Prosperous soul in the making

savingholmes

School has agreed DD can drop one of her extra subjects - so hopefully that will take pressure off. It will give her 4 more free periods and mean she can come home earlier 3 extra days each fortnight. Really hope that does the trick.

I've spoken to another IFA who wouldn't touch me until my birthday - and would want 3%. So going forward with the 2% one. Will take the docs into work tomorrow to scan in and then hopefully progress.

In other news some of my parcels arrived. (I give myself a quarterly clothing allowance of £75 or I can use my monthly personal spends). I am keeping 1 top, 2 tankinis and a swimming costume (35). I'm going to send 2 (identical) dresses in different sizes back (20) - unusually they were very generous in the sizing so I would need a smaller one. I don't want to pay a delivery fee so will just return. I still have my two parcels to return from yesterday - so hopefully I can do it altogether. I'm hoping the new costumes will encourage me to go swimming. Two of the three are on the generous side and one is a little tighter but still okay. All bought in the sales. Is it really bad that it has take me half an hour to notice I put my top back on back-to-front? LOL

I went on £co to check if any cash was payable - and had £20.17 have withdrawn about £23+ after a 15% top up to spend on a dining out voucher. That way DH and I can have a date night at some point and still stay on budget or I can have a guilt-free meal out by myself on the way to or from a site I sometimes have to go to. I'll let you know which I choose...

Drawingaline

I think allowing a child on the spectrum to drop enrichment subjects is the right thing. In fact I would be inclined to have her just concentrate on her three A levels. But I understand the demand avoidance, my smallest is awful with this is a permenant struggle. Finding a balance is so hard, especially with girls who are generally better at masking until it all gets too much.

Drawingaline

Oh and just want to say that all your pension talk has got me looking into ours. We are screwed :eek: will be doing some serious research this year. I don't qualify for my workplace one until sep, and I only work 2days a week so......

savingholmes

Drawing a line - you can put £2880 (post tax) into a pension per year - even if you are not earning enough to pay tax and still get tax relief equal to 25%. This would then make it up to around £3600. From my research it looks like index tracker funds are low cost and most likely to give a decent return - but as you know nothing is guaranteed. That assumes you can get that money together but could be a starting point for you? Also check out what you are due to get in state pension - as because I've had child benefit since 1998 - even years when I was contracted out - I seem to have a pension / ni credit so it was better than I expected.

Anyone who hasn't already done so - would benefit from looking into life insurance and making sure they have enough coverage - if they have dependants - also needs to investigate that. None of us know whether we are the one to live to 100 or not. I therefore seek to plan for both options - early or late death. We sorted a will out for the first time last year - I feel so much better knowing that's in place.

I seem to be having a better week this week - possibly because DD is being slightly less demanding. Who knows? Either way I'll take it. I also took my shoes off at my desk for most of the day and that seems to have improved my pain levels. Night night all.

savingholmes

Slept well last night. DD is very relieved to be quitting Core Maths. She is however already starting to stress over 2 exams she has in June!

Still working on point one of Monday's list. Taking my pension papers to work to scan in and email to the adviser. He should then as a minimum send me a fact-finding questionnaire to complete. I may also see him face-to-face at some point - not sure..

I currently owe 7 hours at work. I need to make up at least a couple of them in the next three weeks and the rest by the end of March. Planning to use the last of the gammon and take a jacket spud and salad and coleslaw to work again today. My cleaner is also due today - so our pooch gets a walk, company and we get a clean, tidy house to return to.

DS agreed to look after DD for us at some point. I think I should start looking for where DH and I can go to for a weekend and book that. It would at least give us something to look forward to. Nothing in the calendar at the moment. I would normally have booked most of my annual leave for the next leave year by now - but because DD isn't keen to leave home overnight - we haven't yet. I think I will try and book 2 weeks off at Easter - as that will be something tangible to look forward to - even if I'm not ready to book anywhere. If we did go somewhere it would be a week in a cottage. Want to keep total holiday spends this year to £1300 or less - although we could use personal spends to top it up for overnight stays away.

I resisted buying anything on Am@z0n two days on the run. Let's see how long I can go.... I don't have a good track record LOL

savingholmes

I got to work a whole 5 minutes earlier today LOL. Sadly as I was leaving for work I got a text to say my cleaner wasn't coming - as she has a tummy bug. The positive side of that we paid for McD for DD and me and DH had a date night / meal out.

With the pensions transfer saga - they've said they can't touch me until I am 50. So basically I will then need to pay £122.50 for getting a second transfer value within a year. Hopefully it will be the same transfer value or better - but if it's not that's the luck of the draw. On hold now until May/June! DH is going to find out how his three pension pots are currently performing and then decide whether or not to move 2 into a sipp. We'll need the info for the transfer forms anyway. Work are having a drop in pension day in Feb that I plan to go to - so hopefully that will help me understand my current scheme better too before I commit to the sipp for me.

In other news, our not so delightful pooch got trapped in my study and decided to poo in there - after she had eaten half a pack of opened tangtastics - and a previously unopened pack of dark chocolate buttons. Gutted about all three LOL. Thankfully DH cleared it up for me! Worse than kids!! The dog was completely hyper when DD got home and when we did and seems to have been very thirsty but other than that seems okay despite chocolate not being good for her. Two days this week she has made it into DD's room and ripped rubbish bags open. We may have to go back to trapping her in DH's study - as that door is (we hope) impossible for her to open! We are thinking of buying some hook and eyes to go on the outside of doors to stop this happening again, but even if we do - probably wouldn't get around to it until the weekend. Frustrating.

My leg has been really painful again today - can't wait for the physio appointment. Just grateful I have an automatic car and a normally short commute. Tomorrow I have to drive 1 hour each way to a site - but I have to confess I am looking forward to the peace of the journey (the excess time counts as working time). It's potentially about a new piece of work that could come my way. If it does I would be delighted as I have been a bit bored at work and ready for a change.

enthusiasticsaver

Most IFAs seem to want a financial relationship with you before they advise on pension transfers which I found frustrating but after signing with one eventually they cashflowed our retirement in more detail than I could have plus advised on investments so for us it was worth it.

Do you really have to pay for a transfer valuation? Never come across that before. I am also not sure why you have to wait until 50 but I think I would be getting cheesed off too if I were you.

:eek::eek: to the dogs' antics.

savingholmes

You can have one free valuation a year - after that they can charge. My fee is quite reasonable - I've heard of others paying over £500.

Currently waiting for the on-call vet to ring me back. Our dog has been quite hyperactive and very thirsty. The empty pack I found was 110g of dark chocolate. If pooch died from that we would be inconsolable. I think though - that we are outside the time window when they could do much to help - as we would have needed to catch it within the first 2 hours for it to make much difference. Just hoping that our dog being overweight goes in her favour for once! By the questions the vet's assistant asked me - she's thinking the dog could have ate any time between 10am and 4pm ish.

savingholmes

The vet agreed - he felt she would have progressed to seizures by now if she was going to so while not good - he thinks she will be okay.

savingholmes

Well pooch was fine this morning - Thank God! DH took her for a walk. If she's opening packs of food and fishing them out of drawers and handbags - we are going to have to be so much more careful.

At another site today. Taking jacket spud, cheese and beans - easy enough. Need to have a shower still and then go. DD has been going to school okay since it was agreed she can drop her extra subject - hopefully this will now become a trend. DS is still not sure when he will get his tax and ni refund from Oz - the fact he has an active visa is likely to get in the way - and it doesn't expire until October! He has to ring them up but is going to use internet calling to make it cheaper. He is at the doctor's later - as he's not felt right for months. Will see how that goes.

I may see if I can get a doctor's appointment for my foot/leg tomorrow as last night it was so painful at one point that I found myself gritting my teeth. Typically I would normally work from home one day a week - but only due to manage a half day tomorrow and then have an important meeting I need to be at.

At the hairdressers on Saturday - which will be good - my hair feels long for me (its short) but I left it an extra week due to DS coming home last weekend.