Reeling from the Reality Check

Historybuff

Will do. You too. Thanks for your interest!

Historybuff

So. The budget is going ok. I'm managing to stay on track and am aiming to build up a £3000 reserve, so that I can pay the annual bills when they come up, without stressing. This month I'm aiming to end with £300 left over. This will be due to spending less on food and putting any carboot money in. Now all the payment plans are in place I feel a lot calmer about the debt situation. Why on earth I went so long in financial chaos I do not know! I so wish I had sorted it out years ago, but maybe it takes getting to crisis point to make you do it...
Oh well, now is the time. Retirement planning is looming. I have to stay full time until the mortgage is paid off, so that means at least another seven years. Any younger people out there, please take notice and sort your finances out sooner, rather than later.

hohum

I just wanted to drop by and say I'm both inspired and a little bit galvanised by your story! I'm a bit younger and have less of a spending problem, more a money management and income problem . But we are at the point where we need to start putting things in place and I confess to having bouts of the fear when I think about pensions and life after work, as we're both self employed.

You are shouldering a whole load of this yourself and while I think it's admirable, I hope you get the support you need from posting on here. And hopefully one day a bit more support from real life too. Although it must feel very empowering to be tackling this yourself and be seeing how effective you are! Very inspiring.

Historybuff

Thanks hohum, glad you are getting something out of my story. I'm just not at the stage of being able to admit the scale of the debt mountain to anyone close to me yet. Maybe once it has started to really go down a bit further I will feel more able to involve them. The actual amount of it when I actually added everything together was really shocking for me because I had had the blinkers on for so long. Anyhow, whatever you do, make sure you get your finances sorted and on track as early as you can. When you're younger you think retirement is something that won't happen to you! Actually it has a habit of creeping up...ever so slowly...then biting you on the bum! As I have found out!

elfy1807

Hi HB.

I've just read through your diary and would like to say well done on tackling your debts.

I wouldn't normally post on diaries, I usually just lurk, unless something really relates with me.
And on this one, it's the whole pension thing.

I'm almost 25, and I don't have much debt as such (I have just under 3k borrowed from my mum on a liftetime 0% interest) and a car finance (which I took out in January - but whilst my wages cover it, I just see it as another bill like my mobile contract rather than an actual debt).

However, I am eager to put together lots of savings. I currently have little pots (well, envelopes at least) for various things such as friends & family's birthday & christmas presents, an envelope for next year's car insurance (so I can pay it in a lump sum next year, saving me £42.99 per month) and an envelope with my holiday spending money for next week (so excited!)

But the main things that I'm desperate to work towards is firstly a house deposit so I can look at moving out and getting a place with my boyfriend in 2016 and secondly, a pension fund. I already have a £1000 emergency fund sorted, but the pension thing is a big thing for me.
After seeing my mum discover that the 50 some odd pound she's paying a month towards a life assurance results in no money returned when the policy ends unless she dies, I've decided to forget mainstream ways such as insurance policies and pension funds and just save that money.
My mum will have paid £15k to that life assurance in 25 years of paying - to get nothing back. If she had put that into a savings account, she'd have £15k.
So my aim is to have £100k in a savings account by the time I'm 70.
That's just over £2k a year. It may be a bit of a stretch, but hey... I'm up for a challenge

Sorry, I'm rambling, but just wanted to say that I'm young, but I'm definitely thinking about my future right now.
I'm super aware of money. Doesn't stop me having little spending sprees now and then, but I make sure they're covered.
Although I'm looking forward to my holiday, I'm looking forward to afterwards to see how much money I've got left afterwards to go towards my goals.

Keep up the good work

Historybuff

Thanks for posting elfie. I'm just glad I've made a start...very late on, but now going in the right direction. Young as you are I would encourage you to pay into a proper pension as well as save. You get tax breaks saving into a pension fund which means for every £1 you put in a further percentage is added at no cost to you, so you are better off than just saving in an account. Get some advice. I'm lucky enough to be in a final salary scheme that I have been paying into since I started work, despite begrudging it when I was younger! I'm so glad now that I had no option but to pay in. I didn't understand all the ins and outs at the time and really wished I didn't have to pay it. However, now I'm almost at the stage of it paying out I'm soooo glad it was forced on me. If I hadn't been so rubbish with money all these years I would have been well off in my old age. Now I might just get by.
Well done for being so good with money. Keep your eye on the ball and research the best thing to do. I would definitely say look into a pension fund.

elfy1807

Thanks for the advice.
I haven't looked fully into the whole pension thing just yet, but I currently don't work enough hours at my job to put into a pension. I only work part time. But hopefully if I'm successful with the interview I had today for a supervisor job, then I'll be made full time and paying into a pension could occur. Who knows what the future holds.

Historybuff

Good luck, Ellie. Fingers crossed you got the job!

Historybuff

Three no spend days this week so far. Four if I include today.

Puzzcat

Historybuff wrote: »

Three no spend days this week so far. Four if I include today.

Your doing better than me, I haven't managed 1 yet this month.....