Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

crunchy_time

enthusiasticsaver said:

crunchy_time said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

It will definitely be a good idea to up your pension but the LGPS (I have one of those too) is a good scheme and only working part time (or is that full time at a lower rate per hour?) means less pension needed to plug the gap when you do eventually retire. I don't think you are 40 yet so you have time. I worked part time until our youngest was a teenager then full time until they left uni then part time again after DH retired until I retired too. So altogether out of a 40 year career I had a career break of 3 years while our daughters were babies then 14 years part time(25 hours pw) and 23 full time.  One mistake I made was to prioritise my husbands pension over mine because he was a HR tax payer and earned more. We definitely did the right thing by him as his pension is more than 3 times as much as mine but it would have been a good idea  to have overpaid mine more than we did as I am not maximising my personal allowance as my pensions are under the £12k or whatever the limit is now. Simply the down side of working part time for so many years and accepting lower grade jobs to fit in with family life.   It will go over though when my state pension pays out and in the meantime I have transferred part of my PA to my DH.

I focused on S and S ISAs for me to plug the early retirement gap. 

Thank you for the advice ES!  Husband's company pay a lot into his pension and he only pays the minimum and its still a good one.  I've been working part time for 8 years.  I'm now full time but receive the equivalent monthly take home as 2 days a week teaching.  I think we shall overpay mine first like you say and then just organise husbands so it is all in the same pot.  I'm nearly 39 and the LG pension said I can't retire until I am 68 so I have a loooooong way to go which is fine as I love working!  I don't intend to retire early but will probably look at part time or contract work when I am much much older.  I'm planning to work full time from now on.

Bear in mind the LGPS doesn't tell you that you cannot retire until 68 it is just the projections for your NRD (normal retirement date) are when you are 68. You can take it earlier but usually with a deduction or you retire early using other finance and don't draw on it until 68. Lots can change in almost 30 years. My NRD for my LGPS is 2026 but I took it in 2018 as the reduction was not that much and was balanced out by it being paid for 8 more years than projected. 

Lots of my teacher friends did supply work which they they said was less stressful than being a FT teacher. Glad you enjoying the TA role though and I definitely agree with leaving a stressful job for one with lower stress albeit lower paid. I did that myself by leaving a high paid banking job to go into HE event management in the 1990s. 

Thank you! Lots to bear in mind. Thank you again for your insight. X

crunchy_time

enthusiasticsaver said:

Annoying about the hair and even more to pay £100. Bleach baths sounds scary though. I have highlights and have been with my hairdresser over 20 years and he is great at getting the colours right. If you haven't been happy there then time for a change. 

Yes I haven’t been happy there for over a year and husband is the same. I’m actually getting used to it now and think it makes me look more sophisticated ha ha!!

crunchy_time

Sarahwithlove said:

I agree if you're not happy deffo change but it's a shame you're not happy with how it is as you're gonna have to wait to have it done again. I agree you get what you pay for if you find one you like then stick with it. I just try and make myself go a little longer between having it done then I used to. 

The one I had before at the same salon moved to the city. I think I will track her down. I only have my hair cut about 4 times a year so it will be worth the 40 minute drive x

crunchy_time

ohdearhowdidthathappen said:

Annoying about the haircut 
Pensions boggle my brain a bit, I daren't look at mine.  I've always worked, but have been part time since I had my eldest 16 years ago... no imminent plans to go full time, perhaps when youngest starts secondary in 6 years time.  My pension will have taken a big hit....  I checked my NI contributions recently and they showed 26 years, so even my little part time job while doing A-levels has counted, which is nice

How do you check your NI contributions? 

crunchy_time

Aspiration said:

Morning,
Always a hard conversation and I’m guessing most of us are here as we put those conversations off for too long.

You’re making great progress and hope the conversation later is productive and doesn’t cause too much stress. 

Monzo is transformational we’re big fans!

We regularly have these conversations. After I posted this morning, he could see I was mega anxious and came over, gave me a kiss and said I promise we will sort it out tonight. We were doing so well. His monzo card wasn’t working so he was using his credit card instead and then transferring the money but he got disorganised.

crunchy_time

enthusiasticsaver said:

Do you not both have personal spend accounts? That works for us now. You could always save your spends if you don't spend as much. That is what we do. 

 My husband was like you and tetchy if challenged on what he was spending. He did once say that he earns well and felt he should be able to spend what he wants until I pointed out the things we would need to sacrifice to cover his little spending sprees. Things he wanted like doing things to the house, holidays, Xmas presents, early retirement savings etc etc. Going into debt was never an option so if he over spent in one area we had to under spend somewhere else and sometimes I made him choose what to give up. I never got angry with him, just stayed calm, showed him the budget and asked where he wanted me to take the overspend from. He got better then we got personal spends accounts with allowances every month so I don't need to challenge him. I don't care what he does with it and he knows where the rest of our "joint" income goes. I have no time for men who think because they bring in the lions share of income normally because their partners are picking up the slack elsewhere then they have more of a choice where the money goes. 

He has £100 a month and at the moment it goes on playing football and beers after football and running club to socialise. We agreed he prob needs a bit more due to the sports stuff. I use apps at home and socialise for free in the park with a coffee at the moment. 

We can’t replace the ageing second car until a significant proportion of this debt is paid off and he knows it. He does know this but I guess we all have moments of f it or just disorganisation.

crunchy_time

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

Hi Crunchy. We have a similar loan amount to pay 🙂 congratulations on getting it under 10k. 

I'm avoiding the news at the moment too. Also in the south east, semi rural, but our area is one of the top three for increases. I'm a home bod but even l'm fed up with being indoors so much 😒 hey ho, dry day today!

Thank you! On Monday we shall we close to £8xxx which is exciting! 

We just have to go with it don’t we. At least we both still have jobs which is a god send. I can’t complain but I feel anxious about everyone else. I need to be more practical. This year the kids advent calendar is a good deed everyday rather than presents or chocolate. Must properly get into this soon!

crunchy_time

shoppingobsessed2020 said:

Sounds like you’ve had a tough few days and some self care is needed. Sod the gatherings and do what suits you and your family.  

spending wise for us, his lordship has asked he have his fun money in cash so he knows what he has to spend.  Grocery shopping I’ve added him as a cardholder on my credit card so I can keep track of everything in the one place.  We’ve also naughtily changed the pins to the same number so he only has to know the one number.

Sounds like things are going well for you. Must be nice that he is home for a bit now. I can’t imagine not seeing my other half for months at a time and have lots of respect for those that manage it. You have done so well to get things to where they are. And your plans to mange him while he is home sound good and solid! Well done you! Xx

crunchy_time

t2rry said:

Morning Crunch!  I swear I could have written most of what you've just said, I have grown to hate the conversations because in my head he'll get irritated, so in fairness I think sometimes I even pre-empt that so much that I'm the one who gets het up first.  Either way, it's rarely good, but I have to accept it is so much better now we can see the end goal (plus avoiding the conversation in so far as possible!!).  It's now more a case of explaining that we can do the things he wants to do in 6 months.  We've lived fairly frugally now for so long, I genuinely don't think we'll ever change drastically, and I think he appreciates that now, it's for the bigger and greater future!  I think the thing for us that cracks it was having him finally understand that the more he is free to spend what he 'deserves', the more stressed out I will be trying to balance it out, and the longer it lasts having to feel like this!!

Sounds like we have similar husbands!! It’s weird with mine as he is the one avoiding buying a car to replace the ageing one and I am pushing for it. I am no angel in this, we just seem to see different priorities sometimes. I push for investment stuff and he likes to enjoy the everyday. A balance is required and we are getting that way but the balance changes with every life stage. We can’t keep up. He’s just like his mother - he likes little treats to make life sparkle but my parents are frugal and I like to make him happy. I feel like I owe him since his money pays literally all the bills now. It’s some weird anti-feminist thing!!

crunchy_time

I had loads of comments on my last post so went a bit mad about replying. 

Only spent £125 out of £150 of weekly food this week. Husband has promised no top up shops!! Will have the money chat later which will be interesting since we are both on our second glass of Aldi Malbec.........