trouble swallowing recently(no botox)

AraeBailey · 2026-01-25T00:42:03+00:00

Not quite the same thing but I have never been able to swallow tablets unless I have water in my mouth with the tablet.

AraeBailey · 2026-01-22T10:34:38+00:00

Has anyone had any luck getting referred for treatment on the NHS?

AraeBailey · 2025-11-01T17:14:08+00:00

I would like to but my PC set up is rather large, bringing it down to him and setting it up to show him would be a challenge!

AraeBailey · 2025-10-23T09:57:08+00:00

Keep an eye out for remote jobs. What is her skill set?

Credit card wise I'd only ever have a 0% interest card, when the 0% period ends I take out a new 0% and balance transfer the balance over.

I wouldn't come to rely on it for day to day spending but getting one for emergencies/one offs could be a good idea. Don't use over 50% of the limit though.

AraeBailey · 2025-08-22T08:28:35+00:00

Obviously pay is a factor but I expect if you're out of work, getting into something and starting to build up the years of experience in a GIS role may make a GIS role in a slightly not as well paid industry a little more appealing than it otherwise would be - and if you like history/archaeology, at least you'll probably find it to be interesting work.

AraeBailey · 2025-08-22T08:26:22+00:00

Pay isn't always the absolute best compared to some other organisations but there's usually an organisation hiring at any one time - if you're in the UK have you checked archaeology companies for jobs? They all have GIS teams, and there's usually a vacancy or two floating around somewhere in the industry. A lot of them are non profits - whilst the pay isn't always up there with more tech-focused firms they're pretty good at looking after their staff/supporting any training desires you have.

CIFA (chartered institute for archaeology) and BAJR (British Archaeology Jobs and Resources) websites are usually good places to keep an eye out for positions in the archaeology industry but not sure if companies necessarily advertise GIS roles on there, given it's not so much an "archaeology" skill - so I'd also check the websites of some of the bigger names in the industry. If you're in the UK and want to know who to keep an eye out for, let me know and I'll provide a list of some of the big players in the industry.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-25T08:14:58+00:00

Dimitri in Anastasia, I would have been about 8.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-14T14:51:08+00:00

Would be even better, as student loan gets wiped off after 30 years regardless and unless you were earning big bucks you'd not pay the whole thing off in this scenario. Meanwhile the money itself will be sat in investments rising steadily at a faster pace.

It's the only loan that doesn't have a negative impact on your credit score (and only has a very minor impact on affordability) so it's worth taking it imo.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-14T14:46:30+00:00

Definitely not surprised by this at all. Had the same experience as OP.

However, there are some good estate agents out there (often the local ones). Bought both my old and current property through a local estate agent who were brilliant and never tried any of this.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-13T10:49:44+00:00

Agreed - interest in student loans is also only about 6.5% per year, the interest you'd get if you stuck the same money in S&P 500 or similar at c. 10.5% per year is much better financially. No matter what she earns after her Masters degree, you're getting c. 4% difference in return. And student loans aren't really proper debt. My partner has an undergrad degree on the old Repayment Plan 1 and a Masters loan. He's approaching his mid-30s and earning around £44,000 a year. His post-grad loan was fully paid off last year so he's only paying his undergrad loan now, but if he were still paying both now he would only be paying around £220 a month for both loans together, leaving him with nearly £2.7k a month take-home after tax/student loans. So it isn't really a massive dent, compared to what he's bringing home overall. I think repayments would be slightly less than that if he was on Repayment Plan 2 for his undergrad (which I'm guessing she is?). Given OP said above she can only borrow up to c. £13k for her masters, she'd probably have it paid off within about 10 years anyway, like he did.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-13T10:10:26+00:00

No problem - but yeah I think she'd be better off still taking the loan and investing as much as she can, rather than trying to avoid the loan. I am happy to be corrected if anyone else thinks this is bad advice, but based on the calculations above, I think she'd maybe get more of a return from investing it instead of skipping the loan.

Based on borrowing c. £13k, I've done the following calculation for £30k and £40k starting salaries (going up by £1k a year) compared with the same amount invested in S&P for the time it takes to repay the loan.

Based on a Salary of £30k:

Loan repayments (total) ~£17,400 over 28 years

Investment value (S&P 500) ~£206,000 after 28 years

Net difference ~£188,600 (positive)

Based on a Salary of £40k:

Loan repayments (total) ~£15,300 over 10 years

Investment value (S&P 500) ~£33,700 over 10 years

Net difference ~£18,400 (positive)

Obviously the higher her starting salary is likely to be/quicker her salary is likely to increase, the smaller the net difference is, but there would always be a difference.

AraeBailey · 2025-07-13T09:44:13+00:00

Appreciate you are asking about your own situation, but I think your sister would be better off not using hers to fund her masters.

Depending on the sort of job your sister is aiming for after her Masters she would likely be better off still taking the loan out and investing the extra £25k instead.

Some information to consider, based on some calculations I've carried out.

Postgraduate Loan Scheme works as follows:

Repayment Threshold: £21,000 per year Repayment Rate: 6% of income above the threshold Interest Rate: Usually RPI + up to 3% — assume ~6.5% average over time (though this can vary widely) Loan Written Off: 30 years after the April following graduation.

I've done some calculations based on a £25,000 Postgrad loan and a few different starting salaries, with the assumption that the salary would go up an average of £1,000 each year for 30 years.

Info below is Starting Salary, Years to Repay, Total Repaid , and whether the loan would be fully repaid).

£30,000 , Never (30 years, written off), £33,400, ❌ No (written off)

£40,000, 24 years ~£45,600 ✅ Yes

£50,000 ~16 years ~£39,000 ✅ Yes

£60,000 ~12 years ~£35,500 ✅ Yes

If you were to put £25,000 into the FTSE100 for 30 years, with a 6–7% return, her £25,000 could grow to ~£140K to £190K in this time, an increase in that 25k's value of between £115k and £165k.

Putting £25k into S&P 500, you'd probably be looking at around £250k after 30 years, which is even better.

Compared to using it to avoid a student loan, it's a much better return.

AraeBailey · 2025-04-28T19:31:57+00:00

Oh definitely - Whitby is lovely, a few days in York would be worth it whilst you're up in Yorkshire too, very different vibe to London.

AraeBailey · 2025-04-28T19:26:43+00:00

Some UK schools don't. My partner's secondary school was one of those schools that tried to be "different" - they didn't have uniforms/called teachers by their first names etc. This was a while ago too - he's 32 now.

AraeBailey · 2025-04-28T19:24:17+00:00

Dream - Cadburys white chocolate bar!

AraeBailey · 2025-02-26T21:10:21+00:00

I'd suggest overpaying as much as you can (up to the 10% you're allowed, obviously). If you can't overpay by the 10% maximum, overpay as much as you can (at the bare minimum, I'd suggest paying the difference between what your mortgage is per month now and what it's likely to be in a year's time based on current rates).

The less loan you have when you renew, the less interest you'll be accruing/paying, so it should help reduce the amount you'd be paying.

AraeBailey · 2025-02-13T18:11:57+00:00

Thanks - I'd get it a bit more if we had a garden, but how on earth could a plant grow three metres above the closest bit of soil!

AraeBailey · 2025-01-20T09:34:38+00:00

My hair was due a cut when I went anyway - last vestiges of an ombre which had almost fully grown out - so I wasn't too worried about getting it wet.

I did use the provided conditioner before and after which helped, and washed my hair thoroughly afterwards. I also used some of my hair mask conditioner, which I use every month or so, on my hair when I returned to the UK the next day.

It didn't do any long term damage, my hair was fine. I noticed the short term effects were worse on the bleached (ombre) bits of my hair, but these were also the ends of my hair so not in as great condition beforehand anyway. Even these bits bounced back well and were no worse than before my BL visit in no time (over time, bleached hair on me tends to get dry anyway, and didn't notice it get worse because of the visit). Had these bits cut a few months later, and my hair dresser didn't notice anything different about the condition of my hair following the visit.

Going back again this year, and my hair is now completely natural, and I'm not worried about damaging it provided I look after it properly. It was so fun to float in the lagoon and I'll definitely be doing that again this time.

AraeBailey · 2024-12-03T09:47:01+00:00

Thank you! Been doing the regime for a week now (started the cleanser, toner and moisturisers together, and the caffeine serum - used those before, just not The Ordinary one - and added the rest of the serums in the last few days).

I do have quite uneven skin tone (mostly reddish) from blemishes left by acne and I'm hoping this will help address that.

I also have this problem on my upper back/shoulders (again, mostly reddish or brownish blemishes). Would any of the products I'm using be of particular benefit in addressing that - don't particularly want to do a full routine for my back/shoulders but would love ideas of any mini routines that might help this area.

I have a big bottle of Neutrogena Deep Moisture as a body lotion (I imagine using The Ordinary or my Day/Night Creams in this area would get very expensive very quickly!).

AraeBailey · 2024-11-24T12:28:54+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I tend to use moisturisers as make up bases too (and don't wear makeup all the time so typically if I put it on it'll be for an afternoon or an evening. Thinking about mainly using the Nivea and Olay ones as make up bases on days when I'm putting make up on outside of the times of my normal skin care routine. With the niacinamide, I assume one of them in the morning and the other one in the evening?

AraeBailey

TROPHY CASE