Getting FIREd up 😀

South_coast

After two years keeping calm and carrying on, now feels like the right time to move on and start getting FIREd up instead 😀

Summary of the last two years: Was working for a plc, decent money but putting in a lot of hours, very little support from the business and pretty fed up with always being sent out to do battle for the company from an indefensible position. The pandemic struck, almost my whole team was furloughed and I was the "lucky" one who got to continue working, get set impossible targets, and then get shouted at for only achieving most of them - complete with a pay cut 🤦‍♀️! Everyone else got brought back to work and I got made redundant 😮! Felt relieved after the initial shock, then angry enough to stand up for myself and negotiate a reasonable settlement. Set some aside to pay my bills for a while, paid the rest off the mortgage. Started sleeping properly. Spent the next 3 months looking for work and doing surveys to supplement my Jobseeker's Allowance. Started drinking less. Found a job, became very suddenly quite ill 4 days before start date (I'm never ill 🤦‍♀️!), started 2 weeks later. Got a big tax rebate, paid it off the mortgage. Received a small inheritance, paid it off the mortgage. Started exercising. Proclaimed 2021 would be "the year of health".

New job is less money, less holiday, less pension, further away and longer hours (although a lot less than the unofficial hours I was putting in before) - but so much better for me! Colleagues and bosses are wonderful, helpful and supportive. People listen to me! (They've also just given me a bonus and a pay rise, so I'm feeling even more positively inclined towards them than usual 🤣!) Realised I could work here for a while and formulate an actual FIRE plan, rather than just focus on surviving the next 3ish years and then leaving to do anything else (the only thing that kept me going in old job). Drew up FIRE plan, paid off last of mortgage, started saving for some short-term expenses before I attack the big beasts of firstly making my home more habitable and then working towards FIRE.

And that's us up to date! That's saved you ploughing through 318 pages of waffle over on the old diary 🤣! But if you are a little bored now that Christmas is out of the way, then here it is: 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6086041/keep-calm-and-carry-on/p1 

So, The Future....


I keep reading FIRE articles where the writer is saying that most people don't really want to retire early and are really just focusing on the financial independence part. That is definitely not me! I am focused on the retire early part,  with the financial independence bit more a means to an end. I have some overall figures in mind, but I'd ideally like to get to a point by the time I'm 45 where I can coast the rest of the way. I'm currently 38.

So, this is what I would like to achieve by my 45th birthday:

Pensions: £75k. Normal contributions and no crashes should get me there, so this isn't a particular focus. Current £60,206.14/£75,000

LISA: £40k. This will be achieved as long as I can put in the maximum £4k/year. Current £10,015.92/£40,000

S&S ISA: £90k. This is the biggie 😮! This is where all the savings will be going once the refurb is sorted.... Current £1,046.98/£90,000 😳

I check in every month with my progress against the overall figure (which also includes the costs for the refurb of my flat), so I'll probably only review the "Plan by 45" stats when I have a birthday, or I'll be bamboozling myself with two sets of figures (maths not my strong point), but I just wanted to set it out here to remind myself how that fits into the overall plan 😀!

South_coast

Right, so what are the goals for 2022 🤔?

Not a goal in terms of monitoring (you'll see why in a second 🤣!), but don't put so much pressure on myself. As much as I can't wait to be early-retired, I do still have to work in the meantime, and this takes up a lot of my time and headspace and I need to respect that. If evenings mean throwing some leftovers in the microwave, doing a couple of surveys and then falling asleep in front of the telly, then that's fine. But I won't be setting myself targets for free money or filling in an exercise tracker, as that will take up more time and put more pressure on me (and I have a feeling I will achieve the same outcomes regardless, as these are now habits)

However, there are still some things I would like to achieve this year:


Money....

* Pay £4000 into the LISA as early in the new tax year as possible - This will earn me the maximum bonus for The Future

* Rebuild my EF to £4800 - This is currently sitting at £1232.65 due to some recent unexpected repairs on the flat (with more to come - although I guess that makes the next round "expected unexpected" 🤷‍♀️?)

Once the above are complete....

* Save 60% of my salary each month towards the refurb - I paid off the mortgage 7 months ago and I've still not put a single penny aside! Various reasons for this, but I need to just get on and do it (especially as the aforementioned unexpected spends have left it in an even worse condition than before 😳)!

* Anything else I can spare above 60% to go into the S&S ISA on payday - I've gone back and forth and back and forth on this one, as every penny I don't put into the refurb pushes it even further down the line, but on the other hand, time in the market is also very important. This feels like an acceptable compromise

* Any free money or underspends to be paid into the monthly pots - This way I get to enjoy the fruits of my labour/frugality, rather than them just disappearing into the refurb/S&S abyss


2022, the year of happiness....

* Get out and explore somewhere new once a month - This doesn't have to be far away, in fact the closer the better (there are so many places locally that tourists from hundreds of miles away will have been to that I haven't 🙄!) I might even look up what are considered to be the local "sights" and make sure I've seen them all - after 15 years living here, I probably should have done!

* Try out a new recipe once a month - I'm happy with the fact I'm cooking all of my food from scratch, but my repertoire is a little limited and I fall back on the old (and tasty 😋) favourites every week, so this should help me find some new favourites

* Try to be more upbeat and positive - and don't succumb to ranting at/about work - Bit of a subjective one this, and probably the hardest to achieve of the lot 😮 Re-living work ridiculousness might make a good story, but I'm not sure it does much for my stress levels (and probably doesn't make me look very professional either 😳)!

* Try and have a couple of little trips away, one UK, one Europe. No idea how to pay for it, as the money I did have set aside has been swallowed up by repairs. Maybe raid the EF a bit more - life's too short to save 60% of my income but still feel I can't afford a holiday!


Sundry....

* Write a will - It keeps popping into my mind that I should probably get this organised now that I have something to actually leave. At the moment everything would automatically go to my Mum as my next of kin, which isn't what I want (she is aware of this 🤣!), so let's make 2022 the year that the fleeting thoughts become crystallised 

That will do, I think. It's the year of happiness, not the year of difficult-to-achieve targets!

Cornish_mum

Happy new diary South_coast. Goals sound ace, I will be cheering you on. CM

debtfreeoneday

Happy shiny new diary. 

Jessy103

Happy new diary, SC! You got this! x

Watty1

Happy new diary and good luck with the plans

savingholmes

Congratulations on your new diary and journey to fire

South_coast

Ooh, thanks all 😀! Can't promise it'll be any more about money and any less about detective dramas than the last one, but a change is as good as a rest, eh 🤣?

newgirly

Best of luck for 2022 and with the new diary! 

South_coast

Thanks NG 😀!

Cheery_Daff

Yay, happy new diary! I love a new start at the new year, and you have some excellent plans. I also have will-writing on my list for the year (as I did last year... must actually do it this time!)

Also identified with your local adventures plan. We live in a national park, and I think I did more exploring of the national park when I still lived in the city than I have since we moved here. More local adventures for me too! 

Good luck with not ranting at/about work 😂😂 an admirable goal!