Had a mortgage too long - it's going, going, gone!

AlexLK

Glad to hear everything seems well in your world, Ali.

Christmas done, already? :eek:

Ali-OK

Plodding along Alex - had my CBT phone assessment today too and waiting list quite short in the area to get going on that to push these panic attack fears into orbit and be comfortably driving on fast roads again.

We'll start swapping some family Christmas gifts next month due to distance, so have to be mega-organised here Also means a more comfortable December/January financially.

Must admit the shops have everything out early this year again - think they finally get people are spreading the cost of it

Hope you're feeling better and Halloween and Little K's birthday plans are coming on nicely

debtfreeoneday

I'm the same with Christmas, we did our first present exchange last weekend! But I also like to be done by end of October and then just pick up any bargains or little bits for the kids or start on next years birthdays!

AlexLK

Ali-OK wrote: »

Plodding along Alex - had my CBT phone assessment today too and waiting list quite short in the area to get going on that to push these panic attack fears into orbit and be comfortably driving on fast roads again.

We'll start swapping some family Christmas gifts next month due to distance, so have to be mega-organised here Also means a more comfortable December/January financially.

Must admit the shops have everything out early this year again - think they finally get people are spreading the cost of it

Hope you're feeling better and Halloween and Little K's birthday plans are coming on nicely

Great news re. the CBT, I hope it works for you.

Yes, the shops have Christmas things for sale here too. Can't say my Christmas costs much money but I don't have any food to buy, also make gifts because I'm getting good at this money saving idea ...

:rotfl: Re. Halloween and my son's birthday. Tomorrow will be the mad Halloween dash, honestly have nothing even started for that. Luckily it's going to be a small gathering for only a couple of hours. I've not been very well again today, so things that were meant to happen haven't.

sarahevie1

Great news about the CBT, I thought that it would be a long waiting list - as often things are.

I can really sympathise as in 12 years of driving I have never been on a motorway and have no desire to . I really hope it works for you.

Ali-OK

debtfreeoneday wrote: »

I'm the same with Christmas, we did our first present exchange last weekend! But I also like to be done by end of October and then just pick up any bargains or little bits for the kids or start on next years birthdays!

You win! I'm finished and wrapped apart from DS's stocking and a few cards to write. Big thanks to Manager in M&S who went out of her way to help locate an out of stock website item. Her home store had one so she got it for me :T.

AlexLK wrote: »

Great news re. the CBT, I hope it works for you.

Yes, the shops have Christmas things for sale here too. Can't say my Christmas costs much money but I don't have any food to buy, also make gifts because I'm getting good at this money saving idea ...

:rotfl: Re. Halloween and my son's birthday. Tomorrow will be the mad Halloween dash, honestly have nothing even started for that. Luckily it's going to be a small gathering for only a couple of hours. I've not been very well again today, so things that were meant to happen haven't.

Hope you're all organised and it wasn't too mad a rush today

sarahevie1 wrote: »

Great news about the CBT, I thought that it would be a long waiting list - as often things are.

I can really sympathise as in 12 years of driving I have never been on a motorway and have no desire to . I really hope it works for you.

First appointment on Tues 10th November :j It's taken 3 months from GP referral to assessment for it, now all moving quickly . Going to be hard work, as I'll have to put into action whatever I get from the session but determined to do it. Used to manage motorway driving ok until the first panic attack 15 months ago. Not been on one since

Weekly food shop done and a spend of £40.78, £13 of that was Christmas related so am happy with that.

Personal pension annual statement arrived - spooky having mentioned that only recently. Really need to sort moving it and increasing contributions, having met and paid an IFA back in February and still done nothing further. :mad: with myself.

Which got me onto retirement planning generally and the age old question of how much to throw at the mortgage vs. saving vs. pension pot...ahhh, never enough for everything and not that many years to go either!

Financials:
- bank accounts checked and £30 from the change bucket paid in today and replacement debit card arrived
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox £s - £10.60
- Qmee - still at 23p
- £3 requested from P!necone

Have joined another credit report called Clearscore - carries the Equifax report and is another totally free for life one alongside Noddle. T@lkT@lk paranoia

Summer house doors go back on tomorrow - the final final bit of the garden shall be finished :j

Happy weekend everyone

Ali-OK

Mortgage interest figures for November are in :j

£350.51 this month
£353.47 last month

Down £2.96 on last month and Dec 13 to date now down £59.83 per month.

Daily £11.53, down 10p on last month's £11.63

The split:

£19,400 remains as was at £59.56 per month/£1.96 per day
£94,590 down from £293.91 to £290.95 per month/£9.67 to £9.57 per day.

Still not viable to ditch my 3.69% fix, frustrating as could save £120 per month on a new 5 year fix at 2.34% with current provider.

Pension is weighing heavily on my mind. Some thoughts as to next step choices:

1) find another IFA and start again (and pay more fees)
2) Move pension pot myself
3) Stick with current and up contributions now
4) Procrastinate even longer - not an option!

Off to do some more research...heading towards (2) I think and comparing providers, fees and funds.

debtfreeoneday

Great work on the mortgage reduction!

ourcornercottage

Ali-OK wrote: »

Mortgage interest figures for November are in :j

£350.51 this month
£353.47 last month

Down £2.96 on last month and Dec 13 to date now down £59.83 per month.

Daily £11.53, down 10p on last month's £11.63

The split:

£19,400 remains as was at £59.56 per month/£1.96 per day
£94,590 down from £293.91 to £290.95 per month/£9.67 to £9.57 per day.

Still not viable to ditch my 3.69% fix, frustrating as could save £120 per month on a new 5 year fix at 2.34% with current provider.

Pension is weighing heavily on my mind. Some thoughts as to next step choices:

1) find another IFA and start again (and pay more fees)
2) Move pension pot myself
3) Stick with current and up contributions now
4) Procrastinate even longer - not an option!

Off to do some more research...heading towards (2) I think and comparing providers, fees and funds.

Loving those mortgage interest stats

Re OP VS PENSION VS SAVINGS, that's a conundrum alright. I have the following issues in my head....

I'm not great at cash savings as I tend to spend it! I get round this by using regular savers I can't get at. Where do I store the money at end of reg saver where I can't get at it!

The BF and I have very little pension provision at all. This is an issue. Being self employed it's difficult to commit to large monthly payments.

I have very little investment knowledge. This makes me a little nervous in this whole area.

I have a unit trust that is accessible if required so it's really savings but I consider it as part of pension. I have some shares (a couple of k) and a recently started a S&S ISA for same plan. The money is accessible if absolutely required. I have managed to accumulate a few thousand like this.

I know savings / investments do better than OPs but with OPs when the money is gone it's no longer accessible which works for me!

Lots to think about

Goldiegirl

I'm also thinking about pensions.

Next year when Mr Goldie is 65, he'll have 3 old pensions that will mature.

Fortunately, we won't need to use the money immediately, so we're thinking of what to do with it all. Possibly take 25% tax free and put it in S&S ISAs. Then the rest would go into a new pension, to be drawn down at some point in the future.

We're probably going to deal with this ourselves, and not bother with an IFA. I'll get some input from the guys on the Pension board, but ultimately we trust ourselves more than an IFA.

Good luck with your research - it's what I'll be doing next year.