The "Save 12k in 2021" Thread!

ilselm

Suffolk_lass said:

Oh wow @ilselm - that is just brilliant. You kind of snuck that news in there - congratulations and welcome to a life of not working 🎉🎉

Thanks! Am really looking forward to it 🙂

ilselm

darkidoe said:

Do you mind sharing your decumulation plan??

Thanks, at this stage it’s not so much a detailed plan rather a set of strategic principles and associated musings! 

cathybird

Wentthedaywell? said:

george4064 said:

Wentthedaywell? said:

Minus £500 for September . I did actually save £1500, but the negative comes from my S&S ISA dipping.

I always find it surprising that people count S&S movements as gains/losses, to me that doesn’t seem appropriate as it isn’t money saved. Only contributions to a S&S ISA is ‘saved’.

Lets say you had a S&S ISA worth £100k and the markets (and your ISA) dropped by £10k, you mark it as -£9k for that month (you actually saved £1k that month). That’s going to make you feel unecessarily bad, and equally on the flip side if your ISA has a bumper month and you report a bumper monthly saving figure that might give you unfounded confidence in your ability to actually save.

For me, about to give up work, the important figure is how much I’ve got ‘in the bank’ to spend. Is it more or less than last month and what is the end of year total?

The amount I pay in in any one month is irrelevant to me if it’s not there to spend because of share losses. I’m old and sensible enough not to be disheartened at the vagaries of the markets. I've experienced them long enough through 9/11, the 2007 recession and Covid.

hi Wentthedaywell, I'm early retiring too, and have in fact given notice, with my last day in early December. I was just curious as to whether you plan to continue taking part in this challenge after you retire? I'd like to, since I'm fond of the challenge, but I don't really see how it's possible, since I will be moving from accumulating as large a pot as I can to subsistence on what I have (although I aim to spend considerably less than I technically could). So unless I set a particular sum to be extracted from my pension pot as the year's "income" and then see how far under that sum I actually spend, and count the difference as savings, I don't see how it can work. 

I have this thread partly to thank for being able to early retire. I have been taking part for eight years altogether and have saved and invested quite a bit as a result of it. It has contributed in no small way. So many thanks to Slowlyfading and all the participants over the years for having helped.  

EeeJay

#56 with £870 for September… I’m a bit disappointed with this, but I did pay for a fancy hotel break for myself and my friend this month, because she’s going through a messy break-up and needed a bit of TLC. I also splurged on some new art materials, which was definitely not necessary but fills me full of joy, so well worth it! 

Congratulations to everyone who is retiring! Xx

AuburnEnigma

#40 here with 3 months to catch up on   

It's been a bit of a whirlwind since I started my new job in mid-May, but I've finally found some time to go through everything so I can detail it here.

July total: £1064.99
August total: £816.28
September total: £718.09

Had a bumper month for dividends in August, went over £100 for the first time since I started investing last August with £134.15 (and September wasn't too far behind the £100 benchmark with £94.89); although I don't count those for this challenge. I've also increased the contribution to my SIPP from £50 to £100 per month (with the first lot of £100 going in this month).

Off to update the forms, happy October everyone!

slowlyfading

[Deleted User] said:

Hi SF, I am sorry but I am ducking out for the rest of the year. We have a bit of a family crisis that's got my focus elsewhere just now.

Best of luck everyone with the savings the rest of this year.

Hope everything is okay.

slowlyfading

Spreadsheet updated

There's some exciting news on the thread though - congratulations to those retiring early! I cannot wait until I can say the same

TheBellsAreRinging

Hi slowlyfading! i'm new to the forum and would like to be added to the challenge if thats ok. I've just started a graduate job on £27000 and am fortunate enough to be able to live at home rent-free.

This enables me to save a signififcant amount each month, and having just received my first paycheck, I immediately transferred £1100 to my S&S Isa, which I hope to repeat each month.

My travel costs me £567 per month, and once all of this is accounted for, I have about £300 left over in the current account. 

As I had some money prior to starting work, the total saved so far this year is £3500.

I will update again on the 28th October when I hope to have £4600 saved! 

Wentthedaywell?

cathybird said:

Wentthedaywell? said:

george4064 said:

Wentthedaywell? said:

Minus £500 for September . I did actually save £1500, but the negative comes from my S&S ISA dipping.

I always find it surprising that people count S&S movements as gains/losses, to me that doesn’t seem appropriate as it isn’t money saved. Only contributions to a S&S ISA is ‘saved’.

Lets say you had a S&S ISA worth £100k and the markets (and your ISA) dropped by £10k, you mark it as -£9k for that month (you actually saved £1k that month). That’s going to make you feel unecessarily bad, and equally on the flip side if your ISA has a bumper month and you report a bumper monthly saving figure that might give you unfounded confidence in your ability to actually save.

For me, about to give up work, the important figure is how much I’ve got ‘in the bank’ to spend. Is it more or less than last month and what is the end of year total?

The amount I pay in in any one month is irrelevant to me if it’s not there to spend because of share losses. I’m old and sensible enough not to be disheartened at the vagaries of the markets. I've experienced them long enough through 9/11, the 2007 recession and Covid.

hi Wentthedaywell, I'm early retiring too, and have in fact given notice, with my last day in early December. I was just curious as to whether you plan to continue taking part in this challenge after you retire? I'd like to, since I'm fond of the challenge, but I don't really see how it's possible, since I will be moving from accumulating as large a pot as I can to subsistence on what I have (although I aim to spend considerably less than I technically could). So unless I set a particular sum to be extracted from my pension pot as the year's "income" and then see how far under that sum I actually spend, and count the difference as savings, I don't see how it can work. 

I have this thread partly to thank for being able to early retire. I have been taking part for eight years altogether and have saved and invested quite a bit as a result of it. It has contributed in no small way. So many thanks to Slowlyfading and all the participants over the years for having helped.  

Like you Cathy, I'm planning ongoing at Christmas; or Easter depending on what happens in work. So I expect this will be my last last year on the thread. I think I've been in it about the same time as you, and like you say, it's been such a motivation to keep us on the savings path.

But very soon I've got to totally change my mind set to start thinking about spending my accumulated savings. I don't have children so no point leaving anything behind. It's going to be a huge 180 degrees shift in attitude and I don't underestimate the initial difficulties. I just hope we will be able to travel and no more lockdowns; a colleague retired April 2020, just after the first lockdown. What a waste of all that free time!

kev2009

Hi,

#003 declaring £500 for October.

I've submitted the form also.

Many thanks!

Kev