How to fall in love with saving money

cathybird

JoJoC, well done you on reaching your target :T:T:T I had every faith that you would though! I'm in the same boat, on track but with not much over and above, but no room for blips - let's both hope we have a more or less blip-free year. The forecast for London says patches of sunshine and the same for Glasgow, but round about 9-10am for Glasgow, so you should get some sun very soon

I'll come and join you on the NSD thread, it would do me some good.

Have fun buying Mother's Day gifts Always fun getting gifts.

JoJoC

I'll look forward to a blip-free year Cathy! We can keep each other motivated and on-target. That's what we're all here for right?

Thanks for the weather report- half an hour until sunshine! Fingers crossed!

Hope you have a lovely day with your friend.

cathybird

Thanks, JoJoC - and you.

atush

cathybird wrote: »

hi all! I haven't really sat down and worked out how much I need in retirement either. I wonder if the Tories' move to dismantle annuities and let people manage their own pension pots is paving the way towards reducing the state pension? I did read that somewhere.

atush, sounds like you've got a great house! But as you say, sounds expensive to heat, especially since you're in the chilly north of the country? ... Would you downsize to a smaller place where you live now, do you think? Or would you move?

Cathy, it is hard to work out The Number but there is a thread on it on the pension forum- do a search.

We will downsize here, and probably spend 5-6 months in America where I am from. The winter months lol.

It is a barn I converted when the twins were in nappies lol. Talk about the childbearing years- sheesh!

The pension stuff baffles me Atush but I know I need to spend some time sitting down and working it out. As it stands, we're in our childbearing years which are pretty damn expensive so I expect that as costs become less in 15 years or so (and wages hopefully get higher!!) we'll be able to increase our pensions contributions substantially. At the moment I pay in around £120 per month, my company matches it and there's some kind of tax relief type thing walloped on top. As you can see, I don't know much.

JoJo,

Tell me about children, I have 3 incl twins. So i couldn't even reuse stuff (well I did for one) but I had to buy a new EVERYTHING on top, incl a sofabed for the nursery (it was our spare room so needed somewhere for someone to sleep so got rid of the double bed) and new pram (hugely expensive). Was a nightmare.

Anyway, pension. How it works is your net contribution is 120 but it costs you less than that (96) as the govt adds TR. so 240 into your pension is costing you 96- not bad eh?

So if your company will put in more than the 120 if you do, go ahead and raise it (as soon as your short term goal is done?). It is a very wise thing to do. I know you say you'll put more in later- and you will. But the earlier the contributions work harder for longer than the later ones- the wonders of compound investment gains!

JoJoC

That makes sense- thanks Atush! When I set up the pension last year I put in the maximum that the company would put in 5% I think so the company definitely won't put in more even if I do.

Once our short term goals are realised (selling flat, buying house, having another baby etc) then increasing the pension and paying extra into the mortgage is definitely on the forefront of things to tackle.

I'm still young (26) so time is on my side with these things, but I know the earlier the better in most cases!

Thanks so much for breaking that down for me

cathybird

JoJoC, if I'd thought as sensibly as that when I was 26 I probably would have retired by now. Which would have been great.

cathybird

Anyway, morning all. An MSE Saturday awaits. It's a lovely day out there - I just saw some sparrows collecting dried grass in the front yard and a blackbird doing the same in the back yard - obviously nestbuilding - how sweet. I am going to the theatre later but plan to get in a lot of housecleaning and other constructive stuff beforehand.

My friend stood me up accidentally yesterday for the Vikings exhibition (she had it in her diary for today even though we had discussed it the day before!) so she is meeting me for a late lunch today.

Even though I'm out this evening I am hoping not to make it too expensive a day.

atush

I have a collared dove in the forsythia outside the kitchen door- 2 eggs already laid. Must have been that warm weather a few weeks back.

it is fun as you can see the nest up close from the Dining room window.

JoJoC

That sounds lovely Atush- I do love watching nature close up, which is why I want a garden! Have I mentioned that before? Probably every page of this thread has a post with me moaning about not having a garden. That's why my target for saving is focused on buying a house with a nice garden.

Anyway, I'll stop moaning!

Sorry that your friend accidentally stood you up Cathy- what a pain! At least you should be able to have a nice lunch today and a nice evening tonight.

I wouldn't say I'm all that sensible for 26, although the last few months I've definitely reined in my previously spendthrift ways. I'm determined that we'll be able to have a nice little nest egg for later in life and so that we can enjoy our grand kids, but we'll see.

In a separate savings thing, I totally forgot that I started saving with the credit union for Christmas. I started last month and it pays out in November, so I think I'll have about £300 come Christmas. I tend to buy throughout the year but I'm hoping this will cover the final push for presents. Can't believe I'm talking about Christmas already- this must be a new record for me!

Anyway, I'd better head off and get some housework done before getting ready to go out. Have a lovely day!

Lomcevak

Beautiful morning out there, just done the last training run before the marathon next weekend and now off to enjoy the sunshine and get stuff done in the garden. Love this time of year

Cathy, what S&S ISA did you end up with in the end? That's next on my list now the SIPP is up and running. I've been reviewing things and think i've probably got enough cash stashed away (roughly £20k, mostly ISA'd) to cover all short-term emergency needs and so should probably be looking to the S&S ISA for savings from next year. I like the look of a fairly simple ETF-based ISA built up by a monthly saver route, although still um'ing and ah'ing a bit.

Might have a cup of tea in the sunshine and a browse through Tim Hale's book again, garden can wait a little while