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Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

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Comments

  • arsenalbarnie
    arsenalbarnie Posts: 581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I love Premium bond day as me and my friend call it. I have the app and you press the button and the disc spins round and it tells you if you have won and how many prizes. I have a fair bit of OH's money in mine as it's harder for him to spend it. We are getting more from it than in savings. In our family we always used to say at the end of the month I wonder if ERNIE will be walking up the drive to knock on our door tomorrow. Ha ha he hasn't yet. It's like being in a raffle but you get your money back, love them. Very quick to withdraw from too if you do it all online.
    Total weight lost 6.5/73lbs starting yet again. Afds August 10/15. /8 Sept.
  • Sunshine_girl2
    Sunshine_girl2 Posts: 3,137 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I do Premium Bonds every month as well £50 , it's my Long term savings .
    Life is an adventure, never stop exploring.

  • jwil
    jwil Posts: 22,388 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yay to a new shed :T

    I'm going to get some Premium bonds too in the future. I've been meaning to since the minimum spend went down to £25. I didn't think of doing it monthly though, might consider £25 a month. Thanks :)
    "Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee
  • teafor2
    teafor2 Posts: 3,322 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Morning HHD :) I think the premium bond idea is a good one. Saving with a chance of winning some money seems a good bet to me. I was given a £1 one when I was christened. No idea if it's still entered into the draw or not but I've kept it for posterity. :)

    Are you having a quiet day today or are you going under the bed to tackle some more books? xx
  • elizabethhull
    elizabethhull Posts: 767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    The financial sense of buying premium bonds depends almost entirely on current interest rates. As they are still very low, your chances of a modest win far outweigh the measly interest on the same sum. Low interest rates mean that as you can take out what you put in, the real value of the money is barely changing.

    Again, if they were difficult to redeem, the answer would be different.

    Also, with the minimum purchase having gone down from a ridiculous £100 to a very sensible £25, they are much more accessible to those with only small amounts to invest.

    Premium Bonds are buying into 'hope', a positive commodity, whilst not burning your boats with risky investments.

    I would say - go for it !!
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 24,619 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    This is making me want to commit some money each month into Premium Bonds too! There really is nothing to lose, is there!
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
    Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
    Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
    £100k barrier broken 1/4/25
    SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculator
    she/her
  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    arsenalbarnie wrote: »
    I love Premium bond day as me and my friend call it. I have the app and you press the button and the disc spins round and it tells you if you have won and how many prizes. I have a fair bit of OH's money in mine as it's harder for him to spend it. We are getting more from it than in savings. In our family we always used to say at the end of the month I wonder if ERNIE will be walking up the drive to knock on our door tomorrow. Ha ha he hasn't yet. It's like being in a raffle but you get your money back, love them. Very quick to withdraw from too if you do it all online.
    Sunshine_girl2 wrote: »
    I do Premium Bonds every month as well £50 , it's my Long term savings .
    jwil wrote: »
    Yay to a new shed :T

    I'm going to get some Premium bonds too in the future. I've been meaning to since the minimum spend went down to £25. I didn't think of doing it monthly though, might consider £25 a month. Thanks :)

    I'm getting more convinced by the minute :rotfl:.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    teafor2 wrote: »
    Morning HHD :) I think the premium bond idea is a good one. Saving with a chance of winning some money seems a good bet to me. I was given a £1 one when I was christened. No idea if it's still entered into the draw or not but I've kept it for posterity. :)

    Are you having a quiet day today or are you going under the bed to tackle some more books? xx
    elizabethhull wrote: »
    The financial sense of buying premium bonds depends almost entirely on current interest rates. As they are still very low, your chances of a modest win far outweigh the measly interest on the same sum. Low interest rates mean that as you can take out what you put in, the real value of the money is barely changing.

    Again, if they were difficult to redeem, the answer would be different.

    Also, with the minimum purchase having gone down from a ridiculous £100 to a very sensible £25, they are much more accessible to those with only small amounts to invest.

    Premium Bonds are buying into 'hope', a positive commodity, whilst not burning your boats with risky investments.

    I would say - go for it !!
    EssexHebridean wrote: »
    This is making me want to commit some money each month into Premium Bonds too! There really is nothing to lose, is there!

    I'm totally convinced now! As soon as I get paid I'm going to buy some premium bonds :rotfl:.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    teafor2 wrote: »

    Are you having a quiet day today or are you going under the bed to tackle some more books? xx

    I'm going under the bed to tackle more books TFW :rotfl:. I'm obsessed!
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • in_need_of_direction
    in_need_of_direction Posts: 7,829 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    have you ever used music magpie or ziffit? it might kick start those premium bonds
    Mortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 12st determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 100% through my pb challenge.
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