Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

redofromstart

Nice work on the grocery budget, something I really should focus on.

Linked In is tricky, but it is also how I have found two of my last three projects as I am self employed. Are there any relevant groups to your profession/location? Have you got it set up so that recruiters can see that you are looking? I am linked to the key recruiters for my field locally so I can always see the new posts they share.

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

presumably if you opt out of a employers pension that also means the death benefit scheme is no longer active?

Yes, if it is tied to pension. Depends on the employer who may offer separate life cover, my husbands place do 1x if opted out, 3 x if in pension, my current project does 3x if you are in the pension or not which has been fairly common through my commercial work places. Public sector it is generally tied to the pension.

XSpender

Not off topic at all, any talk that keeps me abreast of what is happening in pensions is useful. I thought I had heard it was going up from 55 to 57 and will probably move further by the time I get to have the option. I will be 49 in the summer.

redofromstart wrote: »

Linked In is tricky, but it is also how I have found two of my last three projects as I am self employed. Are there any relevant groups to your profession/location? Have you got it set up so that recruiters can see that you are looking? I am linked to the key recruiters for my field locally so I can always see the new posts they share.

2 of my colleagues on this project left after getting a job through a linked in approach. I didn't know i could show I was looking on my profile without actually writing it on so will check that out.

XSpender

The mice are still in residence. They hadn't touched the bait for days but DS saw one run under the fire this morning and the bait box has been moved and quite a lot eaten. There is no way to block this up. DH is going to investigate the exterior wall/corner of the living room tonight to see if there is a way in from the outside. I am going to ring some more pest people this week.

Had a filing on Friday but went for the amalgam option, instead of white which is what I normally have. I only have a small mouth and if I do this -->>:eek: you can't see it so have saved a few bob there. I am hoping it will last longer too as the previous filling lasted about 20 months. It was also a lot quicker appointment too, I was in and out in 15 minutes. The cost was lower than I had budgeted for so I have moved the saving in to the holiday spending fund which I am hoping to hit £100 by the end of the month.

Food spending has been low so far this month. I've done the weekly shop and even including 8 cans of beer and a bottle of wine we have only spent £57. I may need to by the men/boy folk a loaf of bread but we don't need anything else until the weekend.

DH and I had our night out on Friday with some new friends. Had a great time and came well under budget. Friend gave us a lift home so didn't stop for takeaway (I rustled something up from the freezer) but did treat ourselves to a McD breakfast on Sunday as we were starving and had to pick DS up early for a match.

Following redofromstart's post I have changed the settings on linked in to let recruiters know I am looking. Again, nothing on the alert emails, I think I will have to do a proper search.

DH and I are getting concerned about our dog who is 14 and a half. He is aging pretty rapidly at the moment. He is going deaf, behaving differently when meeting other dogs and has dirtied in the house after being out. Luckily it was on the bathroom floor so I could disinfect it but he has previously wee'd on the landing where his bed is. He is also even more clingy with me than usual and follows me around the house until I sit down and he can cuddle in. We may have to move his bed into the kitchen on a night.

I am really not in the right frame of mind to lose weight at the moment. I am just going over the top of the healthy weight range into overweight. My size 10s are tight and I can't wear some of the smaller items. I'm just not motivated to do anything about it at the moment, I feel I have more important things to focus on. Eating regular meals and not feasting on crap when I am away with work would be a better focus at the moment.

We have parents evening tonight! DS teacher has a reputation for having a clique of kids she likes and a clique of kids she doesn't like and I have a feeling I know which one DS is in.

DH has realised he cant get the Friday off when we start our holiday so is having to have half a day so instead of leaving at 7ish and getting there for 1pm DS and I will pick DH up at 12 and get there whenever.:(

This week's plans include

Creating a Dragon Trainer costume for World Book Day on Friday:eek: and buying black face paint and black rope to complete it
Returning shirts to Asda which were going to be a 'Tom Gates' costume
Buying bread
Eating all the cakes I made yesterday to avoid waste (no wonder I don't want to diet )
Change our sheets
Vacuum and dust upstairs
Clean the bathroom
Call the pest people
Do a job search

Suffolk_lass

As you are looking at pensions at the moment, make sure you know what your current employer pension is and be prepared to transfer it to either a SIPP or your new employer when you do change jobs. In the the case of your new employer, if they offer it, this is usually time limited to 6 months.

If you are considering a SIPP you could start researching which funds you will go for - at 49 with 15-18 years to go I would look at a combination of growth and income, passive and active.

brizzlegirl

HI XS, all sounding very busy.

I grouped my various pension pots together and have them now on a HL platform. I like it as it nudges me to think bout it and pay money in when I can. I used to have a regular contribution but now I am back to being employed I am making payments into my employers plan instead. But when we get ourselves upstanding again then I will do it. I know some don't like the HL fees but so far the convenience and ease that I can check on it as well as my ISA seems worth it. I don't want to ever be unaware again of how its doing. 'I worked hard for it, it'll fund (or not) my future and I should look after it' has been my mantra for the last few years.

Arkers

Hi XS,

Just catching up with your diary. My JRT is coming up to 14 and has had a couple of health issues lately. One of which was the vet finding a tumour in his leg last week. After a lot of soul searching we have decided to amputate, but the decision was not an easy one. I know we are in the autumn of his days, but pets become such a huge part of your life, and it's sad when they become old/infirm. What has your vet said?

I always dreaded parent's evening with my two. The were never the shining stars, particularly naughty or the class clowns, but the ones in the middle that just get on with things and tend to get overlooked. My brother is a teacher in the private sector, and as such his child has had such privileges at a very discounted price. If I could have afforded it I would have probably paid for my two to have a piece of this cake, but hey ho you do what you can. However with hindsight my two have turned into happy, well adjusted and fulfilled young people who seem to making their way in life.

XSpender

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

If you are considering a SIPP you could start researching which funds you will go for - at 49 with 15-18 years to go I would look at a combination of growth and income, passive and active.

I am going to start doing some research on SIPPS. I would like to invest something, it will need to be small, monthly to start us off.

brizzlegirl wrote: »

I grouped my various pension pots together and have them now on a HL platform.

Going to research this too, thanks.

Arkers wrote: »

Hi XS,

Just catching up with your diary. My JRT is coming up to 14 and has had a couple of health issues lately. One of which was the vet finding a tumour in his leg last week. After a lot of soul searching we have decided to amputate, but the decision was not an easy one. I know we are in the autumn of his days, but pets become such a huge part of your life, and it's sad when they become old/infirm. What has your vet said?

What a tough decision to make. I hope your dog is recovering well. Our dog has only been to the vets twice since he was a puppy, both last year. Once was about a patch of irritated skin and once was an eye infection. Although he had got slower his dodderyness has started since then. Dr Google says it's old age but I may take him in just to rule out anything else

I always dreaded parent's evening with my two. The were never the shining stars, particularly naughty or the class clowns, but the ones in the middle that just get on with things and tend to get overlooked. My brother is a teacher in the private sector, and as such his child has had such privileges at a very discounted price. If I could have afforded it I would have probably paid for my two to have a piece of this cake, but hey ho you do what you can. However with hindsight my two have turned into happy, well adjusted and fulfilled young people who seem to making their way in life.

DS is a bright boy, not top of the class, and can be easily distracted and hates being told off for it :rotfl:. He is only 8. Parent's evening was as expected. He is where he should be for everything. I would send DS to private secondary school if we could afford it as I believe it would give him opportunities and advantages he wont get at state school. It is such a lottery with state school in my big village/little town we have schools that are ranked in the top 600 in the country and schools that scrape a satisfactory.

XSpender

I received the statement for my DB pension that I had requested. I am pleasantly surprised at how much income it will give me at 60. Not enough to live on obviously but more than double what I expected.

I also received the new CT bill which has gone up £10 month:eek:

Food spends still under budget for the week. I don't know if I mentioned that I took the weekly budget (less a fiver contingency) in cash and put it in a separate purse and it is focussing my mind. I tried this year's ago and got all messed up as I kept forgetting the purse and using my card.

The tax code that cost me money this month is a !!!! up caused by HR in how they paid our bonuses caused by forgetting (!!!!) that the entire company receives a bonus at the end of Jan! Senior Management's response? Just suck it up and ask your team to stop asking them questions :mad:

Suffolk_lass

The advantage of those old DB pensions is that they usually have some sort of indexation so that your accrued benefits (ie what it was when you left in terms of earnings and number of years there) -and they might have a reserved right to take them before state pension age so well worth keeping it going. It is the DC schemes that may be better consolidated.

I did quite a lot of research on funds and investment trusts if you want to compare notes. I saved the articles from The Times and STimes where they talked about top 10 shares, funds and trusts for income. At this stage you should be looking at growth and accumulation (as opposed to income) and as a relative novice,I would go for a mix of funds rather than individual stock picks.

XSpender

Thanks SL I may take you up on that offer when I have all the up to date details together as I am waiting on statements for a couple that are due out soon.

We seem to have erradicated the mouse problem as when we sealed the hole in the skirting board and it's corresponding hole outside we appear to have sealed a mouse in the living room with no exit points! It has been trying to eat it's way out through the sealed hole and we have seen it every day since Monday. Last night when I was putting DS to bed it came and sat in front of DH in the middle of the floor and looked unwell, the poison must have been kicking in. We caught it in a Tupperware tub, I say caught it just sat there, and took it outside. We have replaced the poison and have set humane traps to confirm it was the only one.

I'm working from home today and must remember to ring the tax office as I have made a small error with updating my company car details and they needed 72 hours for it to update before they could amend it for me.

I also need to book a couple of hotels and will go via TCB and hot3ls.com as I earn cashback and free night stays this way. I should look into how to get cashback on train fares as I use train1ine but they never pay out. i'm sure I saw someone saying they got n3ctar points on train fares.

A friend has offered me a ticket for an event at a discounted price as one of her other friends now can't go so I have accepted. I get on really well with this friend but we tend to socailise as families most of the time as we met through our husbands so it will be nice to go out together on the razzle dazzle. That will be 3 nights out in March which is probably more than the previous 6 months put together!

We both need to make a will and I have seen a free will writing service offered by the Royal British Legion with no obligation to leave them anything although I would make a donation.

I have the joy of making a costume for World Book Day with DS tonight after buying black rope, paper and face paint. He is going as a character out of the book he is currently reading and no-one will have a clue who he is meant to be :rotfl: