Questions Thread

[Soup]

On 29/01/2021 at 22:33, tom27111 said:

My Mrs was on about Flaxseed the other day, she'd heard something about it and wanted to try it.

 

I'd never even heard of it.

 

After seeing the price of it, I think we'll happily go without.

 

I can get a decent bottle of red cheaper than that and I know what I'll enjoy more 

I got a 175g bag of ground Flaxseed from Morrisons for just over £2. It's ground though and not whole seed. From what I've read it has the same health benefits.

[The Bear]

Ground is better. Whole seeds can be passed straight through. 

[Carl the Llama]

6 hours ago, Alf Bentley said:

Why is there always a lot more milk in a 4-pint container than will fit into 4 x 1-pint containers?

 

The door rack in my fridge broke and I can't be arsed to chase up a repair, so I've been buying 4-pint containers as usual, but pouring them into 4 x 1-pint containers.

However much I fill the 4 x 1-pint containers, there's always quite a lot of milk left over, despite the stated contents being identical: 568ml x 4 = 2272ml.

How much are we talking?  Could it be explained by the milk bubbling up a bit as you pour?  If not it sounds like your milkman's been ripping off all the poor single-pint peasants, how dairy.

[Benguin]

8 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

How much are we talking?  Could it be explained by the milk bubbling up a bit as you pour?  If not it sounds like your milkman's been ripping off all the poor single-pint peasants, how dairy.

Telling dairy jokes I see, how mature. 

[Clever Fox]

6 hours ago, Soup said:

I got a 175g bag of ground Flaxseed from Morrisons for just over £2. It's ground though and not whole seed. From what I've read it has the same health benefits.

You can also use Chia seeds which are very good for the Skin, Heart and Weight loss etc.

Likewise Oats are a cheap and great to add to Smothies or Weetabix if your feeling hungry. Though they make it very thick.

Be careful if using Orange juice etc as they carry a lot of Sugar which is not very good for you.

I fancy one right now.

[Soup]

1 hour ago, Clever Fox said:

You can also use Chia seeds which are very good for the Skin, Heart and Weight loss etc.

Likewise Oats are a cheap and great to add to Smothies or Weetabix if your feeling hungry. Though they make it very thick.

Be careful if using Orange juice etc as they carry a lot of Sugar which is not very good for you.

I fancy one right now.

Cheers. Oats are a good idea, I'll try them.

 

My first attempt was ok btw. Used flax and natural yogurt like you said. Also added mixed berries and pomegranate seeds. Little bit of pineapple juice, broccoli and spinach. Not bad at all.

[Clever Fox]

9 minutes ago, Soup said:

Cheers. Oats are a good idea, I'll try them.

 

My first attempt was ok btw. Used flax and natural yogurt like you said. Also added mixed berries and pomegranate seeds. Little bit of pineapple juice, broccoli and spinach. Not bad at all.

That sounds good. You're better playing around with the quantities to find the balance you like best. 1 or 2 two tablespoons of Oats as they thicken the liquid quickly. 

I often use juice but not too often as they can release too much sugar into the body too quickly. It's better to use hole fruits. Apples and Oranges diced up and Bananas are also great  to add to a Smothie.

Pineapples are very good for the Lungs but again it's about balance.

 

For the liquid I often use Milk with Yogurt which is lovely. Other times I'll use Cordial mixed with Water to keep the calories down.

Don't Blend to oblivion as there's more goodness in the solid and the body having to do it's own work of breaking it down. 

There's so many options out there, you just have to keep experimenting to find what you like best. Just remember that even though it's essentially a drink  it can still carry a lot of Calories.

Though mostly good Calories still Calories none the less whih you need to take account off if your trying to lose weight.

Enjoy.

 

[Alf Bentley]

2 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

How much are we talking?  Could it be explained by the milk bubbling up a bit as you pour? 

 

No, more than that - perhaps 1/8 pint left over. I'm wondering if the capacity of the pint containers shrinks due to washing out with hot water....though my impression is that the milk forces the plastic out again.

 

If I think of it, I might measure the contents into a measuring jug next time.

 

2 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

If not it sounds like your milkman's been ripping off all the poor single-pint peasants,

 

If so, it's Sainsbury's, not a milkman....but the evidence is inconclusive as yet.

 

2 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

 

how dairy.

 

 

 

[bovril]

2 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

How much are we talking?  Could it be explained by the milk bubbling up a bit as you pour?  If not it sounds like your milkman's been ripping off all the poor single-pint peasants, how dairy.

 

2 hours ago, Benguin said:

Telling dairy jokes I see, how mature. 

Really spoiling us with these milk puns. 

[Guest Kopfkino]

11 hours ago, Alf Bentley said:

Why is there always a lot more milk in a 4-pint container than will fit into 4 x 1-pint containers?

 

The door rack in my fridge broke and I can't be arsed to chase up a repair, so I've been buying 4-pint containers as usual, but pouring them into 4 x 1-pint containers.

However much I fill the 4 x 1-pint containers, there's always quite a lot of milk left over, despite the stated contents being identical: 568ml x 4 = 2272ml.

The bottles will most likely have an ‘e’ next to the measurement which means you can, on average, expect 2272ml but the actual contents it will be within a margin of error of that. I assume the margin of error is dependent on the product and the volume of the product, but 1/8 of a pint is what just over 3% of 4 pints, seems like it could be an acceptable margin of error to me. Also, as underfilling/overstating the contents is likely what we’re seeking to avoid, I suspect companies set it up so they’re more comfortably within the lower bound for margins of error and therefore you’re much more likely to get more than the stated amount than less, hence you say it’s always too much.

[Carl the Llama]

Just now, Kopfkino said:

The bottles will most likely have an ‘e’ next to the measurement which means you can, on average, expect 2272ml but the actual contents it will be within a margin of error of that. I assume the margin of error is dependent on the product and the volume of the product, but 1/8 of a pint is what just over 3% of 4 pints, seems like it could be an acceptable margin of error to me. Also, as underfilling/overstating the contents is likely what we’re seeking to avoid, I suspect companies set it up so they’re more comfortably within the lower bound for margins of error and therefore you’re much more likely to get more than the stated amount than less, hence you say it’s always too much.

I don't get this pun.

[Ian Nacho]

I ordered something on Amazon the other day and the subtotal came to £0.00 (I have prime so no delivery cost). I think it was some promotion but why would they give me something for nothing?

Edited 1 February 2021 by Ian Nacho

[David Guiza]

Has anybody ever connected their house to gas, when it wasn't originally connected? 

 

We're looking at getting central heating installed as our old cottage is powered by storage heaters from the 1800s. Seems the easiest and cheapest way is through gas, but our property (as far as I'm aware) is only connected to electricity. From research I believe neighbouring properties, including the house directly opposite, are connected. The articles I've read are somewhat varied as it suggest it could be anywhere from a couple of days and a few hundred to 12 weeks and £1000s.

 

I've emailed Cadent, but await their response. 

[Webbo]

6 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

Has anybody ever connected their house to gas, when it wasn't originally connected? 

 

We're looking at getting central heating installed as our old cottage is powered by storage heaters from the 1800s. Seems the easiest and cheapest way is through gas, but our property (as far as I'm aware) is only connected to electricity. From research I believe neighbouring properties, including the house directly opposite, are connected. The articles I've read are somewhat varied as it suggest it could be anywhere from a couple of days and a few hundred to 12 weeks and £1000s.

 

I've emailed Cadent, but await their response. 

Gas is being phased out, you won't be allowed to buy a boiler in 10 years. Are you sure it'll be worth the expense? 

[Izzy]

5 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

Has anybody ever connected their house to gas, when it wasn't originally connected? 

 

We're looking at getting central heating installed as our old cottage is powered by storage heaters from the 1800s. Seems the easiest and cheapest way is through gas, but our property (as far as I'm aware) is only connected to electricity. From research I believe neighbouring properties, including the house directly opposite, are connected. The articles I've read are somewhat varied as it suggest it could be anywhere from a couple of days and a few hundred to 12 weeks and £1000s.

 

I've emailed Cadent, but await their response. 

If there's a gas supply to your village then probably cheaper in the long run to do what your neighbors have done. There's no gas supply to our village so about 1 in 4 properties have an oil tank outside and fill that up 2/3 times a year (which I'm told is expensive).

 

Because our property is fully electric, we used to have old storage heaters too. We replaced them with electric radiators a few years ago but they're bloody expensive to run. We've only got a 3 bed terraced but our electric bill is nearly £200 a month 

[David Guiza]

47 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Gas is being phased out, you won't be allowed to buy a boiler in 10 years. Are you sure it'll be worth the expense? 

We're not sure what the best route is really. The house is so cold unless we keep the storage heaters and log burner on, which in turn makes the monthly bill similar to Izzy's. We have looked at getting electric radiators installed, or other alternatives, but they seem more expensive in the long run?

 

45 minutes ago, Izzy said:

If there's a gas supply to your village then probably cheaper in the long run to do what your neighbors have done. There's no gas supply to our village so about 1 in 4 properties have an oil tank outside and fill that up 2/3 times a year (which I'm told is expensive).

 

Because our property is fully electric, we used to have old storage heaters too. We replaced them with electric radiators a few years ago but they're bloody expensive to run. We've only got a 3 bed terraced but our electric bill is nearly £200 a month 

That's what we were thinking, but we're fairly amateurish when it comes to this sort of thing! The first company that gave a quote mentioned having an oil tank, but it would seemingly take up a decent portion of the garden so we've ruled that out. 

 

That's my worry with any alternative to central heating, we'd seem to be moving the problem. At least it would look better though, the huge blocky storage heaters aren't the prettiest sight! 

 

I'm hoping central heating would help our water supply also, as we currently have to chose between washing our hands in scalding hot water or freezing cold water. 

Edited 2 February 2021 by David Guiza

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, David Guiza said:

We're not sure what the best route is really. The house is so cold unless we keep the storage heaters and log burner on, which in turn makes the monthly bill similar to Izzy's. We have looked at getting electric radiators installed, or other alternatives, but they seem more expensive in the long run?

 

That's what we were thinking, but we're fairly amateurish when it comes to this sort of thing! The first company that gave a quote mentioned having an oil tank, but it would seemingly take up a decent portion of the garden so we've ruled that out. 

 

That's my worry with any alternative to central heating, we'd seem to be moving the problem. At least it would look better though, the huge blocky storage heaters aren't the prettiest sight! 

 

I'm hoping central heating would help our water supply also, as we currently have to chose between washing our hands in scalding hot water or freezing cold water. 

Yeah the oil tanks look pretty ugly and they are quite big so would take up a big space in our poxy small garden. Must admit our newish electric radiators look good and they're very slim compared to the old storage heaters but just so bloody expensive to run. We have the same water issue as you and it costs a fortune to heat our tank for four people as we don't have central heating. This is the link to the radiators we have fwiw:

 

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/haverland-rc-wave-electric-radiators/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn6jCnI7L7gIVk77tCh3jtAn6EAAYASAAEgLNxfD_BwE

[Kopic]

Anyone know how HMRC tax actually works for just normal paye jobs? My girlfriend got a letter today that is obviously wrong but left her very panicked. Telling her she owes them 1200 for 19-20 tax year, but including a job in that she had from March 2020 until August 2020 so obviously shouldn't have been included entirely. They are saying she earned 8k in less than a month, its baffling really as that was the entire employment total. I was always under the impression that these sort of things were always right, but that is so ridiculously wrong, how the **** have they managed it? And she nearly paid it because she assumed it was right. Been trying to call them and use live chat all morning but no one available. I just don't understand.

[Jimothy]

22 minutes ago, Kopic said:

Anyone know how HMRC tax actually works for just normal paye jobs? My girlfriend got a letter today that is obviously wrong but left her very panicked. Telling her she owes them 1200 for 19-20 tax year, but including a job in that she had from March 2020 until August 2020 so obviously shouldn't have been included entirely. They are saying she earned 8k in less than a month, its baffling really as that was the entire employment total. I was always under the impression that these sort of things were always right, but that is so ridiculously wrong, how the **** have they managed it? And she nearly paid it because she assumed it was right. Been trying to call them and use live chat all morning but no one available. I just don't understand.

Everyone's tax is different and you can be on the wrong tax code amongst other things. The company should submit a file each month to the HMRC that declares the tax for each employee, and that allows them to know that you are paying the right tax but also that the company are paying correctly each month. Tax is calculated cumulatively though, so if you earned £24k a year gross, that would be £2k a month. So month 1 in April, if you earnt £2k, it would assume from that you will earn £24k and calculate your tax band on that. But if the whole £24k was paid in month 1, the software thinks you'll earn 12 x £24k and would put you in a higher tax band. You'd then get refund in other months as you earn nothing. Is it possible they have processed her whole pay in one month? But even then it should straighten itself out. Genuinely can't work out what's gone on, but if she has all her payslips from the company, then once she's spoke to the HMRC send them copies. Don't panic though and don't pay anything yet.

[Jon the Hat]

45 minutes ago, Kopic said:

Anyone know how HMRC tax actually works for just normal paye jobs? My girlfriend got a letter today that is obviously wrong but left her very panicked. Telling her she owes them 1200 for 19-20 tax year, but including a job in that she had from March 2020 until August 2020 so obviously shouldn't have been included entirely. They are saying she earned 8k in less than a month, its baffling really as that was the entire employment total. I was always under the impression that these sort of things were always right, but that is so ridiculously wrong, how the **** have they managed it? And she nearly paid it because she assumed it was right. Been trying to call them and use live chat all morning but no one available. I just don't understand.

They bugger things up all the time.  Even if she does find out she owes it they will probably agree a repayment from current year tax.

[Kopic]

16 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Everyone's tax is different and you can be on the wrong tax code amongst other things. The company should submit a file each month to the HMRC that declares the tax for each employee, and that allows them to know that you are paying the right tax but also that the company are paying correctly each month. Tax is calculated cumulatively though, so if you earned £24k a year gross, that would be £2k a month. So month 1 in April, if you earnt £2k, it would assume from that you will earn £24k and calculate your tax band on that. But if the whole £24k was paid in month 1, the software thinks you'll earn 12 x £24k and would put you in a higher tax band. You'd then get refund in other months as you earn nothing. Is it possible they have processed her whole pay in one month? But even then it should straighten itself out. Genuinely can't work out what's gone on, but if she has all her payslips from the company, then once she's spoke to the HMRC send them copies. Don't panic though and don't pay anything yet.

Thanks for that explanation! When she worked for this company she was paid monthly, receiving monthly payslips. I remember when she started as we both said how lucky she was to be taken on right at the start of lockdown. The paperwork they've sent us says she earned the whole of her earnings in the 3 weeks from leaving her last job at the start of march up until the end of the tax year, whilst in reality she was paid monthly up until she left in August. It also says she paid £400 tax on these earnings. I just find it really confusing to be honest, just really need to try and get a hold of someone on the phone and sort it all out. The letter says she has 60 days to pay before interest is charged so we do have some time to sort it out.

 

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

They bugger things up all the time.  Even if she does find out she owes it they will probably agree a repayment from current year tax.

Yeah the letter does state if she can prove she can't pay it all in one go they can spread repayments for up to 3 years. 

[Jimothy]

1 minute ago, Kopic said:

Thanks for that explanation! When she worked for this company she was paid monthly, receiving monthly payslips. I remember when she started as we both said how lucky she was to be taken on right at the start of lockdown. The paperwork they've sent us says she earned the whole of her earnings in the 3 weeks from leaving her last job at the start of march up until the end of the tax year, whilst in reality she was paid monthly up until she left in August. It also says she paid £400 tax on these earnings. I just find it really confusing to be honest, just really need to try and get a hold of someone on the phone and sort it all out. The letter says she has 60 days to pay before interest is charged so we do have some time to sort it out.

 

Yeah the letter does state if she can prove she can't pay it all in one go they can spread repayments for up to 3 years. 

Almost sounds like they processed all her pay in the previous year and they created mock payslips for the rest of the year. Its hard to understand without seeing it all though. I once had a guy who the HMRC thought was working two jobs as his old place were processing a wage for him, after he left. Probably paying someone else. Then again it may just be an glitch. If she got the payslips and bank statements as proof she should be fine and it won't fall on her.

[Kopic]

3 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Almost sounds like they processed all her pay in the previous year and they created mock payslips for the rest of the year. Its hard to understand without seeing it all though. I once had a guy who the HMRC thought was working two jobs as his old place were processing a wage for him, after he left. Probably paying someone else. Then again it may just be an glitch. If she got the payslips and bank statements as proof she should be fine and it won't fall on her.

I could imagine the company doing something weird, as it was basically a company that trained accountants and provided paperwork such as budget announcements for accountant clients, so they know their stuff. However it wasn't a fixed term contract, she left in August due to finding a better job so they couldn't have paid her in advance an amount that worked out exactly right under those circumstances. She was also WFH the entire time, and apparently they sorted some tax rebate as a result of that but I have no idea. Going to spend the afternoon gathering all the paperwork she has from the job (she never actually received her p45! Has asked for it now) and then probably spend a few hours on hold to HMRC.

 

Thanks again for the response, has been a help!

[Clever Fox]

5 hours ago, David Guiza said:

Has anybody ever connected their house to gas, when it wasn't originally connected? 

 

We're looking at getting central heating installed as our old cottage is powered by storage heaters from the 1800s. Seems the easiest and cheapest way is through gas, but our property (as far as I'm aware) is only connected to electricity. From research I believe neighbouring properties, including the house directly opposite, are connected. The articles I've read are somewhat varied as it suggest it could be anywhere from a couple of days and a few hundred to 12 weeks and £1000s.

 

I've emailed Cadent, but await their response. 

It depends how far they have to bring the connection to your house and the difficulty involved. If the have to cross the road then it's a trench with all that involves.

Judging by these prices below it still might be cheaper to have the connection even if it is only for 10 years.

 

As to scolding Hot Water, Maybe your Thermostat is gone on whatever you are heating it with. You could also install a Blending Valve on the line feeding the tap. ?

 

 

The unit rate you pay will vary depending upon the energy price plan you're on, and even the region you live in, but the average cost of electricity per kWh is 14.37p, and the average gas cost per kWh is 3.80p.

 

Compare Gas and Electricity Prices per kWh | UKPower

 

[Sir Shep]

Walking the dogs at 6 this morning and for once a clear night sky, I looked up and saw a train of stars going over that lasted for 15 minutes or so, a sight to behold it was. Anyway I presume that this was satellites, possibly the space x ones but if it was is this a regular occurrence?