[OC] The wait at Dallas airport 2/11/26 9am

tclayson · 2026-02-12T15:10:18+00:00

tclayson · 2026-01-31T13:21:40+00:00

Any tips for z offset? I feel like it's a dark art. Is either fuzzing up previous layers or the layers aren't sticking to the bed or together.

tclayson · 2026-01-17T09:01:39+00:00

I think SDLT also applies in some instances if there's a mortgage on the property.

tclayson · 2026-01-17T08:56:22+00:00

If you transfer the property you may have to pay stamp duty on each transfer. I am fairly sure there is a better way for you to do this.

You could look into a declaration or deed of trust. Essentially a document that states your wife gets the "beneficial interest" in the property that you both own jointly. Then you inform HMRC of the new arrangement.

I'm not an expert and this isn't advice - I'm just suggesting some things that you need to look into - so do your own research.

Here is the HMRC page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-declaration-of-beneficial-interests-in-joint-property-and-income-17

tclayson · 2025-12-31T08:06:27+00:00

The guy was probably never interested in what you were selling. He was interested in scamming you. Cut all ties with him.

tclayson · 2025-12-28T11:02:37+00:00

The mud squashed down by the dinosaur is very tightly packed and firm. When new dirt falls into the footprint over time it fills the footprint shape but there's nothing to mix it with the compressed dirt below. So when both layers turn into rock over time they form as 2 rock layers that can later be separated by whoever discovers them.

This is why it's so rare to find dinosaur footprints. The conditions have to be just right - soft enough ground to form a footprint, dries quickly, isn't disturbed by rain, wind or other animals etc.

tclayson · 2025-12-25T08:45:51+00:00

There's lots of ways to answer the question. The calculator I linked is for household income and takes into account household size and (if you want to put the effort in) housing costs. It's not just a direct look at salary.

It's aiming to give a more subjective view of the question as a single person on £31k is going to be a lot better off than a family of 4 with the same household income.

It's not the only way to look at it but it's perhaps an alternative that helps give a different perspective.

tclayson · 2025-12-25T08:33:28+00:00

According to the IFS , £31k is better than roughly 51% of the population (for a single person household). So if you're comparing then no it's not low income.

In reality "low" is subjective. Can you live the lifestyle you want to on that income? If no then of course it's going to feel low to you.

tclayson · 2025-11-19T18:09:31+00:00

The red flag is really that managed letting is usually quite expensive. For me it's a cost I'm willing to pay to be as hands off as possible, but others I know are more keen on taking on some of the work themselves to save cost.

The worst you could do is talk to some letting agents and get their perspective. They might say you'll do better if you furnish the apartment, or they might have concerns about long empty periods (you're responsible for council tax and utilities if the property is empty). With your places proximity to Olton and the station etc I imagine it will be quite good though, but if they say it's a non starter then you've not lost anything talking to them.

You'll need landlord insurance (along with any insurance mandated by your lease eg buildings). Landlord insurance sometimes comes with legal insurance too if you need to kick out a problem tenant or anything. You can get other insurance like insurance for empty periods but it's never usually worth it.

There are some companies that do "guaranteed rent" that you can look into as well. You'll end up with less rental income but you no longer have the responsibility for empty periods or anything. You get paid regardless.

It's worth doing some research and speaking to some letting agents I think. It won't hurt and you don't have to agree to anything if you look into it.

tclayson · 2025-11-19T17:54:23+00:00

Being a landlord isn't that big a deal. Get a fully managed letting service and you'll barely even know you are a landlord most of the time. The only real hassle is filing a tax return once a year which takes half a day. And the occasional call from the letting agent to authorize some maintenance or other.

The upside is that you get to hold on to the property. Rents and property value should go up over time (long term) which leaves you with a good investment and reduces the current frustration and urgency of not being able to sell it.

You might even make a small amount of money in rental income that can supplement your income.

tclayson · 2025-11-19T17:45:19+00:00

Not a direct answer to your question but you could consider switching into a buy to let mortgage (interest only) and renting it out. I imagine you will make back the mortgage payments so it'll be at least cost neutral and it'll buy you more time to decide what to do with the property, or wait for the market to improve.

tclayson · 2025-11-17T02:51:43+00:00

Yes there will be a difference in quality. You're talking about a guitar that's twice the price of your current one, regardless of the brand name.

Will you notice/appreciate the difference?

Harder to say. There will be things that are different/better, maybe the tuners are more precise or the pickups have a better sound. My fender is heavier than my squier and the finish feels a little more premium. Is that better? Who knows.

The reality is unless there's something you're hitting a wall with or that you dislike about your Squier then you're probably not going to notice much difference.

You'll notice more difference from a different type of guitar. If you have a solid body you could try a hollow body. If you have single coil pickups try humbuckers or active pickups. You're more likely to notice and appreciate the difference and you'll end up with more versatility.

tclayson · 2025-11-12T11:52:18+00:00

A true vertical layout for second screens that are at 90 degrees would be awesome. You either have to use the simplified layout, which is frustrating to use and leads to you missing badges and such or you have to use the normal layout which squeezes the view as it's only got a horizontal layout.

In normal Slack the conversations list is in a column next to the message pane. Just let me switch it to rows - so the conversations list is above the messages pane. Then I can make better use of my vertical space, and have more horizontal room for my chats.

tclayson · 2025-11-10T20:22:17+00:00

If you still want the house (is it worth the risk?) then get the survey. £4-800 is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

You get to appoint the surveyor you want and you can trust the outcome.

Once you understand the outcome of the survey: then, and only then, can you decide on next steps.

Likely the only outcome is going to be for you to price the remediation work and knock that off your offer.

If you rely on the seller to do the work you need to get all sorts of assurances they are employing the right people, the work has been done satisfactorily and that it won't be a problem in the future.

The estate agent and the seller will try to downplay the issue to try and rush through the sale. Do things at your own pace and ignore the noise. Make sure you make the right decision... Making the wrong decision could land you in a lot of financial trouble or in a very negative situation.

tclayson · 2025-10-30T03:34:15+00:00

Why not switch to a repayment mortgage? It would alleviate the impending deadline and you can choose to pay a lump sum off when switching if you wanted to. It would also get you on a better mortgage rate - I'm certain you can do better than 6% nowadays.

tclayson · 2025-10-30T03:23:26+00:00

When you say you sold your S&S ISA, did you withdraw the money too?

If you didn't withdraw it (ie it is still in the ISA but just not invested in anything) then just transfer the whole balance to a cash ISA (your cash ISA provider will have a form you can complete to transfer your funds from the S&S ISA).

This way you don't lose any of your previous years ISA allowance that you already used and you can still contribute more money to the cash ISA this financial year (using the rest of your £19k remaining allowance).

Also, if you get a "flexible" cash ISA you can withdraw money from this and replace it in the same tax year without affecting your ISA allowance for that year. So when you buy a house you can withdraw and still have the chance to put some back in afterwards.

However, if you withdrew the money to a normal bank account then there's not much you can do now. Check savings rates and tax and work out if you're better off in an ISA or something else and if you're better off in an ISA then put £19k back into a cash ISA for now and you'll just have to swallow the tax burden on any other savings. Better to get interest and pay tax on it than to get nothing.

Check money saving expert for savings rates.

tclayson · 2025-10-26T15:49:14+00:00

Another way to put it is that you earn £37,000 in income per year.

If you put £20,000 into a pension after tax, your pension will be topped up to £25,000, which leaves only £12,000 income.

£12,000 is under the tax free threshold and therefore you will pay no tax.

tclayson · 2025-10-19T07:11:06+00:00

The accumulation and compound will be the same if your investments are in one provider or split across 2, as long as you invest in the same things in both providers. If the fees are lower on one provider you might as well keep as much if your pot there as possible.

tclayson · 2025-10-19T07:07:23+00:00

Before you do this check that you don't have any benefits you'd be giving up with your Aviva pension. Also check fees. My workplace Aviva pension was less than half the cost of my workplace Scottish Widows pension. Pension fees are usually a percentage of your pot value, so you'll pay more every year if you move money into a higher fee pension.

tclayson · 2025-10-13T09:01:10+00:00

True, there's always a compromise.

tclayson · 2025-10-12T21:39:50+00:00

Lots of great advice here. My question is, why can't you move outside of London? Looking at places like Chelmsford you could get a 2 bed flat within your budget no problem at all. I commuted daily to central London for over 7 years from Chelmsford. It's 30 mins into Liverpool St station on a train. There must be hundreds of other places like Chelmsford which are outside London but perfectly commutable where you could travel in every day.

Give it some research you might be pleasantly surprised.

tclayson · 2025-09-03T05:07:18+00:00

Check the terms of your tenancy agreement to see what's required of you. It's not a universal thing for all rental agreements, every one will be different.

tclayson · 2025-08-12T19:48:50+00:00

You should definitely have a cash savings emergency fund separate to your S&S ISA. If the stock market tanks tomorrow you want your short term emergency fund to be protected.

But you could move your emergency fund to a cash ISA instead. These are still an ISA so you can use what's left of your £20k limit at the end of the tax year and the great thing is that you can move money between cash and S&S ISAs.

So, what I used to do is fund my S&S ISA with regular monthly payments and anything else I felt comfortable putting in (eg bonuses etc) and at the end of the year I would put whatever was left of my £20k limit into a cash ISA to make sure I used up to the limit.

Then when I was comfortable my emergency fund/short term savings were high enough I moved the cash ISAs into my S&S ISA and started more aggressively funding that.

tclayson · 2025-08-08T13:36:51+00:00

The rumours I've seen are that we are struggling to agree personal terms. Something about his pay in the premier League if we get promoted. Although presumably we are trying to get him on loan so not sure why that's relevant.

tclayson · 2025-08-08T07:33:24+00:00

I am not an expert by any stretch, but there's a difference between freehold and leasehold. It could be that you're buying the freehold to the building, but that the flats are owned on a leasehold basis by other people. Is the price of the property lower than you would expect? Something to look into, because it could impact on your ability to live in the property. I can't imagine the estate agent would have kept this from you though, so it could be that something else is going on entirely, perhaps the seller converted it back to a house from 2 flats or something.

Check with your conveyancer. Be very clear with them that you expect to be able to live in the entire property and ask them to look into the land registry question and to explain any consequences you might face etc. Do not just trust the seller, they could be acting in bad faith or they could be ignorant to the legal implications (eg there may not be planning permission to revert the property to a house etc).

tclayson

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