physical bookies aren't going to offer you bonuses, decent odds or a way to easily lay off a bet (obviously you could do a double chance in sports with draws but they're not always offered in online bookies let alone offline) Physical bookies pretty much only exist to launder drug money through the roulette machines and take thousands off a few whales.
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 10:52 |
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I have gone from a job where I was paid pretty much the same on a monthly basis to a job where I'm on a zero hour contract so am paid different amounts weekly. I've found it harder to budget this way, anyone have any advice on how better to budget in this situation?
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 13:28 |
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bessantj posted:I have gone from a job where I was paid pretty much the same on a monthly basis to a job where I'm on a zero hour contract so am paid different amounts weekly. I've found it harder to budget this way, anyone have any advice on how better to budget in this situation? When I was in that situation this is what I did: Total bills, plus wiggle room, divided by 4. Weekly wage paid into principle bills account. Moved any extra from (weekly wage - bills portion) to a separate spends account to play with. It only really works if you have a buffer for the first month or two. Alternative is no-spend until you have been paid as many pay packets as covers your bills in full, then spend the rest. But I don't do well with feast or famine
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 13:55 |
mfcrocker posted:No, cause physical bookies aren't going to offer you bonuses, decent odds or a way to easily lay off a bet (obviously you could do a double chance in sports with draws but they're not always offered in online bookies let alone offline) Ah yeah, thanks. I completely forgot that the bonuses are the core of making money with matched betting.
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 15:26 |
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NGC773 posted:Ah yeah, thanks. I completely forgot that the bonuses are the core of making money with matched betting. Some offers are offered in shop. I've not done much betting for about a year, but for example BetFred would have boosted odds that were the same in shop and online. You could put 100 quid max on an account. You could do the same in each branch. That offer might say have profit of a tenner. Could run round every local Fred, put the bet on (go into bank to allow you to take out more than 250 quid in a day from the cash machines) and then if it comes in go and collect winnings. For example I went round and put 100 quid on some Champions League double a couple of years ago at 6 different BetFreds. There are also things called sharbs (shop arbs) but they're less frequent and, unless you're in a dedicated group, tedious to find
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 15:31 |
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Sloth Life posted:When I was in that situation this is what I did: Total bills + wiggle room / 4 sounds like a very good idea. I do have a £1,000 reserve that I've managed to accumulate. It's not much but has been helpful while I've been adjusting.
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 15:45 |
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Gonna flex every month
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# ? Sep 14, 2020 17:45 |
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Ahh I didn't know this thread was a thing, handy cos while I enjoy UKPersonalFinance, I don't go on reddit much anymore.Doccykins posted:
So looking for some advice on this point. Some background. I have an emergency fund for 10 months of expenses. I have a Vanguard account with already a pretty nice pot in it. I have a pension which contributions are 14% total of salary each month. I have no debts EXCEPT for a mortgage which is currently 1.4%. My salary is currently below the £47,835 threshold and the student loan site claims my current interest is 2.6%. However I would expect to go into that top thresh-hold of 5.6% within the next 5 years or so. I'm currently sat with excess money in my account each month as I just don't have many outgoings. Would it be best to either Increase Pension contributions Increase Vanguard contributions Increase mortgage repayments Start doing direct repayments to the student debt.
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# ? Sep 16, 2020 12:09 |
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Pensions for the tax relief should always be the default choice for cash you don't need access to. If your employer won't match additional contributions, consider doing it with a provider of your choice. Outside of investment companies I've yet to see an employer pension scheme that isn't invested in absolute brazen gouging trash like a loving 60% equity tracker fund taking a 1% AMC.
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# ? Sep 16, 2020 12:44 |
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Theophany posted:Pensions for the tax relief should always be the default choice for cash you don't need access to. I'm already way above what they match. And yes they use aviva which is pretty meh. But wouldn't a 2nd pension mean contributions after tax? Or can you have more than one pension on your payslip and have both pretax? Is the vanguard sipp goon recommended? Mega Comrade fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Sep 16, 2020 |
# ? Sep 16, 2020 13:04 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 14:20 |
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Mega Comrade posted:I'm already way above what they match. And yes they use aviva which is pretty meh. No bud, as long as you're contributing within the lower of your annual earnings or £40k p/a you can still claim the relief. Usually 20% relief at source operated by the scheme and 20% on a self assessment return if you're a higher rate taxpayer. And don't worry about doing a self-assessment return, if you're on PAYE you literally only need to do the bits regarding the pension contributions as they have all the other info from the PAYE monthly returns they get from your employer. Vanguard is a great choice if you care about costs, aren't fussed about beating the market and don't really give a monkeys about tracking what its doing whenever you're online, but want to see your investment increase in value in line with investment markets over the longer term. They also have an extremely keenly-priced SIPP for DIY investors. Personally and professionally I love my boy Terry Smith because for a 1% AMC he skullfucks tracker funds and market indices by just buying fundamentally good companies, but at the same time I am totally aware that these people can fall from grace and have seen it more times than I care to remember. That being said, he's been a total badass since the late 80s and his Wikipedia page and book 'Accounting for Loss' are both well worth a read from the perspective of an investor. Theophany fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Sep 16, 2020 |
# ? Sep 16, 2020 18:37 |