MAKE YOUR OWN ENVELOPES

This pdf template for making your own 8.50" x 4.50" envelope is a really useful tool. Once you have the hang of making one you can make them smaller or larger by just adjusting the lengths on the dotted lines. Enlarge and print once and use as a template or just print page 1 when you need it (for a slightly smaller envelope). All you need is paper and glue stick or double sided tape.

Handy if you mess up a Christmas card envelope or if you just need more! Of course you can make them out of printer paper, but you can also use any other paper of a suitable weight.

30% OFF AT GAP STORES!

Gap is offering 30% off clothing at its stores. The offer is not on sale goods, product (RED) items, Stella McCartney products, 100% cashmere products, Gap Design Editions, baby Gap, Home, leather goods or gift cards.
The print off voucher is valid between 18th-29th November. It may just help a bit with your Christmas present budget!
Get yours here!

TAX ON SAVINGS INTEREST - DOES THE TAXMAN OWE YOU MONEY?

Yes, there's £200 million up for grabs - and some of it could be yours! If you have savings and are not a tax payer (i.e. you earn less than £6,475 a year) or you are retired, you could be wrongly paying tax on your savings interest. In fact some pensioners can have a personal tax allowance of up to £9,640, depending on age and circumstances, and still be owed a tax refund.

This is why. If you open a savings account with a bank or a building society, the staff often forget to mention to you that you need to fill in a form (R85) if you are a non-tax payer, in order that the interest on your savings is not taxed, otherwise it is automatically taxed at source (before you get it). Perhaps when you originally opened your savings account you were a tax-payer, but due to unemployment or retirement, you are no longer, and you have forgotten to fill in the R85.

So if you, or someone you know, is in this situation, claim back now! The good news is that you can claim back 6 years' worth of wrongly paid tax by filling in form R40. So, January 2010 is the deadline for claiming back as far as the financial year 2003-2004.

It may not be much, and you may not get it in time for Christmas - but every little helps!

WARNING! NEXT.CO.UK BUYING HAZZARD!

Yesterday BBC Breakfast featured an article about buying from Next online. It seems customers on the Next website are buying an article, expecting to pay for it by credit or debit card but instead, they are automatically being signed up to a store card type of loan that they did not want.

Apparently, it seems that as you proceed with your purchase there is a box somewhere which needs to be UNTICKED to avoid being given a loan you didn't want! Next have told the BBC that they plan to put this right, but not until February 2010. Surely, it can't take that long to change a small thing like that?

And what comes between now and February 2010? Yes, Christmas! You may think that's a cynical ploy - I couldn't possibly comment!

£10 OFF A £50 SPEND AT CLOGGS!

Spend £50 at Cloggs and get £10 off - a 20% discount, until 15th November. Just enter HLW29 at the checkout. A good discount, but not as good as actually having 20% off your order, because however much you spend over £50, you still only get £10 off. So if you were thinking of buying any expensive Christmas pressies like Uggs or the new Fitflop boots, then perhaps this code is not for you (or perhaps it may well be better than no discount at all!).

KIDS BORED IN HALF-TERM?

If you need things to do with the kids in half-term - just take a look at these sites:

Family Fun creative and interesting site from Disney.

Creative Kids - lots of things to do and make including things for Halloween.

Holiday Boredom Busters - a huge list of more than 40 ideas for things to do at home.

Get them busy!

More ideas for half-term activities HERE.

ASDA FREE SPORTS SESSIONS FOR KIDS

Asda is still running its free sporting sessions for kids, so you can still take advantage of an offer near you right up to November 1st. There's many choices from Football, Tumbletots, Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, Tots' Agility, Karate, Bowls, gymnastics, Dance and much more.
The search tool on their site HERE, lets you enter dates, your postcode, choice of how far you want to travel and what sport your child is interested in. Results give you addresses, maps and websites of participating sports organisations.

More ideas for school holidays HERE!