My SoA, based on last three months spending diary

Wilma33

danothy wrote: »

To clarify, I'm not entitled to housing benefit and I don't pay council tax because I'm a full time student, this is also why the income is tax free.

Students (and children) are not exempt from income tax. They get the same personal allowance as everyone else (about £6K). So if you are earning more than this then you should be paying tax.

danothy

Wilma33 wrote: »

Students (and children) are not exempt from income tax. They get the same personal allowance as everyone else (about £6K). So if you are earning more than this then you should be paying tax.

I'm aware of this, I do pay tax on anything I earn from teaching assistance and the like, but my income (the one stated in the SoA) is tax free

Wilma33

You have lost me now. Your income in your SoA is over £13K a year, so how can this be tax free? Is it not earned income?

HappyMJ

It's not actually income though is it. It's Loan's, Grants and Bursary's. They are all tax-free.

KPR11

danothy wrote: »

Health products ........................ 53.00 (This includes gym membership, condoms, vitamins etc.)
Entertainment........................... 91.78 (Most of this is social gatherings)

Not getting enough entertainment whilst making use of so many condoms?:p

On a serious note, you seem to be doing well - I think if you can somehow separate the reimbursed expenses, you will have a better picture and as such will be able to plan better.

What worked for me really well was having a separate basic bank account for work related expenses - I funded it with a float of c£200 and I only paid work expenses out of it, this helped me achieve 2 things. 1. I can make a clear distinction and 2. made me disciplined in terms of reclaiming my expenses

danothy

Wilma33 wrote: »

You have lost me now. Your income in your SoA is over £13K a year, so how can this be tax free? Is it not earned income?

HappyMJ wrote: »

It's not actually income though is it. It's Loan's, Grants and Bursary's. They are all tax-free.

Quite correct, in this case it's a stipend, I don't know what to call it if not income, but it's not wages or earnings in the tax sense.

KPR11 wrote: »

Not getting enough entertainment whilst making use of so many condoms?:p

On a serious note, you seem to be doing well - I think if you can somehow separate the reimbursed expenses, you will have a better picture and as such will be able to plan better.

What worked for me really well was having a separate basic bank account for work related expenses - I funded it with a float of c£200 and I only paid work expenses out of it, this helped me achieve 2 things. 1. I can make a clear distinction and 2. made me disciplined in terms of reclaiming my expenses

Thanks, I really appreciate the encouragement, I will definitely begin logging travel expenses separately to get a clearer picture, this is a worst case scenario SoA in terms of actual cost to me if I can't or don't claim for some reason.

With regards to the condom comment, one might argue that the condom use is a result of the social activity

KPR11

danothy wrote: »

Thanks, I really appreciate the encouragement, I will definitely begin logging travel expenses separately to get a clearer picture, this is a worst case scenario SoA in terms of actual cost to me if I can't or don't claim for some reason.

With regards to the condom comment, one might argue that the condom use is a result of the social activity

You welcome

Didn't think of that one, I guess I best watch and learn from the master himself!