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18th July 2017

Reviews & Adverts

Self-Employment – Advantages & Disadvantages For Me

Self-Employment

 

I’ve been self-employed for a few years now. I have to say, while it’s been hard at times, it does seem to be getting easier.

I used to be a manager of a laundrette until it changed owners. The new owners wanted to manage it themselves.
Ant had been self-employed for a while and after discussing our options, we decided it would be best for us to become a partnership.

Advantages

  1. Childcare – One of the main reasons for my becoming self-employed was mainly due to childcare. Our nursery costs each month, when I was working at the laundry, were over £500.
    Losing the regular income meant we co no longer afford the nursery fees.
    Luckily for us,  it all happened around the time Ella was just old enough for us to start claiming the free nursery hours.
  2. Travel – Working from home means no travel or the associated costs. I don’t have to get up as early as when I had to be out of the house for a certain time!
  3. No Boss – Being your own boss is one of the best bits for me. I don’t get stressed as much now because there isn’t anyone to answer to. I can do things the way I want to and I don’t have to justify the reasons for my choices.

home office self-employment

Disadvantages

  1. Working From Home – When you work from home, people think it’s ok to pop in for a cuppa. They seem to think that because you’re at home, you can drop whatever you’re doing and spend an hour or more chatting.
    They’d never just drop into your office and expect you to stop working so they can have a natter!
  2. No fixed Income – Most of the time we have no idea how much money we’re going to earn from one month to the next.
    It’s hard to budget your income and outgoings, let alone plan savings when you don’t know what money you’re going to get. We’ve had a few times when unexpected expenses have cropped up and we haven’t had the money to deal with them. At times like these, a payday loan from somewhere like CashLady can be a godsend.
  3. No Holiday Pay – I don’t think I’ve had a holiday where I’ve totally unplugged from work since becoming self-employed. I always take my laptop with me and while I do limit the hours I work, it’s still always there. I have to check emails because I can’t afford to miss a well-paying job.
  4. Doing Your Tax Return – It was really scary the first time I logged on the HMRC website to our tax returns. I’ve done them every year since becoming self-employed, but I think it might be time to start looking for an accountant.
    If, like me, you need help with your tax returns or you have any tax questions, you get in touch with the friendly team at PKF Cooper Parry.

For a while, when business wasn’t as good as expected, I contemplated finding a full-time job again and giving up the self-employment. It was worrying not knowing if we could cover the bills.
Things are better now and I’m so glad I persevered with it. It’s lovely being home in the mornings before school and again in the afternoon.

I do volunteer at our local charity shop two mornings a week. It gives me a chance to talk to other people and stops me going crazy being home all the time! Becoming self-employed was certainly the best choice for our family 🙂

Reviews & Adverts

Home Remedy 101: The Ultimate Guide To Fixing Your Faults

Fixing Your Faults

fixing-your-faults

https://www.pexels.com/photo/yellow-door-484504/

Home ownership can be an absolute blessing. But when it comes to keeping things running right, it can often feel like you’ve got one thing going wrong after another. And when that’s the case, it can be beyond frustrating. But, instead of letting it get to you, you’re going to want to work on ironing out those issues for good. There are so many different things that can go wrong around the home; you may feel like you’re not going to be able to remedy or prevent them all. But, you sometimes can.

First of all, it’s always important to tackle your home faults in two separate ways. To get you started, you’re going to want to focus on the problems inside of the home. This is because you spend most of your time indoors. Your home is your comfort and safety blanket wrapped up into one. So, the inside issues are often the most important. Then, when you’ve got them under control, you should then head outside to work on fixing the faults that can often crop up out there too. And if you want to know how you’re going to do it, read on.

Inside

plant and sofa

https://www.pexels.com/photo/apartment-comfort-contemporary-couch-260046/

Leaky Pipes

When it comes to having leaky pipes, you can often feel like you’re going to need to call in a plumber to take care of the mess for you. But that doesn’t always have to be the case. Firstly, what you’re going to want to do is see if you can fix the pipes yourself. Once you know where the leak is coming from, you’ll need to turn off the water supply, cover the area with a kind of special sealant, cover it with rubber and a clamp and leave it for a while. Then, turn the water back on. If it doesn’t hold, you may then have to call in the experts.

Draughty Windows

If you ever notice that one of your windows is particularly draughty, it can feel frustrating. Again, like the issue with the leaky pipes, you may feel like you have to get it replaced. But, you may want to try and save it first. There is a range of ways that you can fix draughty windows. So give some of these ideas a go before you fork out a ton of money on brand new windows.

Mouldy Walls

Sometimes, no matter how well you ventilate your home, you can suffer from mouldy walls. It’s super frustrating, but if you have an old house and damp has gotten into the walls already, you may have an ongoing problem. For now, you may want to keep the area clean regularly with a bleach wash. Then, if it persists, you may have to get the damp removed, and the wall replastered.

Stained Carpets

In life, accidents happen. There’s not a lot that you can do to stop them. So, from time to time, we all get marks and stains on our carpets. But that’s what carpet cleaning is for. Now, you may think that (again), you have to get someone in. But you can clean your carpets yourself. Whether you choose to steam clean them or chem dry, you can find incredible products and appliances that can help you remove stains and dirt yourself.

Blinky Oven

We all know the time. When you go to put dinner on, and your oven just won’t play ball. Sometimes it won’t get hot or others the fan just doesn’t kick in. But that doesn’t mean that you have to go out and buy a brand new one. Instead, you should do your research. Find out what part of your oven is on the blink and look into ordering a replacement part. This could mean you spend pounds compared to hundreds of pounds to repair it!

 

Outside

garden hedge and pathway

https://www.pexels.com/photo/garden-way-2631/

Blocked Drains

One of the biggest issues that can happen when it comes to the outside is drainage problems. We all know that we have to work on those gutters a few times a year, but it’s always easy to forget when you last did them. Plus, when your drains start to smell, you can worry that you have a lot of costly work on your hands. But, with a bit of exploration or a CCTV drain survey, you should be able to identify the problem. Then, you just need to get to work on putting it right and keeping things clear.

Broken Fence

Sometimes, our old English weather can wreak havoc in the garden. We don’t tend to get the most extreme of weather, but when we get a bit of gale force wind, it certainly shakes things up a bit. So, when your fence breaks, you’re going to want to get out there and repair it. Because more often than not, it can be repaired rather than replaced.

Overgrown Garden

Gardening can often take a lot of work, and if you’re not the most green fingered of people, it can be a frustrating chore to keep on top of. So, before you know it, the entire garden has gotten a bit wild. But, you’re going to want to bite the bullet, grab your shears and get out there. By pruning and cutting for a day, you’ll make a world of difference.

Problem Pests

Then there’s always the worry of attracting pests in your garden. Sometimes, it can just be a precaution that you want to take. However, sometimes, you may find that you have pests and you need to keep them out – for safety reasons. Deterring garden pests can actually be easier than you think. So take a look at that resource, read up, and start to make your garden a pest-free place.

Unsecured Storage

Most of us have storage in the garden. Whether you have a traditional garage, a shed, or some kind of outbuilding where you keep things stored, it’s always in your best interest to make sure that it’s secure. If you’ve suffered a break-in, or you just want to prevent one from occurring or protect it from bad weather, you’re going to want to make sure that your doors are reinforced and that you’ve got a secure and working lock.

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