No going back....gaining £s and losing lbs...

Allotrope

Quick update on yesterday:

Diet wise pants! Again! Treated myself to a new cookbook to motivate me - the Eat Well for Less one so at least it's appropriate!

Money wise pretty good because I spent a couple of hours sorting out my pension which I have been meaning to do for years... literally! As I have no idea what any of the changes etc to the teachers pensions mean.

I started with my goal in mind - I want to go part time (not retire as I can't afford that) at age 55. That gives me 13 years working full time to top up my pension.

I currently bank 1/57th of my salary as annual pension (teachers pensions are so weird!). Here's my current calculations:

13 years accrual at 1/57 of current salary of £42k (there will be ups and may be downs but it's a starting place)
£9579

12 years of part time accrual 1/57 of £20k (assuming I don't officially retire until I'm 67)
£4210

Plus some money from the final salary scheme I joined when I started teaching
£3200

Plus full state pension (I currently have 24 full years so need 11 more)
£8121

Plus an unknown (as of yet) amount from my private pension (was £20000 total in 2011 - haven't seen a statement since but there's one in the post, -/ I dealt with that yesterday)

Which leaves me at approx £25-26k.

With the teachers pension you can purchase up to £6500 more but as a one off payment that'll cost me £56000. I thought about sticking it on the mortgage but that scares me - I need to be mortgage free in 13 years.

So I've decided to accrue it in £250 bundle. At the moment each bundle costs £2180 but that'll go up. This year I'm aiming for a minimum of 2 bundles or £500, which will cost me 2 x £2180. If I save £365 a month, that'll cover that. I'll aim to keep accruing £500 a year to get the full £650 but as it keeps getting more expensive it may not be viable. Gives me a good target though. And other circumstances may help - if I move to a new school I can transfer my private pension in etc.

If I manage it, and the state pension isn't cut further, and nothing else happens, I should retire on around £31000. Which would be lovely. I'll never be rich but hopefully won't be broke either.

So a new target is born...£365 a month. I have saved this for Jan & Feb so I'm on my way!

Tropically

What happened with the ebayer who claimed it was an unauthorised purchase? I also am rooting for you as a science teacher - I'm a scientist now thanks to people like you!

Allotrope

Kittenkirst wrote: »

I didn't realize you could sell old routers....i left mine at my old flat....hmm I know for in future though

And you have reminded me that I have an old heart rate monitor in a drawer I could pop on eBay too!!

Well done on your progress so far, is great to read and get tips!
Also I'm impressed with your commitment to running with kids in tow- really fab

Thank you! I'm always surprised by what sells on eBay!

The kids aren't that young now... 11 & 12.., they can be left on their own but they wanted to come. I'd like to say it was fun, but.... :rotfl:

Allotrope

Tropically wrote: »

What happened with the ebayer who claimed it was an unauthorised purchase? I also am rooting for you as a science teacher - I'm a scientist now thanks to people like you!

Aww thanks! I love my job but it's way too much work to continue until I'm 67!

Funnily enough I was just popping back on to update about the eBay problem. Logged on to PayPal this monrning and the money was back in my account - pending status lifted. No email, no explanation, but I've transferred the money happily. I can only assume I wone

I wondered whether the buyer was trying it on because I forgot to upload a tracking number. He might have thought I hadn't tracked it. Fortunately I did and I had the proof. Anyway, £101 back in my account this morning, and two more sales... £20 for a rat cage (it was the kids so they get £5 each) and £13 for some clarins fake tan stuff which was an unwanted gift. More than I expected so I'm pleased... will update my Feb eBay totals later.

Am heading into school now to get some planning done, and then I'm going to switch gas & electric supplier and see if I can't save some money.

Allotrope

Okay so this morning I got good news and bad news...

Bad news, I was declined for an M&s credit card. I'm annoyed by this as I have no debt except for my mortgage and I didn't want a big limit (just the £35 of vouchers that come with the card to spend on school uniform!). I also used the soft search on their site first and it said yes! I think there's two reasons

1. Affordability - I don't have any debt but I do have a lot of available credit... I have a barclaycard with a small limit (£500) a halifax cc (£4000 limit) and a John Lewis cc. (£9100 limit). I also have a flexible mortgage so I can access up to £90000 (not that I do!)

2. Bodged payments on the John Lewis card last year - three payments were late because of problems with a current account switch. This is now rectified but I don't suppose M&s liked it!

I'm going to clean up my credit card act so I'm able to apply for offers... I'm going to cancel the barclaycard and Halifax card as I don't use them, and I'm going to ask John Lewis to lower the limit on my card. That should help. I'll also wait until I get the letter from M&S as to why I was declined as I might appeal.

On the up side I investigated switching energy suppliers. I'm actually switching from British Gas to Sainsbury's. Funnily enough Sainsbury's are supplied by British Gas, so although my tariff is not changing I am going to get £30 cash back and £100 sainsbury vouchers. Not to be sniffed at!

Allotrope

Feb extra income update...

Another 2 eBay sales... £19.12 and £15.26 so...

Ebay so far in Feb...£87.87
Interest... 3.07 + 10.38 = 13.45
Premium bonds win....£25

Total extra income this month: £126.32

Pending income (not yet arrived...)
Swagbucks £20 amazon vouchers
Mini survey £10 pets at home voucher
Sainsbury's energy £100 Sainsbury's voucher
MSE energy switch cash back £30 (due May 2017)

Pending income total: £160

Wow, that's nearly £300 extra...I'm shocked! :T :rotfl:

Allotrope

On a roll today...whilst sorting out the energy switch I noticed a link to nectar rewards... apparently I have a nectar card with points that I didn't even know about!! It has 3300 points (just over £15 in sainsbugs...Win!!!!!

Allotrope

I applied for another credit card. I wasn't so sure after M&S rejected me, but decided to go for a Sainsbury's one. They have 29 months interest free and a 5000 (£25) voucher if you spend £250 in Sainsbury's. Plus you get Nectar points when you spend. I thought that as I'm getting a £100 sainsburys voucher which I need to spend, I might as well get points etc too.

They took about 5 seconds to authorise a card with a limit of £4500, yay! So now my stoozing journey can begin! I reckon I will spend about £400 a month on it so unless any big purchases come up it's going to take me until Christmas to use up that limit!

Allotrope

Today's no spend day was anything but! The original plan was to go geocaching, have tea at a friends, then she would take my DDs to a scouts activity, whilst I had a relaxing evening to myself. Obviously it didn't work out anywhere near as well as that!

Geocaching was lovely, 6 hours walking in the sunshine through beautiful countryside. The dog was in heaven! But I was so rushed I didn't have a coffee on the way out so bought one...of course the kids then wanted hot chocolate so down £8.75. But we did bring a packed lunch so still cheaper than lunch out!

Then my friends car was in the garage so she couldn't take my kids tonight, so I've had to rush them back and feed them an unplanned tea in 30 mins (thank you Iceland...their wood fired pizzas are really yummy and only £1.50 a pizza). I bought a few extra for the freezer so £8.50 out of the grocery budget. Finally I need to pay £6 to scouts for tonight's activities. So £23.25 spent on a very enjoyable day with the kids...to me that's a bargain! BB (before budgeting) I would have spent a lot more than that for an entire day of activities.

I still have £54 in the half term activities pot...time to think of something fun for Friday

EatingTheElephant

That sounds like a great day out, hope you enjoy the rest of half term.