Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

SusieT

I was contracted out for quite a while when I started in the company pension. I looked at the state pension a few years ago and topped up some part years, so now when I claim it will be the full amount. For those thinking about topping up, it is well worth getting a cup of tea and a good book for while you are on hold, and calling the furure pensions people - or getting all 3 numbers from the HMRC online pension forecast and posting them on the pensions board, as there are people who can give you a very good idea if it is worth filling in gaps.

Elisheba

Oh dear.  It does sound like I am going to have to do some pension research! Thanks for letting me know, folks.  

EssexHebridean

The pensions question has been dealt with several times on Martin's TV shows - and he has also discussed it on the radio too so it can be heard on his podcast (via BBC Sounds) both very much worth a watch/listen. Both of us are in the clear although we have both checked several times to be absolutely certain! 

Elisheba

Thanks all.  I've checked, and I'm on track to get the full state pension as long as I contribute for another 10 years.  As I'm 42 that should be fine (touching a lot of wood - my poor Dad didn't make it to 52). 

Phew!  I was scratching my head to think where I could find the money to top up if there were any big gaps!  The only years without full contributions are my last 3 University years.  The years from age 16-19 I have full credits (one of those years was at University and one at college, and one at school, so I have no idea what was going on there!).

I have been contracted out but it doesn't seem to make much difference as far as I can see.

foxgloves

Hello Money Savers, & thanks for all your comments re state pensions, which I found interesting to read. I can't ever remember having the 'contracted out' thing explained at work, but it is clear from my record of working years (which I received in a pack of info & docs when I took VR) that this was the case right from when I first began working for the public sector. I certainly didn't know what it meant until I received my state pension forecast last week & did a bit of research. I understand it now.
Well, onto today, which began with a 3 am waking & I didn't manage to get back to sleep. My treacherous nocturnal brain began its usual cycle of overthinking & by the time the alarm sounded, I'd catastrophised every scenario that could possibly happen re fitting my specially-made radiographic template & having this morning's cone beam scan. It would have been comical if it wasn't so exhausting! The nonsense thing is that as soon as I get up, these over-thinkings usually just disappear! By the time I was straightening my hair & doing my make-up, I was back to my usual self & adopting very much a 'Right, let's get this show on the road approach'. I infuriate myself sometimes, but the insomnia has been a curse since I was studying for my A-levels. Ridiculous!
Anyway, the scan was fine. Not money saving =  The cost, which was £120.
Went for lunch afterwards to make the most of the petrol & parking. We did then achieve one of today's money saving wins.....
*Mr F had one of his lucky strikes in the Em-N-Ess sale. He grudgingly agreed to look at jeans, which he does need & managed to get £106-50's worth of clothes for the princely sum of £48 !! Two out of three of the items....a really nice pair of jeans from their more expensive range plus a fab shirt were in the sale, so that reduced the price by a decent chunk, then another £27 deducted by using loyalty vouchers. On top of that, he got £10 of extra loyalty points credited to his account, so he was well-pleased with that & even had a trying-on session when we got home, lol!
*Have been through my slow cooker books to bookmark some different recipes to try which will fit in with our healthy eating campaign. Will also save on gas oven costs.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Jacket potato night tonight. I'm having tuna mayonnaise, avocado & salad on mine. Mr F is concocting Epic Man Stew.
Oh, & nothing to do with money (apart from not buying unhelpful naughty treats & using gas to bake biscuits!) but it was Weigh-Day this morning & I have lost 0.8kg this week, so was pleased with that.
F x

Elisheba

Oh that 3 am thinking!  Its so awful - our brains just absolutely catastrophise when we wake then don't they?  No idea why! Must be some sort of brain chemistry thing.  Sometimes I can say 'No, I'm not going to think about this now, I'll think about in the morning because I know my brain doesn't think right at this time' and it works.  Other times less so  .  

Glad the dentist went well in the end, and sounds like you had a nice time pottering round town getting lunch and doing a bit of shopping. And congrats on the weight loss!  I'm sure that will be good for your health.

DawnW

Interesting discussion re pensions. I had a number of years out of employment, due to being at home looking after children (though I think some of those might have been credited due to receiving child benefit(?), and postgrad study. I also chose to retire early, at 60. I worked in various public sector jobs, so was contracted out at various points, so my state pension is a bit of a mish mash, and certainly not the maximum possible amount. I did buy a couple of extra years, but not all that I could have done. What I have found though, is that much of my state pension is taken back in income tax, as I also have a work pension, and although this is by no means huge, the two combined take me a fair bit above the personal allowance amount. I am therefore not entirely sure that it was worth buying those extra couple of years..... just a thought.

badmemory

But unless you have a really massive pension you still only pay 20% on any additional pension.  An extra £200 a year for life for every less than £900 paid after tax.  If you are going to live 5 years you are a definite winner.

Elisheba those 3 years from 16-19 at one time were given to everybody & that includes people who didn't enter the country until say they were 25.  It was cheaper & easier to give them that than try to figure out who wasn't entitled to them.  A lot of it was before everything was computerised.  Most people were going to get enough without them anyway.

marionmgcars

well done well with the weight loss FG.  I am just finishing off the last of the Christmas goodies that were hidden away, so will try and follow your example .

Don’t know if anyone has seen the advert on tv for T*sco mushroom casserole,  I cooked it today and can highly recommend it.  Luckily I got 2 tubs of mushrooms from Olio.  

Tescodealqueen

Regarding stupid nocturnal worries I am here at 6am having woken at 1.30 given up trying to get back to sleep at 3am got up, now on second cup of coffee and considering third and an early breakfast and I really can’t think why