Prosperous soul in the making

MovingForwards

Congratulations on the weight loss and not taking meds yesterday, hopefully this is the turning point and full recovery will follow!

Your target date sounds achievable and I'm sure being so focused means you will do it.

How was the strawberry? I'm annoyed with myself I didn't pick any up for this year. If you have a compost bin, put the salad leaves in so they come to some use 😉

Have a good day!

mark55man

that's great news on the meds - a real achievement and confidence booster

savingholmes

Thanks MF - I will put it on my 'cold' compost area. Hi Mark - yes I am really chuffed - I think weight loss has helped reduce the inflammation. I also bought some shoe inserts online which I think have helped. I think my arches may have collapsed this year which could be part of the problem.

I've been doing some social media research this week which will hopefully help my business. I've posted my first painting and it didn't cost as much as expected so will see how that goes. DD met a friend socially distanced today and DH has gone to meet a friend at the Park today. DS was going to go to Mr As for meds but the queue was way too long so came home. I've done 30 hours this week which is a big improvement. Next week is my last week of reduced hours before being 'back' full time (due to leg) so leg healing up is perfect timing.

I looked into the pension transfer co  -it will cost me £495 for an initial report. If I go ahead they charge an 'implementation fee' which helps cover their insurance - that would be another £9.2K but could be taken from my pension pot. Give that the value of my pot went up £30K since last time I checked - I feel more comfortable with that than I did plus despite loads of research I am not aware of other options. Reading their Ts and Cs I think I know why the other one turned me down. It was probably because I was considering managing the £ myself - they want to transfer it into another pension so that the fees and performance are more foreseeable. I think in the current climate that is understandable and if I transferred it to an 'approved' provider there's nothing stopping me moving it on later if I became more investment savvy.

DH is impressed at the difference medication is making to DS and is considering sorting out an assessment for himself too. In principle I am supportive but it would mess up our financial plans short term as if I look at DS - he's spent around £1K on diagnosis and meds so far and isn't yet at a point where his meds are stable enough for the NHS to accept him! It's certainly an interesting year.

MovingForwards

It's great DD went out, hopefully she recovers a little quicker this time. 

Hopefully being back FT, compared to nearly FT won't be such a big jump. As you are mostly working from home, squeeze in extra tea / coffee to get walking around a bit.

With your pension transfer the only other thing is not to come across as being risk averse as that appears to have caught a few people out. Not picked up anything else from the pension board.

DH has done quite a U-turn over the last few months hasn't he. Perhaps he will think it over for a few months, giving you a bit of breathing space and to make headway. Who knows, you may hear about DS' accommodation fee and not have to pay that. I'm sure, whatever happens, you will find a way to manage / factor it in.

Blackcats

Well done on the weight loss - fantastic and I'm pleased that your pain is so much better. Good luck with the pension conversation.  

jwil

Well done on the weight loss, and glad your leg is improving. 

savingholmes

Thanks MF, Blackcats and Jwil
I'm going to try one more pension company on Monday - they seem to charge a lot less - if that's a bust I will go with the one above and fork out the upfront fee. Today has disappeared down a rabbit hole of looking at our 'future finances' if the transfer went through and property online - there's a house in the country I really like with 3/4 of an acre. It would be about 2 hours from work and relatives so would require me to work mostly from home but lockdown has proved that is more doable than people thought... DH's job would need to change but he hates it there anyway. The biggest stumbling block remains DD. I just have to hope that something similar is available when we are ready to move. We promised DD we'd stay in the area until she finished 6th form - after that all proverbial bets are off.

I have enjoyed our garden far more this year - but we've done what needs doing (that's cheap) so would like more of our own space even more now and with my leg being so much better that dream feels more possible again. I think lockdown has shown all of us that there are far more discretionary lines in our expenses that we think - and how much we would save if we didn't have to commute. Hopefully it will lead to long term change. 

I never thought I would be cutting my own hair in 2020 - but I've been managing the front - and DD cut an inch or so off the back and dyed it for me. While I love my hairdresser and the experience - it isn't going to be like it was for some time to come. I can't see me coping with a mask on my face for hours. I was paying £57 every 5 or 6 weeks before. Now I am planning to spend about £12 pcm - giving DD £5 and paying around £7 for dye. DH is saving about £5 pcm doing his hair too. That was a non-negotiable for me before but maybe not now (especially while not seeing many people). Similarly for clothes and shoes - I've probably spent about £30 on 2 pairs of shoes and about £20 on 2 tops and a dress. DD has however spent a fortune - but some of it was her own money. (She is losing weight too which is really positive). We've spent about £80 on takeaways in the last 3 months - where we would have spent more than that in a month.  

I really want my cleaner back though!! Right off to take pooch for a walk with DH

PurpleFairy26

I think it’s interesting on the discretionary spending isn’t it. I have always dyed my own hair and hair cuts were from a lady who came to the house about once or twice a year max. DH does his own so we haven’t saved there (except I’m not dying it currently). But other things, I’m with you - I think they will reduce and our food bill will reduce when we can go back to l1dl 

there will always be a house suitable somewhere, particularly if you can we two hours from where your work is now. If you drew a circle round that on the map two hours away that would show how much scope there is. 

If you work from home more going forward you would need less clothes too. 

mark55man

sounds like a plan coming together

if you are moving pensions around be careful of taking too much at once - can be expensive tax wise.  I'm sure you know that, but especially as you are looking to change and possibly reduce hours then it may well be more efficient to take it later.  as long as you have enough capital to see your plans through to conclusion the best place for pensions is in the market, but cautious! 

enthusiasticsaver

I would also exercise caution with the pension. From a tax point of view definitely although I don't think you are 55 yet so you can't draw on it even if you can move it. The reason that the regulations came in to stop making it easy to transfer a valuable asset like a DB pension and then draw on it  to do things like buy houses, cars or round the world trips was because people were doing that when the pension freedoms kicked in and then they had nothing to sustain them in retirement. I know you have other pensions but still worth taking your time. My husband and I both have DB pensions and with the latest turmoil in the stock market we count our lucky stars our income is secure whereas others who have theirs invested have been reluctant to draw on them at the moment because we are in a dip.