Tales from The Shire

rtandon27

Glad to hear you are taking it easy and resting so the body heals.

Fortune_Smiles

More up than down

Thanks guys - I am listening to my body and making sure I rest when I need to.  I think I'm at the stage where I'm up and about more than resting now.  And... I even managed to shave my legs this morning 😂

I had a video call with a friend yesterday morning.  I made the call from bed as I thought I could coincide our chat with a rest period.  It was fab 😁  I think I may make all my video calls from bed in future 😂

Yesterday's lunch was leftover leek and mushroom tart with salad and supper was leftover cauliflower, paneer and pea curry.  Today we had leftover Honey Roast Parsnip Soup for lunch and Creamy Basil Pesto Tagliatelle with Leek & Mushroom for supper.

The grocery shop was delivered today and came in about £13 under budget.  I'm also being refunded for a 4 pint bottle of milk which the driver thought was leaking.  I couldn't find a leak myself but wasn't going to argue.

I took a closer look at Mr F's latest tax code today and did some investigation of his HMRC account.  It seems that HMRC believe that Mr F is so good at his job they estimate his income will increase by 41% this coming financial year and are preparing to tax him accordingly 😲🙄  Where on earth did they get that figure from?  He'll be lucky if he gets 1%.  It's a good job I've swotted up on taxation over the years (a case of having to as Mr F does not have the patience to deal with it) and am able to spot the mistakes.

As a result of looking at the tax situation, Mr F and I discussed whether to increase his pension contributions.  After crunching the numbers we decided not to at the moment as he wouldn't get any further employer contribution and the tax saving doesn't justify how much extra we'd have to contribute.  Not when we'll have increased NI, fuel, council tax and who knows what other inflation related costs to meet soon.  We'll be able to suck these up by reducing our disposable income or mortgage ops and I am so grateful for that.  It might mean we have to delay Mr F's retirement/semi-retirement date but we won't have to choose between eating and heating like many, many others will.

I've a lot to be thankful for.

Fortune x

Suffolk_lass

That's a great post Fortune. Very positive. Tax isn't my thing but good that you know your stuff. My thing is more pensions, mainly because we don't have our SP yet

badmemory

HMRC seem to be banging everything up at the moment.  My friends VAT assessment was 3 times what it has been in previous months.  He isn't even working really anymore & I expect his VAT to be a minus figure.  They must be getting desperate.

Suffolk_lass

badmemory said:

HMRC seem to be banging everything up at the moment.  My friends VAT assessment was 3 times what it has been in previous months.  He isn't even working really anymore & I expect his VAT to be a minus figure.  They must be getting desperate.

Probably based on the Treasury/Office of Budget Responsibility growth figures they are obliged to use in the expectation that everything instantly resumes and grows on from pre-pandemic figures. Especially so for any trainers who have not been running any F-2-F training for a year or two until recently

Fortune_Smiles

Suffolk_lass said:

badmemory said:

HMRC seem to be banging everything up at the moment.  My friends VAT assessment was 3 times what it has been in previous months.  He isn't even working really anymore & I expect his VAT to be a minus figure.  They must be getting desperate.

Probably based on the Treasury/Office of Budget Responsibility growth figures they are obliged to use in the expectation that everything instantly resumes and grows on from pre-pandemic figures. Especially so for any trainers who have not been running any F-2-F training for a year or two until recently

@Suffolk_lass.  I didn't know they did that.

Fortune x

Suffolk_lass

OBR are official source of growth forecasting. Bit like ONS for statistics, one source of the truth (although HMRC does compile the official Trade Statistics that ONS use to compile the balance of trade figures that OBR have to use. No idea about how they weight the figures in compiling the forecasts but then, a bit like "ask two beekeepers, get three views. ask two economists, start a trade war

Fortune_Smiles

Normality

Well so far, I'm having a normal day 😊 I got up, made breakfast, got dressed, walked FDawg with Mr F, vacuumed, did some paperwork and made lunch.  I'm having a little sit down recovery time now.  We've no set plans for the weekend as I thought I'd see how I got on.  But I feel ok.  I might even see if some friends are available next week to go and have a look at the snowdrops 🌼

Lunch was a baked potato with chicken/prawn avocado mayo and salad (prawns for me).  Supper is likely to be Chorizo & Mozzarella Gnocchi Bake.

Mr F has lit the log burner and settled down to watch the rugby.  I've got some washing on but, other than that, might just read my writers magazines which have been backing up since before Christmas.  And a hot bath with The Masked Singer is on the cards for later.

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend.

Fortune x

Suffolk_lass

We also lit the log-burner having first ventured into the cart-lodge to stock up the fireplace. Oh my, all heating off and so lovely and cosy.

Good to hear you are starting to recover with that back. A gentle stroll to see the snowdrops sounds great

savingholmes

Glad you are feeling better. Don't overdo it