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

Moneyfordreams

LWAP, I have finally read all of your diary and you savings are phenomenal. Congrats! Glad the phone saga got sorted for you. Sorry to read that your cousin is unwell - sending my best wishes

savingholmes

Sorry about your cousin 🦋

LadyWithAPlan

Oops I didn’t realise I hadn’t posted for ages. 

Sorry if you follow me ! 

I meant to do an end of March update but I was waiting for cash to come in and also how much to divert from house savings to my SIPP before tax year end 
so my house savings have dropped by about £4k but future me has saved on tax and is less likely to be poor as I get older  

I will get the figures added in 

my DIY has kept on - I did a 4 day course as well after Easter and am loving my clearer understanding of building stuff! 

So currently eyeing up shelves for a cupboard 

I did build with the help of a friend the flat pack shelving desk thing which is useful and made me tidy more of my study

i also have a friend reupholstering my chaise - it’s very curvy so decided to not do on my own for the first time - it’s taking  forever though and I have no couch to sit on now for a month - I am paying her but she is coming to mine to do it and busy so .. 
next project I will do myself but I am learning watching her 

LadyWithAPlan

Moneyfordreams said:

LWAP, I have finally read all of your diary and you savings are phenomenal. Congrats! Glad the phone saga got sorted for you. Sorry to read that your cousin is unwell - sending my best wishes

The savings fight has been a battle - and choosing to pull cash out my house savings to put into my SIPP for April 5th hurt a bit! However I finally set up a ltd company last year (I was self employed for years for the mortgage 3 years tax records needed) but  I haven't bought and the tax advantages are huge for me as you can pay into the SIPP direct from the company  as it is an expense of the business so no NI and less company tax etc to pay. 

April 5th balances after transfers for SIPP and tax efficiency
So house deposit  savings as of April 5th £104,530  (it was over £109,295 April 1st! so £110k is now further away)
SIPP    £44,063.90 - even with the market hit

14.69% Lean Fire
11.02% on Fire 24k pa (figures do not include my house deposit savings)
My pension is growing - I also have a small DB pension I believe kicks in at 60 - I need to triple check and a full SP all being well. However the big issue on my future plan is I dont own a home as yet and I am over 50.

Help to buy ISA
I have been putting money into an old help to buy isa since the last date it was allowable to open - I put the opening  £1200 in 2nd Dec 2019 and then the £200 max per month since - and its grown
Balance is now £9690.37 including the monthly interest which has been very low when I started but was £17.05 3rd April
The max you can get the 25%  govt help on is £12k so another 11 months £200 - £2200 will be £11,890 (£9690 + £2200)  plus the interest which say it avgs £16 per month = 11 months is £176  - so will easily take me over the £12k limit for the extra govt help - which could get me the £3k extra max  from the govt BUT you only get this extra in a place up to £450k - a limit that has not moved in years!! London flats for £450k  - maybe I will have to buy one that needs a load of work. As I was thinking £500k
So I am hoping that £450k limit  on govt contribution might get updated at some point  as has the stamp duty for first time buyers.

So I may well stop adding to it by Jan 24 and  I can then open a cash isa as well for 23/24  - current rates are 2% in this h2buy isa so normal cash isa's are better  - however as I cant have 2 cash isas at the same time I need to just have the tax free interest advantage 

.......................
Thanks for the well wishes MFD and SH   He has now been brought out the coma (medically induced) but a long way to go still so I am chanting for him daily. 

A very close friend of mine is at a funeral  today for his 28 year old nephew who sadly killed himself - with an easily obtainable legal gun as he lives in the US - mental health is such an issue, he was so loved and everyone is in bits.

I feel very grateful for having hope in my heart, a support network, a lovely roof over my head  where I can afford the rent and food and heating and all my limbs.  In managing my mental health especially in the Jan blues I have this year been doing at least a week a month on things I love, my fun course last month, my DIY course twice a week and my DIY week course last week - it so helps with a positive attitude having fun things to do - even when I am swearing that I hate carpentry as I choose to do another carpentry project.... However when you are building something you will use it's far more fun and I am more patient. I have made myself a picture frame and painted it - yet to order the glass and the mounting etc but I am refusing to spend anymore this month.
The DIY course for the summer course starts next week - home decor of which I did a fair amount in the first course but it will be fun and I have some nice new friends as well on it.

The £2k I won from an energy company draw last year - I used £1150 towards some kit that I wanted//needed - however its been on order for months and now they are not making them (grr) m - they have a new version with some fabulous extra functions - however its over £300 more .. so I really have to make this hobby pay. I did win the money (the rest I added to my sipp/house savings 50/50) so I have justified this spend but I have been busy and not spending the focused time i need to make the new side hustle really pay - though the upside is huge.. So when it arrives tomorrow I am declaring an hour a day no matter what on it.

I have found a way to redo my programme (I lost the new version when my computer died after I threw coffee over it 2 x in 5 mins ) as I did an audio version of the update so I will see if the computer dictation can minimise me rewriting it from scratch.

I was watching another YT series from same Canadian company that does the legendary Til Debt Do Us Part  - they seem to have added more episodes on YouTube of that  - 21 min episodes of brilliance if you haven't watched it   - but this new series  is on construction, house reno and budgets (I blame @Sistergold entirely for my new DIY obsession )
Marriage under Construction is the title - they go through process (13 episodes) of house buying, and major reno with all the issues, budgets, reclaiming stuff - There are 2 separate seasons - but it is great to see the work as well as the budget decisions - I also realise I now have far more skills to build an actual home so when I do come around to buying something at least I have some knowledge as opposed to zero last September before my first DIY course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3LqOYnZXoU&list=PLvQMsI1din5MD9JBIAm6pGgj13RwyCqSJ&ab_channel=JUSTFORHOME

savingholmes

Sorry to hear abut your nephew. There are no words... 

Glad your DIY course is going well. 

I think you made the right call on your pensions - it's why I'm paying into AVCs rather than direct on the mortgage as the tax benefits are huge. 

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

Sorry to hear abut your nephew. There are no words... 

Glad your DIY course is going well. 

I think you made the right call on your pensions - it's why I'm paying into AVCs rather than direct on the mortgage as the tax benefits are huge. 

My cousin is very ill which is v worrying but its' my friends nephew who killed himself - if it had been my nephew I would be hysterical.

 Yes this pension vs home debate gets complicated -but  the tax implications are often the leveller vs the peace of having a paid for mortgage. I always pay anything I make as a HR tax payer over the BR into my sipp for the last 2 years - good you are doing the AVC's - I guess this is a salary sacrifice thing?? Not been employed for decades - always self employed .. though my first job was lucrative and the DB pension from it is a gift I only now appreciate - at the time I did not.. if only I had known to put more money into a pension then!

Worse thing about moving the money  from house savings to sipp though may be  it has destroyed my colour my brick house thing! Every time I save £500 more I colour in a 2 floor home plan - been doing it for years and lovely to see the tiny amount of bricks build and build.  so I need to get it up and beyond £109k to get it back to balance.


I have been future mapping my house buying savings. All dependent on my self employed income and what I choose to put into my pensions.. but in theory in 2- 2.5 years by which I do want to be seriously buying by  - and all going well (ha!) I could have over £200k saved - £105k now plus about £30k owed (if I dont put some into pension which I will)  plus say £3k per month plus interest...
 £200k  is such a huge and exciting goal and would change everything and really help with minimising a giant monthly mortgage which does scare me.. A £2k plus a month mortgage on my own sounds like a lot of pressure

I also really do not want to buy London leasehold either - had too many friends with a nightmare
 ..
I really have to knuckle down and save, need to keep tracking more. So I am going to journal here more..
I also am waiting for my new side hobby stuff to arrive so I can get moving on that - extra income just for my house deposit would be amazing,.,

Grocery challenge April- So far in April I spent £150 food plus the £30 bulk
On that vein I have just added up my grocery spend this month from receipts for once  - I have not entered the grocery challenge officially but my £145 per month plus £30 bulk is looking difficult with the price rises and the fact I am gluten free and need to also be strictly dairy free - post Easter on one bar of normal chocolate I had a red rash on my neck and I know its the dairy.. with my allergies its hard to buy TGTG and often discounted food has gluten or milk in - I guess more cooking and zero takeaways.

  in Bulk I bought my 10 x 250g crema e gusto lavazza coffee online for £29 - at £2.90 each its far cheaper than the £4 you often pay per pack and its great coffee- nicer than the often £5.50 for the same size.. . Plus I bought some reduced GF oats from tesco

Most my spending on food was in the week of my DIY course - even though I was buying from shops and eating there I was also popping in after a post diy drink to buy more food etc....
I am not going to starve myself just cos I have hit my budget £150 is OK and it may need to go up as inflation keeps doing so . I buy at least one corn fed fr chicken from lidl each week - £10 a time - I have halogen roasted one today  - so I get stock and probably 5 or 6 meals out of it as I make a soup and also a stir frry with the leftover bits. It is just me so.

I am really trying to eat a lot of extra greens such as broccoli and kale with each meal .. as I have been reading how kale really helps the liver do its job.. the pile of veggies on my lunch today was Massif!.  I am trying to do more veg than my eyes can see at each meal - always cruciferous on there so kale, broccoli, spinach plus today I roasted a whole red onion with the chicken plus sugar snap peas, frozen mix veg inc corn and peppers.

YNAB anyone?
I was re watching a til debt do us part episode and Gail said how one should do at least an annual review of ones spending...I dont -  I do my monthly budget and have online banking pots so I track through the month how my spending is - but i will then put excess on my card or take it from my bank... I want to start doing a full review at the end of each month so I can see my actual spending - I like to do a paper budget -0 I am great with spreadsheets but I like the paper and scribbling out approach.
However I guess if I used YNAB with connecting the bank accounts  it would give me monthly reports on actual expenditure., - I am just not sure I like the cost of it and how much it would change me given I already do a budget and move cash around when I spend..... Anyone use YNAB and love it? I would love to hear people's experiences..

On the spending note a friend who borrowed 400 euros last year from me says she has finally transferred it today This is good as I have just been booking and paying today for my annual  trip - I am later than normal so it has cost me more on flights and other stuff...  so my procrastination has cost me at least £150..
I did thus choose to fly back a day earlier than normal so saving myself £80 on the return flight so ..
For the first time ever I have a spreadsheet of the cost of it including accommodation - it will cost minimum over a £1000 plus extra food which is not terrible for 2 weeks and is my main trip.. but good to see the figures as the more I spend the less I am saving - I keep spending then saving whats left and that is not going to help this house buying...

Also good news is I won a SMEG kettle! Always wanted one... I would sell it as I think it will not be in the colour I always wanted and buy the colour I want but that will cost me probably £50 at least by the time I have sold the new one when it arrives even sold new and boxed and then bought the other colour... but they are fabulous and I feel a bit of high end free luxury when I make my coffee in the mornings will make me smile! So I may just keep it wrong colour and all

Cheery_Daff

Hello 😊 So sorry to hear about your cousin - all fingers and toes crossed. And your nephew too, how awful xxx

I use YNAB, and I do love it. I'd never recommend it to anyone in debt because of the cost, but I find it very convenient and I love the reports it gives you. However, I don't think you can link to bank accounts in the UK? Although that might be a new feature - last time I looked (which was a while ago) you couldn't. Which means of course you have to enter everything manually, which might not be what you're after!

beanielou

I would LOVE a Smeg kettle!

Merlin's_Beard

I use  YNAB  and use it. It has definitely got a lot more expensive since I started though, so whether I would think it was worth  starting now is anyone's guess.

I think you can link certain bank accounts in the UK as of about a year ago, but I choose not to, because the less automated everything is the more I pay attention. I like the independent add on Toolkit for YNAB as much as I like the original software so I wouldn't advise using it in the base form. It is a pretty, glorified, spreadsheet, but I wouldn't use an unpretty spreadsheet or be bothered to generate the reports if there wasn't software doing it for me, so for me, definitely worth it.

LeighofMar

"The savings fight has been a battle - and choosing to pull cash out my house savings to put into my SIPP for April 5th hurt a bit! However I finally set up a ltd company last year (I was self employed for years for the mortgage 3 years tax records needed) but  I haven't bought and the tax advantages are huge for me as you can pay into the SIPP direct from the company  as it is an expense of the business so no NI and less company tax etc to pay."

Sounds like you have your financial ducks in a row. It sounds similar to what we have here called an SEP-IRA which are retirement accounts for self-employed business owners. Our company can contribute 25% of our earnings per year which is great. Every little way we can help our present selves and our future selves is important. And your house deposit is still impressive so good going with getting the best of both worlds.