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Cheery's path to fulfilment - finishing the DIY, looking after myself, appreciating the garden 🌻
Hi all 😊 I'm Cheery 😊 By name and (usually 🙄) by nature. I've been around here for many years, taking in all the excellent wisdom and trying to use as much of it as possible 😊 We are two, Mr Cheery and I. We have been together for over 18 years 😮 We moved to the countryside six years ago, gained a large mortgage, and a…
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Holiday pay
I work for a small business and work 20 hours a week term time only. Each month I get asked for my hours for that calendar month and paid for those but when I asked about my holiday pay I was asked to look for one of those online calculators to figure it out. I’m worried I miscalculate it and leave myself short or (equally…
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Z's MFW journey
As I've been watching the MFW forum for a while, I thought it would be good to start my own thread.We bought our current house in summer 2022 and owe £126,000 on the mortgage. Hoping to pay this off before 2028 as we'll be 40 then. We're on a 2 year fixed deal until Sept 2024 at 2.64% on a 30 year term. Obviously a bit of…
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O/S WOMBLING, Road Coinage, Skips, Roadside 'finds' etc
Okay Confess.......... Who has benefited from people having clear outs. I will begin with my 'finds'.......... A perfect lamp A wooden stool about a foot high. Perfect for me as I am challenged height wise. 2 Flower pots A plastic shopping basket. Great for carrying multiple items up the stairs. A metal shoe rack. All…
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Have I misunderstood the 'marriage tax allowance'?
As above When I was completing our online tax returns last night, I looked into the above. My question. In England, for most people the annual personal tax allowance atm is 12570. Therefore I assumed, when married, both people would get 12570 x 2 = 25140. If the above scdnario was applied and one of the couple gave 10% of…
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children's bank account no access before 18
Hello I am an executor of will and have 1k I need to give to a child. I don't really want to setup a bare trust as costs are rather high, but the child should not be able to access it until 18, which is an issue. This is all fun and games, the other executor and parent of child has been promising for a year to get me…
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I have 2 Double Dipping PCN's, Im Also Vulnerable Person, Can Any Organisation Help
Good Afternoon Guys I have 2 double dipping PCN's, The first is with Debt Recovery Plus originally a Euro Car Parks PCN, for spending 17 hours in a standard Motor Fuel Group petrol station 1 mile from my home. The second is at the CLAIM FORM stage, raised by DCB legal and originally a CP Plus PCN. I got this at Manchester…
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Life insurance vs./and/or critical illness cover
I’m a 42-year-old white male with no diagnosed health conditions (other than dry eyes). There’s nothing I’d need to tick “yes” to on a medical form. I’m a healthy weight for my height… I’ve even got abs for the first time since my teens. I don’t smoke, don’t use recreational drugs, and drink very little alcohol. I live…
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HRP missing from NI record
My wife retired on
the old state pension at the age of 60 years old. It’s recently been reported
on the Martin Lewis website about Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) should
have been transferred to your NI record if you had children between 1978 and
2010. We have looked at her Government Gateway and it says “Year is…
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Have I Don this right ?? .........
I have recently upgraded my heating and looking to change my electricity tariff. I looking at 2 tariffs 1st Cosy Octopus and 2 EDF Heatpump track. My question is if I work the various rates per hour over 24 hours then divide the total by 24 hours will give me the Average. So Cosy Octopus work out at 27.47p PKW and Edf…
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My long overdue journey to becoming debt free!!
Hello, I've been lurking on here for a good few years now, and I have decided its time to finally, and for once and for all, to sort my sorry financial mess out! I wont bore you with all the gory details of how I got here, it would just be a list of excuses and justifications, when the hard reality is I spend more than I…
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New CS Pension website - are previous ABS no longer available?!
So I set up an account with the new online CS pension portal but it seems that previous ABS (annual benefit statements) are not available. Seems like a bit of an omission. I don't remember being advised to download the old ones before the old website closed. It also seems to have 'lost' my beneficiary nomination. It is…
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Watching Apple TV Slow Horses Using a Chromecast Dongle
Is this possible? The apps on our previously Smart TV have disappeared one by one. I can log in to an iPhone or iPad to see the series on those, but we really want to view it on a TV. With BBC, Channel 4, ITV, etc. there is an icon to click on our various phones and pads and programmes cast fine to the TV. There doesn't…
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Service Charge when buying a leasehold property
I have bought a leasehold property. The previous owners had paid the service charge up until 1st October 2025. The service charge period was 1st April 2025 until 30th March 2026, to be paid biannually. I moved around 25th September 2025. Who is responsible for the service charge from 1st October until 30th March 2026?
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RPI - linked annuity
I am considering buying an RPI-linked annuity with part of my pension fund. I am at early stage but wonder whether the RPI reference point is for the life of the annuity or, like linkers, will change to CPI in the future? I have also heard that the RPI increase may be subject to a cap. Presumably this all depends on the…
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Teetering on the brink
Where to start! My life has not been without challenges and I have had times where I’ve had a lot of debt, and times where I have had none. I always felt proud to say I have never missed a payment and always managed to get out of a sticky situation myself no matter what. But this time, I am not convinced I will find a way,…
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Argos Sainsburys Home Delivery Failure – Driver Claims Delivery, But No Parcel and No Refund!
I wanted to share my recent experience with Argos home delivery and see if anyone else has been through something similar. I ordered an item during the Black Friday sales for my son’s Christmas present. It was due to be delivered on a Sunday evening. I stayed in for the delivery and at around 9:20pm I received a…
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Haggle with BT - our new guide
Hi all, we have new BT Haggling guide, and we'd love to hear your feedback. Just click reply below to share any info. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. Thanks for your help, MSE Sally
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Council tax disabled band deductions
Hi I recently applied for the council tax band deduction. basically it me my disabled wife and older daughter who is also disabled so we could live in a 2 bedroom house but due to my wife’s disability she has 2 brain tumours Epilepsy bad arthritis and fibromyalgia she is in constant pain and discomfort and her sleeping is…
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Have your say on the future of Competitions Time
Hi Compers, We know the Competitions Time section is a bit special! Features like Checkmarks, Expiry Dates, and Closed Filters have made this space work really well for the way you use it. These tools are currently powered by a custom add-on built just for MSE. Later this year, it's planned to integrate these features…
