Marginal Gains

Cornish_mum

Thanks SouthCoast I have much neglected it! 

Here are the numbers for the last 6 months (April- September).

Mortgage still on very low fix 0.94% (by luck not design) capital repayment 6k; amount owed 146k. No OPs as per new informal offset strategy.

CM AVC DC Pension 9.6k increase.
MrCM AVC DC Pension 17.1k increase.
We are now seriously aiming for early retirement age 58-62.  
It is highly likely that our DB pensions T&C will be restored to pre 2022 conditions, which is great news. If it goes through as we expect we plan to contribute the decrease in compulsory contributions ~4% straight into more AVCs. 

S&S ISA Vanguard CM 1.5k increase. (MrCM the same). Very little growth but we both invest £250 every month. 

Cash savings increase 8.5k (mostly in cash fixed ISAs 4.5-5.6% interest). Also running a FD 7% and NW 8% regular saver.

We are on track to hit mortgage neutrality before 09/26 when we are due to remortgage. We haven’t decided whether to clear the mortgage or spend on house renovations at this point. I am trying to cash flow some small house improvements from income, but it’s difficult to get these things organised. 

We managed to have alot of fun over the summer. Harry Potter World and Tate Modern day trips were really brilliant. I had a night away with a good friend and we had an amazing family holiday visiting my in laws in Portugal. Though work was crazy busy apart from when we had annual leave so we couldn’t do as much weekend fun stuff, as I wanted. 

I am aiming to achieve similar numbers in the last quarter of the year and also to (safely) knock down our old garage, so we can replace it in the new year with something smaller and less full of asbestos.

We have a Panto trip and west end theatre trip to look forward to (booked and paid for). I want to book in a few more treats for the kids over Christmas. 

Next year we are planning a low cost UK holiday so we have enough to replace the garage too.

CM

South_coast

Wow, things are going brilliantly! Thanks for the update 😀

savingholmes

Huge positives there. Sounds like you are really well set up.

Cornish_mum

Hi All,

Stockmarket losses, cost of living impact and some initial spending on garage replacement meant we went backwards in October. I think it likely that November will be the same as I have a fair bit of needed and Christmas related spending to do. I am determined to cut our cloth accordingly and have cut back on some extra Christmas treats for the kids (these will be switched for cheaper alternatives). I strongly suspect that only I will notice the difference.

I did manage a frugal home birthday party for DD which was hard work but went well.  
I mended clothes for the kids and myself which has delayed a bit more spending. 

We have been good at avoiding take aways and lunches/coffees at work.

I did one job ~£100.

Onwards to freedom 

CM

South_coast

Onwards indeed 😀 There will always be bad months (hopefully not too many!), but consistency and sticking to the path is our friend

savingholmes

Well done on the £100 - it all helps. On the cutting budgets - I just think it is about managing expectations. I spoke to a sis earlier about gift giving and mentioned a budget of £10-15 and I think she was almost relieved. We mainly buy for kids unless the sibling is single... 

debtfreeoneday

Always think it’s tricky to have those conversations but as savingholmes said most people breathe a sigh of relief to spend less

Cornish_mum

Happy Christmas to All

Q4 for the CM household 

Mortgage 142,800 outstanding; no MOPs because of low fix till September ‘26. 3k reduction over the quarter.

CM AVC pot + 9.6k (contribution and growth)
MrCM AVC pot + 17.1k (contribution and growth)

S&S ISAs + 3k (contribution and growth)

Cash savings + 4k

The gains in the stock market in December were the main contributor to the numbers being so healthy. My ISA is finally back to positive growth. I am a bit shocked to be honest that our FIRE plan is actually happening now. It sort of snuck up on us, after we found a state school for DS.

Will be back shortly with review of 2023 and goals for 2024.

Cornish_mum

2023 Review 

Mortgage - goal achieved though it’s was just a case of the regular payment so not very surprising!

Pensions - goal achieved we did keep up 20% AVC all year and had to increase MrCM contribution because he has been doing more hours at his second job.

ISA - goal achieved we contributed £250 each month. (We now have enough to pay for one kid’s wedding.)

Cash - original goal exceeded, despite aiming to spend more on holiday and our parents this year because of MIL illness, we didn’t need to spend that much do this; as our parents like frugal things and value our time.

Fun
We did everything on the list apart from DS’s theatre trip (as he didn’t want to go and prefers to hang out with his friends than his parents now😞). MrCM and I only went on 2 dates, which isn’t really enough! Our trip to Portugal was lovely and I am glad we managed to take the extra week off work.

Work
My contract was renewed until 2028! I still have been worrying about everything constantly, but will continue to try to not too.

Health
Err well I seem to have gained 4kg instead of lost 3kg. Diet will be starting again in the new year.

Cornish_mum

Review of Diary Goals

I started this diary just over 4 years ago with a 5 year plan to…

Get our mortgage down to 130k (on track to complete this by December 2024).

Save 100k extra into our pensions (completed)

Find secondary school for DS (completed).

Get my work contract renewed (completed).

Enjoy family life (working on it). I can’t believe how much this goal has changed as the children and our parents have gotten older. The former need such different things now and the later need so much more help and attention.

The diary has changed with us, from the days when I was tracking all our spending to work out where we could save a few extra pounds, to now where I am confident I can keep to a budget, and can focus on the long term picture.

I am so grateful I found this forum and  that the mortgage is no longer so huge and terrifying. With all the economic issues of the last few years, I am very thankful to have been so fortunate and am acutely aware that it all could have been very different, if the CoI crisis had hit us a few years ago.