How to fall in love with saving money

cathybird

Stereophonics, I've actually just managed to get out a fitness dvd and sweat my way through it! First time since before Christmas. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow but it was good to do some exercise. I do subscribe to a gym through work and it's pretty cheap but I don't think I make enough use of it really and could chuck it in and put the extra £450 a year towards savings. One of my work colleagues has just started using it too and while this may sound a little unsociable of me I really don't necessarily want work colleagues hoving into view while I'm puffing away red-faced on the treadmill.

Re the wasps, don't know if I can stop them building another nest - they obviously like my loft I can keep an eye out though - the pest guy from the council said it should be pretty obvious if they are around.

Lomcevak

Hope you're starting to feel better Cathy. We also have a subsidised gym at work, but I don't use it very much - I can't seem to get into all the equipment, prefer cycling/running and yoga. However the gym does get me away from my desk at lunchtime, otherwise I end up chained there all day, so not all bad.

Talking about savings (for once ) i'm on a mission to try and figure out pensions. I've always had one at work, the usual pay x% and the company matches y%, but earn enough now that I really should think more carefully about what to do above the percentage the company will match. All I want is something fairly simple/cheap to make ad hoc payments that would otherwise be very heavily taxed (part of my income is on-call payments and overtime, so somewhat unpredictable) but the pensions boards seem a bit intimidating, it seems very easy to pick the wrong thing and get charged a fortune in extra fees but it's hard to tell what is the right thing is

cathybird

hi Lomcevak, I've been asking questions on the pension board for that very reason - I could pay extra into my work pension, or I could start up my own personal pension (which would certainly give me a bit more control over what I put the money into). I have to get mine sorted out because I will be retiring in about 15 years, which is not a particularly long timeframe as far as these things go. Everyone seems to hate dealing with pensions but it has got to be done.

cathybird

Maybe I should just start going to my work gym again - there's a branch round the corner from work and another very near my home. It is convenient. And it is important. I hate being unfit.

Stereophonics

Lomcevak - I paid into a work pension a few years ago but didn't pay much interest in it and just forgot about it. I rang them up the other month to see how much I had, thinking £1000 maybe, well, the total between two work pensions is £5,000! I was so pleased. So, if your work offer a pension that they match, I would go for it! I'm self employed now and so don't get that opportunity, but I'd jump at the chance if I could! Otherwise, I just took a Virgin personal pension out, and it seems simple.

Exercise with work mates? No thanks, and I don't blame you.. I can imagine all the back chat about it lol. I love sports like squash, badminton, real cycling, watersports, snowsports... hate the gym, just makes me feel depressed.

atush

the two above talking about pensions, seems one of you has a FS one?


If so, and you want to retire earlier than the scheme age do look at a PP. AS these can be taken from age 55, they can help yu (with Isas) retire earlier than your scheme age.

cathybird

Stereophonics, I'd love to get more into real cycling, but I learned to ride as an adult and am not at all confident (I know there are courses etc but in some ways I'm better off just practising by myself), and London is a scary place to try to ride, even on the less busy roads. I did start part-commuting last year - I normally catch the train to work but can ride the bike about 6km along a canal towpath to a station further along my route and then get the train for the last two stations, which not only provides me with relatively safe exercise but also saves a teeny bit of money on the fare (60p - but it all adds up) So should get back into that again really. The plan is to focus a lot more on exercise as soon as I get my S&S Isa and pension issues structured and out of the way. And my tax - haven't done my tax return yet either.

I did look at the Virgin pension at one point - from memory it offers only a smallish choice of funds? I seem to recall I was a bit concerned about that, though if the funds are good ones it wouldn't matter. You find it okay, Stereophonics? ...

cathybird

atush wrote: »

the two above talking about pensions, seems one of you has a FS one?


If so, and you want to retire earlier than the scheme age do look at a PP. AS these can be taken from age 55, they can help yu (with Isas) retire earlier than your scheme age.

I'd absolutely love to retire earlier than the scheme age :rotfl: but on the back of my own efforts so far this prospect seems unlikely. ... I must do a bit more extra research into PPs though.

Lomcevak

atush wrote: »

the two above talking about pensions, seems one of you has a FS one?

If so, and you want to retire earlier than the scheme age do look at a PP. AS these can be taken from age 55, they can help yu (with Isas) retire earlier than your scheme age.

I'm not on a FS scheme, mine's DC although my wife's is a good FS scheme. My motivation is less a hurry to retire than a realization that my profession is not very tolerant of the over-50s, and I work for a US corporation that will show no hesitation in wielding the axe when it feels like it - i've seen two culls of the 'expensive' older workforce in the last decade, and although i'm still in my 30s (just) and fairly immune at the moment i'm under no illusions.

So 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' I reckon.

Lomcevak

I'd love to get more into real cycling, but I learned to ride as an adult and am not at all confident (I know there are courses etc but in some ways I'm better off just practising by myself), and London is a scary place to try to ride, even on the less busy roads.

I'm lucky to have lots of fairly quiet south downs on my doorstep so plenty of roads to ride, but a lot of my London friends just take their bikes out on a train at the weekend - e.g. a group go down to Haywards Heath, which is only half an hour or so out of Victoria. If you're not confident then clubs are very welcoming these days and there are a lot of very good beginner rides, my local one does 'nobody left behind' rides of 15 - 40 miles where you're out with more experienced riders who will organize cake stops, fix punctures and the like, and generally hold everyone together. So might be something to look for? It's a great form of exercise, especially once we're out of the worst of winter.