Prosperous soul in the making

Elisheba

capuchin said:

@Honeysucklelou2 https://www.lloydsbank.com/life-insurance/terms-and-conditions.html - Basically sign up to the worst cheapest plan possible for £5 a month, cancel it in 3 months (once your voucher has been sent out), and you make £85 profit

edit: easiest way to do it will be via the app, takes 3 mins or so!

Wish I was a Lloyd's customer. That's a great offer! 

capuchin

@Elisheba Fantastic isn't it. And as the reward is in Amazon not cash, you have to spend it not pay debts with it! (I'll finally buy the new PC monitor I've needed for a long while) On the offchance you have a credit card/current account with Halifax you can do it also here: https://www.halifax.co.uk/life-cover/terms-and-conditions.html - I spied on your thread and I'm guessing it's a good offchance you have one of the two! (I only have a halifax cc but it worked fine

Elisheba

capuchin said:

@Elisheba Fantastic isn't it. And as the reward is in Amazon not cash, you have to spend it not pay debts with it! (I'll finally buy the new PC monitor I've needed for a long while) On the offchance you have a credit card/current account with Halifax you can do it also here: https://www.halifax.co.uk/life-cover/terms-and-conditions.html - I spied on your thread and I'm guessing it's a good offchance you have one of the two! (I only have a halifax cc but it worked fine

I don't have either @capuchin. How annoying! I'm trying to recall if I ever had an ISA with Halifax that I've not closed, but if I do I have no idea what the details of it are so that's not much use. 

capuchin

@Elisheba https://www.lloydsbank.com/savings/easy-saver.html might work. I see nothing in the terms to say it shouldn't.

savingholmes

capuchin said:

Assuming modern commemoratives, what are the coins? Most are completely worthless other than metal value unfortunately. The  main exceptions are kew gardens, undated 20p pieces, and [first series] colorised Beatrix potter set. Others have marginal upsale value (eg the Gruffalo silver proof), but the vast majority are unfortunately worthless. Whatever you do, ensure you check before taking it to a dealer. Many are cowboys.

Silver is currently good to hold in my opinion. It won't be subject to the next 24 months of nasty inflation and is currently likely a bit undervalued anyway.

edit: I disagree with the assessment that it's 'dire' - It's doing well.

Remember if you are a halifax/lloyds customer or have a credit card with them, you can get £85 free amazon vouchers.

I have a £5 Queen Mother one I think from her 95th birthday. I have a 22c I presume gold plated proof medallion for Penrhyn Castle and Buckingham Palace.  *bay seems to think they could be worth around £30. I presume the Penrhyn one could be from my honeymoon 30 years ago!!

I'll mention the voucher thing to DD and DS.

savingholmes

Thanks Capuchin, Elishaba, MF and Jwil.

Had a nice long lie in today - think just exhausted with the emotional side of sorting out finances and everything related to the divorce. It's been quite draining. 

It looks like I could get a new 3kg tumble dryer for around £150. Our current one is 6kg - before this one we had one that size for most of the time when the kids were young. If I do my washing mid-week and DD does hers at the weekends - that could work out well. I agree with you that's a more realistic option and would meet the need, come with warranty and take pressure off. Even better - I've been promised some vouchers which I'm hoping to get pre-divorce - which should help me pay for about £100 of it. (The other vouchers I'm due will come closer to Xmas). I do have a retractable washing line - and could try to use it... I'd say more - but I think last time I used it was probably a year ago!!

I need to get some more quotes early next week for the cam belt and water pump. I have a feeling I may have already exceeded the mileage so need to do asap. I will get a further quote on the tyre tracking - as because I was the last job of the day - they didn't have chance to do any of that. My tyres have worn quite unevenly and I'm told that was due to tracking, bumped tyres and under-inflation... A friend has recommended a garage near my work so may try them first for a day when I'm due in work anyway.

Today's fun jobs. Perhaps go out with the dog for a bit while I've still got her. Feels a bit poignant ATM. Still want to bake a cake.

Could do with a top up grocery shop. Still need to get DD's meds.

I still need to follow through and sort my will. I'm going to dig out my previous will and try to keep it as simple as possible - when I fill in the online questionnaire. I did follow a link and start - but need to finish...

Need to continue emptying the loft.

SandyShores

Hi savingholmes, unevenly worn tyres definitely a sign tracking needed.  Hope you manage some rest, a dog walk sounds lovely, and cake baking.  I've been making bread and its quite soothing

girlatplay

Don't use the K-Fit place.  Just don't.

savingholmes

Thanks Sandy - I actually spent the day reading MSE MFW diaries and the Fireside Chat in Pensions as part of considering how best to pay off the mortgage / become mortgage neutral.

GAP - I hear you - but it was N@t Tyres that actually messed up on my car. There's a tyre place near work which I will check out next week. 

savingholmes

So unless life throws me further curve balls - this is what I'd like to achieve in my 5 year plan

1. Health and fitness: Come off meds, lose 9 stone, be able to do Yoga moves easily, be fit enough to be able to travel and enjoy long walks / hikes e.g. 5-10 miles etc. 
2. Pay off at least £40K of the mortgage by 31/12/2026: Borrowing £202K until I am 73 and 7 months (definitely want to be free before then). 5 year 1.84% fixed rate deal ends around Nov/Dec 2026 - this is my normal repayments plus circa £20 pcm to start which will then pay off just over an extra £1K. If I kept the extra £20pcm up throughout my mortgage it would knock 6 months off the term. If at the current house valuation I wanted to get under 60% LTV within 5 years - I'd need to pay off a further £11K however a rising market could solve that problem for me and the house was in my opinion massively under valued at this remortgage.
3. Mortgage neutrality and pensions: Use pension investments to work towards becoming mortgage neutral over the life of the mortgage. This means I would get a 25% uplift from the government - but risks the money being taxed on the way out. E.g. If I paid in £5,700 over the 5 years and this was uplifted by 25% tax rebate it would be £7,125 plus any growth (or loss). I am still hoping to transfer out an old DB pension at around age 55 that even after I give Ex half - has a current cetv of £182,500. If I manage to do that then I can grow my pension myself - and be able to get a TFLS of 25%. I have a DC pension that is currently worth c£3.5k. If for example in 2026 I took a TFLS from the transferred pension and paid £50K off my mortgage that would potentially knock 5.5 years off the 22 year term which would be amazing. However, I'd like to leave it invested as long as possible so it can grow and therefore my tax free amount would make a bigger dent in the mortgage. If I can't transfer the DB pension - it would be worth c£4Kp.a. from age 65 (original retirement age was 60 so that's annoying).
4. Stay in current role / DB pension: Currently worth around £9.5K p.a. at age 67 - and going up by c£950 each year that I stay. So if I carried on working F/T could be worth c£25K at retirement. My pension would be reduced by a sliding scale if I took it early. So even if I wanted to retire early - ideally I'd offset it by flexible retirement and working part time - or by using the pension from number 3 above and thereby avoid reducing this DB pension (unless it was for health reasons - in which case I may be able to get it unreduced anyway).
5. State Pension entitlement: Only have to work 4 more years to qualify for full state pension at 67 of £9.3K p.a. There's a worrying note though saying SPA might rise by a year before I get there.
6. Retirement lifestyle: Given how much I am due to pay into my pension, life insurance and mortgage over the next few years - once I'm mortgage free I'm due to be financially better off in retirement than I am now by far!! So why put more into my pension now? So it gives me choices - particularly if I can't work for whatever reason later in life. I like the idea of FIRE although I think I would always want something to engage my brain and to feel like I was contributing to something. 
7. Debt Repayment: Currently owe £1329. I could pay it off thanks to a gift from my sis but I would rather keep it as an EF especially as it's 0% doesn't run out until March. Unless I have any further unexpected large bills, I can repay it within that time period (if I choose to) and still keep an EF.
8. Emergency Fund: Currently have an EF of around £1.8-2K. That would cover more than 1 month of basic essentials. Want to grow that to 6 months worth over the 5 years - so perhaps £9K - however I may put part in S&S ISA, PBs or closer to pension withdrawal date - into pension to maximise TFLS and get govt uplift.
9. Increase my income: Publish fiction and non-fiction books and sell arts and crafts. I may consider a M-F lodger once DD is settled in her own place (currently expected April/May) if it would help me reach my goals faster or if I became ill and couldn't work for an extended period. This is a 4 bed house with 2 receptions, downstairs WC, separate bathroom and ensuite so has scope. Ideally though money from art and writing (which I love) would make the latter unnecessary - as currently I'm craving solitude and silence. 
10. Home improvements: If I was going down the lodger route - at some point I would want to create a second ensuite in the second largest bedroom. This would mean that I could have a lodger - and still have my 2 kids come to stay if I wanted. It would also add value to the house. I did a 'diy' paint job on the kitchen cupboards a year ago - and gave it a new counter top (I love the latter) and an induction hob - but at some point I'd like to replace at least all the kitchen doors. It would be lovely to invest in the family bathroom and my ensuite - but they're both fit for purpose currently even if not trendy. The back fence could do with replacing - again last year I just painted it and hoped for the best. I want to take down 1 or 2 trees too. Unless I achieve number 9 &/or majorly cut down my normal spends - anything I do will cut into my other goals though so I need to pace myself.