Ding! Ding! All change, please... (now replaced with new diary on MFW)

EssexHebridean

Right – so it feels like new diary time all over again. Many of you will recall I’ve been here a while – initially legitimately as we were clearing debt (a loan, and getting shot of a nasty habit of ending up in overdraft most months) then I veered to MFW for a bit as we were clearing the mortgage, but I never quite felt I fitted there as we were daring to do “other things” like saving, and having fun as well as making mortgage OPs – and back then the MFW’ers were a bit militant about stuff like that…  So I sneaked back in here again on the basis that “the mortgage is a debt, so that’s OK”…and I’ve been here ever since and through several more diaries. We’ve learned to budget, learned to use things like cashback credit cards to our advantage,

The mortgage was kicked into touch in 2016 (12 years early!), and looking back on the opening post of my last diary which was started not long after we made the final payment, I see I listed my targets as Staying debt free, building a savings pot, refurbing our home, and having fun. And it feels like we’ve made a fair impact on that lot in the past 6 years! The bathroom and the kitchen have both been basically ripped out back to brickwork and concrete and fully redone – a fair bit of trauma involved in both but we love the results! And more recently the hallway has been replastered, redecorated and refloored – and we’re just dealing with the final touches now.  The bigger plan has been the same since we first arrived here – indeed, the driving force behind the whole thing, if you like – to buy a house in the beautiful Western Isles, and to move up there, full time. The plan is still the same – however, we have after a fair bit of discussion reached the conclusion that right now, the timescale for it needs to change.

I am an only child, and sadly my Dad died in May this year. Not unexpected, but happened very fast at the end so in some ways still a shock and a lot to deal with. That leaves my Mum – who while in extremely good health and still very active, is regardless in her late 70’s, and I’m not willing to put myself 600+ miles and potentially 36 hours of travel away from her. She has no other close family – thee is Dad’s two sisters, and a cousin of her own – all of whom she sees now and then but they aren’t on hand for the day to day stuff, which means I want to make sure that I am. In addition, things have changed rather in the Hebrides in relation to buy-to-let properties and specifically holiday lets which was our original plan to purchase in the first instance – and that might well mean that in fact now the property we look to buy up there when the time is right needs to be our long term home, NOT one to let out.

So – what is this new timescale, you might ask – well honestly – we don’t know, and in the circumstances I’m grateful to be in that position as the alternative would be knowing how long I would still have my rather wonderful Mum in my life for, and I’m in no hurry to get any dates on THAT one! MrEH and I have decided that right now we will plan things out for the next 5 years – on the basis that whatever happens, we’ll be going nowhere in that time.  There is still going to be a plan – but it will be about savings, budgeting for things like replacement cars when needed, and about making some proper pension provisions, and about dealing with the rest of the refurb work needed on the flat…

Second post will follow with some plans then. When I work out exactly what those plans might be…

EssexHebridean

Right then - time for a rough sketch out of some plans I guess.

Savings:
The next 5 years now need to become all about maximising savings, we reckon. With no mortgage to pay we are in the incredibly fortunate position of being able to pack away a decent lump each month into savings in various forms - we really do recognise that privilege (although we worked hard to get there, it IS still financial privilege) and indeed fairly regularly metaphorically kick ourselves wondering how we are "those people"! Due to the fact that MrEH is (just) a higher rate tax-payer, we are packing most of our savings into my sole name at the moment, and will both be maximising ISA allowances going forwards, too. Currently mine is just "mine" as it contains a lump of the money that I inherited from my Great Aunt earlier this year - I'm ring fencing that separately right now although in the longer term it might end up in the joint savings pot. I've also got a couple of smaller pots from that - one for a personal Emergency Fund/planned spends pot, and another short fixed rate account. I also have a small Regular saver but this only takes £50 a month. 

At the moment as well as the ISAs we have various regular saver accounts, some Premium Bonds, some fixed term savings, and our emergency fund which is in instant access paying the best we can currently get for that (for context, at time of writing, that is 2.5%) - plans for what will be happening to the regular savers as they mature have been changing regularly - even a few months back it was to use 50% of those for PB's - but with interest rates as they now are, that's changed a bit. we probably will still buy some PB's, but less than originally planned - with the bulk of the lumps from the various accounts getting dropped into whatever fixes look best at the time. We're not realistically in a position now where the money needs to be immediately accessible, so fixes and more regular savers are probably the way forwards.

Pensions:
Confession time - neither of us are in a great position on these. Until relatively recently neither of us have really worked in companies where pensions were a "thing" - obviously auto-enrolment changed that, but still, it means that there isn't a huge pot sitting there for either of us. We've not got time to make huge significant differences here - but we can change things in our favour still, and will be looking at boosting contributions a fair bit going forwards. We do need to research around how is best to deal with this - although we think that MrEH's will be best done by asking his employer to increase the percentage he contributes directly  by way of Salary Sacrifice, but we don't know whether they will offer this - mine may as well be by making either regular or occasional additional payments.  

Home:
We still have stuff we want to get done at home. As mentioned before, the bathroom, kitchen and hallway are dealt with - there are odd jobs to do on those but nothing significant.
- Hallway - caulk coving, paint skirtings
- "airlock" area (between our two front doors - got its nickname as when we had HRH The Cat having a rule of closing one door before opening another was a good way of ensuring she couldn't get out if we didn't want her to!) still needs its shelving fitted. 
- Both bedrooms and the front room need new carpets. 
- Possibility of adding insulation boards to the outer wall in both bedrooms
- We'd like the fitted wardrobes in our bedroom re done.
- All wooden window wills need rubbing down and either waxing, varnishing or re-painting - we need to do some exploration here to see what might work best.
- Redecoration - bedrooms and front room. 
- New internal door handles
- Possibly front room storage heater to be replaced with more modern controllable type.

General Spending:
This is well budgeted and we know what goes where, and when. We are feeling the impact of inflation and cost of living - that's for sure. Energy bills of course - we're currently paying £115 a month plus stashing a bit of extra away into an account for the purpose. We've actually been stashing away that bit extra for a good while now - and so far we've not needed to dip into that pot at all. The £150 Council tax rebate went into there earlier in the year as well, and the saving on a reduced D thanks to the first £66 payment from the EBSS (The second one got added straight to the energy account, and I'm waiting to see how the Octopods deal with this month). Car costs have increased due to additional diesel costs - at the moment the car does 4 commutes a week, most weeks - as MrEH is working from home 3 days a week as a rule, and I only work 4 days.that also means that his other costs on commuting - his Oyster card top-ups - have reduced dramatically from pre covid levels. We're not expecting his firm to leave the situation as it is longer term however. Groceries - I take part in the Grocery Challenge on here to keep my head in the game, our food budget has been £200 a month for a few years but realistically will probably go to £250 a month from the beginning of next year. 

Debt:
In real terms - none. The CC in use gets paid off IN FULL (channeling Martin, there, as it doesn't seem right to have a diary without a mention of him in the first few posts!) each month. There is currently a 0% BT card with a small balance remaining - that needs clearing by February as that's when the 0% finishes, but it was used for things that the money was already saved for so it's sitting there waiting! 

To-Do:
- Both to enquire about increasing pension contributions - I have just asked MrBoss about mine, and he's finding out who to contact at the company that does our payroll. 
- Start planning what will happen with the money that currently goes to Regular Saver accounts once the current ones expire - some will be available to open new ones, others won't, or not at a rate that is worthwhile. 
- Review our "pots" to see if any budgets need an increase - we have already talked about increasing our Food Show savings a little. Groceries is likely to increase, as above.
- In the new year - make a start on the next step of the home refurbishments - we'll need to decide what IS next, first! 
- I want to revisit what our actual monthly and annual "essentials" spend is. 

That's a start... 

EssexHebridean

...and third one too, just in case (might delete later!) 

themadvix

Ooh, happy new diary!

I’m not sure we’re a militant bunch over on MFW any more - there’s far too much fun being had for that to be the case! 😂 (Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m meant to be writing about money saving/OPing, not all the fun we’ve got I to or the next holiday I’m saving for!)

Your plans/change of plan seem very sensible and entirely understandable. With any luck you’ll be ‘stuck’ in Essex for a long time to come! (Loved mention of WGC in earlier post - I know that Morries well!)

Cheery_Daff

Happy new diary! Sounds like a sensible plan for you for now, and good to be able to plot and scheme for the next five years at this point 😊 Looking forward to seeing more plans emerge!

foxgloves

That sounds like a realistic way forward, @EH & will allow you to enjoy the time you have left with your Mum, which will hopefully be a good long time. I was 80 miles away from mine, after Dad died & even that was difficult at times. 600 miles would be very stressful as your Mum gets older & needs more visits.
I don't think we are going to be doing our EA seaside move inside of 10 years - it's important to wait until the time is right then go for it big time, I think. We need to save a bit more too as insurance for house prices increasing more in the area we'd like to buy than they do here.
I've never posted on the MFW board so can't comment, but years ago (can't recall the thread) somebody did rather imply I didn't know how to make jam!! As I spend the summer armpit-deep in the stuff, I thought I'd take myself off instead of getting chippy, lol.
F x

Sunshine_girl2

Your plans sound very good , will be following. 

Just read your todays posts and have now opened my first direct saver , so thanks for the reminder . 

Cheery_Daff

Sorry to hear about the experiences on the MFW board! My diary is on there, and I find it an extremely cheerful place 😁 Certainly no judgement from me about spending on things other than the mortgage, or jam-making abilities 😂😂 I've not made any OPs for months, shhhhhhh 🤔😂😂

Paspatur

Understand completely the way plans change
I was all set to retire abroad (planned for early retirement in 2015) and had even bought a house
No parents left, adult children who could visit and 2 grandsons who would have come to the age by 2015 of being able to travel unaccompanied and spend summers/other holidays with me
Fast forward a few years and 2 more grandsons and 2 granddaughters happened between 2012 and 2015
No way could I bear to not see them unless they came on holiday with their parents
House sold and I just have holidays abroad (7 weeks this year) and see the younger 4 most weeks
I hate cold and could be in 19 degrees right now rather than 5 degrees but I wouldn't swap it for the joy and cuddles of the grandchildren
And there have also been changes making it more difficult to be an expat in that country and inflation higher than ours
Unlike a lot of people I know I never burned my bridges and always still had a house in the UK
Life can never be without change and family come first

lucielle

Yay! Shiny new diary. I’ll be following. 

L

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary