Tag: Friday Morning

My top 5 planner/stationery websites

~ Nisha ~ Leave a comment

Since I decided to create my own planners (as nothing I see or buy has the right amount of details that I want), I’ve become obsessed with planners and diaries and then stationery in general.  I’ve listed my top 5 that I keep going back to have a look and drool over.

1.Erin Condren

I discovered these through another blog.  These you can tailor them with your own cover which you can personalise and even create the inside diaries how you like.  You can have monthly diaries, weekly or even hourly for appointments etc.  The website also sells a huge variety of stickers and other accessories for your journal to make it more colourful and personal.  I do love drooling over these but they are a bit expensive especially when you add postage onto them.  Possibly for this reason only, I’ve been holding back buying anything.

https://www.erincondren.com/

2.Edie and Rona

This is all things stationery and again something I just look at and love and enter as many competition as I can to see if I can win something  (still trying!).  They have notebooks in lovely modern colours and cards and little bags and postcards. Basically all things beautiful.

https://www.edieandrona.co.uk/

3.Michelle Rohr – Secret Owl society

This has got to be the first time I had seen planners being created and sold.  This is based on buying a folder which they do sell and then downloading printables to insert into your folder to tailor make your own diary/ journal. In principle I do like this idea as you can really personalise it. However, I’m not so keen on carrying folders as I find them too bulky.  I like carrying slim diaries but with as much information as possible inside.

http://www.secretowlsociety.org/

4.Toad

This is quite similar to the first one where you can customise your diary to suit your needs and customise the cover and personalise it too.  Also, as they are based in the UK, the costs of postage is not so high.  These are printed diaries starting from 6 months in duration to 18 months. I love the flexibility of these but need to check that quality of them.

https://www.toaddiaries.co.uk/

5.Fearne Cotton – Happy  The Journal

The final one on this list is Fearne Cotton’s Happy The Journal which is based on her autobiography. These have dates and months but no years or days so you can literally start it anywhere and do what it says for the day.  Ironically for my birthday, it says to make a list – I love lists! Each day takes half the page and it gives you a question to think about and a little space to write notes about it. I bought it as a present for my niece but I am having a quick look through before I wrap it up.

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When you start obsessing about diaries and planners, you find there are so, so, so many planners out there that I hadn’t even heard of.  Here are some more links to even more planners!

https://www.youbabymemummy.com/blogging/best-planners-for-bloggers/

Best Planners for Moms

https://www.thebettermom.com/blog/2016/11/26/10-best-planners-for-moms

Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford

~ Nisha ~ 2 Comments

Hands Free Mama is an amazing book and Rachel has a way of writing which is very emotional and very raw.   The book starts with turning off your gadgets so you can spend more time with your children and partner.  However, it goes into more depth and just turning off your mobile phone is not enough, you need to connect and be present for your kids. Continue reading “Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford” →

My day as a list

~ Nisha ~ 4 Comments

Thought I would try something different and write out my day as a list.  Yesterday was a particularly unproductive day and I felt very frustrated by not getting a lot done.  Tuesday on the other hand had been a really good day. I had managed to complete a few tax returns. Anyway, this was my day yesterday:

  • Press snooze
  • Wake up
  • Shower
  • Quickly get ready
  • Wake up the girls

Continue reading “My day as a list” →

Get Rich, Lucky Bitch! by Denise Duffield-Thomas

~ Nisha ~ 1 Comment

The title ‘Get rich, lucky bitch’ aims to reflect what people think when a women is rich.  Not the hard work that she has put in but that she is lucky and she is a bitch. I had this book in an audio format for quite a while. It came as a bonus for buying another book but I never got round to listening to it. To be honest, I prefer reading to listening so I kept putting it off. Then something happened which reminded me of this book and I started listening to it. Continue reading “Get Rich, Lucky Bitch! by Denise Duffield-Thomas” →

Don’t forget your Marriage Allowance!

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The Marriage Allowance has been around since 5 April 2015. It allows you to transfer 10 % of your Personal Allowance (£1,150) to your husband, wife or civil partner – if they earn more than you. This reduces your partners tax by up to £230.

Who can apply for Marriage Allowance?

You need to meet the following conditions in order to apply for the marriage allowance:

·         You and your partner were born after 6 April 1935

·         You’re married or in a civil partnership

·         Your income is £11,500 or less

·         Your partner is a basic rate taxpayer (ie. income between £11,500 and £45,000 or £43,000 in Scotland)

If all these conditions apply, you claim can be backdated to include any tax year since 5 April 2015 that you were eligible for Marriage Allowance. You will keep getting the tax break in the future too as long as the eligibility doesn’t change.  If your circumstances do change, you or your partner can cancel the marriage allowance online.

How to apply

To apply for it online, follow this link https://www.gov.uk/apply-marriage-allowance

To apply by phone, you can call HMRC on this number 0300 2000 3300

You will need yours and your partners national insurance number and something to prove your identity.

More information

More information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

As usual, if you would like any further details on this or any other accountancy matters, please follow this link:

In the meantime, here is a download for next month’s tax deadlines: October tax dates

The Price of Privilege – Madeline Levine, Ph.D.

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The Price of Privilege is another parenting book highlighting the plight of parenting in this day and age. The author is a psychologist who treats a lot of wealthy family kids – especially teenagers.  The case studies themselves are enough to make you feel unbelievably sad and unhappy. It gets you thinking about your childhood and that of your kids.  You hope and pray that you are doing everything right and the doing your best is enough. But there are so many little incidents that ring true that make you think, is that me? Will that happen to my girls? Continue reading “The Price of Privilege – Madeline Levine, Ph.D.” →

National Insurance Class 1

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Class 1 national insurance is due to HMRC if you are in employed work and are earning a salary at a certain level. Class 2 national insurance will be abolished in April 2018 leaving only a new potentially reformed Class 4 national insurance for self-employed workers.  The Class 4 NI could be changed to make it more like Class 1 NI with entitlement to state benefits that are currently available by paying Class 2 NI.  So, for that reason, I will look at Class 1 NI in more detail here. Continue reading “National Insurance Class 1” →

How to live on 24 hours a day by Arnold Bennett

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This book, ‘How to live on 24 hours a day’ is about how to use your time more effectively during a working week.  It assumes you get home for about 7, eat and rest and then you still have about 3 hours to do something productive.  I’m not too sure what I think about this book. At times it can be a little condescending and patronising but I have to remember that it was written in 1908 originally. Continue reading “How to live on 24 hours a day by Arnold Bennett” →

Obsession with old books

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I love old books – pre ISBN books.  Some books I have acquired have nothing to do with what I do or have any interest in them apart from the fact that they are books.  Sometimes I think maybe I should think about selling it as I don’t have any practical use for it but a part of me can’t ever do that. Continue reading “Obsession with old books” →

VAT rates in the UK

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VAT was originally introduced as a simple tax on purchases of goods and services in 1973. It was originally called the purchase tax but changed its name to VAT when the UK joined the EEC. VAT is now anything but simple.  It is an indirect tax charged on the purchase of goods and services. Most goods and services in the UK are charged at the standard rate of VAT which is currently set at 20%.  Continue reading “VAT rates in the UK” →