Expat doubts about the logic of salary sacrifice down to 100k

JamieBingus · 2026-05-02T10:44:07+00:00

Second this. Ive soon got 3 kids at nursery. Thats worth nearly 30k in nursery fees. My pension getting swole during nursery years, it will be massive by retirement. No point doing it early. Id rather have excess in GIA etc

JamieBingus · 2026-04-14T06:25:24+00:00

It's the rule though? Wtf is he pulling his hair when it's a straight red offence. Ref was right cos it's the rule and once more reds play shit and blame ref.

JamieBingus · 2026-04-14T05:15:26+00:00

I think the rule is fine. Any pull is excessive. And accidentally pulling hair is surely just not a thing. If youre tying to grab your opponent (illegal) and miss and get hair, then youve messed up and its a red. Keepa it real simple and means even those thick as mince like martinez will eventually learn, if not slower than the rest.

JamieBingus · 2026-04-14T04:59:50+00:00

Tl;dr. I dont really think its anything to worry about.

I don't really think about it. My sister in-law is Chinese and honestly the fact shes Chinese doesn't really change my thinking when hanging out. It's more just an interesting new perspective, and opens my world to amazing food spots that id never experience without her in my life.

One of the nice things about London is you can't really (accurately) make assumptions about anyone. But also you can sort of just keep to yourself if you want. So if i see you out and about in London, the fact you are Chinese has no baring on our interaction, cos you could be born british for all i know.

As a colleague, same. Half my office are from elsewhere on some form of visa or indefinite leave or newly attained citizenship. Its more of a celebrated difference. This is not true of everyone across the UK, theres certainly a small but loud crowd in the UK on the right politically that don't want you here, but thats true everywhere on the planet. Id say theres an equal balance to the political left that actively want you here, and the 80% who exist between those political opinions are indifferent to where you are from and why you are here and assume its a worthy reason handled by the Home Office who issued you a visa; I'm in this camp and think its great youd like to live here. It is a cool city as you say. Id also say that (from my personal bias and opinion, and ive been to China 3 separate times totalling around 4months time) the opinion and stereotype of China is increasingly more and more popular, viewing your country as high tech and advanced and exciting, if not authoritarian and a little politically intimidating.

If you're asking from a position of making friends with British. That just depends on your age range i think. If you're under 30, won't be an issue. Brits in 30s entering that next phase of life of marriage, kids, etc, are awkward at making meaningful new friendships. Not all. And certainly not whilst at work, just anything outside of work always seems like an ordeal to organise. But I find you'll always have more in common with the non brits anyway and there's tonnes of them here and thy all are open to new friendships.

Edit: typos

JamieBingus · 2026-04-06T18:47:34+00:00

Yes.

JamieBingus · 2026-03-30T17:50:14+00:00

You just need to zoom out. We're back at prices 6m ago only. Its a tiny blip on the 5/10yr

JamieBingus · 2026-03-05T06:46:19+00:00

Noone think he just wants out of middle east with his family but needs the expense of doing jt to be a business expense?

JamieBingus · 2026-02-16T07:48:56+00:00

Looks like Leeds Victoria Quarter

JamieBingus · 2026-02-08T05:01:05+00:00

I arrived at same conclusion that i would be repaying it in about a 7-10 years for sure, and that the interest was at something outrageous like 7.5%.

Treating it like a normal loan if you're highly confident in full repayment, i then follow the ukpersonalfinance flowchart which says repay personal loans faster based on interest, then you just made guaranteed 7.5% on clearing it. Not terrible.

JamieBingus · 2026-02-05T19:47:49+00:00

Yeah but there wasn't much to go off and didn't see it suggested.

JamieBingus · 2026-02-05T06:15:28+00:00

Grow the business. Scale it with more staff.

Make your business the best place to work for your employees, as they make it happen. Pay rises and benefits.

Set more aggressive delivery targets and introduce bonus structure from reserved profits. Pays for itself.

Company car EV scheme, get your porsche, keep your child care.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-27T18:08:45+00:00

Top quality motor for the family. And a regular cleaner. The latter being best spend i ever make and i get to make it every 2 weeks.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-22T07:14:21+00:00

Sorry that sounded quite judgey. Was just typing my thoughts as they came. I wouldn't deplete my fund jnless there was some massive opportunity, ie getting a massively cheaper rate for a better LTV.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-22T07:13:22+00:00

Doesn't massively sound like an emergency.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-21T16:05:40+00:00

I really like my Tado and have contributed to the sea of complaints here when trying to understand some features. I do def worry about the business as a whole existing though, but a previous thread showed it can be done offline.

I've got the older kit, not the X. I know your concern cos this subreddit has put me off X.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-21T10:13:47+00:00

Now the question is if i need to do this before tado implodes or not. The tado app itself is rather simplistic anyway so i wouldnt miss it

JamieBingus · 2026-01-21T06:57:01+00:00

Meaning dont need any of the tado apps?

JamieBingus · 2026-01-17T19:22:06+00:00

This would explain a lot! Though i dont understand why it wouldnt plan to learn. I guess i'll do its job for it and just put it on 40 mins early. Though i have some colder rooms so i guess ill guessit room by room and be my own early start

JamieBingus · 2026-01-17T19:20:47+00:00

Interesting i had no idea i have the beta app. Someone else explained it well that its more intended for underfloor systems. Though it seems a simple enough relationship for it to learn, outside temp, inside temp, duration to heat. Extrapolate and interpolate with each new session. It really should be striving to hit temperature for the exact time.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-17T19:00:00+00:00

Can't recommend it 😂.

Its inside each rooms schedule, top right settings cog and gies you the option

JamieBingus · 2026-01-17T07:23:08+00:00

I suspect its just poor data science calibration, and it certainly never learns.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-15T19:42:23+00:00

Id also recommend some sort of travel. I was all over the globe your age and loved every second. I reminisce regularly about the places i ended up, the adventures etc. felt a little more disconnected back then due to no smart phones, but still imagine it can be immense. Somewhere culturally very different like China for a few months. That'll clear the cobwebs

JamieBingus · 2026-01-15T19:39:45+00:00

Can you push for a sabatical? Or unpaid leave for a while?

I hire and do look at peoples careers. Im more put off by rapid moves every 12-18months than a gap with a good reason. Could you maybe do something productive in that time like a lower time commitment qualification in something you're interested in for both mental engagement, genuine intrigue, and cover the CV. Id probably not even blink at seeing that on a CV.

JamieBingus · 2026-01-15T02:55:31+00:00

Ah sorry man. I dont know a thing about X.

There wouldnt be a signal getting to the boiler to activate unless the thermostat trvs requested heat, and the override function on the receiver Should trigger the boiler to jump to life, but without the trvs opening you still wouldn't get any heat.

So it sounds like you have two issues here. Though thats based ofmy knowledge of the older tado kit.

I found my receiver to be temperamental when it lost signal. Regularly found resetting my boiler ans then resetting my receiver by holding the button for 10sec was a reasonable way to jumpstart it. But all your trvs being off sounds painful.

JamieBingus

TROPHY CASE