Peering over the hill...

Grogged

Thanks lw2g!
It's amazing what info, ideas and support you get from everyone on the forums.

Auto budget fixed 🙂
Turned out I had enabled Numpty mode and couldn't see the blindingly obvious formula error...😡
Despite really, really looking, sometimes you just see what you want to, rather than what's actually there.
Good job I didn't mention it on a forum or anything... 😟🤣
It has highlighted a few MSE areas to look into further, which wasn't obvious on the static budget.

Grogged

I'm obviously an Excel junky... I may need therapy 😃
I've added current month spending into Auto Budget.
After the excitement of last week and MrsG being (slightly) impressed and starting an investigation spend, today I got a "that's nice dear" and a pat on the head... 🙄🤣
This week's check on Floundering Circle netted 9p, so another Rockefeller OP made!
Tomorrow is looking better as I should be able to TT at least £3 on my Monday round down to £5 on the bank balance.
I think with keeping the mortgage payment the same after the recent big OP and the weekly TT I should be OP by nearly £50 a month, for no real effort or affect on normal spending.
First part of the pension transfer to ii has gone through so invested it all in bonds, which will give a monthly income of £23. So that's the monthly account fee of £19.99 sorted.
Currently invested 15% of the planned 20% in bonds.
Just waiting for the rest...
ATB,
G.

longway2go

Well done Grogged, surprising how much those shaved off bits make. 

caeler

Love a good spreadsheet. Although my own isn’t as good as yours sounds! 

Grogged

Thanks @longway2go, little and often seems the way to go.
Plus, like everyone, playing the rounding game - to nearest £5, £10, etc. keeps the interest going 😁
@caeler I think it has a life of its own... What started as a simple SOA / budget has grown tabs faster than I can count! 🤣
Mainly due to reading diary's, articles, etc. which give you those "Oh, why aren't I doing/know that" moments.
ATB,
G.

caeler

@Grogged My spreadsheet covers my monthly SOA and I log all spending, I have energy readings and cost, Car maintenance, savings and most importantly Mortgage overpayment activity.  I get such comfort from reviewing it and knowning what I'm trying to achieve. 

Grogged

Can be addictive (only in a good way of course!  😁)
Mine started out as a budget tracker, now I can download the bank statements, this has turned into a spending tracker.
Every transaction has a category allocated which is then reported on monthly with annual totals.
As we shop in the same places and spend the same direct debits/standing orders, once done it looks after itself with minimal tweaking for unknown new spends.

Then came the SOA, I now have a tab per year and track the month end balance for all the accounts.
This also has the opening balance from the end of last year, which allows me to track how well we're doing.
The accounts are divided into bank, savings, pension and debt (mostly mortgage). I then use these to track our net worth (but don't include bank accounts or the house).

If your going to do that, then your helpful brain goes "what if?...".

So now you find yourself the proud owner of a mortgage tracking tab, that also predicts when you will be mortgage free.
And once you've got your head around that, well why not do one for retirement planning?
Did I mention the pandemic - better have one for your pay, so you can see what effect furlough, etc. will have...
Then you're on MSE and need to fess up every month about your TT and OP addictions, so a tab you can cut and paste from seems to make sense...
And this becomes your dashboard, because, well, you've gotta have a dashboard, haven't you?
And then you don't quiet like how your ISA and/or SIPP provider presents the numbers, so you have tabs for them to standardise how your Buffet style portfolio of 5 index trackers is doing...

But apart from that I'm on top of my spreadsheet addiction...
It won't be long before I start calling it "my precious..." 🤣🤣🤣

longway2go

My precious made me laugh, I would be pretty upset if I lost mine now. 

Grogged

The October Update

The October update is not affiliated with Halloween.

Usual money stuff first; gossip, tea and biscuits follows...

Mortgage

Jan 2020      £99,012

Oct 2020      £89,736

Change        £9,276

%Change     9.4%

Overpaid      £2,697

Oct 20 OP    £42

Was hoping to OP by £50 this month, but obviously took my eye opff the ball!

The normal OP is still going into the EF pot.

EF/Cash

Jan 2020      £10,400

Oct 2020      £21,950

Change        £11,550

%Change     111.1%

Target           £18,000

In Oct 20      £1,439

Had another good payment from R@tesetter, which accounts for nearly £900 of Octobers increase.

I opened a 1 years fixed term account for October and transferred £1,000 into it and have just done th esame for November.

The plan here is to end up with 12 of these, one per month, in case my job is lost.

This should maximise the return on these.

Over time they can be built up to cover monthly outgoings.

Pensions

Jan 2020     £186,400

Oct 2020     £207,900

Change       £21,500

%Change    11.5%

Target          £350,000

In Oct 20     £2,620

Retire at      3%

Oct 2020     £6,237

Target          £10,500

Just in case it's not clear the "Retire at 3%" section just shows what the annual retirement income would be if taken as interest only today or at current target.

The state pension would be added on top of that (another £9K at todays rate).

This could be boosted by drawing down on the capital, changing the rate, etc.

Currently the monthly income from dividends is £150 from £73, but we just had a quarterly dividend paid.

The move Interactive Investor has been partially successful,. VG have managed to !!!!!! up the ISA transfer, but other than that it has been plain sailing so far.

This will cost me £240 per year as opposed to about £245 with VG, but that would only go up with new investments and stock market gains.

Apart from last week, the markets have been OK. I'll use the current market fall to top up my holdings ata discount.

I've also taken the decision to recycle some of my ISA S&S money into the main SIPP pension.  This will boost the transferred money by 25%, thanks to the tax rebate.

Grogged Towers News

Last month we gave our tree a hair cut, this month I've bought  a shed.  It was on sale for Halloween (who knew), as the discount came to the same price as installation, I chose to have it installed.  I expect to get it in January now.

Following my homeworker upgrade to own table, I went to work to get my office chair.  What a difference over a dining room chair... What a weird experience an empty office building is though...

In sad news, biscuits are still rationed...

Still on the hunt for a rescue dog, but given the current news, I think this won't happen until the new year now.

We're wondering what to do for the best for Christmas, as MrsG parents are elderly and isolating.  Think it maybe just a flying visit to exchange gifts, but may not even be that. We usually put together a bespoke hamper, so may have to consider something else or a standard one.

We're managing on two shops a month, currently spending around £70-£80 per shop for the two of us.  Although last month the bill came in at around £100 as we we're able to munch our way through the extra portion meals we'd frozen over the least month or so.

Stay safe,

G.

Grogged

The MrsG October SIPP Update

This is the story of the good SIPP MrsG which started her voyage in June 2020 with an investment of £1,440 and a transfer from a previous plan.

As MrsG earns no income, her maximum contribution per year is £2,880, which the kind tax man will top up to £3,600.

The remaining £1,440 will be contributed monthly, from April 2021 this will rise to the maximum £240 per month.

The aim is to get a pot of £50,000 by retirement in 2035.

October vey much had it's ups and downs, finishing slightly down by £50.

Currently contributing £200 per month (£160 + £40 tax relief).

The portfolio is fully invested, with the aim of keeping a running cash balance of £5 to cover the quarterly charges.

Weight Symbol Investment

79.5%               Equities

3.6%    VUKE   FTSE 100 UCITS ETF*

4.1%    VMID    FTSE 250 UCITS ETF

15.9%   VHYL   FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF

24.6%   VWRL  FTSE All-World UCITS ETF

20.4%   VEVE   FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF

20.5%                Bonds

13.3%   VAGP   Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF Distributing

7.1%     VGOV   U.K. Gilt UCITS ETF**

Cash  £6

Total £10,410 (September £10,461)

Average monthly income is £9.82 after 5 months.

The estimated annual income is £101 after charges (0.9%).

Total return to date is 1.8%, estimated annual return is 4%.

Annual values are calculated as (current / portfolio age) * 12.

So they will be a little patchy until a full 12 months have elapsed.

The bond funds pay dividends monthly and the equity funds quarterly.

The current weighting is 80/20 equities/bonds.

The plan is to move to 65/35 by retirement.

The equities will be 5% for the UK (VMID) and 75% global (20% VHYL, 25% VWRL and 30% VEVE).

Each £160 monthly payment buys one VAGP and one VEVE share, the rest is deposited as cash, with a £40 government top up 8 weeks later.

This flexibility allows the right weightings to be maintained going forward.

The portfolio will be rebalanced following payment of the quarterly fee. 

After moving the main pension portfolio to Interactive Investor, we've decided to simplify the portfolio going forwards.

VUKE will be sold once profitable, currently sitting on a £13 loss.

Until then it will be considered as part of VMID's 5%, so VMID purchases are currently on hold.

VGOV will be sold once profitable, currently sitting on a £17 loss.

Until then it will be considered as part of VAGP's 20%.

The majority of the shares held in VUKE are also held as part of the global funds, so it seemed pointless to keep holding it.

There is also an overlap between VGOV and VAGP, so again, why hold two when one will do.

In the meantime we're comfortable holding these, but we won't be increasing their holdings.

Stay safe,

G.