Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

South_coast

I love that you have assigned it a gender 🤣!

redofromstart

The shocker for me was when the interest rate up and suddenly I was earning more on the savings than I was paying on the mortgage but that was ok because the first £1k was tax free.  Not for higher rate tax payers it isn't, only £500 and I hadn't allowed for that. I don't mind paying my fair share, but unnecessarily irritates me (I had unused ISA allowance that year).

LadyWithAPlan

Watty1 said:

YNAB sounds a very demanding boss

She certainly is...

savingholmes said:

Social is important especially as a single person who often works from home

Yes indeed and supporting others as well., I have some lovely friends, unfortunately many of them are going thru struggles of health/money/relationships  so good to be able to see them .... we all need a coffee or wine with a friend and a nice chat

South_coast said:

I love that you have assigned it a gender 🤣!

I think she did it herself, she stands there sometimes with a hand on her hip giving me a hard look (probably whilst  leaning against a doorway a la Elizabeth Taylor in 'Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf'  except no cigarette as Ms Ynab wouldnt be wasting her money on no cigarettes (I also think she has a southern US accent?? I guess she was 'born' in the States, except maybe Utah...?

I  found yesterday an old Wise bank account (it is v useful as it gives you various overseas bank accounts people can pay you in various currencies as if they are paying their local currency to such as Aus, US , Can dollars etc..) and had found an errant £90.71 that wasnt in my Ynab... I though I could ignore it til my next trip but then Ms  Ynab stared so I added it in, then of course I thought I would leave the £90.71  in travel but again the eye glare  pressure... so I added it to ready to assign and just categorised it like any cash I receive.

Sadly the money was originally transferred to me so I could give 100 euros in person to someone as a friend owed them it, I gave them the euros cash as reqeusted but hadjust left the sent over  bank transfer money in the account. The friend  who sent the cash has since died unexpectedly (45 and sadly complications of health, alcohol, MH etc and  prescription pain killers) so the money is there almost as he had touched it...  I am waiting to be paid from abroad then I will sweep it out so its intermingled.

redofromstart said:

The shocker for me was when the interest rate up and suddenly I was earning more on the savings than I was paying on the mortgage but that was ok because the first £1k was tax free.  Not for higher rate tax payers it isn't, only £500 and I hadn't allowed for that. I don't mind paying my fair share, but unnecessarily irritates me (I had unused ISA allowance that year).

Yep the £500 limit  kills you, so annoying you hadnt clocked that....
I am not happy I am paying tax though on interest on money I have already paid tax on though in the first place ...it is my house deposit I have no choice to save it. I will add more to an isa - I has a cash one last year for the h2buy, now we can have more than one cash isa I will fill it up. The flexible isas where you can withdrew and refill in the same tax year look interesting.

FLAT Hunting
Saw the flat as arranged, 2 beds, nice but rooms not that big. only decking in garden (one poor bush in a cut out square!) ... EA didnt know how long the lease was for (!) so that suggest not long enough and price way too high, been on at £475k for 2 weeks and they dropping to £450 but will take offers.  Had nice old floors.
It is not my 'dream home' I am aware - nice but kitchen is small and straight onto garden so you cant sit and look out. Affordability is part of my dream house and its nice to think does this tick my boxes..i didnt love it...
EA didnt bother taking me to the second place as it is an a block of flats with a £3k annual service charge - no tx ...


EMS and cheat day - well 2 weeks of slow carb diet and  I have dropped 1.3kg of BODY FAT! (according to the gym machine stats). My home scale has shown weight dropping over the last 2 weeks as well but am also tracking with the machine there ... and i do feel leaner
Results I have lost  in 2 weeks`: 1.3kg body fat in 2 weeks, 1.6% bf ,  and lost 1.1kg weight, muscle mass is up 0.1kg
in cm I have lost 0.9cm from my belly and 0.7cm from hips and 0.6cm off each thigh

Since I started the ems  24/7 (but had 3 weeks away) weight down 2.2kg

I am on cheat day today so after training this morning I had a DF latte (cant have dairy or DF milk on the other 6 days) and then took a friend out on a bday lunch using my restaurant gift card plus this eve I had a bit of choc and some gf biscuits and haribo.. I will keep the rest for next weekend..
I dont need a cheat day but GF pizza always works and its good to get your carb level high once a week. Plus knowing you can eat whatever you want on day 7 makes any cravings (which I have not had apart from a glass bubbly) go away

LadyWithAPlan

Frugal buy - my laptop bag was looking v shabby but found a YNOMO one - with pockets, handles and a strap for £7.49  in a CS whilst dream house hunting yesterday

Gave away a chair and 2 pillows today (were in shams) as I have replaced my pillows and have too many in the house. Gained  4 champagne glasses.

Aiming to get myself sunday organised as lots on and I am not feeling balanced so am using today to clean, calm, reset etc.  I did buy myself a new project book - feeling very back to school! I have sections to fill in so will think which to focus on

TT - i dont do TT's anymore as with ynab it makes no sense, however as reading more diaries here where people paid off the mortgage their focus and severe attention to detail really shows. So I will start another cash isa to start throwing TT's as I find them, where I saved/sold, cashback etc, so I cant get to it easily as I currently have excess in my HYSA easy access.. I think adding bits to my cash isa as if it was an OP makes sense and will be motivational.
I also am still doing my Cov reg saver £250 a month but thats the max so be good to have a dedicated place to watch it grow, my deposit is scattered in many places  inc
help2 buy £12k  contrib maxed - £646.05 interest
plus reg saver, PB's, S&S isa, in a company earning high yield, odd bank acct

CRYPTO
Don't fear I have not put my life savings into Crypto but I have decided to buy a small learning amount, the last MW(OUTA)PLAN actually lived on his crypto earnings and rentals so I have asked a lot of questions about it whilst hanging with him this year, learnt loads from him and read stuff, also started listening to Bankless podcast (all about crypto) and now have some what of an idea... from zero clue . I never invest in things I dont understand and the security risk factors are obv a concern however  I feel knowledgeable enough to dive in, opened a Crypto exchange acct (Krak**) and  I started with   drum roll  initial investment of  £50 last month  in then just added another £22.... so this is a tiny portion of my NAV as in less than 0.04 of 1 percent... 
It is down a tiny amount hence me adding £22 in   The buying fees are  1%.  so 50p per £50 

 I am earning rewards (they are paying me interest back in the coins themselves) on it and will continue  to add maybe £20 per month as I do think its has a huge role in the future of money as I am in the business of money I do need to have a vaguely intelligent understanding of it. The CGT is a concern as in the UK you cant yet add the Blackrock BTC or Eth ETF into any isas or pensions.. unlikely my £72  will get me passed the cgt threshold in the next year . so an issue I am also looking into for the future. I might buy a couple of minings stocks, I do note I have some Nvidia anyway in Vanguard funds..


Grocery  £41.74 spent +  £13 junk (some for next weekends  cheat day)
Back on track with the slow carb and have bought some bits for comping that are not on my 6/7 days nutrition list - sadly kale doesnt run competitions.... its  mainly crisp, sweet  and processed food manufacturers who do.. However I am feeling so great on the slow carb I am actually enjoying being back on it after eating a few too many haribo etc yesterday  and not tempted to eat that which i didnt finish yesterday, its in a tin for next weekend- this plan may yet wean me off them as I am not enjoying junk food as much

Awful torrential rain today and lightning last night

CLASSES decisions
Got 3  classes (all free) I am eyeing up -mwell actually 8 but I have wheedled it down, including a Ai class all about best ways to use it., I do use chat gpt for excel formulas sometimes but figure its a worthwhile and free  course. and its an evening so thats a def . Only 6 weeks but knowledge is power
The other 2  (althought there may be a couple more that make sense in the diary) though are in the afternoons and I dont want to lose 2 afternoons so i need to see which i choose there. 

TallGirl

Morning the Crypto sounds really interesting I look forward to reading more. I agree you need to understand something before investing in it so good luck sounds like you already have a good grasp. 

That is a lot of courses nice that they are free too. I think it is tempting to do loads but if you are looking to get another contract and still wants to socialise and do fitness good idea not to cram too much in. Are there any that will run again so you could move them to next year maybe? I am doing an online sewing one and hopefully a free Spanish one but unsure if I will get in so booked both even though I only want to do 1 ideally. 

LadyWithAPlan

@TallGirl an online sewing class sounds fun. I did my garment construction class last year but due to issues their end (no teacher, replacement teacher was ill, class started late,  then had  already booked work trips  and half terms etc so I only did 5 of 12 classes)  I found it very relaxing - how is the online explaining where it is confusing? eg I am still confused by zips and where they get placed and a teacher to directly show you is v useful.

You are right I dont want to sign up/on for too much - I am aware though I bought the python courses etc  for online and no external pressure  so not started them - if I have to be somewhere external or an external deadline I always turn up, .... otherwise I can put things off.. I have used this to my advantage but when I dont have that ...
I think I can choose one course for just joy/side hustle movement - anything else I study has to be for career moving forward

CRYPTO - yes its interesting but vital to start small and understand. I have in my YNAB wish list a ledger nano (basically a hard drive you can add your crypto to where it lives so it cant be moved as easily online by hackers  - rather than leaving your crypto on the exchange )  but they start at £69 which is only £3 less than I have in  crypto ! So I think once I get into over £150 I will invest in the hard wallet. 

YNAB DANCING
i am waiting on further pay today and then I am doing the YNAB dance and filling in my 'next month ahead'  category of bills, basic variable spending (groceries & odd coffee out) and also my true expenses (so the main sinking funds of annual dd's)  as  a stripped out category  as a priority. 
If the worse case happens I do have a lot of available cash currently but good to start splitting it clearly now before I buy, next months bills, then a 6 months basic EF as separate from my  house deposit and house buying costs as all my cash is jumbled into one  currently.



Feeling good
A day of getting ahead of myself means I am feeling clearer headed.  Whiteboard has my things to get done this week. My new yellow sticky notes keep falling off.

Frogs today are
Work 2 x Big excels for contract - still figuring out someone elses terrible 'girls maths' and then making it make sense... ONE DONE and nearly finished the other..

Personal frogs -
-sort PAYE system as not working and  hmrc solution hasnt worked NOPE.

- Call NI as they still have not apportioned back pay money that was meant to be done so from 2020 (14 calls later still no joy as they keep saying wait a few months each time for system to update!) I have looked and with my record I don't need to pay it all for my years, as long as I pay the next  few years I will get full SP. So I will ask for the money back - could be a decent TT OP .....DONE! 

Finally got hold of someone who knew what they were talking about so they apportioned some of my money towards 3 old years inc a part year and I am waiting for confirm and also a refund form. The other people had added it up wrong...
Looking at the years I have got hence to work and what years  I have yet to pay  NI I am very much on track with a full SP. With this year 24/25 that will be 28 years of NI paid in and so a further 7 years to the required 35 years is easy to do .. I will think if I want to back the other years but, I dont need to - and I think if I was ill and could not work I could claim NI rebate on benefits I believe.
Anyone see anything wrong here? Any reason to hit the 35 years early?

TILLY TIDY OP/hse deposit CASH ISA    First 'OP' £265.29 + £11.72 added from old bank accts = £277.01
(imagining this like a house OP so it gets me nearer to house purchase) 

This NI phone call has been a win as I also had some money saved in YNAB to cover any NI  issues here so as we ahead the game  I have made my first big OP to my TILLYTIDY OP New Cash ISA.  I may claim the other difference back  as well, over £300 so will see when system is updated.

Very excited about this new TT cash isa I started today. I have had for years a H2B  cash isa which meant I could not open more than one prior to the isa changes. so I often added hse savings  to Premium bonds  instead which I also never want to sell. I am really enjoying being single again (not dating again yet) but Agent Million  is welcome to  turn  up at my door anytime...

 New isa rules mean I can have loads of isas so I will track my new cash isa TILLY TIDY here and start it with some cash I have now. I am seeing them all as OP's. I will get a flexible isa so I can add back in if I need to withdraw.
I also have an excel to check 24/25 isa deposits but not planning to add much to the S&S isa  if any so fairly easy.

GAMEIFICATION
I am not a gamer as I get addicted to those things easily (lets not discuss jewel skull candy crush) but I used to track wins in savings but with the lack of regular paid invoices it has been me more juggling liquidity.
So my new TT OP isa I will be seeing what from my YNAB I can move by not spending elsewhere.
Looks like I have some credits for my gym so the money I set aside for that I have moved some  to prepay the next few weeks so I will move the rest once thats clear.
I am waiting on a £15 return on a cancelled sub and will be also a jury service time cheque - need to fill form for that. thats tomorrows frog

skint_spice

Well done on eating all those frogs!

beanielou

You have been a very busy bee! 

savingholmes

Sorry the flats weren't for you. I wouldn't want that kind of service charge either. That would be the equivalent of 3 months mortgage for me for as long as I live... 

Good luck with upping your income and getting paid.... 

South_coast

savingholmes said:

I wouldn't want that kind of service charge either. That would be the equivalent of 3 months mortgage for me for as long as I live... 

You'd never have to worry the roof leaking, or a big crack in the wall, or (in my case) the boiler failing though.... Never underestimate the things that might occur which the other leaseholders haven't set aside the cash to pay their share of. That way it's all taken care of before it becomes an issue