How much to live on

Albermarle

louby40 said:

Today I sold my house and offered on another. This is my first step to early retirement.
Im going to be mortgage free which, at 55 I never thought would happen. 

Only moving 1.5 miles up the road, so still close to work, parents, and friends, even closer to other friends who live round the corner. 

I'll be saving £10k a year in mortgage payments which I intend to save and put into my savings pot. 

Not sure if you know, but there is a MSE house buying forum.
House buying, renting & selling — MoneySavingExpert Forum

It can be a bit scary, with lots of people with problems with survey results, estate agents, solicitors, missing paperwork for extensions, leases, unpredictable buyers and sellers etc etc.

However if you do come across some issues, could be a good place to ask questions.

BooJewels

louby40 said:

Today I sold my house and offered on another. This is my first step to early retirement.
Im going to be mortgage free which, at 55 I never thought would happen. 

[...]

Congratulations and good luck - may your conveyancing all be trouble and incident free.

Being mortgage free is surprisingly joyous and liberating.  I can remember my husband and I sitting in the garden one barmy summer evening with a beer, celebrating.  My husband pointed to a large stone in the wall and said "see that big stone - I own that. And see that one with the dark patch on it to the right - you own that one".  Felt good.  Still does.  

Pat38493

louby40 said:

Today I sold my house and offered on another. This is my first step to early retirement.
Im going to be mortgage free which, at 55 I never thought would happen. 

Only moving 1.5 miles up the road, so still close to work, parents, and friends, even closer to other friends who live round the corner. 

I'll be saving £10k a year in mortgage payments which I intend to save and put into my savings pot. 

Great news - we are just about to do something similar - we are planning to move to a smaller house and probably move about 30 miles away later this year to a location where you get a lot more for your money - just about to put our house on the market and already have the valuations and so on.  This will pretty much enable me to stop working whenever I want, even from April if I want to.

trevjl

Octopus Energy continue "borrowing" money off me with my account still over £300 in credit. "Yes" they say "but this month's bill is going to be £200". "I know", I reply, "then 3 days later you'll take another £160 so I'll still be £300 in credit".

Drives me mad. Every few months I get this nonsense. Always telling me I need to pay extra to reach my target balance. I point out I don't have a target balance and say that I refuse to aid their cash flow. Asda do not charge me for next weeks shopping that I may of may not buy.

Normally sees them off, but this week they said OK, keep it at £100pm (they wanted £167) but you must address your large deficit all while my account shows £150 credit and has done for over a year. 

Pat38493

trevjl said:

Octopus Energy continue "borrowing" money off me with my account still over £300 in credit. "Yes" they say "but this month's bill is going to be £200". "I know", I reply, "then 3 days later you'll take another £160 so I'll still be £300 in credit".

Drives me mad. Every few months I get this nonsense. Always telling me I need to pay extra to reach my target balance. I point out I don't have a target balance and say that I refuse to aid their cash flow. Asda do not charge me for next weeks shopping that I may of may not buy.

Normally sees them off, but this week they said OK, keep it at £100pm (they wanted £167) but you must address your large deficit all while my account shows £150 credit and has done for over a year. 

I gues the only way to completely avoid this is to go on variable DD.

Organgrinder

Pat38493 said:

trevjl said:

Octopus Energy continue "borrowing" money off me with my account still over £300 in credit. "Yes" they say "but this month's bill is going to be £200". "I know", I reply, "then 3 days later you'll take another £160 so I'll still be £300 in credit".

Drives me mad. Every few months I get this nonsense. Always telling me I need to pay extra to reach my target balance. I point out I don't have a target balance and say that I refuse to aid their cash flow. Asda do not charge me for next weeks shopping that I may of may not buy.

Normally sees them off, but this week they said OK, keep it at £100pm (they wanted £167) but you must address your large deficit all while my account shows £150 credit and has done for over a year. 

I gues the only way to completely avoid this is to go on variable DD.

Am considering this and putting the money in a savings account, then moving the money into current account as and when needed.

Update.....not worth it......they charge you an extra £80!!!!

penny_less

I was told it was the same price by Octopus - where did the £80 info come from? I need to check it out!

Organgrinder

It's on their website. 

QrizB

Organgrinder said:

It's on their website. 

I think you've mis-read or misunderstood something.

Can you provide a link to this info?

penny_less

I’ve juice just checked my own tariff, and it’s the same either way. I still pay by direct debit, variable monthly rather than fixed, so maybe this is why. I think paying by methods other than direct debits are more expensive.