Diary of my new life !!!

benbenandme

I've been thinking of doing mystery shopping and applying for AQA but worried about it messing up my tax credits - do you have any problems with this or is it relatively simple as long as you keep good records? I just don't want to end up as one of those poor folk that has to pay back loads!

When I started mystery shopping I registered as self-employed and said I reckoned I'd earn about £50 a month The bloke at the tax office said he didnt know why I was bothering doing it let alone telling them about it :eek: :mad: ... anyhow, I kept a spreadsheet of all the jobs I'd done ready for when I have to do my tax return. Now I don't do much mystery shopping but I earn more from AQA'ing, so when I rang tax credits last week I told them that I now expect my self-employed income to be about £1200 per year (£100 per month). They have shown this on the form. For me this is a realistic amount to aim for each month and I can make sure I don't go over it so my tax credits won't be wrong. Personally, I think its better to keep them as up to date with your income as possible so they don't overpay you and then try and claim it back

benbenandme

Am feeling a very bad bunny now .... have just had an Indian takeaway ... it was the first one I've had since I moved (June) so not too bad really, but I have spent lots of money today already and it cost £10.30 and it was minging :mad: :mad: :mad: That'll teach me :rolleyes: ... at least next time I'm tempted I might be put off by how poor it was tonight

skint_spice

benbenandme wrote: »

Personally, I think its better to keep them as up to date with your income as possible so they don't overpay you and then try and claim it back

Thanks for that, that's a good idea and if I make sure I overestimate rathter than under then it would maybe mean I'd end up extra back the following year!

Totally sympathise with the Indian meal, often the idea is better than the reality - I find this with fish n chips which always smells great when someone else is eating it but disappoints me whenever I buy it.:rolleyes:

benbenandme

Morning everyone Today I need to ......

1. have a nice leisurely bath while ds is still away
2. go to sainsburys :rolleyes:
3. write a review for work
4. sort out my nails
5. do some ironing
6. do some aqa'ing ... only done 2 questions so far this month
7. go to a friends for a cup of tea

I am going to my friends at 2 and then ds will be home at 4, so I need to get my jobs done before 2 :eek: and at the moment I'm struggling to find the energy to get off the sofa:D

Karmacat

Hi benben
I'm struggling to leave the computer.... I've tidied a little bit, but the laptop keeps calling me back. Just a thought... I know this sounds dumb, but are you *on* the sofa posting, or is that a metaphorical sofa (sounds better than saying is it all in your head, lol!).

benbenandme

Nope, I'm totally on the sofa .... I've just done some more xmas shopping though ... I've got £90 John Lewis vouchers (all from pigsback) and just saw a code on the discount codes board for £10 off a £50 order at John Lewis ... so, I ordered £51 worth of stuff, got £10 off and free delivery and quidco too :T :T :T :T BARGAIN !!! So, I got my nephew a Mr Bump space hopper (£9) and my other nephew a drum kit for his birthday (week before xmas) :eek: :eek: its actually a handheld gadget one but my sister will still kill me (£20) and a new phone for home ... mine is really crackly and I end up ringing everyone on my mobile instead :rolleyes: and a ocuple of xmas decs (to replace the ones the mice ate in the garage ). Altogether, it cost me £1.90 and I still have £50 of vouchers left :rotfl:

Sea78

WOW!!! That's fantastic going and cost you practically nothing! Well done - but how have you got so many pigsback vouchers??

Sea xx

benbenandme

Have a look at the pigsback thread on here, not sure which board its on ... grabbit / discount codes / shop...drop / sorry can't remember where ??!?
There was an offer through uswitch ... (go back a few pages on the thread and you'll find it) and there are loads of points to be earned!! I check in there a couple of times a week for updates and have been collecting my vouchers all year towards xmas.

Sea78

I had been doing that, but there was never anything I could really do for the points, and then there was a big argument (not involving me may I add!!) so I never went back! Must get myself over there I think!

Sea xxx

benbenandme

Its well worth it ... I've never bought anything through pigsback but have earned £90 this year and have nearly got enough for another £10 voucher. I love that you can use the John Lewis vouchers online. I don't get the arcadia ones because I would spend them on myself, and the Boots ones would get frittered on stuff I don't really need, but JL ones can be kept quite safely for xmas without me spending them