Evening Opportunity

What have a policeman from Royton, a newsagent and his wife from Rossendale, a nurse from Preston, a Blackpool housewife, a building site manager from Rochdale, a vet from Ashton, and a 70-year-old cleaner from Gloucester got in common? They’re all making good money as private tutors.

Contrary to what you may have thought, you don’t need to be a qualified teacher to be a private tutor, and with millions of parents keen to give their kids a head start in an increasingly competitive world, this is a field which continues to expand. In addition, in these difficult economic times, many parents are using private tuition as an alternative to full time private education.

About £20 an hour is the norm, and most of the work being available after school hours in the evening and on Saturday mornings, it’s an opportunity which can often fit in easily with other jobs and commitments.

The Big PAYE Error

The big story to start the week is that £2 billion has been underpaid via the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system over the past two years and about 1.4 million people owe an average of £1,500 each. On the bright side, £1.8 billion has been overpaid and about 4.3 million people will receive a rebate.

You may want to check your tax code which you’ll find on your last pay slip so you can see if you fall into either category (if you have overpaid, you should receive a lump sum refund, if you have underpaid, the repayments should be spread over the next tax year). Where next? The HMRC web pages at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/tax-codes.htm give you the lowdown.

Party Profits

I’ve just been sent some blurb about a website, Ounces 2 Pounds at www.ounces2pounds.co.uk, that helps you set up home-based parties where your friends and colleagues can sell unwanted gold jewellery and you take commission.

These types of parties – and you can sell anything from homemade arts and crafts to bought-in kitchen goodies - can be useful money-makers.

The websites tend to pitch earnings on the high side but £100 per evening in the run-up to Christmas is achievable. We have an article on the way for you.

Check Your Savings Rate

If you have savings on deposit, do you know the interest rate you’re receiving? It’s a question we ask regularly because banks and building societies continue to lower their rates without telling savers that the early promotional rate is no longer in force.

A recent Which? study confirms our earlier warnings – only four out of 12 institutions tell savers when rates are changed. These are Cheltenham & Gloucester, the Co-op, ING Direct and First Direct. Which? says that savers are not being told about ‘proportionately very large’ cuts on rates. Time to check?