Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!

Seasidegal58 · 4 January at 10:46PM

Thank you @Justcrackingonwithit - they certainly are!😀

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS - 2025
It was a NSD today. Yesterday's spends were the coffee and cake and I picked up some household bits in the local Morrison for DD.

Also, I bought a little book on Amazon that is a life organiser so that I can record all my financial details, household details and expression of wishes so that things won't be onerous for my family when the time comes. There was a discussion on @Cherryfudge's diary recently and a link to Age UK's download was given. I had a look and it was very comprehensive but I saw this little book and I think this will suit me better.
Most of January's DDs went out of my account on Thursday and I have reviewed all my YNAB categories for 2025. I've made a couple of adjustments - I've cut back on the Christmas category as the family have decided to rein back on presents. A couple of things have increased like the service charges for the flat and its building insurance. I've also increased my Pilates sessions from half an hour to 40 minutes so the fee has increased by £7.

But the big news is that I have received a rather nice win on the PBs. There was a recent discussion on someone's diary about PBs and I mentioned I was up to the limit on PBs since retirement three and a half years ago and although I have won every month the highest prize I've received has been one amount of £750. Well, the New Year fairies have decided to bless me this month with £5,000! I'm over the moon with this!
I've decided to use this to fund my DCS pension. My current income consists of my State Pension and my DBS pension. As this is sufficient for my needs at the moment I haven't touched the DCS but I will have to by the time I'm 75, which is just over 5 years away. As I'm not working now, the most the Pension regulations will let me fund into the DCS is £2,883 annually. So I'm going to do this to bump it up a little as it's now mostly invested in safe securities such as bonds and won't grow that much. I'll put £2,883 in for this year and fund the balance of the PB amount from current savings once the new tax year starts. And I'll gain from the extra 20% tax relief that the Government will fund into the plan as well. 👍

beanielou · 4 January at 10:54PM

That’s fantastic news 🥂

Seasidegal58 · 4 January at 10:58PM

Thanks @beanielou - I feel very privileged that I have that amount saved in PBs that I get these chances to win extra cash.

redofromstart · 4 January at 11:00PM

Oh that's brilliant news!

in_need_of_direction · 4 January at 11:57PM

Well done on the win and the sensible application of funds.

TallGirl · 4 January at 11:58PM

Amazing news on the PBs well deserved and lovely to hear a nice big win.

debtfreeoneday · 5 January at 5:57AM

That’s so great to hear about the win. What a lovely start to 2025. Also that comment the friend friend made about the best years of your lives really does strike a chord.