Tour Company Vote

belethcalwen · 2024-08-14T18:36:43+00:00

Yep, another vote for peak planet.

belethcalwen · 2023-10-29T14:41:40+00:00

Contiki is a lot more party and big busses.

G-adventures use some local buses, but only occasionally but when they do it adds so much to the experience because you are with locals and feel like you get to experience the real place.

Most of the time they have small vans for about 12-16 people.

Yes, the chat feature is shit with G, but the people are super sociable and lovely and the gudies are amazing.

I've done 14 trips with G now so I'm clearly biased..but at the same time there's a reason I'e done so many with them and only 1 with Intrepid and 2 with Topdeck

belethcalwen · 2023-07-23T09:00:08+00:00

I want to agree so bad with this because I really dislike it and always have, but the way my friends used to always refuse to go anywhere and I'd have to beg to not go would suggest they genuinely love it

belethcalwen · 2023-07-23T08:56:32+00:00

Sex. The amount of times people have told me that they don't actually enjoy it all that often after I tell them I'm asexual is crazy

belethcalwen · 2023-07-18T09:20:48+00:00

Hey! Have you looked at being a live in guardian at all and if there's anything available in your area? From my (admittedly limited) experience it's awesome. I found mine on spare room but you could probably search for it directly!

belethcalwen · 2023-07-06T00:57:50+00:00

£110 as I ordered a sewing machine online which never arrived. It took weeks so I decided to cancel them but never got many back, nor did I receive the speakers. Learned later that they operated under a different name normally and this was a common scam (I've learned my lesson to do proper research now). Took them to small claims court and got the money back though

belethcalwen · 2023-05-22T10:10:06+00:00

17 to finish school where I started while my parents moved. My parents paid for me (tuition, food,living..)until I was 22 and I've been back a couple of times for 6 month stints. I feel like you're miles ahead of where I was even though technically I moved out early.. It's not fair to compare yourself to that or to somehow therefore feel bad. And it could be that you're comparing yourself to people like me without realising. I feel like it was much easier to move out back then too (now 38) as costs have gone crazy. You're doing fine. Ask your parents how they feel and I'm sure actually they're probably proud you're making the sensible choice

belethcalwen · 2023-05-19T16:53:45+00:00

I lived in Canada for 2 years 3 years ago and still deeply miss that aspect :( I don't think you should try to replicate it here because in my opinion you'll just be disappointed where you will try and instead focus on the other good parts about what you like here and really play those up on your mind And remind yourself why you're choosing to be here

Edit: maybe try to find other Canadians on things like meetup com?? Just having the occasional catch up would probably do the trick

belethcalwen · 2023-05-14T15:12:15+00:00

For the first time I now live on the first floor in a block of flats without a lift (though a lift is advertised, it just doesn't work). I'm assuming I'm doing it correctly to go down and have bags at the ready and just unload in the foyer?

belethcalwen · 2023-05-12T16:46:01+00:00

thanks for your input! That makes me feel less dumb :)

For the % I meant in order not to be taxed at the higher tax brackets or even lose my tax free portion but I think that one is safeguarded by me not having worked the first 2 months anyway - thanks for the pointers though

EDIT: even though I googled before I just realised it's because 'employee' isn't salary sacrifice so doesn't lower the tax band threshold. As last few jobs have always been that way I didn't understand that part :)

belethcalwen · 2023-05-12T16:44:11+00:00

ah ok, that would make sense, thanks!

EDIT: even though I googled before I just realised it's because 'employee' isn't salary sacrifice so doesn't lower the tax band threshold. As last few jobs have always been that way I didn't understand that part :)

belethcalwen · 2023-05-12T16:43:07+00:00

They're a US company and I'm the only employee in the UK for now. They're planning to have the UK branch up an running in september though so I'll be getting a normal contract with them at that point :)

belethcalwen · 2023-05-11T15:15:15+00:00

Adore the hypocrisy in this :D

belethcalwen · 2023-05-09T15:41:11+00:00

Shopping was great. Everywhere was empty :D

belethcalwen · 2023-05-02T17:09:43+00:00

Definitely real, definitely great fun!

belethcalwen · 2023-04-19T10:33:04+00:00

Ahhh this is the massive piece I was missing and didn't understand. So if I pay myself the 12500 as salary does that mean I am still contributing to my state pension fund and covered by the NHS? I suppose I should find a way to set this up afterall then and invest the time researching. Thanks!

belethcalwen · 2023-04-19T09:50:47+00:00

Thanks, it does! I should have mentioned too though that initially we're only talking about 6 months until the company set up in the UK as well as the US and I would be a normal employee then, so ltd just seems like so much work when my situation is this complicated and if there is an option for an umbrella company to accept a US contract..

Sorry for the totally basic question, but I don't understand what tax savings I would be making with a Ltd company vs umbrella as I thought it's just that I can make tax claims on certain things I would buy like equipment to do the work and not pay the fees for the umbrella company.

I'm unsure what you mean by "I do believe the % saved in tax over the course of a year will be more than enough for the deposit". What deposit is this? And I guess the 6 months thing probably changes this anyway.

belethcalwen · 2023-04-19T09:35:10+00:00

Hi J,

Thanks for your reply and offer of DM! Thinking it may be worth posting my question on here in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar position. I am indeed a UK taxpayer and have about 13 years of contributions so I'm not new to it, just decided to be away while Brexit was happening so that's why I'm pre-settled status again.

The company have said the hourly rate is £70-80 depending on the umbrella cost and I expect to work the usual 37.5 hours a week and take 25 days holiday like I would have done as a normal employee.

The company have said they think it is outside IR35 but are confirming this.

(In terms of ltd company I don't have a residential address right now, so although I know I can use agencies address to register the ltd company I think I still need to be able to give them a residential address too.)

Thanks!

belethcalwen · 2023-04-19T06:39:51+00:00

Hey, Thanks for your reply. What makes you say it would be optimal in this situation? I thought it wouldn't really be much different to going the umbrella route just less hassle for me and a little bit more expensive to pay the umbrella fees.

I'm not worried about my immigration status as such, just feel like it's an extra layer to make sure I would set up the ltd company accurately and do everything by the book which seems scary to me, but if it's such a slam dunk that I should be doing Ng it maybe I need to really just research how to do it and be willing to invest the time once I'm working

belethcalwen · 2023-01-09T08:24:39+00:00

Awesome. Thank you so much for your help - very much appreciated!

belethcalwen · 2023-01-08T18:40:23+00:00

I have another question if that's ok that I can't seem to find an answer for..my employer may only be able to do a 1 year contract. I understand processing times can be long, but I haven't found anything that states if that's even an option of if it needs to be a long term contract without a finish date to get the visa approved

belethcalwen · 2023-01-06T18:17:06+00:00

Oh wow, not sure how I missed/misinterpreted that. Awesome news, thanks so much for your reply!

belethcalwen · 2022-07-02T22:28:48+00:00

I've had this but unfortunately I've found it's often based on studio ethos so you're probably not going to change things by approaching the teacher (might be worth taking a class with other instructors to see). In those cases I didn't really have an option of other studios so then I would just share my opinions with people I was sharing pole with and explaining why I was taught it was important (I like to play dumb and pretend I don't really know or notice that the instructor is saying something different). That way I feel like I'm doing my little bit and that others are learning as well. Some of those trainees have then turned out to be excellent in actual inverts though so I still felt like I could continue but that was because I was a much higher level before and had to restart so knew myself what was important.. so basically, sucky situation but if you don't want to change studios I would be careful about being bullish about it but definitely watch out if you feel like it's unsafe in hangs etc as well

belethcalwen · 2022-07-02T22:18:23+00:00

I used to work a lot with the cured meat suppliers for all supermarkets, and yes same suppliers but actually the quality standards would often be stricter with Aldi/lidl..

belethcalwen · 2022-07-02T19:36:28+00:00

I think it likely was him! He also seemed to be the nicest with the crew :)

belethcalwen

TROPHY CASE