Time to wake up and smell the coffee!

Abbafan1972

Hi all, thought I would just check in.

Hubby took the car for it's MOT yesterday to a local garage, it passed with flying colours.  Hubby was so nervous about it going in - he always is.  It's like he's going for a job interview or something!

The MOT and service was booked in with Evans Halshaw, which is where the car was from.  It was included as a bundle, but this would be the last one.  He decided not to take the car for it's MOT to EH, as he just doesn't trust them and from past experience they don't let you get away with a free MOT, they will say "this needs doing and that needs doing" costing us more money.  So at the local garage it just cost £45. He is still keeping the service appointment on the 18th September, but this is just a "half service" and then next year we will have to pay for it ourselves.  The local said it would cost £180 and it includes a lot more than what would be offered by Ford and cheaper too. 

My pension with my new employer is up and running with Scottish Widows.  I have a pension with Standard Life from an old employer, there is only £685 approx in there.  I am going to see if I can transfer this into my new one. It seems pointless waiting until I am 55 to withdraw such a small amount. 

I am off work at the beginning of October, so I'm looking forward to that.  We are not going away though, we had a holiday booked but it's been moved to May 2022.  It's been booked for 2 years and we've moved it twice!

Speak to you all soon. x

ETA:- Yesterday I was working (WFH) and hubby was off because of the car being in the garage and the TV wasn't on once all day, up until about 7pm and I didn't miss it the once!

warby68

Good news about the MOT

Did you have a larger amount in your budget? If you did make sure you allocate it somewhere so it doesn't get swallowed up.

Abbafan1972

warby68 said:

Good news about the MOT

Did you have a larger amount in your budget? If you did make sure you allocate it somewhere so it doesn't get swallowed up.

@warby68 Sorry but I don't really understand the question?

Hi all and hoping everyone is well.  Sorry I've not been on for a while, but there haven't been any updates really.  I don't feel the need to post every day about what I had for breakfast. 

We are getting closer to the time that hubby can get this pension, his 55th birthday is in April and the pension people say they will write to him a couple of weeks before his birthday and confirm everything.  He is taking a tax free lump sum of 25% which will equate to about £9,400, plus a monthly income which will be for about 5 years.  (This isn't his only pension, he has others for when he does retire). 

I have updated my signature to show exactly what we owe.  Interest is currently suspended on both credit cards, but we expect this to start up again soon.  We are with Stepchange, but because the amount Stepchange are paying a month exceeds the minimum payment, the bank the credit cards are with don't see it that we are in any financial difficulty.  They did advise us to pay less, but on asking Stepchange they said no they can't do that.  The payment is based on what we can afford. 

When the pension lump sum arrives, our plan currently is to pay CC1 off completely and pay off most of CC2 leaving a small balance, which we will be able to clear this year.  The rest of the money, we are going to use to pay Very and Ikano.  Interest is suspended on Very as well. The overdraft was with the Halifax and this was bought by PRA group when the account was closed down. 

We have decided we are going to leave the DMP with Stepchange and manage what's left ourselves. I know we can do it.  Our Stepchange plan, based on what we are paying at the moment, will finish in 2026!  

Just for info, the only things that aren't included in the DMP are the car finance and Mortgage.  Our monthly payment to the DMP is £283.00

Would anyone here do anything different?

Thanks in advance. 

Abbafan1972

Bumping up

Abbafan1972

Hi all.

Hope everyone is well.  

Thought I would post with an update.  Hubby's pension is so confusing - it did say on the website that the 25% tax free lump sum was approx £9,400.  He has since spoken to them twice, and they have both times confirmed that the lump sum he is to expect is in excess of £37,000.  Plus he will get a monthly income until he dies.

Needless to say this was a bit of a shock and I thought hubby was going to have a heart attack.

He has not been very well and has been diagnosed with Gastritis, which he has been given medication for and is feeling much better now. Doctor says that some of this has been brought on by stress and anxiety (his job is stressful and he has been stressed out about this money).

The letter from the pension is due anytime soon as they say it will arrive about a week before his birthday which is the second week of April. 

What we didn't know was that there are actually 2 pensions and they are pensions from when he worked at Rover Cars and got made redundant when they collapsed. 

Obviously if the amount he receives is the £37,000 then that is a game changer for the money we owe below - the only thing left will be the mortgage. With the money that is freed up every month, we will be able to save and hopefully get some things done on the house that need doing. 

No more flippin credit cards!

I just hope the pension people have got it right - hubby is still sceptical and is waiting to see what the letter says when it arrives. 

jusferbrowsing

Fingers crossed for you the pensions people have it right and you'll have an unexpected boost to your finances. Good luck.

Abbafan1972

Yes the figure was correct ☺️

Thankfully now, all we have is the mortgage to pay off! 

Abbafan1972

Well everything is now paid off (apart from the mortgage). 

Obviously my debt free diary wasn’t really a diary as such, but the thought was there! 

Now to become mortgage free!