Small steps lead to big changes...

jwil

savingholmes said:

Definitely worth following the sitting rule. My BP jumps in a doctor's office too. You can get home machines quite cheaply - just make sure you get an arm cuff that's big enough for you.

I've got a wrist one at home, I don't tend to use it very often.  I'll try the library one a few more times and see what happens.

jwil

Small progress made on a few things today.  I've also planted out some herbs I got from the supermarket.  It will be interesting to see if they survive.

It's been alternating between short sunny spells and heavy showers today.  I actually feel quite chilly and am tempted to crack out my hot water bottle  

jwil

dawnybabes said:

WinterWarrior said:

Could you get a quote for someone to re enamel your bath in white? There are companies that do that and it might be a good solution to keeping the bath, but ditching the yellow? 

Was just coming to say this 🤣🤣

Great minds  

ladyholly

The rail station in Paignton is right in the middle of the road that goes to the sea front.

WinterWarrior

A hot water bottle in July sounds really decadent 😁

jwil

ladyholly said:

The rail station in Paignton is right in the middle of the road that goes to the sea front.

Yes, that's another good one for getting to the coast

WinterWarrior said:

A hot water bottle in July sounds really decadent 😁

I didn't do it in the end   We had some stewed rhubarb and that warmed me up!

jwil

Today's PAD £2

Jan - £141
Feb - £139
March - £89
April £149
May - £79
June - £270
July - £166

jwil

jwil said:

I've been having another play with my retirement figures, looking at how much I'll need for different options (i.e. taking pension early, trying to save enough to not take the pension early, and various combinations of the two).  I've also been juggling around different accounts and moving money, so my figures might look a lot different this month.  I'm streamlining a lot, to have everything in a handful of accounts rather than dotted about.  It was a nice surprise to find my total was more than I thought!

So I've rejigged my spreadsheet to account for all of this.  I've added together my debts, the mortgage, and an estimate for the work I want to do on the house, as well as the 'best case' scenario for how much I'll need to retire early and not take my pension early.  I've then subtracted my savings and my AVC contributions, and that gives me a number to aim for.  It's a very scary £295k at the moment, but considering over £90k is the mortgage, and I've worked on a figure of £80k for the work on the house, the reality is it probably won't be so scary.  It doesn't account for DH's contributions to the work on the house either.  Because it's the scenario that gives me the most in retirement, I could manage on less too.

My thinking is that it should go down quite quickly because of the mortgage payments anyway, and I can adjust the figure as and when we get any of the work done on the house.  If I treat it like one big debt, then it will be easy to see how close I am to achieving my goal.

My retirement countdown starts here: £295,307.14 to go

I saw that the percentage reduction figures for taking my pension early have been changed this month, so have added those to my spreadsheet to tweak the figures.  It makes a small but important difference (the penalties are lower than previously).

I've also re-looked at my number.  I had calculated on the 'best case' scenario, allowing for me to have more than I think I can live on.

I'm now thinking though that the whole point of this is to work out how early I can retire, so the figure I need to use is the basic amount I need to live on, because that will give me a better idea of if I'm 'there' yet.

It still includes all the debts, mortgage and the estimated £80k for work on the house.  However, it's knocked a nice £55k off the total, so my number is now: £240,137.14

jwil

My relative was due to have their big C op this afternoon, but last I heard still hadn't gone in.  I'm a bit on edge, hence distracting myself with retirement stuff.  Reading a public health report today showing about life expectancy vs healthy life expectancy makes me more focussed as well.  I'm trying to keep this in mind for looking after my own health and fitness too.

4 parcels posted today and I've cashed out again on PA so progress being made.

NeverendingDMP

I hope you hear what's happening soon. And you've done lots of admin to keep busy. Very productive and lots of pad this month too. Hasn't taken me a few days to find you on the new format. You've been busy busy busy. And so organised with the school dinners!