A Journey of Many Pounds Starts With a Single Penny

LadyGnome

I am just finalising my tax return with my accountant (I decided to get help this year as my first year contracting).  It turns out my package was wrongly taxed by my former employer fortunately by too much so instead of a tax bill I will be getting a nice refund.  It's quite a novelty.  (Yes I know that HMRC have effectively been hanging on to my money but I still like the idea of them paying me for a change).  Not only that but I had saved enough to cover my expected / usual tax bill and that isn't needed now so I will leave it for next year's bill so I don't have to think about saving for it this year.
The next two months are the council tax free months so that will be a further addition to the pots.  My overpayment is £307 so far this month but I expect next month to be better depending on when HMRC come through with the money!

Suffolk_lass

Ooh hello, I've just bookmarked your diary to follow - you have been mentioned over the years but I hadn't seen your thread (I'm very lazy, only look at my bookmarks most times) - Our HMRC refund took less than 2 weeks to come through - they are really good now so much is able to be checked and validated before you submit it

LABMUM

Good news on HMRC owing you money.  Much better than you owing them.

LadyGnome

Hello Suffolk Lass and Labmum, thanks for popping by. It’s a very happy state of affairs and the mortgage and pots will benefit (I might divert a bit for me too before the children notice )

LABMUM

A great idea. You have worked hard and so deserve a little treat xx

LadyGnome

This is a good month for me.  My last contract was paid two months in arrears where my current one is paid at the end of each month so I have effectively have received double pay this month.  I will also get a nice top up from HMRC at some point.  I have been able to top up my savings pots and pay £1000 off the mortgage.  I have cleared my credit card and put some money aside to spend on the house and garden.  I have just remembered that I will have to split the council tax money later as it is free month.

LadyGnome

I need to clear the cobwebs of this thread!!!   I have been on tick over waiting for the last school fees payment to go out for my eldest which has now happened.  I've rejigged the budget so I can start hitting the mortgage even harder.  I am a couple of months ahead on my cunning plan to pay off the mortgage early.  I am aiming to see the mortgage drop by at least £2000 per month (OP and scheduled payment less interest) from now on.  I will be able to refix later this year so I should be able to shave a tiny bit off the interest rate then.
I have the money to cover the parental contribution for 3 years of uni for my eldest.  I have started to save for my younger son who has 4 years left in school.  I have around 2 terms worth of school fees saved as a safety net and will be pushing that up to a full year (these are ringfenced savings outside of my income buffer).  I can also cover several months living expenses before I would have to dip into locked up savings.  I am a contractor so I need that buffer to potentially bridge between contracts.
My current contracting role comes with a Nest pension so I went with that for now.  I need to think practically about consolidating pension pots at some point and also whether or not consolidating my S&S ISA in one place would be effective.  I am minded to open a Vangu@rd ISA for this year as they look straightforward.  I love the idea of being an active hands on investor but in reality I don't really have time so picking a diversified fund or fund of funds makes more sense.

I am not loving the weather.  We split our beehive to create a second colony and I would like to check that that a queen bee has now emerged from the queen cells we had but you can't open a hive in the pouring rain - its also a very bad idea to open a hive when the weather is unsettled as it makes the bees grumpy - the last thing I want to face is 30,000+ fed up bees.  I can see them sitting at the entrance of the hive looking out like people huddled in a shop doorway waiting for a downpour to stop.

I am keeping the garden going, one of the advantages of working from home.  I have sown all the seeds and need to get some of the seedlings transplanted.  I have sweet peas that are getting leggy and climbing beans that will take over the kitchen if left much longer.

LadyGnome

First OP of the new regime repurposing my older DS's school fees.  £1150 OP made.  
I need to save a bit more for my tax bill as I think I was on the wrong tax code for a bit so have underpaid - not a problem and I am glad I spotted it now not in Jan 22.  I have checked my tax code for my new role and it looks correct.  I think the issue is because I was on a short term rolling contract an new notice of coding didn't get issued or applied.  So I am running some extra savings pots for the next couple of months.  I already save 1/12 of all annual bills but these are on top.  I normally allocate 1/4 of all extras to the mortgage, school fees, uni savings & ISA.  I am adding it tax and the income buffer for a while so extras are split 6 ways.  I am also putting away a set amount each month for tax and the income buffer (for bridging between contracts) but I want to speed up the process.  I will sweep anything left in my current account at the end of the month to the tax pot as well - my month end is 24th as my old payday used to be the 25th and I can't be bothered to move all the bills as my pay days vary from contract to contract.  I pay myself out of the income buffer on 24th and replenish that when I actually get paid.  So I did the month end sweep yesterday - just over £28 - I am sure HMRC are relieved!

LadyGnome

Another OP to the pots bringing the May total to £1190.  I received some dividends this month which I have allocated to HMRC (Oh well!!)

Suffolk_lass

In the circle of life, Mr SL has some to claim from them - if you want to think of it as coming to our deserving cause over here...