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10 year MSE anniversary
dreaming
Posts: 1,297 Forumite
Having been "awarded" my 10 year badge I got to thinking about how my life has changed in those 10 years, and what I have learned from the posters on this site.
2009 - I joined in the first place as although I have been always reasonably good with money I knew I could do better. I was in a Victorian terraced house at the time and my arthritis was making it harder for me to "nip" upstairs. Plus with parking at a premium in the one-way rat run where I lived I decided I wanted to move to a bungalow before I got too bad. I knew that to get what I wanted would probably stretch me a bit financially but living alone I also knew I could make lots of cutbacks without impacting on anyone else.
2010 - found my present place. A lovely bungalow needing very little work and within walking distance of work, although I also had my own driveway for the car. Round the corner is a Tesco Express, a chip shop (which I don't use), a post office, a chemist, a hairdresser (since closed), and a kitchen/bathroom shop. As my brother said "everything you need in life pretty much".
2012 - "possible" relocation of our department was announced at work. A feasibility programme was put in place but we all felt that it was a foregone conclusion so after a bit of a panic I set to and looked into my options. Relocation for me was out of the question as I was 57 and hd all my family living fairly close, but then I realised that I could access my company pension (luckily a fairly generous final salary scheme). I had already made some vegetable beds in the garden so I upped my game there and started collecting larger pots for container growing as well. I also reviewed all my outgoings and looked to see where I could cut back again. I actually made a list of the tv programmes I watched over a 6 week period and realised that my Virgin tv package was hardly used so that went. I also used my savings to have solar panels fitted and haunted the Green & Ethical forums for a while, as well as the Retirement Planning one.
2013 - as suspected the dept. relocated and I took redundancy. Thanks to the MSE site I learned that only the first £30k of redudancy was tax free. Having worked at my employment for many years I knew I would get far more than that but also learned that I could pay the excess into my pension pot, then take out a lump sum from that (tax free) and draw a monthly pension which would nearly equal what my salary had been minus the mortgage payment. I had been overpaying my mortgage anyway and it turned out that I could pay that off with the redundancy. Happy days - I "retired" 1 day after my 58th birthday. had also learned from the Budgetting and Bank Accounts forum about "stoozing" and which current accounts paid decent interest.
2014 - just as I was settling into my retirement and taking up a few new hobbies Life decided to get its own back and a major family crisis meant I had to take in my eldest adult child. I now had to support both of us (eldest was unable to work) and contemplated going back to work but eldest needed quite a bit of care for the first year or so. I again used MSE to learn about Benefits and help for eldest, as well as for support from others.
2019 - 10 years on MSE. Life has now settled back down (a bit). Eldest is now in their own place with new partner but still needs a bit of support - luckily practical and emotional rather than financial. I'm still managing well on my pension and still running a car but make the most of any money saving ideas I can. Obviously interest rates have reduced over time but so have my savings - mainly due to supporting eldest but I admit I spent some money on silly things as a reaction to the stresses of the previous years. I never went into debt but realised that I had fallen into the trap of thinking that "stuff" could make me feel happy again. That has stopped now as my life has calmed down and I feel as if I am back to my usual contented frame of mind. I still have a couple of years to wait until State pension kicks in but manage pretty well financially. I have very simple tastes and manage to do everything I want to do, although the arthritis has curtailed my physical abilities somewhat (but I still managed a couple of hours weeding in the garden before the rain). I still hang around the MSE forums though to help keep me informed of various developments. With the political shenanigans of the last couple of years it pays to reinforce some of the things that may slip over time, and I still find new things to learn.
So that's my MSE "journey" in brief. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to post their ideas and comments on here. Also to Martin Lewis for starting the whole thing off in the first place and for all the work he has done (and continues to do) on behalf of Joe/Jane public.
Anyway - rain has now stopped so I shall spare you all any more of my ramblings. I just wanted to reflect a little on the last 10 years.
2009 - I joined in the first place as although I have been always reasonably good with money I knew I could do better. I was in a Victorian terraced house at the time and my arthritis was making it harder for me to "nip" upstairs. Plus with parking at a premium in the one-way rat run where I lived I decided I wanted to move to a bungalow before I got too bad. I knew that to get what I wanted would probably stretch me a bit financially but living alone I also knew I could make lots of cutbacks without impacting on anyone else.
2010 - found my present place. A lovely bungalow needing very little work and within walking distance of work, although I also had my own driveway for the car. Round the corner is a Tesco Express, a chip shop (which I don't use), a post office, a chemist, a hairdresser (since closed), and a kitchen/bathroom shop. As my brother said "everything you need in life pretty much".
2012 - "possible" relocation of our department was announced at work. A feasibility programme was put in place but we all felt that it was a foregone conclusion so after a bit of a panic I set to and looked into my options. Relocation for me was out of the question as I was 57 and hd all my family living fairly close, but then I realised that I could access my company pension (luckily a fairly generous final salary scheme). I had already made some vegetable beds in the garden so I upped my game there and started collecting larger pots for container growing as well. I also reviewed all my outgoings and looked to see where I could cut back again. I actually made a list of the tv programmes I watched over a 6 week period and realised that my Virgin tv package was hardly used so that went. I also used my savings to have solar panels fitted and haunted the Green & Ethical forums for a while, as well as the Retirement Planning one.
2013 - as suspected the dept. relocated and I took redundancy. Thanks to the MSE site I learned that only the first £30k of redudancy was tax free. Having worked at my employment for many years I knew I would get far more than that but also learned that I could pay the excess into my pension pot, then take out a lump sum from that (tax free) and draw a monthly pension which would nearly equal what my salary had been minus the mortgage payment. I had been overpaying my mortgage anyway and it turned out that I could pay that off with the redundancy. Happy days - I "retired" 1 day after my 58th birthday. had also learned from the Budgetting and Bank Accounts forum about "stoozing" and which current accounts paid decent interest.
2014 - just as I was settling into my retirement and taking up a few new hobbies Life decided to get its own back and a major family crisis meant I had to take in my eldest adult child. I now had to support both of us (eldest was unable to work) and contemplated going back to work but eldest needed quite a bit of care for the first year or so. I again used MSE to learn about Benefits and help for eldest, as well as for support from others.
2019 - 10 years on MSE. Life has now settled back down (a bit). Eldest is now in their own place with new partner but still needs a bit of support - luckily practical and emotional rather than financial. I'm still managing well on my pension and still running a car but make the most of any money saving ideas I can. Obviously interest rates have reduced over time but so have my savings - mainly due to supporting eldest but I admit I spent some money on silly things as a reaction to the stresses of the previous years. I never went into debt but realised that I had fallen into the trap of thinking that "stuff" could make me feel happy again. That has stopped now as my life has calmed down and I feel as if I am back to my usual contented frame of mind. I still have a couple of years to wait until State pension kicks in but manage pretty well financially. I have very simple tastes and manage to do everything I want to do, although the arthritis has curtailed my physical abilities somewhat (but I still managed a couple of hours weeding in the garden before the rain). I still hang around the MSE forums though to help keep me informed of various developments. With the political shenanigans of the last couple of years it pays to reinforce some of the things that may slip over time, and I still find new things to learn.
So that's my MSE "journey" in brief. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to post their ideas and comments on here. Also to Martin Lewis for starting the whole thing off in the first place and for all the work he has done (and continues to do) on behalf of Joe/Jane public.
Anyway - rain has now stopped so I shall spare you all any more of my ramblings. I just wanted to reflect a little on the last 10 years.
0
Comments
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Congratulations for receiving your 10-year badge and for sharing your journey. You are an inspiration to us all.
- Pip"Be the type of woman that when you get out of bed in the morning, the devil says 'Oh crap. She's up.'
It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it - that’s what gets results!
2026 Fashion on the Ration Challenge 24 spent out of 80.5 coupons (66 plus 14.5 from 2025)
12 coupons - yarn
12 coupons - 3 M&S thermal bodies0
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