Learning to walk before I run

savingholmes

It is difficult when you feel you have already cut all you can. That kind of mortgage cost increase is horrific on its own - never mind alongside high nursery fees.

I think you are very 'far future' focused - when for a while at least you need to be more 'near future' focused. When we were getting out of debt there were times we only had £50 or less to spend on non-essentials. We got through and to the other side. I'm sure you will too. If you need a helping hand along the way there are charities. I know we'd prefer to give to them - but there are times when we need to accept any help offered.

Cornish_mum

Hi Ed, I just wanted to pop by and say hello. We went through similar in 2012 after I went back to work after having DS and we also had taken out a bigger mortgage (in order to move out of horrible previous house because of having DS).

It wasn’t great. Our weekly treat was going to MrMs and buying one nice thing for Saturday dinner (whilst working out how little we could spend on everything else but also spending just enough to get a fuel discount voucher for MrCM hideously long car commute). We had no money for any nice to have’s and were both working FT very demanding jobs both with long difficult commutes and DS was a lovely but very difficult baby and toddler.

After childcare, work travel and other work costs; I took home nothing for about 2 1/2 years. Prior to this we had been totally money saver experts, overpaying our mortgage, saving well and had felt very comfortable. It was a shock and we had some really squeaky moments.

I can’t believe we got through it and held it together. MrCM and I still feel guilty about the effect it had on DS; as we let the stress of the situation get to us. 

I am posting this, in the hope that my experience gives you some comfort that this will pass and things will improve. Take care CM

Suffolk_lass

It is hard when something like that happens @Cornish_mum. I always gloss over when DH has lost various engineering jobs over the years before he retrained as a teacher and the tortuous route he went to get his his GCSE with the OU. It took two years instead of one and he worked as an instructor teacher (£10k pa) for the second of these, and as a self employed kitchen designer (commission only) and handyman, painting, decorating, assembling flat-pack and undertaking small repairs for people locally (many of my work colleagues chose to use him because they knew we were in big trouble and, just as important, they could leave him unattended and trust him not to steal anything - I am forever grateful for that leap of trust as they had no idea how competent he might be). He contributed about £2500 in that year and I glibly refer to the credit cards taking a hammering. In year one, about £30k, in year two, more like £10k, so we lived on about £20k as all my salary did was pay the mortgage and one or two bills, with the mortgage interest only. We moved and paid the permitted 10% off our mortgage and cleared those cards with the realised equity, and then I read on here for about three years before joining in, once I found it. I had to stop buying added pension years in that period too. I ended up with nearly three instead of eight and a half.

Thinking back to you Ed, your lender might be willing to let you go IO if the Gov's mortgage proposals follow through. It's a temporary thing but might help until salaries catch up a bit. I'm also looking to get a fix on our leccy once the Oct Price Cap is published. Our current deal ends on 31st this month and it should be published just ahead of that. I am hoping for a fix at a bit less than the doubling we are otherwise facing - not sure if your FIT is just for feed in or both ways ed, but a fix at the Oct rate will cover the anticipated increase in January (I have been looking into this and it accords with Martin's info).

As to a WTSHTF fund, apart from the financial security it offers, I think it helped me do a plan B. An escape plan when I had a toxic boss. That helped enormously. It was amazing how much difference it made with a few colleagues moving and leaving. With your tool being quite new, you need him/her to prove they are a useless superficially impressive bully and for a few union protests to hit the desks of their bosses before anything will change. Even then, it might not, so you do need an escape plan for your own mental health and wellbeing IMHO. One or two external applications never hurts, even if it is to hone your own skills.

edinburgher

@savingholmes - Agree 100% that I am perhaps sometimes focused too much on the far future. This level of interest in pensions can't be usual! I think we are a long way away from needing assistance from a charity, we will still live a lifestyle that is perfectly comfortable by the standards of many

@Cornish_mum - It is reassuring to hear tales of those who have experienced similar and made it out the other side. It's a good point you make re. the impact on kids. We have discussed inflation with DD1 and the fact that we have less money to spend now because the house has become much more expensive, but there's definitely a limit to how much you can share with an 8-year-old.

@Suffolk_lass - I sympathise with past you and DH - I am also someone who knows how to take the long way!

On the energy front, we fixed (Octopus) a month or so ago, so are ok for the next 11 months. Not sure what you mean re. FIT? Ours is original FIT, so a fixed, inflation-adjusted price per kWh generated, as well as an assumed price for energy transferred to the grid (assumed to be 50% of what we generate). I think it works out IRO 20p/unit generated (combined), although there has been next to no sun of late

Going IO for a short period is our insurance policy, we will only use it if strictly necessary as it would only save c. £250/mth.

A vaguely positive week for finances if nothing else. 4 hours of overtime so far, £10 out of Prolific and £20 total added to the WTSHTF fund. I will only be making payments into it on working days, I'm perfectly happy with my life on 99% of days where I'm not at work

Boss excelled themselves this week. Their best contribution was reviewing a piece of work, identifying a typo (a bracket was missing) and telling me with an email that also contained a typo.

South_coast

Personally, I would rename your WTSHTF fund to ITSHTF - much more positive to be thinking in terms of "If" as opposed to"When" 😀

savingholmes

LOL at the typos.

edinburgher

6 hours of overtime in total this week and another fiver out of Prolific yesterday

Today I am having a quiet Saturday (big gym session this morning, bit of grocery shopping and looking after the kids when Mrs E goes to a spa for a well deserved treat this afternoon). Then a treat dinner (big steak using Morrison's 20% offer, boulangere potatoes, steamed corn on the cob and a sauce made with oyster mushrooms and HM stock). Oh, and Scotland vs France rugby round 2.

Withdrew a small amount of money from my Vanguard ISA that was languishing in a random fund (£30). £3.32 paid into my SIPP (£4.15 after tax relief). Rest will be used for a wee day out with DD1 next week to mark the last day of her summer holidays.

Take it easy all

savingholmes

Enjoy your hollibob day out.

edinburgher

Thank you @savingholmes - we've now added to the low key fun, so plan is breakfast at a favourite local cafe, crazy golf, baking cookies and a new to us movie off Disney+ in the afternoon

Going to do 1/2 an hour overtime this morning (all I can fit in), £3.32 paid into SIPP yesterday (£4.15 after tax relief), £6 paid into the WTSHTF fund today (thought about changing it a la South_coast but couldn't bear to be that positive )

savingholmes

edinburgher said:

, £6 paid into the WTSHTF fund today (thought about changing it a la South_coast but couldn't bear to be that positive )

Made me smile. I call mine - my freedom fund. Freedom from worry - and maybe one day freedom from work.