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

Cornish_mum

Great to see you back, look forward to hearing your new plans CM

Fortune_Smiles

Sorry to hear about the rotter 😠 - he's obviously not good enough for our LaPlan, not enough moral fibre!

Fortune x

LadyWithAPlan

Fortune_Smiles said:

Sorry to hear about the rotter 😠 - he's obviously not good enough for our LaPlan, not enough moral fibre!

Fortune x

Indeed (& thanks!)  Imagine a life without me and my burgeoning diy skills!  I do have a fabulous life but I need a man not a boy if I plan to share it. 

LadyWithAPlan

Tried to go to bed early but the heat woke me up. So figured I’d share some bits of good news 

my help to buy ISA is nearly full £10,773 at present - had over £20 in interest this month and the £200 just gone in so once I finish this tax year and hit the £12k  limit I can start having a cash isa again. 
7 months of £200 to include early April 24  plus the interest 7 x £20 approx will take it to £12,313 
Max is £12k I get the 25% uplift on (if house is up to 450k ) but I will fill it up as it’s the only cash ISA for 23/24 and get the tax free interest as I earn more than £1k a year in interest due to my house deposit 
i opened it on the last day you could in Dec 19 and put the £1200 in then £200 in monthly DD since so nice to see it’s built up to this. Always making sure it got paid - largely if not all from my MB income as well so  

HUGE WIN! 
Also I have signed up for 2 other courses to help with my hobby strand as in turning up each week makes me do my work, focused learning and I can get moving on the other income stream as I have been stopping myself 

So drumroll I have just applied and successfully got a 3 year student card! Woohoo! £27 inc postage 

Waiting for them to post it but got the emails confirming 
Just looking at the benefits - my local gym which ran out in the summer I can get with the card for £380 annually vs £650 and it’s national coverage vs local - I have been refusing to renew but I will now feel I can and use the excess birthday money towards this.  
other benefits include 10% off my Boots spend and also the 10% off Co-op shopping 

This is true MSE plus I may get a student rail card as well. 

So feeling very pleased as not had a student card in 30 years  

Feeling I may be looking much older than the other students I also bought myself from birthday money a LED face mask A friend buys a lot from TEMU as quick postage as from Spain so got from there. I trust him so therefore I am trusting this marketplace so far so good - delivery is tracked and if it arrives later than the Sep 9-15 window I get £5 voucher 

I was looking at the Current B**y one at £279 or the Egyptian Queen one as it has lots more led lights at £300 / more LED lights the better apparently! 
However  I have bought on TEMU one for £80 which has even more LED lights than either 
I will look like an alien but hopefully a young one slightly better than ET. 

I don’t do Botox or fillers etc - the cost ouch! But I gather the led masks work so well that many people use much less expensive creams as it so helps with collagen 
Once it arrives I will report back. I can wash up in it etc rather than having to sit and close eyes and be plugged in so it feels better for my lifestyle. 

My skin is great just it’s a few forehead lines I want it for so plan to do a personal before and after pic 

still not done my Sept budget argh - I am eating out the freezer for the last week as it needs a major defrost. Largely what’s left is HM chicken stock - loads of it and some veg - however it’s a bit warm to be making soup though I did last week in my fabulous pressure cooker. 

Hope everyone keeps drinking water Ahd coping with the heat ok - I love it as I know it will not last 

KajiKita

Oooh, intrigued by the LED face mask. I am getting a touch jowly - it would be good to know if it might help with that. 😊

And well done on the ISAs and the student discounts. The latter are flipping useful as they pop up in all sorts of random places. 

KK

beanielou

Hope you are not disappointed by Temu. 

I was. 

LadyWithAPlan

@KajiKita the research says lots of great things about led masks and had lots of friends rave about it so I will report back - 

@beanielou sorry to hear that. My friend uses it a lot so hopefully my experience will be good 

LadyWithAPlan

Annual Roundup + refocus - 2nd year anniversary of the diary

So I know this is slightly late as I started Aug 23rd 2021 and I have been a bit MIA the last few months but I do need to refocus as with my contract work days going down and my rent going up ... my focus has to be on house buying and saving again. The maths of my super cheap rent no longer work as well but of course with less work I am even more reticent to get a huge monthly mortgage.. However I do know within 2 years and probably by next spring 2024 I should seriously look at this buying and I need a large(r) deposit!

So that means tracking again
- my spending
- my saving
- my income each month strictly -  all of which has not happened over this year largely.

Sep 8th 2023 data
House Deposit £108,546.17   vs         Aug 2021 was £67,711.70    + £40,834.47 in 2 years
SIPP £45,712.90                      vs          11/08/21        £26,731.30     + 18,981.6  in 2 years
(I do have a £7k pa DB pension plus will be full SP also)


Goals when I started 2 years ago
Goal 1: Build House deposit further  to £100k (or £130k  but thats  seems a lot) CHECK on over £100k woohoo!
Goal 2: Buy somewhere nice and  affordable in London  with a balcony, terrace and/or garden  in 2022.  - NOPE - I nearly bought Nov 21 at 1.64% interest but it looked expensive and a lot of work to do.
Goal 3: Once I am in the flat then save 15% gross income to SIPP and then all else goes to O/P N/A - still aiming for 15% into SIPP as over 50 and tax reasons
Goal 4: 2035 is the goal date for MFW N/A
Goal 5: First this month August I finish my programme and launch and market it  - earn money from that (£300 /month = goal but this is a figure plucked out of the air) THEN decide if I need to apply for another part time freelance job or focus on selling the programme. NOPE! I lost all the info/writing as computer died  but do have an audio version I could  re transcribe

New revised goals for next 12 months
Goal 1: Build House deposit further  to £150k in 8 months
Goal 2: Buy somewhere nice and  affordable in London  with a balcony, terrace or garden  in 2024/5 - prob £450k - if I buy more then I lose my £3k uplift from my H2B - not included in figures
Goal 3: Once I am in the flat then save 15% gross income to SIPP and then all else goes to O/P 
Goal 4: 2035 is the goal date for MFW - still 
Goal 5: Look at income each month and make enough to save £3750 a month - this requires a new contract or lots extra side hustles which could be doable but I have been lazy and unfocused and just coasting. Decide on my plan of action and commit.
Goal 6 - daily posting here on spending/saving and TT's. - I re-read some of Tilly's diary yesterday and her  daily check-ins she definitely said helped her focus.


Reflection
I feel very fortunate and appreciate that I have managed to save and not spend excessively over the last 2 years - last months holiday was first vacation as opposed to work trip in 6 years maybe! I know how many people are struggling even those who always had decent room in their budgets and I know friends who have spent wildly over the last few years and now are super super stressed. I know for some this COL crisis is awful so I feel privileged I am talking about saving rather than not being able to pay my  basic bills.

Well done me on increasing my savings even though I have been working a lot less and thats going down further in days for my main client. Plus my SIPP has gone up £19k even though I put less than £1k in this year so far and markets have been wobbly, tx to tax advantages and focus
- I have now set up my own company a year ago so thats better for tax  vs SE - I got 0 help over covid in seiss.
- I still think I need to buy about the £450k mark even though house prices surged over Covid and are falling but not back to original levels - largely I think cos of interest rates. So I am looking out further in London.
- I have since learnt to do lots of DIY
- my side hustles carry on - my creative career from pre covid I have made some on but not focused on it - MB is less as more and more gub me + I have done some but not much comping. I have won some fun tickets over the summer that has saved me some.
My new side hustle I am doing a course in it at present PLUS I have a further artwork idea that I have started..
- Question is go get a real job in finance which I dont want to do or keep what work I  have and add by further PT work and also more creative income as I used to have pre covid - I started my 2021 diary saying this and not really shifted the balance much - letting the environment dictate to me rather than the other way around.



GOAL 8 MONTHS -  £150,000 DEPOSIT May 2024
If i can get to £150k - at £108.5k now plus am owed about 20k - which will be taxable  then 
Flat £450k  -if £150k dep so £300k mortgage - plus expenses of course
today MSE mortgage offers say:

4.88% interest for 10yr!  Until 30/11/2033  Monthly payment  £1,905
To save approx £30k in 8 months - thats £3.75k a month -this is HUGE but maybe just doable if I am working full time but I am not so first step  - get income back up!

Plan of action
- focus on my monthly budget and this time -  track actual spend at end of each month + track actual income each month + track savings rate
- I am still owed cash from 2 contractors - one £20k plus = get resolved and get back up to date.
- 15% per month into SIPP for tax as well
- Tilly Tidy again - I TT'd £30 this morning
- Grocery Challenge £200 + £50 BULK this month
- resolve each month to improve income and look if hitting the £3750/per month or not what to do

Track monthly as I go  Sept 2023 
Savings    £250/£3750
-H2B £220 - inc £20 per month interest 

 + TT savings £10  

Free Money £20 Cashback into ISA

Grocery spending inc my Bulk £25.50/£200  + £0/£50  - will bring this down but currently emptying freezer and cupboards so I do need a restock next week.

Entertainment spending as thats gone up  £117/£300
(I was spending loads as part of a couple and now I am single again so spending more!)  I have a weekend away next weekend at friends and we already doing a £70 a la carte menu Sat night  plus alcohol ;(((

Pension investing  £0 Sept (did add £800 end August)

NSD   - starting from yesterday 13 days in Sept -   1/13 - planning to go out this eve and lunches at friends Sat/Sun so I do need to buy alcohol at least

Minimalist Game again 0/30

GYM/exercise 
As I now have my student card - woohoo - my gym is £380 a yr vs £650 annual so I am planning to save for a month or so and then book vs paying on a CC and pay next month. £68 saved so far from excess birthday money £68/£380

Credit Card
I have been using my credit card - paying off each month - but I find I then spend loads more on it. I only have a cc for my credit score - did not have one for over a decade and travelled fine without it. So I am going back to transferring the cash I do spend on it into a saving pot as I go during the month so then can pay off in a lump sum
Being paid late constantly exacerbated the situation and made it harder to do my budget

LadyWithAPlan

TallGirl said:

Yeah good to see you back sorry about the live life but better to see that sort of behaviour sooner rather than later as in before you commit long term. Annoying about the rent but it might spur you on re work and buying. 

indeed - its a good kick in the .. for me - I have been coasting with this rent

@LeighofMar tx hope all is well your way!

@KajiKita London prices have dropped but still more than pre covid - I am looking at a £2k a month payment of which £1300 will be interest!!

Cheery_Daff

Hello!! Welcome back 😊😊😊 Glad to hear you got rid of a bad apple. Excellent progress on your goals there - can't believe you still haven't been paid those outstanding invoices! 😱😱

Good luck with the next round of your goals 😊😊 And looking forward to reading more about your DIY!