Lulabelle's MFW Diary

CathT

You really are on the ball with your investments. Dd has transferred across now but a little short to invet so I will have to sort it after Christmas.

Did you get any black Friday deals, DH text me about several televisions but we didn't actually need one!

lulabelle1

Yes, I did get a few bits and pieces ordered over the weekend...... I got DH his beauty (!!!) products from Ren with 35% discount - for Christmas.... I ordered new pillows from Soak & Sleep with 25% discount... and bought backups of my own beauty products from Look Fantastic - everything had 20% discount already and then they had a code for a further 20% discount... so was pretty pleased with that!

Got a good deal on DS1's Christmas Xbox - ordered from Very via TCB with 10% ish cashback....

I think I'm pretty much done with the shopping now but haven't got any of the essentials such as wrapping paper or cards, so need to get organised.

DH and I are having a day off together tomorrow to get organised but it will no doubt consist of coffee stops and a nice lunch and maybe a roll of wrapping paper if we're lucky

lulabelle1

So, the November supermarket bill ended up at £700 for the month, £75 less than October. Still high, but I'm not beating myself up about it as it includes EVERYTHING including some Christmas gifts for the boys.

That said, it would be great to bring it down a bit for December, however, not sure how feasible that will be since it's the month to overeat and over drink.

We've an Elf on the Shelf for the first time this year - courtesy of my mum bringing it over for the boys from Canada. I think I need to relocate him every night when the boys have gone to bed, but other than that I'm not exactly sure what I'm meant to do with him? Anyway, the boys have had a chat with him, DS2 did a dance and mentioned that he'd quite like some Playmobil for Christmas if the Elf (aka Sugarsocks) would be so kind as to mention it to Santa when he reports back to the North Pole tonight.

Flipping lovely sunshine outside

lulabelle1

Christmas shopping finished! Presents in gift bags - just need to write the labels....

Need to wrap the boys gifts but will do that a little nearer to the time when I can find some time during the week when they're at school.

Our Elf was naughty last night - he got the icing sugar from the kitchen cupboard, tipped it on the floor and laid down in it to make a snow angel! DS2's face was a picture when he saw what "Sugar Socks" had been up to in the night!!!

I've just opened a 5% Reg Savings account which allows £500 per month balance increase and penalty free withdrawals with Nationwide - existing customers only.

Due to start OP's next pay day - was planning to pay £600 per month which would mean that the mortgage was paid off within 9 ish years but am now wondering whether to plough some of the money in to my S&S ISA instead, hmmmmmmmm

lulabelle1

Well, what a lovely weekend. Visited family, nice time all around and limited spends too.

DH has opened the Nationwide Reg Saves too and we've decided that we will put the planned OP's in to it for the next 12 months. It will then become either some kind of emergency fund or be paid as a lump sum off the mortgage. As much as I'm excited about my S&S ISA at the moment, I realise it's not the best idea to throw everything in to that and that it's best to keep a nice mix.

B2L tenant is becoming a bit of a nuisance..... a dripping shower this time. DH will pop over later to take a look. He moans about the smallest thing and is one of those that takes everything to the landlord rather than just taking a look at it himself - I can't decide whether he just thinks that he might as well get the landlord for everything as thats what you should do if you rent or whether he's one of those men that doesn't have what i refer to as "man skills".

Anyway, we'll see whats what before we send a plumber out.

Seems that everything is against B2L people at the moment - with the 3% stamp duty and the changes to tax relief etc. I understand the need for the government to raise as much revenue as possible and I understand the whole debate about whether landlords snap up the houses etc but to be honest the house we bought was on the market for ages before we went for it (thus giving first time buyers the opp to buy if they wanted to) and we the only reason we want to have a few B2L's is to fund our pension when we're older, thus removing our reliance on the state to provide for us. It's true when "they" say, you just can't win.

Maybe I'd be better off just chucking a load of money on red or black.

edinburgher

Speaking as someone who was a tenant for a long time, I was only once able to get one of my 10+ landlords to fix something that was broken in the flats that we rented. It was a radiator that fell off the wall, the landlord implied that we had had a massive !!!!up and wrecked the place.

I suppose you can sit in one of two camps - lazy landlords who do the bare minimum required to keep their properties tenanted - or the fabled decent landlord who has the foresight to maintain what is an investment.

Would you fix your home shower if it was leaking? If so, I'd say good on the tenant for protecting your investment. If they have a history of raising concerns that aren't founded, my apologies.

Re. 'man skills' - isn't that a bit unfair? If you pay for a service, you expect the utility of that service at the agreed price. Why should a tenant have to spend time analysing a problem and possibly money buying tools or fixings to repair it?

Unless tenant is a major PITA, it strikes me that you've no more right to complain about them than I do when a firm with a crappy credit rating defaults on a P2P loan that I've made to them knowing the risks...

The recent changes to B2L haven't made much of an impact yet. I read an interesting article that suggested that the massive increase in properties purchased for a company had significantly reduced the extra costs for landlords. For landlords unable or unwilling to go down this route, I am sure that you will notice the difference.

Is it possible that the B2L gravy train is leaving the station? While gummint changes might seem like they're unfairly targeting landlords, this has been one of the cushiest investment options for such a long time. I think the changes are part of a broader shift towards tax transparency for all (for example, savings allowances offer tax savings on the one hand, but require lots of people to complete tax returns on the other hand).

I appreciate that you're trying to lower your dependence on the state come retirement age, but are you maybe feeling just a little sorry for yourself because of all the change of late/low coffers? You are providing independence through leveraged investing with a host of tax breaks, some of which are being reduced/removed, I don't think the casino comparison is apt.

Sorry if this seems like a telly offy post. I sometimes wished that people challenged each other a little more on MFW, we can be a bit of an unquestioning support club at times

lulabelle1

Thanks Ed!

I agree with just about everything you say to be honest. I'm a believer that you should may hay whilst the sun shines and then when it pi**es it down, you just need to think of something else to do.

Having crunched the numbers, I'm sure that we will keep our B2L for the long run, however I may reconsider plans to purchase additional properties until I can fully work out the impact of the stamp duty and other tax changes etc.

The tenant, you are right, I do appreciate that he cares for the property and would much prefer that to some other dubious alternatives but we really do go above and beyond what is required of us - He suggested he'd like a shed in the garden, so we bought him one (and built/installed it for him as he said he wasn't able to) (most landlords would laugh out very loud at he shed request), he claimed to have a drip in the toilet - we sent a plumber straight round and whilst the plumber replaced a washer, the plumber reported back that said drip was virtually non existent and that it was an over reaction - the tenant mentioned that he was worried about an increased water bill!..... then the oven had a fault, so we bought him a spanking new one and now the shower has a drip (again, he's mentioned worrying about increased water bills) - this time DH is going round to take a look before we send the plumber because of what happened with the dripping in the loo.

Sadly, I think that many of the tax breaks that will be changed with B2L will just lead to an increase in rents as appose to landlords suddenly selling up. (I have no plans to increase the rent currently, although rents have actually gone up considerably in the 12 months since we purchased the property).

I do understand the need for a landlord to maintain the property and have built in an amount of expected spends in this regards to my plans, however, I do wonder whether he will be contacting us in regards to changing lightbulbs in the future.... (joking.... kind of)

I do wonder how many "non B2L" folk would question a government decision that saw the tax relief being removed from their pension contributions in the future.......?

edinburgher

I would have laughed out loud at the shed request, the rest seems fairy nuff as a layman (I hadn't realised that you had a water meter).

I also agree with you that one of the unintended consequences of recent tinkering may be to raise rents in the short term. I would expect, however, that there will be a lot of forced sales when the next downturn arrives among landlords who thought 'me too' and jumped in with little planning and £ signs in their eyes. With a little luck, this bust and the rise of social housing construction might result in a slightly more equitable playing field for those not already on the ladder.

Of course we will complain when any of the wheezes that we take advantage of to create wealth for ourselves are watered down, human beings are selfish! I would be raging if the government decided to can the new ISAs before they arrive, or if they issued a law declaring that MB profits absolutely positively weren't classed as 'gambling wins' and that I was a naughty tax avoider.

That said, I think your comment re. pensions is a straw man. I've said 'landlords may have it too good and this needs to be curtailed' and you've said 'you wouldn't like it if it happened to you!'

Personal opinion I know, but I believe that our national love of bricks and mortar distorts the housing market and leaves the economy unbalanced. If more people took a bit of time to think about/seek advice on the benefits that pensions offer, they might not be so quick to jump on the bandwagon. I'm not the only person who thinks so, the BoE recently flagged B2L as a risk that they may need to fend off.

lulabelle1

I just wrote a huge post, but decided it was far too personal in regards to employment status, income, pension planning and various other things, so thought it best to delete as I don't really want to give away too much on here!

Maybe it's best to keep my diary for information about food spends, savings rates and planned OP's.

edinburgher

I'm sorry you feel that way, please don't take anything that I write as a disincentive to continue writing honestly.