Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

WelshmansDaughter

Perhaps you could try letting the furniture go to upcycling or social enterprise projects? It might make the decision easier.

beanielou

I am a blue girl!

Blackcats

Your updated signature is very comprehensive and manages to capture your various financial threads.
as you know I retired recently and took my work pension 18 months early so took a reduction in the amount but I knew it was doable and I placed a value on my time that was higher than the value of the % reduction.  Probably goes against all the pension wisdom but I couldn't be happier with my new life and am managing ok on our new budget.

beanielou

I saw a old friend today who I haden't seen in years.
Still working at 68 as had no pension provision 

skint_spice

Turquoise is my favourite colour! However I prefer to use strong colours as as an accent colour so I can change things every few years.

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil, Merlin, WD, Skint, Blackcats and Beanie - hoping I've not missed anyone!

Yes very fortunate on pension side of things but am consciously striving to make my position better still.

Blackcats - yeah - you are one of many inspiring me to get my financial house in order to retire / be financially independent of a job earlier. If I go at 60 I 'lose' 20-28% of my annual pension value as they adjust it for paying out early. I too value my time - when I do things like my recent art - I regret the time I spend on my day job but I could make better use of my free time...

Colour can really positively effect mood - Beanie and Skint - so good to to have colours that give us a boost.

I realised my car appointment clashed with my planned kitchen appointment on Monday - so brought the kitchen design visit forward. I now have a much better idea of what would fit in the space and have a formal quote from the orange diy place and have used it to create a similar quote at the Swedish shop. Pre installation I'm looking around £5-5.5K. With no tiling and limited electrical work. Not counting moving a door etc. I still need to work out what I want to do about any splashback etc. I need to get quotes for installation - but at the orange one - their quotes come in close to £4.5-6K on top and she quietly suggested I find a private installer. I may be able to shave a few hundred off at the orange one by choosing different appliances - but I'd save quite a lot more at the Swedish one by choosing my own appliances elsewhere as theirs were rip off prices. There may also be parts of the existing kitchen I could reuse like the wall cabinets and oven hood and the tap and possibly the sink.

I haven't done any of the legal docs yet so that's still to do tomorrow. I unpacked and packed the dishwasher. Tomorrow am I need to tidy around for my new friend coming and find a simple project to do of the pouring variety. I then have my covid jab late afternoon - and it's only after that that I'm likely to do house related stuff. My top priority needs to be pulling together / downloading statements for the mortgage company - and then see what I can get done on the legal side of things. I find I spend most of Saturday recovering from work. It will be good when there's less life admin to do again.

lucielle

All sounding very focussed on the kitchen plans. Enjoy your art and friend today. 

L

skint_spice

The last time I bought a kitchen at one of the big stores the saleswoman actually gave me the name of an installer😂 hopefully they are still on the go when I decide what to do with current kitchen.

savingholmes

Thanks Lucielle and Skint

My sis reckoned £8K installed - so that was the max I was hoping to spend. I just have to hope that the materials come down substantially in the sales - and that I can get a cheaper private installer closer to when I'm ready. If not I may see what workarounds I can do that makes use of some existing items.

I still need to finish tidying. And then get my paint supplies ready. Looking forward to that part of my day. 

Not so much to the covid jab - or trying to prepare for mortgage call and legal docs.

At least the sun is shining unlike yesterday. 

savingholmes

Yesterday I worked out what I'd get if I was made redundant. Worst case I'd get over £12K - best case I'd get over £37K. I have to do these things regularly - as otherwise worry takes hold. I'm also entitled to 12 weeks notice. I think with public sector organisations effectively going bust - none of us ever know what's around the corner. When I moved into this house - I lost my job 2-3 weeks later - it was a short term contract but should have had another 9 months to run. We survived - but we were a 2 income household then.  I need to make sure that my desire for the new and shiny doesn't erode my ability to withstand that kind of shock to my finances. It's not particularly likely to happen - but I always feel better 'knowing' what my figures would be rather than wondering. 

If I had a £12K payoff tax free - I could potentially make that last 6 months (not counting my savings). If I had 37K - I'd potentially put at least £7K into my pension - possibly more. I could then make the remaining tax free amount last over a year. I'd then look for a role closer to my new home.

If I made it to 55 before such a thing happened to me - I'd get unreduced pension as well as the redundancy pay and could afford to look for a part time job rather than having to be full time potentially.

My mind gets stuck on these kind of little loops so I find it's better if I work the issue through in writing and then hopefully I can let it go.