Getting FIREd up 😀

South_coast

Hmmm, well it wasn't meant to be, but perhaps it should be 🤣! Will see how the first few weeks of eating normal food go. It definitely does get harder as you get older though (all the more reason for not putting it on in the first place 🤦‍♀️). When I was in my 20s, I just had to think the word "diet" and it would start to come off 🙁 I would often do a pre-Christmas diet so I could put it all back on again over the break - one year I lost 11lbs just by not eating the sweet treats in the office!

Anyway, the good news is that the sweet stuff is done with for the year. I am down to the last 3 mince pies and 1 apple turnover (don't even really like them that much, but they were homemade and being given away and a) I felt a bit obliged and b) I can't bear waste). They are now safely tucked away in the freezer. 

The bad news is that I feel quite full and BF has booked us a table for dinner at 6.00pm 😳!

South_coast

P.S. I meant to say thanks for the lovely compliment 🥰!

South_coast

Happy new year to all MFWs and already-MFs 😀

Right, that's the formalities out of the way, now on to the real business of the day 🤣!

First of the month round-up….

• A slightly more normal 4x extra £50s this month, coming from bank account cashback, receipt scanning, TopCashBack, some tilly tidies, surveys, interest, Ziffit, a refund I wasn't sure I'd get, and another energy rebate (thank you, ZipZero). Used them towards my niece's account. The aim is now to get all of the scheduled payments for this made as soon as possible, so that she can get the benefit of more interest and I can free up the money for The Future 👍😀

• Had an about-turn on my thinking regarding stoozing and applied for a new purchases card 🤣! In the process of closing two though, so that makes me net 5, with one of them only used when overseas and another so annoying I'm only holding onto it for I'm-not-sure-why reasons

• Have decided I'm warming to Norstatpanel. I'm much happier now they're offering cash payments and I'm clearer on what each coin is worth. Getting 10p even if you get screened out is unusually rewarding too. The stars remain a mystery though 🤷‍♀️

• Had a brainwave and tracked down exact matches on Vinted for my work shoes and a much-loved work dress I wore to death a few years ago (I'd looked on eBay before, but this is my first time on Vinted). I'm impressed! Seller of the dress even accepted my slightly cheeky lower offer*, so I got a brand-new dress still with the £60 label on for £5 😀 The biggest win of all though is that I no longer have to think about them (have been trying to replace both for longer than I care to think about, but workwear doesn't seem to be a thing any more. Was looking up to £150 for a dress - have tried on so many! - but none were right, which is what got me thinking about the old one)

• Didn't spend £437 on a moss bowl 🤣….but I am now looking at moss in a whole new light!

11.16 years to go….

The stock market has gone mad again! It will be very upsetting when it goes back down again, but for now it's a good month!

* I only knocked £1 off, I'm not a complete *rse!

South_coast

2023 round-up….

(As a reminder, progress during 2022 was +£4,863.62 - plus +£2900 for “the other thing”, but I wasn't counting that at the time as I was trying to pretend it didn't exist)

Pensions: +£10,604.50

ISA: +£3,640.24

LISA: +£5,234.52

“The other thing”: +£9,600

Total: +£29,079.26 😳😳😳!

That's more like it!!!

So the focus this last year has been on getting ahead of myself for as many 2024 known costs as I can, so that this year can be all about the refurb. To that end, I've:

• Got £4k saved ready to transfer to the LISA on 06/04

• Set aside this year's car maintenance budget 

• Set aside the annual service charge for the flat 

• Front-loaded the remainder of the payments into my niece's account so that I should be finished paying in within the next few months

• Re-jigged my savings allocations so that the first half of the year is all going towards the refurb, with “the other thing” catching up towards the end of the year

• Emptied the balance of the holiday pot into other savings. The plan for 2024 is “no holidays” so I can focus on the refurb (I had five last year, which will hopefully tide me over, but let's see how long it lasts 🤣!)

Goals for 2024: Do the refurb

(Anyone else sensing something of a theme here 🤣?)

Have a great 2024 everyone, looking forward to seeing where we all end up 😀!

LadyWithAPlan

Great round up and good luck on the refurb

Well thought out purchasing there  on your Vinted success as well - I have managed to replace 2 pairs of shoes I loved that way - thinking maybe I should see if I can see my favourite Zara trousers on there … had them in cream, 2 pairs of blue and a black that never fitted as well but now down to just the cream so it would be amazing if I could replace them. 

Of course I need to sell more than but clothes this year 

the other thing sounds properly mysterious

killerpeaty

Good news on replacing your dress like that!

It sounds like you've had an amazing 2023 financially! Well done!

So with the refurb, have you made the decisions or started finding people to do it?

Jessy103

Happy New Year, SC! Are you seriously going to let us go into 2024 with "the other thing" still a mystery though?! 😂

On the norstat stars thing, as far as I can gather from them, it is just like a loyalty system. The more you have, the more entries you get into their money prize draw when you complete a survey (not that I've ever won one of these prize draws).

South_coast

Thanks all 😀! Although I still think you're making "the other thing" waaaaaayy more exciting than it actually is! It is very boring, not very financially savvy and may still not happen (but if it does, then it's not the kind of money I can conjure up out of nowhere, hence saving for it now). Sorry for the mystery!

KP, not into planning the specifics yet as I've only got £200 in the pot so far. Actually, might move that into my niece's account, as that would bring the end date forward by another 17 months and free up 4x £50s (once I've earned them 😳). I have lots of ideas though - which probably cost way more than my guesstimate!

South_coast

Decision made! Now 11.17 years to go. It turns out £200 didn't make that much difference to the overall retirement picture 🤣!

South_coast

P.S. I am already bored of dry January 🙄🤣!