2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

savingholmes

Good start to the year with the 3lb weight loss and starting your steps... have you got plans to go to the gym this week?

mark55man

Targets
Steps - 35000/ 2000000
Weight - 5lbs lost / 57
De Cluttering - 0 / Lots
CC Usage - 3 / as few as possible
going to gym - 0 / 100

savingholmes

Well done on the weight loss. 

Do you have any concrete action plans you intend to take to boost your steps more in line with your goals? Do you find that you are much more active in the summer than the winter? What time of year do you go to the gym most? What's your favourite activity there? Would going to a class or hiring a PT help you actually go? Are there any friends you could go with?

Hope the rest of life is treating you well.

mark55man

Good news - good walking weekend so 20000 steps in the bag
Bad news - good eating weekend so +2 lbs but that's fine
Money news - weekend was paid for last year so no drain on the budget 

As SH says I am so looking forward to summer I'm not a winter person really

mark55man

In other news - paid off CC4 - closed all my 2023 regular savings and my CC4 stoozing account.  So now its just CC3 which is my day to day card.  Also saved £100 on insurance by looking around.  Not restarting the reg savers just yet as decisions to make and keeping my cash free

That leaves my savings as my tax free pot some PB and some money resting in my OH accounts.  I will just run the next few months on that basis and see where we are at the end of the tax year.  I'm not sure there will be any fun and games in the pension department. 

I will review what's happening on mortgage 34 months to go but with only a marginal early redemption charge,  I'll see how the end of the month goes and comment on my MFW thread over the weekend.

mark55man

after nearly 100 long days its finally the end of January

[Deleted User]

Interesting diary. Out of interest what level of retirement income are you aiming for? Is all your debt now paid off as well as the mortgage? How far away are you from state pension age? Sorry about all the questions but I am a facts and figures man lol. 

mark55man

Hello Baron_D - I am a big fan of yours over on the 50+ board so honored for you to join my illustrious band of posters.

Net of mortgage and pension but not net of (grown) childcare and work expenses my spend budget is about £4K per month.  My calculations for retirement are about £3k a month for a house, 2 cars, 1 kitty, and currently 3.5 adult appetites at home.

When I fully retire I will get to that amount with a bit to spare with a DB a State pension plus the same but smaller for my OH.  So my DC (money pot) pension is just needed to cover the 5 or so years between then and now, and for any major spends/treats.  I prob have about 4-5 months work left, but am currently thinking how to smear it over the next 12 months to maximise planning/sunshine and tax efficiency

ETA: I have no Debts other than 2+ years of mortgage from earlier bad planning should have been cleared a while ago.  My other thread in the MFW shows that I have saved a cash equivalent to what's remaining so I don't include that in my plans 

savingholmes

Countdown to freedom well and truly on

mark55man

Targets
Steps - 70000 / 2000000
Weight - 6lbs lost / 57
De Cluttering - 1/0 out of Lots (1/0 means 1 trip to the tips, 0 rooms decluttered)
CC Usage - 10 / as few as possible (significant usage around booking for a busy work month away - but with a couple of personal consumption usages)
going to gym - 0 / 100 (Still not made it over the threshold)