Diary of a home owner wannabe (my 6 year journey)

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

I agree, Goldie. It is not as if I only want to live off interest when I retire. I am happy to start digging into capital after a while because if it is all still there when I die, mr greedy the tax man will get it, or it will be used up by greedy care home providers....

pennyforthepot

Thanks for your replies GG and SSS - what you say is true. Eyes infront and keep marching forward:D It was reading the DFW diaries that inspired me to kick start my plan into action and I often go back to them if inspiration is required. In fact SSS I do forget that I won't need to keep all of my capital - I'm planning on giving the kids a bit of help towards a house deposit when the time comes which will be their inheritance rather than waiting till I'm gone so the objective will be to leave a zero balance (obviously not that easy to plan!!)

Off cleaning today for a friend whose cleaner is on holiday. It will be a breeze compared to my hoarder friend. Feeling well rested after going to bed at 9.30pm last night and even managed a run this morning.

Daily food spend £8.64

PFTP x

rockm87

oh my geee!! MMM, where has this been !!!! needed this, thank you for the recommendation.

PenguinJim

pennyforthepot wrote: »

Coming to the game so late is a real disadvantage - so many of these bloggers are in there 30s and even 20's (and most seem to have a decent salary to throw at their mortgage or savings) so at the ripe old age of 46 and no major career path on the horizon I start to get a bit jittery.

I've just put together our Financial Independence "plan" (barely a sketch of an outline, but the figures are conservative and the conclusion is still positive) and it's based on 21 years starting in May of this year (albeit with £3,000 to start). We're three years into our mortgage, and so we expect to own outright a property of a value higher than needed, so we'd downsize (emigrate, most likely ), which would make up any shortfall. I imagine you'd also be in a similar position, not needed to house the kids any longer. And you'd also be close to taking your State Pension as well - you wouldn't just be financially independent, but rolling in it!

So 21 years is doable, IMO. Just make sure you're tucking the money away regularly in 5%-interest accounts and a SIPP and low-risk investments. There's plenty of advice in the Savings and Investments and the Pensions forums here.

Good luck! :beer:

Edit: I forgot to say, keep ALL of your receipts for anything bought for the kids. That way you can get them to pay you back after they're 18. That should help a bit!

pennyforthepot

rockm87 wrote: »

oh my geee!! MMM, where has this been !!!! needed this, thank you for the recommendation.

Hi Rockm87 - MMM is a great blog - love his slight tongue in cheak manner too. Itshould keep you happy for many an hour!

PFTPx

pennyforthepot

PenguinJim wrote: »

Edit: I forgot to say, keep ALL of your receipts for anything bought for the kids. That way you can get them to pay you back after they're 18. That should help a bit!

Love it :rotfl:

PFTP x

edinburgher

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

I agree, Goldie. It is not as if I only want to live off interest when I retire. I am happy to start digging into capital after a while because if it is all still there when I die, mr greedy the tax man will get it, or it will be used up by greedy care home providers....

I agree as well

When thinking about financial independence (maybe early retirement is more like it), I tend to think about my life in phases. There's:

• Productive working phase, build up ISA investments and pay down mortgage
• Early retirement phase, draw down ISA investments and keep a part-time job/freelance gig if possible
• Retirement 1 - private pensions kick in
• Retirement 2 - state pension kicks in (hopefully)

A lot of people on the blogs/boards are essentially trying to establish a perpetuity (i.e. the money never runs out). I fully expect the money to 'run out' at some point, it will be replaced by other money :beer:

pennyforthepot

Well talk about from one extreme to another - I cleaned my friend's house from top to bottom in 3 hours and barely had an inch of dust in my hoover! Back to the hoarders today :eek:

Went to Mr T with DD yesterday. It's always dangerous going out with her where money is involved. Went in with a budget of £8.64 came out having spent £18. There were only 3 of us for dinner too. She's going through one of her uber healthy stages and being gluten intolerant doubles the cost. Reminder to myself - never take her shopping!

Daily food budget [COLOR="Red"£8.27[/COLOR]

I desperately need a low spend month for August as its DD2s 18th next month and we have a family wedding and my BILs 50th which means spending 2 nights in a hotel.

I've just traded in all my clubcard vouchers for £260 worth of Pizza Express vouchers for a dinner out for 10 for a family celebration of his 18th(I will have to pay for drinks separately). DD2 wants a party at the house which I'm really not comfortable with. Our old house was perfect for parties - a massive garden and a big old house (we had our wedding party there amongst many others) but this house is a lot smaller and has a very small garden in comparison and as we rent it I am anxious about the state it would end up in. We have suggested hiring a venue and splitting the cost between us and his mum. The only downside is that as he has an early birthday none of his friends are 18 so getting served would be an issue and the cost would possibly be prohibitive. Need to think about that one.

Need to get the kids new uniform next week as they are all away for 2 weeks until the end of August. I don't have a massive amount in the kids budget account so I am hoping they don't need too much. Is DS's last year at the school so I'm hoping I can get away with just some new shoes and trousers as he's growing so much. DD2 could really do with a new suit (he has to wear one for school 6th form). I'm in two minds as again he only has one year left (if that as I think they finish in May) but he's having to wear one of his dads old suits as he's lost 2 stone since Christmas. DD needs some shoes and a couple of blouses. Gone are the days when I kitted them out with new stationery each September which cost an absolute fortune.

Off to do a few chores before I get my decluttering fix

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

Had a chat with DH last night and decided that we will hold DSS2s 18th party here- BBQ in the afternoon - in the hope that it won't go on too late:eek: I am hoping that DH will go halves on the party seeing as I am paying £200 for a present as well as any additional cost for Pizza Ex.

I also realised that I had missed out in my calculation of out goings the bus pass for DSS2 that I had to renew yesterday for school.That was £300 just for one term; as well as the £400 I had to pay out earlier in the week for the counselor who had returned DHs cheque as it had bounced twice :mad:

I have resigned myself to DHs limited financial contribution to the household but sometimes when I am having to cover such large amounts I find myself getting so frustrated. I have asked him to set up a standing order for £50 a month for me to cover half his counselling bill - I will wait with anticipation to see if he does it without me having to remind him again! My savings target would be so much more manageable if he was able to contribute to our household costs.

Anyway moan over. I'm out to lunch with my bessie today who I haven't seen for several weeks. She is going through a torrid time with her son who is 15 and going through terrible depression to the extent that he has been admitted to a psychiatric unit. I really have little to moan about.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

Weekend of chores but then as the weather is rubbish it's not so bad.

Starting my Challenge of the Week on Monday - Every Penny Counts. I'm not sure how that's going to go down as I have to get the kids uniform, haircuts etc. I have £170 left in the kids budget so I'm hoping that will cover it.

I've given up all things sweet (apart from fruit) for 10 days as I'm feeling really tired all the time and as I'm sugar intolerant it was suggested that this might help. I have a very big appetite for cakes and biscuits so this is no mean feat for me to achieve. I'm on my 5th day - not feeling any less tired but shall keep going.

My food budget for the month is rapidly diminishing - 10 days in and my daily food budget is down to £6.38 - the kids are away from next friday for 2 weeks so I'm hoping to make up some lost ground. It would have been nice to go away with DH for a couple of days whilst the kids are away but with DSS2's 18th coming up in September plus a family wedding it's looking unlikely.

Still aiming for a below £2000 spend this month. One day at a time

PFTP x