The Diary Of Onebrokelady Aged 60 And A Half

Onebrokelady

CRANKY40 said:

It's worth talking to someone at HMRC. I spoke to a man about 2 weeks ago who was very helpful. I now have my tax free allowance split between my widows pension (the highest income) and my company pension. He needed to know roughly what my income would be 24/25 and now it's sorted so that I won't pay tax on my company pension and I still have a tax free allowance on my widows pension. 

Ok maybe I will phone them. I don’t like making phone calls especially about things I don’t understand but will try and do it in the week 🙂

Onebrokelady

Soooo today has not been great . I felt terrible this morning when I got up so I sorted the animals out had breakfast then took some painkillers and went to sleep on the settee. J cat  loved it and went to sleep on my tummy and B snuggled up in her bed, the other cat ( A) was fast asleep in his bed under the radiator so no danger of him moving anywhere.  

It’s been sunny for a little while but then the black clouds arrived along with the rain which has just started again 

Cherryfudge

I hope you feel better for a rest. I must say, two cats and a dog and a sofa snooze when there are black clouds outside... I mean, what else are you supposed to do with yourself? Sounds like a good plan to me.

I don't get the pensions thing either, so I'm reading in the hope that enough reads will brainwash me into competency. Either that or I go on working till I die because I never managed to get my head round it.

I know I'm not currently making contributions as I'm not earning enough, so I'm looking out for the regular announcement from my employer about paying missed contributions, so I can stop the gap.

jwil

I hope you feel a bit better for resting.  Hope you get the tax issue sorted.

Onebrokelady

Right I’ve managed to do the first coat on the chair 😀 it’s an Ikea chair so it comes apart so I dismantled it and took it outside to sand it all because I previously started painting it with chalk paint before I decided that chalk paint is a pain in the backside to keep clean. I then wiped down all the pieces with a damp cloth to get rid of dust and put on the first coat. I learned to do lots of thin coats rather than just a couple of thick ones when I was painting my bed. The bed was orange pine and I wanted a white wooden bed so I painted it, it took 7 coats altogether and a week to do . These chairs ( I actually have two ) are a pale wood almost like beech and are not varnished so you can put them yourself. I’ve now go to wait 6 hours before I can do another coat so will carry on with it tomorrow.

I discovered that puppy pads make good painting mats and the white paint looks lovely on my kitchen cupboard doors 😀but I washed the brush and put the tin before I was tempted to start painting my kitchen 😀 I also wish I still had my mouse sander because sanding by hand is not good for me hands and arms, I might look into buying one because I have a lot of sanding to do in the house which I won’t get done by hand. My old one broke and was unrepairable 😟

Cherryfudge

I was looking at mouse sanders: they look very nifty for small corners. At the moment I am supplying my husband with emery boards to sand some very awkward corners on the dining chairs he's stripping back and varnishing. Six hours is a frustrating time to have to wait between layers!

enthusiasticsaver

Onebrokelady said:

dawnybabes said:

You need to check how much your pension is added to your wage - that might be why you paid so much tax ?

My wage was £749 and my pension is £622 

I think they have used your PA on your pension so they have taxed your full wage at 20%. If you check the code they have used that would confirm it.   I would go on to the HM Gov Gateway and split your PA across your wage and your pension.  I think there is also a form you can complete to claim tax back.  I did read the other day that HMRC were doing away with the helpline between April and September which seems ridiculous but presumably because they do not have the staff to man the helpline and also work through all the tax claims.  

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

I was looking at mouse sanders: they look very nifty for small corners. At the moment I am supplying my husband with emery boards to sand some very awkward corners on the dining chairs he's stripping back and varnishing. Six hours is a frustrating time to have to wait between layers!

Mouse sanders are good for getting into small places. I bought mine because I was doing a lot of furniture restoration at the time so it was perfect for that. I’m painting the chairs with satinwood paint so 6 hours is usually standard with that paint. It didn’t really matter because I started it late so it was too late to do a second coat any way. I’m going to do that tomorrow and maybe the drawers from the dressing table 🙂

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

Onebrokelady said:

dawnybabes said:

You need to check how much your pension is added to your wage - that might be why you paid so much tax ?

My wage was £749 and my pension is £622 

I think they have used your PA on your pension so they have taxed your full wage at 20%. If you check the code they have used that would confirm it.   I would go on to the HM Gov Gateway and split your PA across your wage and your pension.  I think there is also a form you can complete to claim tax back.  I did read the other day that HMRC were doing away with the helpline between April and September which seems ridiculous but presumably because they do not have the staff to man the helpline and also work through all the tax claims.  

Thanks I need to find the payslip I printed off and my passport then I can go on the website and have a look. I did get a letter a few weeks ago telling me what my tax code would be so I will have a look for that too 

badmemory

I think they were told to reinstate the helpline.