The Piano Diary

glass_half_full

Thanks Savingholmes!

Dear diary and all,

Glad to get to Sunday, this week has been really busy. It started with OH having problems with intermittent internet connection. As a result, I have worked out a few things including that the home PC needed replacing and second that we have a weakspot in the wifi upstairs in the office. We are both going to be working from home for a while so the workarounds we have been using since March will no longer be sufficient. I was surprised to find that the PC was 5-6 years old whereas in my mind we had just replaced it. As we as replacing the PC I have also bought a gizmo which provides a stronger wifi signal all round the house. So together this has cost £600 which I have paid for out of savings which will be replaced in November. So we have swopped places and OH is downstairs and I am in the office, but we are both able to work with a good set up now.

Spending has been around budget or thereabouts. Groceries have been higher since March but overall spending is lower because so many other areas are down. I made the £300 overpayment on 1st October so I will get under £50k when the regular payment goes out towards the end of this month.

In November I plan to set up the increased OP with the bank. This way it doesn’t rely on me making the decision to OP each month. I want to hard wire it so that it becomes a commitment rather than something I can opt out of.

Watching the London marathon on TV.

Have a great day all!

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

It seems like a while since I was here, in fact it is about 3 weeks. It has been really manic at work. A colleague has unfortunately gone of with stress and so I have had to cover additional work. I have managed this mainly by working out what I could afford not to do and then not doing it. Some of which I really ought to be doing so it goes against the grain a bit, oh well ho hum etc etc.

I have made another OP of £300 so am happy to report sneaking under £50K at £49,905. We will be raising a glass of prosecco to this milestone this evening! 49 marbles left in the jar.

Recently, I did a free OU course about retirement planning which they did with Legal and General. It was useful to step back and think some things through. The one thing it did reinforce for me is the tax benefit of pension deductions before tax. Its unlikely that I could beat this saving by getting better returns elsewhere. So I have moved my pension contributions to 50%. I’m toying with the idea of stepping away from work at 55 and taking some of the pension to pay off whatever is left of the mortgage. I would then become a house husband. OH loves her job, or at least more so than I do. I could then do all the housework, cleaning, shopping etc etc. And we could have pets which would be nice. It’s a nice dream anyway.

Have a great day all!

South_coast

It sounds like a fab dream to me! Well done for dipping under the £50k mark in the meantime 😀

savingholmes

Well done on hitting your milestone. Getting your pension contribution up to 50% sounds an incredible goal if it will free you up from age 55

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

A few expenses at the end of October and early November. First one is that we have bought a tumble dryer. We have done without one for several years, but with DS staying with us there is more washing to dry, and there is only so much we can drape around the house! I must admit it is a labour saver. Second cost was a new kitchen mixer tap. My attempt to stop it dripping with a new washer didn’t work. In the end I bought a replacement tap and I was quite pleased to be able to replace it without causing a major flood. So these two together cost around £530. So no OP for November but I am still aiming to make one in December.

On the pension front, I have written to transfer my existing DC pensions to my current fund. I have £130K in one and £20K in the other. This plus the £20K I have in my current plan will give me a total of £170K when they are transferred in. My current pension is also a final salary scheme. I scraped in as they closed it to new members one month after I joined. So I have a combination of a DB scheme and additional contributions going into a DC scheme.

DS has started working in a local school as a trainee teacher. He seems to be really enjoying it so far.

savingholmes

Glad things are going well for DS. I couldn't manage with a tumble dryer. Good that you are sorting your pensions too - it will give you options later

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Pay days have come and gone for both of us. Mine is the first pay day since I increased pension contributions from 40% to 50%. It will take a while to get used to looking at that reduced number! But I know from previously that I will get used to it. The budget is ok and not too tight so it should be more than feasible so we can stick with it. It means that the pension fund should build up and should set a backstop for when I can achieve my plan. Hopefully, absolute max would be another 4 years, but let’s see. A few extra costs here and there this month. Needed a new kitchen light since the current one failed. I was pleased though that I got a full refund because it was under a five year guarantee. I didn’t expect to get that so I was pleased with that result. Despite this, I managed to make a £500 OP to the mortgage this week, taking the balance down to £48,450. I’m signed up for the 2020 Mortgage Free Wannabe challenge and if I can manage £1000 in December then I will achieve or get close to my 10% target of £6,400 for 2020. I would love to see this mortgage gone by the end of 2022.

Work is pretty intense at the moment, hoping we can get some time off over Christmas to unwind a bit. DS is really enjoying his job so far and its great to see him so motivated.

savingholmes

Well done on the OP. Congrats on the pension contribution. Once we are debt free we hope to do similar - targeting DH's pension.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Well we both finished work on Thursday of last week. It was difficult trying to close everything down and towards the end it felt like it was never going to end. It always feels to me like you get lots of last minute demands just before you break up. That was definitely the hardest few months I have experienced at work. I went on a resilience course for a couple of days around November. It helped, in that it gave me some coping strategies, but in end, it has been a difficult few months either way. My colleague went off sick, in October and hasn’t come back. There has been no support offered, so I have had to cover for both of us and it has been a stretch. I feel like I need some time out from this job, not just a few weeks but a change of scene. We have a scheme at work where you can apply for study leave for a term. I’m going to apply for the term that starts in September 2021. I’m pretty sure it will be quite competitive so I may not get it, let’s see. If I don’t get it, I may need to find a plan ‘B’.

On the money front, I have been able to find an OP of £1,000 in December. This means that the mortgage has reduced from around £65,000 in December 2019 to £46,450 now. That includes OPs of £6,143. I’m quite pleased with that result, a reduction of nearly 30% in one year. The 2020 Mortgage Free Wannabe challenge has kept me focused. I’ve signed up for the 2021 challenge and I’m aiming for £12,000 OPs and to see this mortgage gone in 2 years, by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, pension contributions continue at the increased rate.

DS has done really well in his new job. I’ve been really proud of his attitude. Despite the challenging circumstances, he hasn’t moaned at all.

savingholmes

What a fantastic amount paid off in a year. The study leave option sounds positive too - hope you get it