I'm going to need a (new) budget

Therese1

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Congratulations on putting yourself in a position where you can do this. how old are you and what is your pension provision so far


Re your soa I agree road testing it or putting an app for tracking spending on your phone is a good idea. £200 for food for 1 sounds a lot but if you are used to picking up wine with your food shop or have shopped without restraint up until now it may take you a while to get used to living within a tighter budget.


Car insurance may be high as we found when my husband gave his company car back although he had no accidents on his record the lease company insisted on it going into the car body shop to have chips and dents from hospital car parks sorted out (he was a medical engineer). That ended up as a £3k claim on his insurance record and consequently showed on his letter from company insurers. Buying a car was his biggest expense and car maintenance depends on how old a car you go for.[/QUOTE

Thank you! It's funny this hasn't been a long term plan but once I'd starting thinking "I've had enough of this" I kinda realised that THIS is what all my savings were for - I've never been a big spender it didn't know what I was saving up for!!!128514;. Now, time is worth so much more than money to me.

I am 48 and have company pension which will be £20k if I wait til 60 or about 16k if I cash in at 55. Do you think I need to keep adding to this going forward - separately or via this existing pension? Any tips would be much appreciated.


This last 6 months I've put away £1000 per month - basically what was left on payday. This wasn't too difficult but didn't involve scrimping or the cost of running a

My plan is to go for a 1 or 2 year old car - with the theory being start with a good condition one and run it for as long as it holds out until uneconomical. I've no need to renew every 4 years etc.

Ouch! Was that because of an early return? I've never had any recharge when I've changed car.

D_M_E

When you do finally take the plunge, why not consider buying your company car and take it with you - you will know what it's like, its history and will likely get a discount and also doing this could be cheaper than buying one one the open market.

Depends on insurance and running costs of course.

Mnd

Well good luck, it sounds very brave at 48
Regards to your pension payments, while you are not earning you can only pay 2880 pa into a pension that will be made up to 3600 by the government so that will give you £720 free money that you can take tax free as you won't be paying income tax.
Have you got a state pension forecast?

Therese1

theoretica wrote: »

How much of your salary do you save each month at present? That will let you know how much you are currently spending. Are there any things you currently spend on that you won't when you leave your job?

Without a job you will have more time, what will you be doing in it and will it cost you money? More time can easily turn into a higher entertainment budget.

I've been saving £1000/month for the past 6 months...without too much difficulty.

My main sports are cycling and walking and I already have my bicycle so thankfully no big extra cost for these. I do enjoy eating out and this IS something I'll need to keep track on in future.

My main new, extra expense is going to be running a car.

Therese1

D_M_E wrote: »

When you do finally take the plunge, why not consider buying your company car and take it with you - you will know what it's like, its history and will likely get a discount and also doing this could be cheaper than buying one one the open market.

Depends on insurance and running costs of course.

That did occur to me...just not sure if it's permitted? If it is then I will definitely consider it...the discount on the end of lease cars is very good, be curious to see what this would be? I don't know much about cars so sticking with the one I know would be a good option.

theoretica

Therese1 wrote: »

I've been saving £1000/month for the past 6 months...without too much difficulty.

So you are currently spending about £1700 a month as your current budget. Do you have a clear idea where the difference between this and the £1060 you propose is going at present?

Therese1

Mnd wrote: »

Well good luck, it sounds very brave at 48
Regards to your pension payments, while you are not earning you can only pay 2880 pa into a pension that will be made up to 3600 by the government so that will give you £720 free money that you can take tax free as you won't be paying income tax.
Have you got a state pension forecast?

Ah now! This is a whole "department" that I don't know much about and would welcome advice!

My work pension is quoting as worth around £20k at 60 or £16 at 55 - I do plan on working but on lower salary and will hopefully be able to hold out until 60 or nearly.

I don't even know where to find out about my state pension - can you point me please?

Thank you!

D_M_E

Check your State Pension

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

The car - if you don't ask, you will never know.

Yes, it's possible, lots of people do it, my brother bought his company car at retirement - I think he talked to the company about it first but I don't know the full details. I think they get sold at auction and he got offered it for what the expected auction price was - better for him, a big discount, and better for the company, no auction fees, collection fees, etc - win win all round.

Therese1

Wow, thank you for the pensions link.

So as of today I should get £124/week at 67. If I contribute (how much?) for the next 9 years it'd go to £163/week.

Seems I had two incomplete years, last 2 years of University?? Why would they be different from first year? Nothing I can do about that now I guess?

Do you have any advice on how I maintain NI contributions going forward including my non earning months?

D_M_E

Yes, you can make extra (voluntary) NI contributions to boost your State Pension

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

By the way, I wish you well in your proposed venture.