Cosy blanket

longway2go

Real quick update before bed, it's payday here and we have just paid back everything we owe to our family. They were nit expecting it do soon but I am delighted.

Next goal EF of 1k. I don't think I said but I treated myself to an electric blanket a few months back..

Skint_yet_Again

Thats great news and I bet a big weight off your mind. 

Electric blanket will be nice and toasty in this weather 🤗

longway2go

It certainly is.

Yeah I think of it like my EF in a way. 

longway2go

It's cold and stormy here today so having a chill on the sofa atm. 

We are going out with friends tonight which will be fun. Will try to get my waxing survey done at some point and do my nails. 

Was my pay day yesterday and OHs is Tues, a quick summary of finances

-family paid
-EF = 0 (this worries me!) 
-mortgage = 136,470.37
-my pension apx 100k (10% cont) 
-oh pension a work in progress

Dec mortgage payment will see the lower interest which will be so much better and make me feel like the sacrafices for the remortgage were worth it. 

My new pay should take effect 1st Dec so I should see that in my next salary payment. I won't be spending any extra but may look at the difference and see if we can up OHs pension payments to the same value. We also need to start collating his pensions together. 

We also need to do the tax return which we have started to collate together. 

Some work still needed on the BTL which needs to be worked on when the EF is a min of 1k. The idea is once this is done the rent can go up (with good notice to the Tennant... They have been underpaying the market value for a long time). 

I am starting to think about pushing my sideline a bit more but its all down to time. 

We will get there....not sure where but further than we would if I didn't actively plan our money. 

MovingForwards

Well done for paying them back quickly, it's one less stress.
Hope your pamper session goes well.
If you get a couple of hours over the holidays, have a look at finance and start the new year afresh.

Have fun tonight!

savingwannabe

Some great plans written for the future. Fab news that you have paid the family and are sorting out a pension for husband. 

longway2go

This month feels like a whirlwind already, I started my new Job on Wednesday and its been pretty full on.

Lots of Christmas activities planned for us and we have 2 elves to entertain each night. Trying to balance all that is a bit of a challenge atm but worth it. 

Money wise, I'm doing OK.  Think Christmas shopping is very close to being done and aiming to wrap some more this weekend.   

The interest has been applied to my mortgage this month and has dropped to under £100 which I am very pleased with and does seem worth the pain. I am trying to decide how much we should OP by, on one hand money will (based on historic performance) perform better in the stock market than the amount we save in interest... On the other clearing some of the Mortgage will give peace of mind, security, a sense of achievement and protection against a rate rise in 5 yrs time. I spoke to someone who always tried to OP the monthly interest which is an interesting concept. 

Payday will be early for both of us this month so going to put it into a side account until we would normally get paid but should have some to direct to my EF (fingers crossed) so that will be sent over immediately.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. 

savingwannabe

Well done on starting the new job, the work sounds hard but it will help you with your great OPs on the mortgage. That's all i am thinking of with mine.I dont know anything about the stock market, I'm always too scared, do you have any advice or accounts you think are good? 

longway2go

I got some free shares a while back and invested from there but then had to pull the money out to cover my remortgage fee. Let me know if you would like me to send a link (we both get a free share).

I actually work in finance.  Not sure how much you know but there are different ways to buy shares, either directly or as a basket of shares that track an index like the FTSE 100. Direct purchases are higher risk (but may be higher return depending on how the stock does) because you rely on one or a couple of shares performance(s). If you purchase into a tracker (basket of shares) you spread your risk as you have essentially invested in a large number of different companies, so some of them will go up and some down making the average fluctuations less than individual shares. Are you looking for growth or an income from any potential investment? 

I don't yet have proper investment savings but think I am going to look at H3rgreaves l2nswdown and vanguard and see what they offer so can let you know. 

savingwannabe

This is fascintating i am interested. I would only invest a part of my income though as my father always felt he didnt make moneyf from shares as savings were safer in the bank. Can you recommend where i can read more on this?