Time to get my house in order!

Thick_n_Thin

It looks like I’ll be returning to work at the end of next week, I have mixed feelings about this, I know that things have to start moving again and I am thankful that I have a job to go back to but I know that procedures and processes will have to change and we have already been told to prepare for significant alterations and that we need to have a flexible aproach to the way we will operate going forward, what this means who knows?? I’m sure it will become apparent with time! (Insert big sigh here) 
as I’ve said before Lockdown has made me have a bit of an epiphany with regards to my future, I always saw my retirement as a day far off in the future, something that could be worried about another day but being away from the 9-5 has really bought it into sharp focus for me and now it’s all I can think about. I’m soon to be 49 and ideally I will retire now at 55, that’s the end goal, it’s how I fill in the dots beforehand! 

Jessy103

Thick_n_Thin said:

It looks like I’ll be returning to work at the end of next week, I have mixed feelings about this, I know that things have to start moving again and I am thankful that I have a job to go back to but I know that procedures and processes will have to change and we have already been told to prepare for significant alterations and that we need to have a flexible aproach to the way we will operate going forward, what this means who knows?? I’m sure it will become apparent with time! (Insert big sigh here) 
as I’ve said before Lockdown has made me have a bit of an epiphany with regards to my future, I always saw my retirement as a day far off in the future, something that could be worried about another day but being away from the 9-5 has really bought it into sharp focus for me and now it’s all I can think about. I’m soon to be 49 and ideally I will retire now at 55, that’s the end goal, it’s how I fill in the dots beforehand! 

Completely empathise with you TnT. Going back to work was tough but not as bad as I thought. A colleague has negotiated to now work 4 days a week and i have requested to work from home some of the time which has been agreed. I would suggest now is the time to ask an employer if you want to make a change. Good luck with it anyway and I hope all goes smoothly for you  

Durban

Thick_n_Thin said:

longway2go said:

Was going to suggest the ourse to you. I think loads of us have signed up

Thanks longway2go! 

Managed to get my grocery shopping for £5 under budget so that will be sent over to the Halifax card, got my home insurance, the policy has increased by £20 for the full year. Old me wouldn’t of bothered comparing quotes and just renewed my policy but new me is all over the challenge of trying to reduce this, the fact that I want to pay it in one go is definitely making me more interested in beating the renewal quote!

Thick_n_Thin said:

longway2go said:

Was going to suggest the ourse to you. I think loads of us have signed up

Thanks longway2go! 

Managed to get my grocery shopping for £5 under budget so that will be sent over to the Halifax card, got my home insurance, the policy has increased by £20 for the full year. Old me wouldn’t of bothered comparing quotes and just renewed my policy but new me is all over the challenge of trying to reduce this, the fact that I want to pay it in one go is definitely making me more interested in beating the renewal quote!

Delurking to say that I am enjoying your diary.

Regarding the home insurance , have you signed up to Quidco?  If not , sign up and go through Quidco to get your home insurance.  You can get at least £50 cashback.  It takes a few months to come through but free money

Also , have a look at the pension board.  Loads of excellent information and you can ask anything from some really knowledgeable people on it.  I used to spend a lot of time on the MFW board but now spend most of it on the pensions board.  

Thick_n_Thin

Thanks Jessy, I think the anticipation of going back is worse than the reality, I am probably overthinking it really, I have to keep saying to myself the sooner I go back the sooner I can retire 🙈 not that I’m wishing my life away or anything! I hope I can summon some enthusiasm and energy for my job as I have felt a bit stale in my role for some time now but I lack the motivation to do anything about it. We will see what changes happen when I get back.
hi Durban! I lurk over on the pension boards but don’t feel informed enough to post over there yet! It took me ages to migrate to this board from debt free wannabe🤣 I have picked up a few tips though! I am registered with Quidco and TopCashback but never used them before but I plan on doing so for my insurance renewals this time, another example of how I’ve never really took much notice of stuff like free money before but everything counts nowadays and even the smallest amount is going to make a difference to the end goal.
Yesterday I treated myself to some gorgeous alliums from M&S, 4 stems for £10 but they look fantastic on my sideboard and I can’t stop looking at them! That’s the only thing I have bought myself this month so I think it was £10 well spent!

South_coast

Had to Google alliums as all I could picture was onions and garlic - very pretty 😀!

Thick_n_Thin

Morning! What a lovely day😄 yes strangely enough I think (I could be completely wrong though) alliums are a member of the onion family. Still impressed with how nice they look on my sideboard. I think each month I will treat myself to some fresh flowers out of my personal spends!
Yesterday I spent some time searching for my house insurance, I went through Quidco and top cashback for some quotes and they where both coming out near my renewal quote but with around £40 cash back, I then ran a quote through a comparison site and my cheapest quote was coming out £50 cheaper so I feel like the price is inflated on the cashback site to account for the cashback. I’m going to ring my current provider tomorrow and see if they will reduce my renewal quote, if not I’ll cancel and go for the cheapest quote I found yesterday. I also filled in my online refund form for TUI so I should receive my refund within 4 weeks, this will go straight back into savings. 

Plans for today
Brunch
3 loads of washing
quick clean around 
walk
read a chapter or 2 of my book
stick to my meal plan and no alcohol today

MovingForwards

Fresh flowers are always mood lifting. I've pictures of flowers in a few places and it makes a difference.

There's a thread talking about the cashback sites and the cost effect on the insurance. It was decided people were paying the increased insurance to get the money back.

Your today plans sound good, enjoy the rest of your day.

Thick_n_Thin

Thank you moving forwards! 

I had to practice some self control last night, had a craving for a nice bottle of wine  but managed to talk myself out of it, the fact that it would need to come from my personal spends and break my NSD and also the fact that I had made a resolution to not drink monday -Friday and limiting my wine consumption to 1 bottle per week, eventually I managed to talk myself out of it, so my halo is still in tact😇. 

Plans for today 
ring up about my home insurance and sort out another policy.
pay OH car tax for 12 months, normally only pay 6 months at a time but because I’ve saved in my pots we can pay for the 12 months up front, usually I have to find this in Nov/Dec right before Xmas! 

Going to start on the MSE OU course today, I need to get clued up on pensions pretty quick, my OH is 56 and he has had a letter from his company pension advising him that his investment will be used to buy an annuity unless he tells them otherwise, his pot is only worth about £35k currently so I’m guessing that this wouldn’t be advisable but I’m not sure, OH has his head firmly in the sand so I’m going to look into this today.
Might post over on the pension and retirement board but I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat 😂

Thick_n_Thin

House insurance now paid in full for the next 12 months, feels good to of paid a bill in full instead on monthly direct debit. OH car-tax paid in full for 12 months! 

Did a little research into the options for OH pension pot so I feel a little bit more informed, I tried to discuss with OH last night but he wasn’t in the mood to listen! I have to get him at the right time, so his head is still firmly in the sand on this one! 

Didn’t manage to start the OU course but did spend some time listening to podcasts around investing and it has sparked my interest to set up some investments to run along side overpayments to  my mortgage . To start with I’m going to make sure I’m paying the max into my company pension to get the max match from my employer. I’m going to move my long term savings into an isa, then I’m going to see if I can free up £100 per month from the monthly budget to start investing somewhere. I’ll do this my tightening up and looking at any unnecessary direct debits that we have at the minute, Apple Music at £15 per month will be the 1st one to go! 

I have reactivated my account with Moneybox which will do an account round up from my current account and move into a stocks and shares ISA and I will top this up with £30 each month from my personal spends. Think that’s enough for now! 

MovingForwards

What a start to your new financial plans!

ISA interest rates can be a bit low now and only really worthwhile when you are nearing the maximum no-tax-to-pay-on-interest band. 

Potentially look at fixed rate bonds with the likes of V1rg1n and others (used that as an example so you know what kind of bond I mean) as they are normally 1% + interest a year, put the money away for 1, 3 or 5 years and wait for it to mature. Think about dropping some of your long-term money in with the remainder as something you can access near immediately, unless you don't need the money due to having other savings.

NS&I have an account where it's minimum in / out of £500, always need a minimum of £500 in it, but the interest is over 1%. Again, it's ready access when needed.

PBs are a bit of fun, like the l0tt0 but with knowing you get your money back when you want. Each bond is currently £25 and you buy them as and when you like, current maximum is £50k

I've done the first module of the OU course, most of it tells you what you are already doing. Just have a calculator to hand for a few of the questions.