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Trying to do everything all at once!
Comments
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LiveLifeFull wrote: »I have a question.
I am unsure what the best option would be for me. When we get out 1% pay rise, and when I go up an increment at work, I want to save the extra £20/30 I will get. However, I am not sure if it would be better to either stick it in a savings accounts with the highest interest I can get, or to increase my monthly payments to my work pension.
I'm kind of leaning towards a savings account, because if anything happens, that money can become available to me in an emergency, but then the down side of that is, that money can become available to me in an emergency. At least in my work pension, it cant be touched.
Hmmm, I will need to think on this.
Good luck with your aspirations, I thought I would take a look at your diary after you posted on TOPM's
Personally, I would put that money into a stocks and shares ISA. If you go to somewhere like Charles Stanley Direct or Hargreaves Lansdowne, you can set up a low-cost online account, then put those amounts in there and buy small pieces of funds or shares (if you are confident enough to do that). At your age it will grow over time in what is known as the magic snowball effect (that means you get the capital growth and added dividends which you reinvest, so it starts small and grows faster and faster. You could check out slowlyfading's blog called The Frugal Cottage for a really accessible explanation of her journey to FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early)- there is a link hereSave £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £564.77 out of £6000 after January
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £301.10/£3000 or 10.04% of my annual spend so far[/COLOR] annual
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here0 -
Had a really productive/good weekend! Spent £66 out of £250 of our food shopping money so far, and that included toiletries (a new £10 razor), all done at Ald!, so I'm quite pleased with that.
I have spent a little bit of the emergency fund. We had a little bit of damp at the front of our house a while ago, so we had to dig a trench outside the front, as it was caused from a blockage of the vents. But over the winter, this trench has filled up with so many leaves/rubbish, I was worried it would cause the damp to return/rot/attract unwanted pests, so we cleared it all out, and filled it with membrane and lovely white stones. I think "damp" is classed as an emergency. And we bought the cheapest stones we could find.
I DID however, also buy a candle from Ald! for £10, it was one of them HUGE ones, that look like their from Jo Ma!one, so it will last me ages.So, all in all, over the weekend, additional costs from the emergency fund came to: £64. The fund is now sitting at £308.00 atm.
I wasn't going to include my OH debt in this, as this is my diary, but I guess it makes sense as we put our money together anyway, and I'll be paying his debt off from my own money as he pays all the bills.
We have other debt like windows/my car/my glasses but we are focusing on our credit cards and overdrafts, as that is what we are the most uncomfortable with having. We both have one credit card and one overdraft.
My CC - £834.74
My OD - £1250
OH CC - £1500
OH OD - £400
Total: £3984.74
After our holiday to Bali in May, we will be paying off a minimum of £500 per month, more likely £600, so we are looking at being debt free by the latest November 2018. :eek:
I just really want to get a handle on our debt now, while we are quite young and before we start a family.
TO- DO LIST:
- Keep on top of work DONE
- One load of washing DONE
- Clean all of downstairs NOT DONE
- Wipe down kettle/microwave/toaster NOT DONE
- Look into shares NOT DONE
- Make dinner from stores DONE (Not a very productive day today)
Happy Monday everyone!My CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
Hi
No use on the stocks and shares stuff so could be worth looking into, but with low debt and fact your are managing to save towards an emergency fund I would add it to pensions as you won't even notice since you never had it beforeDebt: £14,000 now £2169Emergency Fund: 1000/ £1000:j0 -
Hi
No use on the stocks and shares stuff so could be worth looking into, but with low debt and fact your are managing to save towards an emergency fund I would add it to pensions as you won't even notice since you never had it before
Yes, I agree. Either that, or to shove it in the emergency fund for now until its got a sufficient amount of money in there, as I have hardly anything in that, and our boiler is on his last legs. :eek:My CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
Quite proud of myself - I had originally budgeted £55 to spend on Mothers day. Just had a look on group0n, and I've just bought "sparkling afternoon tea for two" for a whopping £29.00! I'll spend £1.00 on a card.. and there we go! My mum LOVES afternoon tea too, so I know she'll really enjoy herself. Its a really nice, historical site, so we can make a day of it.
£25.00 saved this morning!My CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
Well, I was all excited yesterday, thinking I'd got a bargain for mothers day, but silly old me forget to check the dates that the voucher could be used. Mon - Thurs 9-4pm.
I've requested my refund, which has been accepted. Back to the drawing board I go!
Had a long discussion with my OH last night about the holidays we wanted to go on over the next 3 years. We were originally going to go Florida next May 2019, and then Greece in 2020. However, now we are determined to get out of debt, we feel Florida in May is going to be too much of a stretch, and we don't want to be tempted to spend anything on the cards while we are out there. With this in mind, we've decided to go to Greece next year instead, which is half the price of Florida, and then when we get married in 2021, we will go Florida for our honeymoon (which will be gifted by parents, they've paid all my brothers honeymoons). So, lots of money saved there. I feel like its the responsible decision, to save up for the holidays. :A
I've felt like a lot of the reason we haven't got out of debt before, is the fact that we want everything to happen right now. Right this second. So we just used all our available money on experiences. We want to make memories, instead of being stuck at home. I guess its just trying to find that balance, isn't it?
FYI - I bought my own lunch to work yesterday AND today. I also had a NSD yesterday.
TO- DO LIST
- Keep on top of work NOT DONE (Going to need to catch up tomorrow)
- Tidy downstairs DONE
- Make dinner from stores DONE
- Make lunch for work tomorrow DONE
- Get at least 100 SB on BagSwucks. (Just started this, haven't decided what to do with the money yet. DONE
Hope everyone has a good day.My CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
YESSS!
Not sure what happened, but for some reason, me and my OH thought that he owed £1500 on his CC, but he actually only owes £976.00!! I only found out because I asked him to check, so I could update my signature. I've calculated it all, and with the saving of £524, its took another month off our goal of being CC and OD free, which now sits nicely at October 2018. :j Winning!
Happy TuesdayMy CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
Had a bit of a win/lose situation this evening.
Just had an email, and our council tax is going up £11.00 in April. Which is annoyingIs that the same with everyone?
BUTTTT.. I think I have just discovered that we pay our council tax over 10 months, when I thought it was 12. And if that’s the case, we now have a spare £108.00 for the next two months to throw at debt!
Not getting my hopes up just yet, until I’ve seen that the direct debit hasn’t gone out the account.
What does everyone else spend their two free months without council tax money on?My CC - Feb 18 £849.69 July 18 £0.00
My OD - Feb 18 £1250.00 July 18 £1250.00
OH CC - Feb 18 £976.00 July 18 £1852.00
OH OD - Feb 18 £500.00 July 18 £0.00
TOTAL OD/CC DEBT: Feb 18 £3575.69 Mar 18 £3490.95Apr 18 £3257.78 July 18: £3102.00
OD/CC DEBT FREE DATE: DECEMBER 20180 -
LiveLifeFull wrote: »I have a question.
I am unsure what the best option would be for me. When we get out 1% pay rise, and when I go up an increment at work, I want to save the extra £20/30 I will get. However, I am not sure if it would be better to either stick it in a savings accounts with the highest interest I can get, or to increase my monthly payments to my work pension.
I'm kind of leaning towards a savings account, because if anything happens, that money can become available to me in an emergency, but then the down side of that is, that money can become available to me in an emergency. At least in my work pension, it cant be touched.
Hmmm, I will need to think on this.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
LiveLifeFull wrote: »Had a bit of a win/lose situation this evening.
Just had an email, and our council tax is going up £11.00 in April. Which is annoyingIs that the same with everyone?
BUTTTT.. I think I have just discovered that we pay our council tax over 10 months, when I thought it was 12. And if that’s the case, we now have a spare £108.00 for the next two months to throw at debt!
Not getting my hopes up just yet, until I’ve seen that the direct debit hasn’t gone out the account.
What does everyone else spend their two free months without council tax money on?
Car insurance on one of our cars is paid for by February's council tax money. We pay our telephone line rental upfront for the year with March payment.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0
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