Third Time’s The Charm

enthusiasticsaver

I would ditch the life cover.  The only person it would benefit is your OH and if my memory serves me right he is happy to leave most of the bill paying to you so I personally would not continue with it.  It would serve you better to get rid of  the debt by putting every spare penny to that. You cannot really move on until it is gone. It is about risk but also priority.  You have a mortgage which is covered but your daughter is  an adult and your OH should have more than enough money given you have been covering all his expenses and getting into debt for it. With the £64 saved by your OH taking on the broadband/phone and the saving on life insurance that is almost £100 extra per month to go towards debt. 

Moneywhizz

Good to see you back again and hear that you are still sticking to your plan. I would also advise cancelling the insurance policy. The more you can pay towards your debt, the less interest you will be paying over the long term. Have broken my wrist so not easy to type but just wanted to check in. 

Narola1976

Thank you @Baileys_Babe, @enthusiasticsaver and @Moneywhizz for stopping by and giving me your advice. I really do appreciate it. I have to say I agree with you all - thanks for the confirmation it’s a good way forward. So I plan to cancel the policy straight away and put it straight into the debt payment. This plus the BB/Phone money will make a nice addition to the snowball amount without me even feeling it. And this way, I won’t  waste it. What a waste of over 3k though! But better than paying another 9k. I am not sure BB whether I have death in service benefit but this is something I plan to check out soon.I have worked for my present company for 10 years and hope to still be there for another 5 to 7 years. 

I know people generally recommend an EF of £1000. However, I follow YNAB which recommends saving and budgeting for one’s true expenses as a starting point, things you spend on a day to day basis, but also longer term spending, and predictable but infrequent expenses. So while my EF is actually only £131 as a category, overall, for all the savings pots and expenses budgeted, I have saved £1168 (Excluding EF). It was a bit more last month but with DD birthday I used some of this money which I had previously budgeted for. This excludes the money in my current account for expenses and bills to still go out. Obviously this money fluctuates and it is designed to be used as required. So in a couple of months, I have my MOT, service and road tax due so the money I have saved so far and which I will save will go towards this. So while not an EF per se, still a buffer of some kind against going further into debt. Yes, I could throw all this money at the debt, but then with no spare cash I would just use the CC and I have no intention of doing so. So I think I am doing ok for the moment. 

After much thought, I made the decision that I won’t be travelling home next year for my niece’s wedding. I really wanted to go as it has been 6 years since I have seen my mum and she is not well. But with CV19 everything is so up in the air, and I just don’t think things will be back to normal a year from now. My homeland is not doing that well with the virus, they are on curfews etc, and they do not have the infrastructure we have here. I would hate to get stuck there like my friend did in the earlier days of lockdown. While I could do my job anywhere with an internet connection, I am still not prepared to take the risk, plus I don’t have a valid passport for my country which I have to have, only applications can take up to a year anyway. So the stars are just not aligned and I feel relieved having made my decision. I just hate it will be 8 years by the time I do go home to see mum. But it does give me longer to save up. I have been doing the 1p challenge for this trip So more time will mean I can save more. Current total is £296.46. By the end of the year it will be £667

Today I got a Tryit Box. I was quite impressed as its my first and I was only expecting to get a cat food sample but it was loaded with goodies: a small box of Harrrington’s cat biscuits, 2 alcoholic low calorie drinks, an energy drink of some kind by Purdey’s, a bag of sweets, brioche rolls and a beef bar. And all I have to do is take a picture of each item and put it on facebook or instagram. I shan’t of course have my face in the camera but hopefully that will be good enough. 

Right that’s enough from me for tonight, thanks again and I hope your wrist gets better very soon Moneywhizz - how did you hurt it?

Have a good Sunday
Narola

Moneywhizz

It always feels good to make a few decisions, especially if they will help you towards your goal of debt freedom. Your method of budgeting is definitely the best way to handle your money and does mean that a smaller emergency fund is probably necessary as long as you have accounted for every category.
I had quite a bad fall when I was running. Got the cast off recently but am now waiting for physio as my wrist and hand is still quite swollen and not getting much movement so far. Quite frustrating being limited to using one hand for everything, but at least it was my left arm. Hopefully physio will help move things forward. Thanks for asking.

enthusiasticsaver

I think it is wise to cancel the life policy and use the money towards the debt. I know it must seem a bit of a waste to have paid out £3k for no return but essentially that is what insurance is. You pay a premium just in case something happens. Apart from home and car insurance we self insure for everything so we never pay out for extra warranties or life cover (except for the mortgage when we had it). We just save every month so there is a buffer. One day when the debt is gone that is worth considering. Have you tried playing around with a snowball calculator to see what impact the £95 extra will have on your DFD?

You are doing exactly the right thing by using pots and as you said in an emergency you at least do have access to more than £1k which is not a credit card. Given you have not been doing this long you are doing very well.

It is sensible too I think to miss the wedding next year. Who knows when travel will be ok again but some countries are worse than others.  I am not sure where your homeland is but if you know it is bad over there I would not risk it either. Sorry you won't see your mum for such a long time but it cannot be helped. Does she know about the debt situation? 

I sympathise with the cast on your wrist Moneywhizz. My 2 year old granddaughter fell awkwardly when playing with her sister last weekend and broke her right arm so is in a cast from above her elbow to her wrist. Kids are resilient though and she has discovered she can still do most things but the weight of the cast somethings over balances her given she is so tiny. I hope you get some physio soon. 

Baileys_Babe

I think your method of budgeting is a good way to manage your money.

That must have been a tough decision to make regarding visiting your home country, but I agree in the middle of a pandemic doesn't seem sensible. I am guessing you have already made a budget for this trip passports, fights, gifts, spending money, travel insurance, accommodation etc when does it look likely you will meet these saving goals?

Kakiste

I think you're made the right decision to not go see your family next year, I think measures will likely be much tighter next year and there's a real chance of borders shutting and getting trapped. 

Baileys_Babe

I hope your physio appointment comes through quickly @Moneywhizz and things soon improve. @enthusiasticsaver wishing your granddaughter a speedy recovery.

Like @enthusiasticsaver with the exception of car insurance, house insurance and life cover for the mortgage, we self insure.  No extended warranties, protections etc The other exception I would make, would be travel insurance if we travelled abroad. Usually, we have cheap & cheerful holidays in England, Scotland or Wales so again we self insure.

enthusiasticsaver

Baileys_Babe said:

I hope your physio appointment comes through quickly @Moneywhizz and things soon improve. @enthusiasticsaver wishing your granddaughter a speedy recovery.

Like @enthusiasticsaver with the exception of car insurance, house insurance and life cover for the mortgage, we self insure.  No extended warranties, protections etc The other exception I would make, would be travel insurance if we travelled abroad. Usually, we have cheap & cheerful holidays in England, Scotland or Wales so again we self insure.

I forgot about travel insurance and yes we do get that on overseas trips particularly US, Canada and Australia. We did a Caribbean cruise in February for my 60th just before the pandemic hit and I tripped on stairs and badly injured my ankle so I needed a special boot and crutches for the first week. In the medical centre we were speaking to a number of people some of whom had no travel insurance which is a massive risk. Imagine the cost if you had to be helicoptered off the ship. Was of little use to me though as the cost of x rays and boot, consultation etc was £220 and excess was £200. 

Baileys_Babe

I hope you are fully mended @enthusiasticsaver and thankfully you weren't one of those trapped on the ship and not welcome in any port.