Getting FIREd up 😀

themadvix

I have put all the non-perishables away for now - out of sight, out of mind. We still have cheese (virtually untouched) and half a sherry trifle to get through - trifle will go to my sister’s for niece’s birthday this afternoon and then what’s left will go in the bin as it’ll be on the limit of edible. Looking forward to normal, healthy food now!

South_coast

Have just come across my P60s from 20 years ago (now shredded 😅!) Was deeply upset to see that the tax deducted for the year was the same as I now pay in a month 😳!

edinburgher

Another one! Mrs E was recently at her mum's going over some of her dad's files. He'd kept *40 years* of wage slips! 😱

South_coast

I definitely wasn't that bad (and not just because I haven't been working that long 🤣)! Though I did have wage slips going back about 5 years, and pay rise letters of a similar vintage - AND SO MANY TAX CODE LETTERS!!! Weirdly, I thought I'd had a good go though it a couple of years ago, but clearly believed these things were worth keeping at that stage 🤷‍♀️ All now happily shredded 😀😀😀

South_coast

South_coast said:

I'm pondering whether to re-jig the order in which I repay my pots next year 🤔 I'm due to start getting FIREd up in July 2027, so the reduction in the amount I can put into a cash ISA from April 2027 isn't too much of an issue for me, as I'll be moving from cash to investments that tax year anyway, but it would be sensible to try and make the most of the £20k allowance for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 years. The plan for (calendar) 2026 was to hammer down the car finance and get rid of that early, but I may change that around so that instead I start with cash I'll be hanging onto for a while rather than soon paying back out again (I'm thinking of the next tranche of "the other thing" and the like). I need to tot up exactly where I am at the minute and see how much allowance I still have left before I make a decision (not very easy when Moneybox only show a running total of what I've put in, and doesn't deduct what I've taken out 🤦‍♀️!) Lots to think about, am adding it to the Christmas holidays to-do list!

So, I've made a spreadsheet and it turns out I have LOADS of this year's ISA allowance remaining - more than I can fully make use of, sadly (I'd somehow managed to forget a significant withdrawal, or more accurately that it would mean I'd used less of my allowance 🤦‍♀️!) So we're all systems go for (over)filling the pots ahead of the car finance 👍

South_coast

Happy New Year, all 😀! My favourite day of the MFW year 😀😀😀

Back later with the annual round-up - I've seen the figures and you won't want to miss it!

Baileys_Babe

Happy New Year, wishing you a prosperous 2026 🤗

South_coast

Thanks BB, and the same to you 🩷

South_coast

Right, here we go....

First of the month round-up....

• Cards minus savings: ZERO
• Savings for retirement: £149,825.62 (UP £1,545.90)
• 7.64 years to go

OK, so now that the credit card saving is over (not sure if I mentioned that 😅🧚‍♀️???), we need new targets to track: 

• Repaying pots until: August 2026
• Clear car finance: May 2027
• Getting FIREd up starts: June 2027

South_coast

Now on to the main business of the day....

First of the year round-up....😀

• Pensions: +£20,012.62
• ISA: +£2,128.38
• LISA: +£6,046.05
• "The other thing": +£1,000
• Cards minus savings: +£33,070.98

Total: +£62,258.03 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Wow!

Crazy as it sounds, I think the S&S progress is one of the most pleasing aspects, as there has been zero new money added by me this year (just c£175 of dividends which I reinvested in January, and 3 months' worth of invested interest going into the new ISA). Where I had a rough idea where I'd end up from a year's worth of clearing debt and adding to the LISA/pension, it really was impossible to predict what a year of no contributions to the S&S would look like - especially when Tariff Wars started kicking off in the spring 😬

The year ahead is unlikely to be anything like as impressive, as most of the pots I will be paying into during the year are off the spreadsheet and won't contribute to the total. However, anything could happen, so let's see how it goes 😀!