Learning to walk before I run

edinburgher

£6k is just the difference between childcare vouchers and fees @greent - basically £500/mth cost for 3 days a week. I appreciate that's a fraction of some English cities

badmemory

Isn't the logic that when the markets have really sunk then that is the time to put in your sipp & as they recover then go for mortgage overpayments.  Don't do what I did though & wait to take my annuity until after my birthday (better rates for a year older) & then watch it all sink like a stone.  I landed up waiting until I was 72 to finally take it.  Luckily it wasn't a big amount, certainly not worth the effort of self managing but still very annoyed with myself.

edinburgher

That was unfortunate @badmemory - hopefully the fact that I use a Target Retirement fund will help to mitigate against sequence of returns risk? It's a fairly zesty 72% equities at the moment but will be c. 30% by the time I draw it down

I had a fairly productive day yesterday, including taking DD2 for a nearly 2-hour walk and completing a very brief introduction to HTML. It was fine (real easy stuff), although I was a tiny bit worried that a) the training provider missed me from the distribution lists to start the training (quickly remedied) and b) they had a spelling mistake on their second? slide. I know the latter happens and the provider appears to be reputable, it's just not a good impression to make when your ultimate goal is to pry £7,000-£8,000 in training costs out of the hands of your prospective customers

Today will be a little bit of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). If nothing else, this introduction has been great for helping me understand a little bit more about how the internet is structured. It's the last day of my Christmas holiday, feeling ok considering.

All the Direct Debits have gone out this morning and I am feeling mightily skint!

• £45.28 paid off CC
• £5 paid into SIPP (lottery winnings, £6.25 after tax relief)
• £1 OP made (after slighting myself the other day I remembered that I do make tiny OPs)
• £100 each paid into ISAs for DD1 and DD2 after a generous gift from their grandparents.

edinburgher

Oh Lord - basic CSS was murder compared to basic HTML!

I returned to work today and managed to get a little work done after battling the usual procrastination demons for a couple of hours. I really don't want to be there anymore...

• £58.54 paid off CC
• £6.61 withdrawn from Prolific
• Been offered another survey from YouGov but totally lacking in motivation to start again (got to £50 after 6 months just before Christmas)

Right, off to the next coding task.

South_coast

If you need YouGov motivation, it took me two years to get my first £50, so you are clearly in demand - don't let that pass you by!

themadvix

Agree with SC - two years is standard, although I suspect with YG Safe and direct surveys (or whatever they’re calling them now) that that may come down a bit.

edinburgher

I am a white guy approaching middle age - such an odd mix of being influential to policy makers while feeling completely invisible

Earned my 60p and checked my YG stats for 2022. I was in their top 5% of contributors, so we're not imagining my above average returns.

Also completed day 3 of my coding challenge (easy HTML again) and did an hour of overtime. Even at plain time, the £24-25 on offer beats the hell out of side hussle money

Edit: opened a Zop@ Smart Saver account

South_coast

Nearly 40 is not approaching middle age 😮!

edinburgher

South_coast said:

Nearly 40 is not approaching middle age 😮!

Says you!

I am trying to get my work head on earlier this morning, the first week back is always murder.

• £44.27 paid off CC - taking it down to a largely ceremonial £3,499
• Checked my TCB account and was pleased to see that £32 from an insurance switch has been confirmed

Plan for today is to finish work slightly early to use up a little bit of flexi I've accrued, go grocery shopping and then do an hour of overtime once kids go to bed.

Karmacat

edinburgher said:

South_coast said:

Nearly 40 is not approaching middle age 😮!

Says you!

🤣🤣🤣  Says South Coast and everyone else who's been there 😎