Keeping our options open

savingholmes

You could set up your own SIPP outside your main pension - that way you could access that money earlier - without a hit on your main pension - depending on what type it is. The government rebate is worth 25% if you are paying in net

becky170

Well I've made an overpayment of £206 so my total overpayments for the year is £3504 which I'm pretty pleased about. Not sure what our target for next year will be...guess it depends on what life throws at us. It's looking increasingly likely that we'll need a new car as both of our cars are needing more and more repairs. Mine has just been MOT'd and passed after £200 worth of work doing on it. Fingers crossed that's it for a while on it. We also need to pay the final balance on our summerhouse when that's due to be installed (hopefully next month) and we've decided that we are definitely doing the bathroom next year. 

In other news I've sold two items on Faceb00k this week. Only £4 taken but it's two bits out the house My DD has decided she wants to give potty training a go so we are currently doing lots of washing and tumble drying. I'm looking forward to when she is potty trained as then we can buy a new sofa and possibly even new flooring for the loving room as we've been putting it off until then. I've not made any decluttering progress so I'm guessing that's going to be a new year resolution that is rolling over to next year

We've done most of our Christmas shopping. Just got a few bits to order for my family. I've still got to wrap them and we've got to write our Christmas cards which is a job for one night this weekend along with some sherry and Christmas music. I can't wait for a week off at Christmas I'm absolutely knackered at the moment. Only 21 days to go till I break up from work

debtfreeoneday

I hope I still stay frugal and focussed on retirement. Once our mortgage has gone and pensions kick in we will be better off which seems silly considering our pensions are not big. I’ll still be doing surveys at 70 at this rate!

savingholmes

Well done on OPs and sorting xmas list. Look after yourself. Sounds like you need some self care.

becky170

Don't worry saving Holmes I treated myself to a trip to the hairdressers for a bit of self care. Really glad it's the weekend. We haven't got any plans...when I asked my son what he wanted to do he said he wanted to chill out so today is a chill out day with lots of Christmas films. I've got two days left at work next week and then I'm on holiday for nearly two weeks no plans for any more overpayments this month as I have a massive balance on the credit card after Christmas shopping so that has to be paid off. I've decided to aim to overpay £3500 next year which is what we managed this year. Fingers crossed we should manage it as DD will qualify for her 3 years childcare funding in September. We are definitely getting a new bathroom put in in 2021 which I'm very excited about. Will wait until the summer to order though so will need to save a bit of money towards that too. Here's to a frugal 2021 

debtfreeoneday

Hope you had a nice chill day x

savingholmes

Glad you have a break planned

becky170

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We've had a nice time and the kids liked their presents. I have to say that this year I cooked a great Christmas dinner which was probably due to the fact that we didn't have any guests to try and impress We didn't see any family this year in person but we managed to zoom all our relatives and I caught up with my friends via zoom last night. We're now in tier 4 so I guess it will be a while until I see many friends/family in person. Anyway since Christmas we've been pottering around at home and doing local walks. The school parents association have organised some Christmas trails so we've been doing those. 
I've found this year really tough going and the idea of further restrictions and possible school closures fills me with dread. I've decided that I can't dwell on this though so i'm trying to think positively. My aim going forward is to do one thing a day to make life better or easier. Today's task is to sort the cutlery draw  
I hope everyone has a good new year and that 2021 turns out to be better than 2020. I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to spend more time with friends and family next year...well hopefully anyway! 

savingholmes

It will be good once the vaccinations are in place. Hopefully things will get back to normal towards the back end of next year.

Viking_mfw

Good luck with the cutlery drawer...