Monthly Archives: January 2013

Work From Home – You Can Do It!

Posted by & filed under At Work, Home Working Hints, Motivation.

In the news this week was the prospect of the government increasing the ratio of children to carers in childcare settings. Currently for children aged one and under you are allowed three children per carer – this is set to rise to four; and for children aged two you are currently allowed four children per carer – this is set to rise to six. The government want to do this with the aim of cutting childcare costs for working parents.

In my personal opinion – and admittedly I have no experience of working in a nursery or pre-school – this seems crazy. Most parents are reluctant to put their children into childcare anyway at such young ages, why would you be more likely to if there were less carers for your child? How can one person possibly cope with 4 crying babies? And can you imagine running after 6 two year olds? Read more

When will you stop working?

Posted by & filed under Finances, Legal, Work Life Balance.

by Rachel Efetha

The state pension age (SPA) is the age at which you can start drawing your state pension – and it’s getting later and later.

For a man it is currently 65 and for a woman it will be 65 from November 2018; in the meantime women’s SPA is gradually getting later and is just over 61 right now. After November 2018, men and women will both see a gradual increase to 66 by October 2020. Further rises are planned from 2026 onwards.

You might think that very few people would want to work after the date when their state pension starts to be paid – whenever that might turn out to be. In fact, it turns out that a surprising number of people continue to work after reaching SPA. Some 1.4 million people were working beyond their SPA towards the end of last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This represented about one in eight state pensioners, and the proportion of working pensioners has generally been rising since 1999.
There are several good reasons for this, and some of them could affect you. Read more

How to find a healthy balance between work, your kids and love

Posted by & filed under At Home, Personal Development.

As a busy working woman with kids to look after, it can be hard to find time for love and romance. It’s important to get a healthy balance between work, kids and love, as you need to make sure you are doing things that make you happy, as well as taking care of other people in your life. This article looks at ways to create a healthy lifestyle balance, as well as suggesting new and practical ways to meet someone.

Getting a healthy balance

When you spend all day working on important projects, and the rest of the time running around after your children, you can feel like you never have any time for yourself – let alone for meeting someone new! The key to finding a healthy balance in life is to make the most of your time. Use the same strategies you have at work, such as organising, planning and goal-setting, to sort out your personal life. Read more

What to do with Overripe Bananas: Banana Bread

Posted by & filed under Cake.

by Rosie Slosek

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you 2 1/2 kg of organic bananas for £2, make banana bread.

Easy Money

Posted by & filed under Finances, Money Saving Ideas.

I find the voice of Moira Stuart (and the thought of her hiding in the cupboard under the stairs!) quite terrifying, so much so that I make very sure to file my tax return as soon as I have all the information ready! So I was quite taken aback to find in the post, on Christmas Eve of all days, a very incorrect tax demand! So incorrect was this tax bill that it would have obliterated all my self-employed earnings for the previous tax year.

Luckily for me the bill was incorrect (due unfortunately to my losing interest at a vital part and filling in the form wrongly!) so thankfully I didn’t have to find a big amount of cash unexpectedly. Clearly a big relief! Read more