How to fall in love with saving money

cathybird

hi 7 week wonder and welcome Merry Christmas to you. Please tag along, the more the merrier, and I'm very pleased to hear I've got a twin! I was starting to wonder whether it's quite normal to have had investments in the past but not really to have thought about the issue for a while.

I have been trying to sort out the issue of S&S Isas and funds today too (having also read Smarter Investing and a couple of other books), and it is making me feel a little as though I am on a merry-go-round that won't stop. It is very hard to discern a clear way through the bewildering multitude of choice, even if you settle on the passive investing thing as an approach.

What I've worked out, having run some sums through http://www.comparefundplatforms.com a few times, is that if you've got less than £20,000 Charles Stanley Direct is probably the cheapest S&S Isa provider and if you've got over that then Interactive Investor is probably the cheapest (or if you've got ETFs only then TD Investing is currently the cheapest). But honestly it's making me feel as though it's gambling on which raindrop will get down the window fastest anyway, because who can say what the charges imposed by the various providers will look like in 10 years' time? Or even in six months' time? The industry is changing as we speak. So, I think I am going to go with the Alliance Trust for now - not the cheapest on any front , but they offer a very wide selection of index trackers and ETFs, and are also cheaper than Charles Stanley after the £20,000 mark, which will focus my mind on achieving that figure sooner rather than later.

The alternative is opening an Isa with Charles Stanley and then switching - they currently impose only a small charge for transferring out. On the other hand, who knows whether that will be the case in a couple of years' time? Maybe by then it will be very expensive to transfer out of Charles Stanley. I think I will go for Alliance Trust and stick with it.

cathybird

atush wrote: »

I like cold roast pork in sandwiches, although not everyone does.

Try left over pork reheated with satay sauce (even good in a hot sandwich)?

I love cold roast pork sandwiches too, especially with a good mayo and some salad leaves, and a good sprinkling of salt. Yum!!!

What I really, really should do with the pork though is cut it up and freeze it - I could get a good three, four meals out of it in January if I do this.

The balsamic cashews sound good too ... sadly I'm not near an M&S and won't be for another week or so, when I go back to work, but I might check out whether they still have them then.

7_week_wonder

Hello again!

Merry Christmas to you too! We're not doing too badly with left-overs: the hit of this year was the Christmas gammon/ham. So far it has done us two main meals, various lunches and a carbonara last night, and there's enough left for a pasta bake later in the week. I daren't keep cashews in the house as I eat them like there is no tomorrow: have you ever tried cashew nut butter? I eat it straight from the jar!

I've been playing with the compare funds platform website too, but I'm only planning on investing in a single fund next year. My rationale is that I've got some index trackers already plus some index-linked National Savings certificates (which I'm regarding as bonds) so next year I'm going to put my full ISA allowance into an emerging markets tracker. For the first few years I plan to do by re-balancing by new investing rather than adjusting what I've already got - if that makes sense! (Any folks out there with more experience, feel free to tell me if that is a daft idea).

Which other books have you been reading apart from Tim Hale?

Oooh - OH has just told me that dinner is ready: he's having his first attempt at doing roast beef and all the trimmings

cathybird

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Hello again!

Merry Christmas to you too! We're not doing too badly with left-overs: the hit of this year was the Christmas gammon/ham. So far it has done us two main meals, various lunches and a carbonara last night, and there's enough left for a pasta bake later in the week.

Sounds yum - and extremely frugal. Apart from the pork and the pudding I've pretty much finished the Christmas food. Still haven't decided what to do with the pork yet ... it smelt yummy when I checked it this evening so would probably be okay for sandwiches tomorrow and the day after.

I daren't keep cashews in the house as I eat them like there is no tomorrow: have you ever tried cashew nut butter? I eat it straight from the jar!

No I have not!! I'll keep an eye out for it. I loooovve peanut butter.

I've been playing with the compare funds platform website too, but I'm only planning on investing in a single fund next year. My rationale is that I've got some index trackers already plus some index-linked National Savings certificates (which I'm regarding as bonds) so next year I'm going to put my full ISA allowance into an emerging markets tracker. For the first few years I plan to do by re-balancing by new investing rather than adjusting what I've already got - if that makes sense! (Any folks out there with more experience, feel free to tell me if that is a daft idea).

Which other books have you been reading apart from Tim Hale?

Apart from Tim Hale, I've read The DIY Investor by Andy Bell, The Coffeehouse Investor by Bill Schultheis, and The Financial Times Guide to Exchange Traded Funds and Index Funds: How to Use Tracker Funds in Your Investment Portfolio and The FT Guide to Investing for Income, both by David Stevenson. Plus a good deal of what is on the Monevator website. All providing much food for thought.

I would be really curious to know what other index trackers you have got, 7 week wonder, if you don't mind saying.

mark55man

not very mse but my xmas present success was for OH was a jar of Goobers Jelly and Peanut butter which she loves from her time overseas


I haven't got the heart to tell her it was in my local Tesco garage shop and I only saw it at about 10pm on Xmas eve. OH thinks I got it from London when I was up there on business
I have decided to confess when it runs out (but only if they are still doing it)


if you are interested in looking at different funds this thread is quite a read but quite interesting - some core boring holdings and some interested topics on spicing it up a little https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4392271

cathybird

mark88man wrote: »

not very mse but my xmas present success was for OH was a jar of Goobers Jelly and Peanut butter which she loves from her time overseas


I haven't got the heart to tell her it was in my local Tesco garage shop and I only saw it at about 10pm on Xmas eve. OH thinks I got it from London when I was up there on business
I have decided to confess when it runs out (but only if they are still doing it)


if you are interested in looking at different funds this thread is quite a read but quite interesting - some core boring holdings and some interested topics on spicing it up a little https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4392271

Thanks, mark88man - I'll read through the thread with interest. I've got a pretty good idea of how I want to go about this now, I think, but the more reading you do, the better.

Never tried Goobers jelly and peanut butter - is it good? ... Nice to know that such a cheap, last-minute present went down so well

mark55man

cathybird wrote: »

Thanks, mark88man - I'll read through the thread with interest. I've got a pretty good idea of how I want to go about this now, I think, but the more reading you do, the better.

Never tried Goobers jelly and peanut butter - is it good? ... Nice to know that such a cheap, last-minute present went down so well

£4.50 for a jar of peanut better - not very MSE but one of those lovely little extras that show you've put some thought into it (:-))

mrs_T

Love this thread and want to start saving, I only have stoozed money saved at present so not really mine but has been useful this year when I've had dental treatment to pay for and I'm thinking of investing in myself by paying for a training course in Feb. It works for me because I know when I have to repay the cc companies to avoid interest payments which gives me the incentive to save.

I struggle to save because I never feel I can save enough to make any difference. We have no debt or mortgage but I spend my salary every month which allows OH to save and lecture me. I spend about £120 a week on groceries for a family of five more or less adults. I run a car which I share with my two student children who both have p/t basic wage jobs and do contribute to petrol.

I am depressed that I've reached this stage in life and worked for 30 years and got no savings but I've brought up my 3 kids i.e. all clothes, food, presents, trips etc. paid by me and have paid into pensions all the way along. Anyway, full of good intentions for 2014.

cathybird

hi mrs T and welcome and Merry Christmas (belatedly) If you've saved into pensions all these years you've got nothing to be ashamed about - I wish I had. Those are savings, very tax-effective ones too, and have taken advantage of compound interest in a way that my last-minute flurry to save towards retirement will not be able to do to anywhere near the same degree. So well done you!

cathybird

mark88man wrote: »

£4.50 for a jar of peanut better - not very MSE but one of those lovely little extras that show you've put some thought into it (:-))

oh I don't know, mark88man, it sounds as though it was cheap relative to the amount of joy and happiness it gave to your OH