The Piano Diary

Sunshine_girl2

I think your son is very lucky to have parents like you. My children had to work from being 16 for extra money as I was a single parent by then not on a huge salary. I couldn't even afford to put them on my car insurance when they were 17. They did live at home through university so neither have student debt . When they were 21 I gave them the money I had saved for them and the grandparents and dad also. My daughter chose to use the money for a house deposit with her partner. At 34 she is not long away from paying her mortgage off. My son did the same but at 25 . I guess they were lucky they both have great careers , and in decent paid jobs. Both paid for cars , driving lessons we did help out with . 

If I had had the money I would have helped them I think. You can guess I am very proud of my children's achievements on the property front. 

AgathaSquirrel

Sunshine_girl2 said:

I think your son is very lucky to have parents like you. My children had to work from being 16 for extra money as I was a single parent by then not on a huge salary. I couldn't even afford to put them on my car insurance when they were 17. They did live at home through university so neither have student debt . When they were 21 I gave them the money I had saved for them and the grandparents and dad also. My daughter chose to use the money for a house deposit with her partner. At 34 she is not long away from paying her mortgage off. My son did the same but at 25 . I guess they were lucky they both have great careers , and in decent paid jobs. Both paid for cars , driving lessons we did help out with . 

If I had had the money I would have helped them I think. You can guess I am very proud of my children's achievements on the property front. 

You should be proud.

savingholmes

AgathaSquirrel said:

Sunshine_girl2 said:

I think your son is very lucky to have parents like you. My children had to work from being 16 for extra money as I was a single parent by then not on a huge salary. I couldn't even afford to put them on my car insurance when they were 17. They did live at home through university so neither have student debt . When they were 21 I gave them the money I had saved for them and the grandparents and dad also. My daughter chose to use the money for a house deposit with her partner. At 34 she is not long away from paying her mortgage off. My son did the same but at 25 . I guess they were lucky they both have great careers , and in decent paid jobs. Both paid for cars , driving lessons we did help out with . 

If I had had the money I would have helped them I think. You can guess I am very proud of my children's achievements on the property front. 

You should be proud.

I agree. Amazing result.

glass_half_full

Sunshine_girl2 said:

I think your son is very lucky to have parents like you. My children had to work from being 16 for extra money as I was a single parent by then not on a huge salary. I couldn't even afford to put them on my car insurance when they were 17. They did live at home through university so neither have student debt . When they were 21 I gave them the money I had saved for them and the grandparents and dad also. My daughter chose to use the money for a house deposit with her partner. At 34 she is not long away from paying her mortgage off. My son did the same but at 25 . I guess they were lucky they both have great careers , and in decent paid jobs. Both paid for cars , driving lessons we did help out with . 

If I had had the money I would have helped them I think. You can guess I am very proud of my children's achievements on the property front. 

Thank you. This is amazing and a credit to you.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,
I managed to get DS to sit down with me over the weekend and open a SIPP with a regular payment each month. Not the most exciting thing for a 27 year old, but I know it will one day matter to him more than it does now. 

AgathaSquirrel

It becomes more exciting as you see the money increasing.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

All the monthly payments have gone out this week so I can do a reconciliation. Several categories on YNAB have gone up. I can tell that we are spending more on groceries. In terms of clearing the debt, I am pleased that it is going in the right direction, but slower than I had hoped. This month there were some costs associated with DS moving out of his flat, mending his car etc. Plus we had a short mini break and a couple of meals out with friends. No matter, we will get there. The goal is to clear the credit card by August and then the loan by November.

Current balances:

HSBC card - £1500     £0

Sains card - £11,500 (£11,000) (Interest 0%)  - Target to clear - August

Loan - £18,000 (£16,245) (Interest 7.4%) - Target to clear - November

EF - £1,000

Pension fund – stock markets volatile

Liquidity Fund - £141K  (+0.7 %)

UK Fund - £138K (-2%)

US Fund - £126K (-10%)

Total = £405K

I am off on a trip abroad with work on Sunday, very early start.

savingholmes

On the markets we just have to ride it for now... 

Hope the work trip is positive - and you get some rest before it.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Back from trip abroad. It was interesting and good to get away for a few days. Lovely weather and we are finally able to enjoy the new patio and sit outside.

The gift of the DS flat keeps on giving. He received a water bill at our address. The bill is for water services unpaid since October 2021 totalling over £875. The problem is that the bill is for the whole property which had been converted into two flats. So he is liable for half of the bill, but the other half should have been paid by the downstairs flat which has various tenants over this period. I’m trying to resolve this with the estate agent and through them the landlord. Just wearying to be honest. Not convinced that the house should ever have been converted into two flats or that it was even legal.

Pension super volatile and has dropped overall. I suspect that the markets will recover but it may be a year or two before they do. I’m not too worried, I rebalanced the investments around mid February. I’m not going to do anything for now.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,
Enjoying some time off over Easter, we have a week off. We are not going anywhere, just staying home and catching up on a few things. Managed to persuade DS to have a couple of days holiday. We are spending today all together going into town for a bit of shopping. Its great to see DS cheerful and positive. OH is really happy to have him home. No financial news at the moment. Pay day in a week's time and aiming to make a large payment to the CC.