Tuesday 27 May 2008 - Tax not taxing - aye right!Posted by Mature Student |
Well, I sat my tax QBR yesterday, and even with the help of my pocket notes (which a lot of us found to be lacking in many essential areas), got 52%. I knew it wasn't right to be feeling so little nerves beforehand. Even the tutor agreed the main 35 mark question that had been set was a horrible q. And I suppose the two optional questions that were marked (the third we did at the end and were given the answers to mark & review ourselves), were not the two I would have chosen in the exam.
I felt so disheartened after doing a 25 mark Q2, an option q at 20 marks and a 35 mark q1, I felt like going home. Tutor said they set harder q's for the qbr than they expect to see in the exam to give you a wake up call if it's needed, and to make you feel better when you see the actual paper on the day. Well all it did for me was make me think 'if that's how it goes after tuition, revision and a week and a half of question practice, is another 6 days going to make a difference?'
But I'll struggle on and give it my best shot next Monday. And if my best isn't good enough, then there's always December. It's not fatal, I now have until 2017 to pass these last two exams (P2 & P6), LoL.
One thing I have learned is look for the easy marks that may be lurking towards the end of a question, which you may not get to if you run out of time. In one question for a total of 25 marks, there were 7 parts to the requirement, a to g. There was 4 marks in part (f) for stating the key characteristics of a defined contribution pension scheme and working out the maximum employee and employer contributions in the tax years. And a further 3 marks in part (g) for the tax implications and advantages of transferring some shares from husband to wife. Those two parts could easily be done on their own in isolation, and total more than a quarter of the marks for the question - in other words over half way to passing the question!
In another question, this time on capital taxes for a total of 20 marks. The last requirement for 3 marks was to state the IHT tax planning measurements if the main character survived just over another 4 years, and quantify the savings. It wouldn't take long to jot down:
gifts made now qualify for 4 years taper relief at 40%,
use of annual exemptions = 6 * 3,000 * 40%,
small gifts of £250 per recipient per tax year tax free saving 250*40%,
Annual £100 to kids bank accounts ... ,
marriage gifts allowance if her kids marry in that period ... ,
payments out of normal income - set up a pattern ...
And between just those three requirements, 10 whole marks !!! Only another 40 to go !
Fingers crossed I can find some of those easier marks next week - Please! |
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Friday 23 May 2008 - OMG!Posted by Mature Student |
So where did the last three months go since my last blog? Life has been one big round of work, college, housework, some AS, some UKCS, more work, more college, etc and all the while trying to be a good mum and wife. This has involved a running battle with my mum who doesn't want us to change our daughter's school, even when the change in our daughter since this was agreed has been enormous.
Oh, that and it's an independant school. We could just afford the fees when it was agreed, but hubby has been told his 'certain' upgrade is now on hold due to a new md in his area and the economic situation, which has also caused other costs to go sky high. And according to the doom mongers in the media, will be even higher by Xmas - £2 a litre for fuel is what they are saying just now. So the belt will just have to go a couple of notches tighter - thank goodness I fixed our mortgage at sub 5% three years ago for a 10 year period and thank goodness for the caravan!
Managed to get away for Easter weekend to just north of Killin for three nights, on the shores on Loch Tay. It was fab, and I didn't take any study books, even better! But the caravan has just been in storage otherwise  . I am feeling holiday withdrawal symptoms so considering going away locally for the one night the weekend after my exams  .
Well, work has been work. Got through year end and quarter one end and finally got a replacement for my old line manager who left at Xmas. We seem to get on ok (and it's a her, so now there's 3 females to 5 males in the department), I think it may be an interesting Q2 end.
P2 & P6 tuition and revision courses are now over, got a tax QBR on Monday, the tax exam a week on Monday, the other QBR the next day and the exam a week later. So two and a half weeks time it will all be over - eeeek - until results day .. |
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Sunday 24 February 2008 - TW3Posted by Mature Student |
TW3 (or to those of my generation and younger - That was the week that was).
Well fortnight really. After my last blog, I had three days to sort out the house and the caravan so we could go down over the border and visit the in-laws. Drove down on the Wednesday, weather was sunny and dry (but cold) throughout the 5 days we were away, and drove back on the Sunday. Arrived home at just after 4. T minus 8 hours for results e-mail based on previous experience.
'Must keep busy', I thought. I may have passed one, and failed one but just wanted to know. Ok, ok, do some housework. Right, mud and clothes in washing machine. As you may gather from my blog, my daughter and caravan holidays = mud, even when the ground has in the main frozen solid, she will find the mud! Not that I'm complaining (much), I love to see happy, muddy (from play) children with lovely rosy cheeks from running about in the fresh air. I'm old fashioned that way!
Ok machine on, what next. Unpack unworn clothes. Ok, and it's still only 5. Right, tea on. Ok, had tea, it's now 6. Time is going so slowly. Ah, yes, AS, UKCS (may fave camping/caravanning site) and empty mailbox of junk. That, and the wee one's bath n bed (and afterwards the cleaning of the bath!) kept me going 'til about 10, when i finally gave in and went to bed myself.
Had a not too bad night until 2. Stayed in bed for a bit, then gave in and came on here. Chatted with RedRobin for a bit, and generally pottered about. 5am came and went. No e-mail. Then Caz posted at 5.12am - got her e-mail & she's passed - Yes! Check mine - nowt & post to that effect. Then my 'niggle' conscious steps in and I decide to check again - it's in & I've passed. 68% for P1 & 61% for P3, I'm stunned, I've passed them both by a good margin. Well, knock me down with a feather.
So got ready for work, got daughter ready for school, all with the biggest grin on my face. Went to work, and can't remember much, I was so happy! And now it's Sunday, where did the week go (this is another reccurring theme in my life!).
Hubby took van back to storage but the main gates were gone ???? I knew our storage site was being sold but not until April. Or so I thought. Then on Thursday we got a letter detailing that the sale went through at the start of the month, but the new owner was legally obliged to maintain the security up to April. As contesting these kind of obligations can take months to even get to court, let alone the costs, I knew instantly what had happened. That legal clause wasn't worth the paper it was written on. By then time it came to court, the obligation would have been well past, there may have been a small compensation payment (100s of van owners, so very small once split), and the only winners would be the lawyers.
So, sadly, took the van yesterday to its new storage site. It's a lot further from home, and twice the price (the old one was well underpriced) but with better facilities and access times. I'm now much happier the van is where she is compared to where she was with the way things were going. The old site had huge gaps where once there were caravans, and we saw five go in the half hour we were there.
Oh, and don't you love men for their simplicity? Our daughter's swimming club is on hold just now as the pool has closed for emergency maintenance. OH took the call from her coach last night to say alternative pool had been found, times were 7 on a Wednesday and 7.50 on a Saturday. Wednesday is Brownies night, so no option, Brownies will win every time. Saturday, is that morning or evening I asked my OH. Oh, evening of course says he. I can see a pool opening by 8 on a Saturday, but I can't see the staff being there past 8 on a Saturday evening. I'll phone the coach later to double check ... |
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Sunday 10 February 2008 - Where on Earth ... ? Part 3Posted by Mature Student |
January
Well, year end came and went. All a bit of a guddle, the other boss kept asking me questions that I didn't have a clue about, I felt pretty useless half the time And for the first time in a while, the auditors went through everything with an extremely fine toothcomb - not what I needed just now. And no sign of a replacement for the ex colleague, despite at least three recruitment ads being put out.
And the weather didn't help, huge delays in getting to work or getting home or both. And one day we (OH & I) gave up after almost an hour and took an emergency day off. The predicted journey time for a normally one hour journey was over 3 hours, and when we found that everyone else knew our alternative routes, that was it. No burning fuel going at about 2 mph and stopping every couple of minutes or so, when diesel is now over £5 a gallon!
One good thing was when I went to Tesco's for cash to pay daughter's Brownie fees. Didn't really need any shopping, but decided to have a quick bargain hunt. And came out £200 lighter - £20 on shopping and £180 on a Wii. OH just noticed them on a shelf - don't be daft they're just for display. Oh no, says OH, only if they're in stock do they have the display cases out. And he was right - for once 
The other good thing was January is bonus month at our place. And it was OH's first full year bonus. So a double surprise made extra nice by the size of my bonus and pay rise, and OH's boss promising to put him up before the first promotions board of the year in May to get him off the trainee scheme 6 months early - yes! 
February
Well, at the start of this month my daughter finally went from being 'almost 10' (as she has been since she was '9 and a half'), to actually being 10. And we just managed to get her a white DS and a Dr Who cake in time for her big day of going 'double digits' LoL!
So an afternoon of ice skating on the Saturday (first time for daughter), went to see the Golden Compass at the cinema on Sunday (really fab & great special effects), then went out for a family tea. Got home at 9pm and managed to cut up the cake into 30+ pieces and wrap the pieces up for daughter to take to school on the Monday (had been up with daughter since 5am LoL so was shattered!)
Then had to get up at 4.30 the next morning to catch the 6.30 flight to London for a CIS course. Thought it was going to be awful, but I actually found it very interesting (yeah, I know, sad innit!). Got home at 10pm.
Well, OH is at work just now, due home soon so better go get some lunch on for him and check if the washing machine's done yet (yes, half my life does revolve around my utility room LoL  )
TTFN |
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Sunday 10 February 2008 - Where on Earth ... ? Part 2Posted by Mature Student |
November
Had a great week in York in October, cool at night but lovely and sunny and warm during the day. Averaged about 14 deg C most days!
Well revision month is upon us. P1 & P3 are the most bland subjects in the world. My P1 tutor isn't too bad, just eccentric (like me!). The P3 guy is awful. Goes off at tangents constantly, and doesn't cover half of what we're supposed to. I just find it so hard to sit down and study for any length of time, the subject matter is soooo boring!
To top it all, it's hard to work out how much to write because apart from the pilot paper q's, all the other revision kit q's are old questions with the marks changed to fit into the new paper structure. So you may get a 5 mark question, that had previously been a 7 mark, or a 15 mark that had previously been a 10. For two written papers, this is doing my head in!
And I keep remembering what it is I don't know at work and need to learn before my colleague leaves, and keep wondering how things at work will change as a result.
December
And before I knew it, it was QBRs and then exam time. The exams were awful. The P3 case study was soooo long, I've never seen so much text and figures in a past paper or revision kit one! Really time pressured on that. And the P1 one, well the less said about that the better. 
In between exams, I sat down for two hours and did almost all of the Xmas shopping on-line. Well that's the wife and mother bit got right!
Finally, after the annual Xmas 'party', it was time to clear the desk in preparation for year end. Managed to do a bit more brain dumping with soon to be ex colleague. But as I'd always planned to be off on the day that was his last, I was glad not to be in then as I think I may have been a bit emotional. We said our goodbyes the day before and that was hard enough to keep everything in - a mix of disappointment, anger, & fear, I think. 
And then Santa came. Everyone did well, my 9 year old was well pleased (even though we'd had to cut back quite a bit, but I'm a good bargain hunter, and it's amazing what you can get for £100). 
December ended, as it always does in our house with my dad's birthday - his 80th this time! Here's to many more |
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Sunday 10 February 2008 - Where on earth ... ? Part 1Posted by Mature Student |
Did the last six months or so go?
Right let's see if I can keep a blog going for more than three days LoL!
September
Back to the old study & work routine but with a twist. Full day release tuition courses - my request for extra days study leave has been granted Definitely not impressed with FTC this time around, the new study text materials were all late, not all complete (some progress tests missing), and the new En-gage is awful in that:
1. I had expected it to be book/pdf layout so set out into pages, with a clickable index, etc. But there's only a drop down list for chapter refs, and each chapter is on one screen, and you have to scroll up and down. Not very user friendly.
2. You can't print from it. Ok, so it prevents people printing off the whole text. But even an option for printing off the extra bits that aren't in the main text (so you can add them in to your text folder) would be very useful.
And we were promised the revision kit and pocket notes by the start of the revision courses ie mid November onwards - far too late, and I for one use the pocket notes all the way through, not just at revision time
October
Quarter end time again, but my female intuition has been nagging me for a wee while now that something's not right at work. And I now think I know what it is - my 'boss' is leaving. And I'm only part way into my training - if he does go, until he gets replaced (in a very specialised field) my training will be most definitely on the back burner. Maybe not a bad thing just now with my studies at final stage, but I could do without the uncertainty.
Got an opportunity to ask him a couple of days before I went on holiday (a week in York, fab!) and he all but admitted it. The official announcement came two hours later. He's having to give thee months notice, but he's going at the end of the year ie before year end and the auditors. I've only ever done 1 year end before, and he did a lot of the technical stuff. S**t - he's a really nice bloke too, got a good understanding of work-life balance, and really knows his stuff, I'll miss him.
Some of you may have seen the panicked post that was posted at the time. Well, I did what everyone advised me to do. Wrote down all my worries, possible solutions, that kind of stuff and had a great meeting with him. Main issue is that in his notice period I'm only here for just under 4 weeks due to holidays, study time & Xmas. So much to learn, so little time .. |
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Thursday 23 August 2007 - Holiday, what holidayPosted by Mature Student |
Well, was I actually off for the last fortnight or was it all a dream? If it wasn't for the caravan sitting on the drive and being washed by OH before going back to the storage place, then I would definitely think I'd dreamt it all. Oh yeah, until the electricity bill came in - I've lost count of how many times the washer and dryer have been on this week.
Got some work done, demolished my e-mail box that was bursting at the seams, did some other admin type tasks and let everyone who was in know about my exam passes. Not a bad first day back. But as I took a couple of days off more than I'd initially planned, I've got loads to do before my 'boss' is back in the office on Monday.
Oh, and Monday itself is looking better now. When I went on holiday I had a three hour meeting from 9am, then a 1.5 hour meeting (lunchtime learning session) from half 12. So I was pleased to see the lunchtime session had been postponed for a week and a half. Ok, so it's now 2.5 hours long, but I can live with that.
And then at the end of the day, I got notification that the first meeting is now only two hours long and starting at 10am. Yippee!
Only downer today was HR have made a mistake with my payroll. They now have the info and authorisation to make the correction, but communication doesn't seem to be their forte. Ho hum, I'll see if I get the confirmation tomorrow that they've done what they said they would (all I got today was a pro forma e-mail saying the query was closed - now that's really informative, not!)
Anyway, better get off and put the spuds on for tea (cumberland sausage, beans and new potatoes, yum!) so it's ready when OH comes in (BTW He cleans the outside, I do the inside, seems fair to me  ) |
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Wednesday 22 August 2007 - Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work I goPosted by Mature Student |
Well, that's the end of the holiday and back to work tomorrow. The washing pile has vanished and been transformed into an ironing pile. Which will be finished at the weekend, if it kills me. (And it usually does ).
I've now joined Caz128's P1 study group, and plan to start looking up some relevant websites before my first tuition class (ever) in a couple of weeks time. It will be very interesting to see how that goes, when I've always gone at my own pace before.
Oh, and also when I'm doing two of the P3 days out of order! I can't attend 1 weekday for each of my courses due to quarter end commitments, so have mixed n matched that day to a weekend day. P1 is fine as it's the last day I've swapped (day 4) and the weekend day is after the day 3. But for P3 I've got day 4 on the Thursday and day 3 on the Saturday of the same week. Hmmm ...
On a brighter note, the friends I was away with last week are now talking about going to the Lakes in October (FYI, that's Cumbria not Geneva or Italy, I wish! ). Now to find a campsite that isn't trying to rip you off with high charges just cos it's the school holidays. And the government wonder why kids get taken out of school for holidays when you have to pay 50 to 100% more for a campsite pitch in the UK in October, never mind going abroad.
Better go and sort out the work clothes, cos I think they got washed before we went away - if not, then I was wrong about having finished the washing . . . |
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Monday 20 August 2007 - Withdrawal symptomsPosted by Mature Student |
Strange not to be studying just now. It's like having kids - you wonder what you did with all the spare time you must have had before you had 'em.
I've decided to do the full FTC monty for my next two, P1 & P3, but this means I won't get the books until the start of the courses in September (and apparently FTC can't allow me to pick them up early as they won't be available before then due to the syllabus changes and the first draft not being accepted by ACCA).
I'm normally almost finished a quick first read of the books by now, having registered just after my last exam was over. The plan has always been this way (home study and taught revision courses), so I can then take the resits at the same time as the new subjects by utilising the ten weeks between the exams and the results. So far I've been lucky not to fail to see how the plan works, but as I've just completed my STR, I'm keen to get finished. The motivation is waning slightly, and hopefully the full monty will mean a greater chance of success.
I've always used holidays for my revision courses. Firstly because my last manager in my old job wouldn't put me onto the official study scheme, and secondly because I thought we didn't get the time off. But we do - except it's called 'manager's discretion'. Just like all good HR policies, lots of management discretion.
So I put in a business case to my manager, to get some management discretion, so I don't have to forego almost all of my holiday time in order to attend taught courses. This year I had a week off in February, and apart from a couple of days at most, the rest of my 'holidays' so far have been to attend revision courses and qbr. I know I'm lucky that my employer will pay for all of my courses, but the policy is so fragmented in its application due to the managers discretion that I put my head above the parapet. My manager took my request to the senior manager's meeting to ensure consistency with other departments in our area, where it became apparent that my colleagues in our other location get three times as many days off for study/exams as we do! So finger's crossed!
But the lack of actual holiday time was very telling just before my holiday, so I'm now going to be very strict with myself and keep holidays mainly for me and the family, and not for study days or to attend courses unless absolutely necessary. But then we all know what Scotland's most famous poet had to say about plans like that, don't we |
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Monday 20 August 2007 - MePosted by Mature Student |
Thought I'd post a wee bit about me too while I calm down from being the worst mother, ever! (see previous entry for more info on that).
I'm 35, been married for 13 years, and have a 9 year old daughter called Eve and a 13 year old white moggy called Sophie.
I have a job I love, doing Life Assurance company taxation (sad, I know) based about 15 miles from home in Edinburgh. I'm currently studying for my ACCA, and have only 4 exams to go (3 core and 1 option - advanced tax, what else LoL), so hopefully this time next year it'll be me on the passed finalists list!
And that's where the title of my blog (and the tunnel piccie) comes in. I am a wife & mother, in full time employment and studying. So long as I get two out of three right on any one day, I feel I'm not doing too bad.
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Monday 20 August 2007 - Results and mud - continuedPosted by Mature Student |
Part 2
Well I woke up at half two for a call of nature and could I get back to sleep - it was like the computer was calling to me. So at 2.45 I got back up and started my vigil. There were a few others doing the same on AS so we kept each other company. And I was rewarded with the news at 5.23am that I'd passed both 2.6 (62%) and 3.4 (67%) - thought i'd fallen asleep at first but then realised if I had it would've been a nightmare of -10% or something similar.
So, as I was awake decided I'd better put more mud, sorry clothes, into the machine and see what state the last load had finished up in. Hmm, I think I'll wait and see how they look when dry. Ho hum, back to real work soon
Eventually went back to bed for a couple of hours. Then got up, did more washing, got the cat from the cattery and decided I'd better get Eve new shoes for school tomorrow. We'd tried to get ones while on holiday but nothing seemed to suit.
Bad move - I now know how my mother felt when I had to have the same style for two years running as I had very narrow feet. Eve has one slightly longer and thinner foot, the other shorter and wider. And somehow I turned into the mother from hell. We ended up with two styles that she didn't object to but that both fitted her really well. And she couldn't decide. So I did. Bad mother that I am.  And my angel went red and burst into tears. But by then I was on a roll. Tough; hubby get her out of said shop while I pay. Oh boy, did she pay for my lack of sleep, poor thing. She really is very good, but I think her hormones and tiredness played a part too. To her shop is a four letter word (response from Eve is 'Do I have to go too?') and on trying to buy her clothes the answer almost always is 'but I don't need anything' (tho' I think this translates as I don't see anything I like!). Her pals mum's think it's great and want a swap - they don't know the half of it! |
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Monday 20 August 2007 - Results & mudPosted by Mature Student |
Hi
First day of a new blog. And what a 24 hours it's been.
Part 1
Got home late last night from a fabulous week in our caravan with family and friends at a great wee campsite near Gretna. Ok so it rained, it rained a bit more and the sun hid behind the clouds at other points, but it was great to just get away from everything. Oh, except mud, and I think, looking at my washing and awning, that I've brought half the campsite back with me LoL!
Got my 9 yo daughter to bed (eventually), and caught up with the e-mails. No 'test' e-mail from ACCA to catch me out. Is our server playing silly with the filters again? Checked on AS - no threads about it. So checked - and no one seems to have one so phew! And apologies to the poor person I panicked who saw my post knowing nothing about this e-mail, but worried she hadn't got one either 
Went to bed at half elevn, promised myself I'd sleep through as I knew I'd failed. Well, I did read the model answers, so I was sure (aye right as they say up here) . |
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