Stamp duty hike for buy-to-let comes into effect on 1 April, not on 6 April

This is actually a joke, and I feel like this government do not consider younger generations. I don’t understand this at all, makes no sense to me.

Up to March 31 this year, no stamp duty on second homes and buy-to-lets is charged on the first £125,000. It is charged at 2 per cent between £125,000 and £250,000, 5 per cent between £250,000 and £925,000, 10 per cent between £925,00 and £1.5million and 12 per cent above that.

But from 1 April, each stamp duty band will rise by 3 per cent, adding thousands of pound to the bill for landlords and second-home buyers.

Only God knows when I’ll buy my own house then lool

	Stamp duty bill on a property before 31 March 2016	Stamp duty bill on a property From1 April 2016
average cost of a property in England & Wales - £188,270	£1,265.00	£6,913
average cost of a property in London- £514,097	£15,704	£31,127
average cost of a property in the South East - £261,581	£3,079	£10,926

Can A Guy And Girl Be Best Friends??

Can a guy and a girl be best friends? That’s a question most people find hard to answer.  On one hand, its easy believe a guy and a girl can be best of friends but this kind of friendship is much more complicated than a friendship involving friends of same sex.

On another hand I believe that a guy and girl cannot be best friends. This is because when you are best friends with someone of the opposite gender, any action you take to show your friend how much you care can be passed off as a secret sign of showing affection on a deeper level. That can cause a lot of confusion. Secondly, you will find yourself getting jealous. Lets be honest even between friends of same sex we tend to find ourselves getting jealous if our best friend pays attention or spends more time with someone else.  Lastly and most importantly you never know what the other person feels for you.

Dear reader if you have a best friend of the opposite sex ask yourself the following questions to determine what kind of friendship you have; Is any one of you in this friendship in a relationship? Are your partners ok with it? Are you best friends that don’t have feelings for each other? If no, are you likely to develop feelings for this person in the future?

In conclusion, I believe you cannot tell if a guy and a girl are genuinely best friends and a lot of factors determine if actually a guy and a girl can be best of friends

5 ways to embrace singleness as a woman.

1.Build a relationship with God- this is the foundation of everything, because it helps you spiritually, emotionally and psychologically. It helps you to have a clearer purpose for your life, aim high and not settle for less. It helps you to understand your value as a woman, which is very important, and it boosts your self-esteem. He teaches you how to love, I mean real love, and helps you to be patient, forgiving and removes jealousy.

2. Preparations- proverbs 31 vs 27- “ she watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness”. Whilst we are in our early 20’s, it is important to prepare for our future, and learn what being a wife involves. Yes, marriage is a beautiful thing, but we need to remember that it’s not a bed of roses, and there are several things that we can start preparing for whilst we are still single.

For example- submission- a lot of us will struggle with this, especially if we are strong minded, or strong willed by nature. So while we are single we need to train ourselves to be submissive, first by being submissive to God, because once you learn to be submissive to God, it becomes easier to be submissive to your husband. So read the bible and see what is says about submission. 1 Corinthians: 11 vs 3

Secondly, prepare for your future- taking opportunities and working hard, and not being idol. “she watches over the affairs of her house”. Do you observe what goes on in your household? It’s a good habit to make a mental note of when things are running out or running low, so that you can top up or replenish the stocks. It’s surprising how little things like this could cause arguments in a marriage. For example, if the washing up liquid runs out and the dishes are not washed, or the  laundries  are not done, and things are piling up, could lead to petty arguments, and this can be avoided by preparation. So I’m not saying that women should do all the house work, but seeing well to the ways of the house hold ensures that it runs smoothly

3. Embrace womanhood-  There are two parts to this- firstly making an effort in your physical appearance. For example, in the bible is stated that it took ester 12 month to beautify herself before she was presented to her husband. It's not about following trends or out competing other women, but it’s about embracing your natural beauty and enhancing your appearance and fragrance.
Secondly embrace your maternal instinct and caring side. Proverbs 31 :26 “she opens her mouth in wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue”. Speak in a loving manner to people, with wisdom, and the ability to pass on this wisdom in a kind manner, as a mother would to her child.

4. Learn to love yourself- I used to think that having a boyfriend or a husband would make me feel complete, but I now realise that through loving myself, his place would be to compliment me and not to complete me. The truth is that guys like confident women, and if a guy truly loves you he will accept you for who you are and support you in reaching your potentials. So before you can love anyone else, you have to love God first to be able to love yourself, and then you can truly love someone.

5. Discover your purpose- once you discover your purpose work towards it and stick to it, because often, relationships cause people to disregard their purpose, and shape their lives around their partner. However, being single enables you to think straight, clearly identify your purpose and strive towards it, without the influence and pressures of a relationship.

Man crushed to death while crossing the road in Lagos today

I was looking through some stories on my phone and found this story which stood out to me. A man was crushed to death on the floor while attempting to cross the express at CELE bus-stop, and one of his legs was completely crushed, which ultimately let to his death.

This is such a sad story, and a story that could be prevented if Nigerians could just have correctly functioning traffic lights, or street camera’s. As it is, this man’s body could be lying on the floor, for as long as God knows when, and the person that caused his death is probably enjoying his life somewhere else.
If there were street camera’s the individual that caused the man’s death could have been spotted out by the cameras and traced… but well that's not the case in here.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying Nigeria is an unsafe place, I’m just saying that they need to put more order and security in place, for the sake of their citizens.  

Hit or no Hit ? -Is it alright for a man to hit a woman if she hits him first?

I was at a gathering with a few friends and a topic popped up, this topic was “ is it ok for a lady to hit a guy and not expect a hit back”. About 70% of the people in the room thought it was alright for a man to hit a woman, and about 30% though it as absolutely absurd. Personally I believe that hitting a woman under any circumstance is unacceptable, however some women can take advantage of men. This country is a country where I believe, women are more favoured when it comes to the topics of domestic violence. A woman can lie and pretend that a man hit her, and the man will be done for it, however if a man was to falsely accuse a woman for hitting him, people wouldn’t pay much attention to it, or put it on the front line of newspapers.
 Different people have different views to this topic, and I guess it depends on the individual. A friend of mine stated that she could forgive a guy if he cheated on her, but she would never forgive him if he laid his hands on her.

A lady stated  “If we as woman do something wrong then it is acceptable to hit us, even if its for the smallest of things like leaving the toilet seat down".

Another reply was “Yes. But not just for the hell of it. And not ridiculously”.
“What makes it any less okay to hit a woman over a man?  If you say that a woman is physically inferior, you're being sexist. What if a bodybuilder woman came up to an obese, nonathletic male and assaulted him? Would the situation still be worse if the genders were reversed? I thought people wanted equal rights, not a matriarchy. I thought that's what feminism was all about”

An opposer sated “No way, ever! No man has the right to put his hands on a woman. I don't care if you are a bodybuilder and he's skinny and anorexic. I don't care what a woman does, no male should put his hands on her”.

Well.. personally I don’t think it is right for a man to ever hit a woman, but women have to be respectful to men, don’t do what you do not want to be done to you.

I throw it to you out there, what do you think?, hit or no hit…. Leave comments below