Peering over the hill...

Grogged

The May Update

The weather in May really had no idea what it wanted to be - hot, sunny or wet, so it went for a creative mix, sometimes all at the same time.  Bit like the stock market.

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

 

Mortgage

End 2020            £87,985

May 2021           £84,661

Change               £3,324

%Change            3.8%

Overpaid            £3,265

May 21 OP         £52

 

The goal for 2021 is to pay off £10,000, with a view to paying it off in full in 9 (stretch of 8) years.  We’re scheduled to pay £8K off through normal payments.  I will look to make between 2 and 4 extra payments throughout the year.  Our NW mortgage is structured so that if you OP by at least £500 you get to either instantly reduce eth term or monthly payment.

Currently at £316 of the £2,000 target for 2021 and nicely in the £85s!

 

EF/Cash

End 2020            £24,550

May 2021           £27,850

Change               £3,300

%Change            13.4%

Target                 £27,300

In May 21           £667

 

The plan for 2021 is to add a month to the EF and continue this every year going forward.  This will enable early retirement if needed (although not by much!).

Each month I aim to open a new 12 month high interest (lol) account to try and maximise the EF savings.  This will ultimately provide a years buffer, the excess will be held in PB, etc.

Due to the low rates on offer, when the Marcus matured, we moved £5,000 into PB, rather than opening a new monthly account.  With average luck, we should “win” 4 times a year, which would match or beat the current high interest savings rates on offer.  That £100 (4x £25) works out at 0.64%.

Pensions

End 2020            £221,400

May 2021           £247,300

Change               £25,900

%Change            11.7%

Target                 £350,000

In May 2021       £2,886

 

Pension (as dividends if taken today)

Annually             £5,114

Target                 £8,761

Monthly             £426

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

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

 

The big ii pension portfolio is managed on the same philosophy as MrsG, except it currently has triple the number of funds in it.  These all do the same job as the Vanguard funds but pay better dividends and are all long term holds.  Still continuing to rebalance, which have been timed around dividend dates.  Where transaction costs have been incurred, they have been covered by the incoming dividend payment.  As it stands today, it should pay £9,700 in annual dividends, which combined with the state pension is our minimum pension requirement.  There are 4 more investments that are now significantly overweight, rebalancing these (one per month) should see the dividends increase by a further £300 per year.  All dividends are reinvested using the monthly free regular investing feature.

 

We are mortgage neutral with our savings, so if needs be, at least the mortgage is covered.

 

Grogged Towers News

In late breaking news, I’ve been offered a new role within the company, moving from a mixed operations/strategy role into a more strategy one.  It’s being touted as a promotion, but so far seemingly without the money or trappings (you know the electric sports car, slow women and fast martini’s – no, hang on, that’s the re-runs of James Bond I keep catching 5 minutes of…).

We also bought a new three seater sofa (sofa logically Hetty if you need to know), which has replaced our very old two seater charity shop recliner.  It was starting to finally show its age (or metal ribs and seat filling to be exact), one day it was comfortable, the next like sitting on corrugated steel.

I can’t say we’ve done much this month, the unpredictable weather has thwarted many a plan (especially the half-hearted ones).

We did go for a pub lunch yesterday, which we think is 17 months since we last went to a pub (Christmas 2019).  So that is one item ticket off the bucket list!

In gardening news we splurged on a handle, brush head and combined hoe/Freddies hand from nightmare on Elm tool from the wolf’s interchangeable garden tool selection.  Our first purchase from them and one which should last us forever, as I suspect we’re not built to the same quality…

For square eyed readers, Love, Death and Robots has dropped a second season (how down am I with the chilled/cool/trendy* kids/yoof/people* [*sad what age does to you, I was young once you know and had all my own teeth, but only transfer sticker tattoos…]), well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already.  A short anthology series about, er, love, death and some with robots.  Each one is between 10-20 minutes in length.

Stay safe,

G.

savingholmes

Good balance of progress and living in the now

Grogged

This week we converted a spare bedroom into a laundry room courtesy of the Swedish store.
Also bought a set of loaf tins, 1lb to 5lb, the 5lb tin looks more like a flower bed than a loaf tin. 😲

coldcazzie

a 5lb loaf tin?!

savingholmes

I want to eat that orange loaf cake...

Grogged

coldcazzie said:

a 5lb loaf tin?!

It was just as cheap to buy the set as buy one...

I can't see us using it, unless at Christmas as a pot for the tree...😮

Grogged

coldcazzie said:

a 5lb loaf tin?!

It was just as cheap to buy the set as buy one...

I can't see us using it, unless at Christmas as a pot for the tree...😮

Cornish_mum

Oh my goodness a 5lb loaf tin!! Would it even bake? Nice to have a laundry room sounds lovely. CM 

Zola.

Hi @Grogged Just checking in, hows the new job going? Have you just started now? 

savingholmes

Hope you are ok