Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

KajiKita

You are sounding comfortably in your ‘flow’ - good to see - enjoy it and I look forward to hearing all about it next week 😊

KK

Jellytotts

From my experience of scaffolding they only tend to take it down when they can put it straight up at the next job….after the last lot we had was still there after 2 weeks I told them it was fine, I’d found the right “bit” for my electric screwdriver so could start dismantling it for them and I’d lay it out in the road for them to collect….strangely they were able to collect within the hour. 😁

rtandon27

Scaffolding was the bane of my existance for the summer before we bought our house (the last summer of pandemic) - it was horrible to be surrounded by it day and night for weeks on end!  In fact in our letter of notice I mentioned it as one of the multiple reasons we were no longer interested in being tennants!  The day after the letter was delivered to the property manager, the scaffolding company miraculously showed up and took it down!

Humdinger1

Yes, you're sounding comfortable again @foxgloves which is fab.  I always look forward to hearing the conclusions of your annual money summit! Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

foxgloves

This morning, Mr F was at the tip before it opened! He says that thankfully, there were 2 cars before him, so he didn't look like the biggest saddo.

foxgloves

Thanks for your comments & contributions. Always nice to sign in & see those waiting for me. Another busy day today so shall do some updating this week. First though, can report that we had a successful Annual Money Summit Meeting over the weekend. we had a good discussion about the current state of our finances & then applied this to the year ahead in terms priorities. Without going into micro-detail, which isn't really relevant & I don't have time, our discussions resulted in the following decisions:
*Rebuilding our Emergency Fund will be a key priority. While it has been decimated by the new roof, the fact that I was able to skim a decent wodge from our House & Garden Pot means that we do still have £2.5k left in our Emergency Fund. We do have other savings, so yes, we could cover another emergency from those BUT this would deplete future funds which are very much destined for other purposes, so we are going to rebuild our EF - first target is to have £5k by next January's Money Summit. I started today as I mean to go on by paying in a £55 underspend on cattery fees from Soot & Ash's stay during roofing week. Target should be doable while keeping our other regular savings commitments going too. One of the ways of achieving this will be to use the Savings Pots as little as possible so that less money will need to go into topping them up. So......
*Onto Savings Pots - we discussed what we will need to fund from them this year & found we could make a few useful tweaks - i.e Clothes Pot holding reduced as neither of us need anything, enabling £100 to be send straight away to a more needy Pot. House & Garden max holding also reduced, but sent it a surplus £500 from the Tech Replacement Pot to cover electrician bill for some work we want doing next month. Noted that our Leisure & Entertainment Pot is low, but we agreed that things like concert tickets, etc, is something we can cut down on this year unless there is something 'unmissable', so will just trickle small amounts into this Pot so that, as with others, the money can be via-d into the Emergency Fund instead. 
*Decided that there is no reason why we cannot replace our car this Spring as planned. It does feel a bit wobbly after that big roof bill, but the Car Fund has been saved exactly for this purpose over the past few years. Even if we postpone it, this money will not be added to the Emergency Fund or used in any other way. Mr F has been tasked with finding a day when he is nor working & we can go & get a valuation on our current vehicle & investigate an offer on the models we are deciding between.
*Decided that no increase is necessary to our Personal Spends. We have £100 each per month to spend as we choose. We both supplement it with PA surveys.
*Ditto monthly grocery budget. I mentioned that we have been 'on budget' or 'below budget' for groceries for a while now, whereas earlier in the year, I remember mentioning on here that we were having regular small overspends. Mr F pointed out that the difference is that we started doing monthly master meal plans halfway through the year & as this is the only thing that's changed (& prices are certainly not noticeably coming down), it must be having a more positive effect on our grocery budget than weekly meal planning. Defo continuing with monthly.
*Holidays - We have a Holiday Pot into which I transfer a previously calculated amount each month as per my Holiday Payment Schedule. This is all worked out up to & including a holiday cottage this Autumn for our Silver Wedding. The next cottage will be the year after next for Mr F's big birthday, so we think we will have a cheap year in 2027 & book a week at our fave campsite - staying in one of their ensuite hostel rooms. We know we'll enjoy that so a good way to have a cheaper break.
*Finally, we discussed my work pension. I am going to investigate the pros & cons of taking it a little early - either this year or next. I have the figures to perform the relevant number crunching, but need to work everything through in terms of the decision bringing clear benefits (or not!). We currently live on Mr F's salary & it struck me that in addition to stashing my lump sum, I would be able to put my annual pension payments straight into savings too. I feel there would be some benefit in being in control of this money myself & being better able to make future plans as I see it grow, rather than it being a more distant-feeling thing, where I receive a useful annual statement, but no further engagement than that. Further investigations/crunching to be done before any decision is made. 
We find it really helpful to have this annual meeting where we discuss the nitty-gritty as much as the whole picture. We always each come away with an action list too - Mr F's priority is sourcing some new lights so that I can check with the electrician that they are suitable before we book him to fit them. We need a new loft light after discovering Numpty's handiwork during the roof work, but as we also need a couple of new outdoor ones too, it makes sense to get them all done at the same time on, hopefully, a single call-out charge. I want to get this work done asap so that I know how much will be left in the House & Garden Pot afterwards.
Right, time for cat treats & few more tasks before the sofa beckons.
F x

Blackcats

Sounds like a great meeting.
I took my work pension early because my sums showed that the reduction for taking it early could easily be mitigated by using the lump sum well and my commitment was to actively make the money work hard for us.  I benefitted from good interest rates and still marvel at receiving interest rather than paying it.  I also invested some of the lump sum and I now feel relatively confident with my choices. 

Makingabobor2

I took my work pension early, it wasn't a huge one, but it certainly helped a little bit.  

KajiKita

That all sounds very clear, strategic and logical 😊

I’m intrigued by the monthly meals master plan making such a difference to your grocery budget. Why do you think that is?

KK

BrilliantButScary

Just a thought, but will the 85 - year rule apply to your pension?
https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/planning/taking-your-pension/the-85-year-rule/