Five Year Fix, Five Year Plan

Merlin's_Beard

redofromstart said:

Good decision, after the rain of the last few days the ground is saturated. We thought about mowing ours but it is far too wet.  Oy, noisy neighbours, it is far too wet!

Honestly when I was digging the holes for the rose shrubs some bits of the garden were squelching.

(On a positive sign, I did see a lot more earthworms than I've ever seen in this garden before, so hopefully that means they're working away at making my soil less terrible)

redofromstart

Am I right in thinking it's a fairly recent new build? It dues take a while for the soil to stop being compacted.

i had a new build 20 odd years ago, (pre mr redo) and remember sitting in the weed fabrics gravelled patch and the chair legs sinking straight through the wet clay to the seat. I was a size 10 at the time...

LadyWithAPlan

Merlin's_Beard said:

It's 2pm and I think I'm done for the day

Was out until 2am at a hen do last night, and stayed over with a friend who lives closer to the venue and was driving. So this morning I've made my way home, sorted my overnight bag, planted the four rose bushes that got delivered from DA in the back garden, looked at the front garden and decided that no, it's too wet to mow the lawn. Booked an escape room for several friends for April, so that's another social thing in the calendar.

And now I'm sat down remembering that I'm too old and too tired and I'm going to have an afternoon vegetating (I got all the normal weekend jobs done yesterday), and reconciling YNAB.

Nothing like a fun hour of YNAB reconcile after a fun night out
Sorry to hear re the bump and at least you know to watch the pension - well done on 60K - i think my sipp is at highest as well - 52.5k so I need to catch you up

Merlin's_Beard

redofromstart said:

Am I right in thinking it's a fairly recent new build? It dues take a while for the soil to stop being compacted.

i had a new build 20 odd years ago, (pre mr redo) and remember sitting in the weed fabrics gravelled patch and the chair legs sinking straight through the wet clay to the seat. I was a size 10 at the time...

18 months ago it was a building site, so yes! It's definitely improved and hopefully everything I'm doing will speed it up a little bit, but definitely harder work every time than I'm expecting - going to end up with some decent shoulder muscles if I keep digging!

@L@LadyWithAPlan just gotta keep plugging away at that pension for both of us!

LadyWithAPlan

If I buy a flat that will handicap  my SIPP race battle with you  
I aim to put 15% of each invoice in to my SIPP - bar  a few big monthly expenses - or 15% of any wins - even £15 can help 

killerpeaty

I saw on Facebook someone celebrating their first 100k in their pension and they were younger than me. Maybe I should join you guys on the pension front because I'm nowhere near this!

Context: I follow some fire FB pages, have done for years. Usually very positive with people celebrating their achievements like this.

Merlin's_Beard

killerpeaty said:

I saw on Facebook someone celebrating their first 100k in their pension and they were younger than me. Maybe I should join you guys on the pension front because I'm nowhere near this!

Context: I follow some fire FB pages, have done for years. Usually very positive with people celebrating their achievements like this.

I think my situation is a lot different to a lot of people here, because there seem to be a lot of people with a DB element that I'll never have. I'm trying to just plug away at it and keep it a priority, because I'm well aware that I had nothing before I was about 30 so I'm playing catch up!

South_coast

killerpeaty said:

I saw on Facebook someone celebrating their first 100k in their pension and they were younger than me. Maybe I should join you guys on the pension front because I'm nowhere near this!

Did they own their own homes though? Probably lots of context/nuance that they're not including

killerpeaty

I'm always surprised with how many people have a DB pension on here. I have a friend in local government and another who was in central government for a couple of years who have them but no one else.

You'll get there with your pension, you're a very determined.

I think it's a remarkable feat to hit 100k at such a young age. I'm not worried or jealous, sorry if it came off as such! More impressed and would like to emulate.

Merlin's_Beard

February round up!

£-509.45 saved - but for good reasons.

Emergency savings fund: £12,571 - sticking to the plan

Surveys this month: £20 - cashed in from the TV spybox, no effort.

Food spends: £163.50 - under budget, I promise, this isn't my cry for help after a kidnapping

Books 2 books bought, 1 read (memoirs of a geisha - for maximum un-MSE I sent this book to a charity shop a few years ago, then re-bought it this month for book club. Still find it very eh.)

In other news, I have roses in my garden, I have a pile of plug plants in a box on my patio that need sorting in the morning. I've booked flights to Malta in the summer. I've ordered a dining room table, six chairs, and a display cabinet that are getting delivered this month.

Social wise I've been to a comedy gig and a hen do, have another comedy gig this weekend (have declined a weekend away the weekend after because also I'm trying to give myself the recovery time I need), and have booked a meetup in April with some friends across the country. Also have the wedding associated with the hen do to look forward to this month. Book club is still going strong and hopefully I'll like this month's book better (Lessons in Chemistry). This feels like a good month for that sort of thing?