Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

TallGirl

Still researching finances and got a call to say my small stocks and shares account will need to be closed and I have to sell everything and take the cash out. It is actually a bit of a relief as the more I read you also have to pay tax on currently fluctuations so not really worth keeping money in the UK. I have enjoyed having the shares it was one of those where you got free money on signup. I have £1092 in there and post shares have done really well. It was my small gambling on shares account so will need to think about something like that for here. My best performing share was Barclays I made 230% increase a whole £33.68 profit worth now £48.38 so not a biggie but still fun. 

I have researched the possible platform and my bank is not offering a bad deal however if I go with one of the others it is a £300 saving a year and they pay 1% on savings or I can open a Santander account that offers 1.85% if I lock for 24 months. So different for the UK but with the tax etc it really is not worth it by the looks of it. 

If you invest in foreign funds and EFT's you pay so much in fees so I have learnt that much Vanguard is a bad idea it has to be a Danish Index fund so more research needed. I have taken advantage of a free offer via the Danish Which magazine a company will look at the fees you pay and tell you if you can get a better deal. Unfortunately they are on holiday until the 18th but I need all my Danish paperwork in order plus my new NINO card so have to wait anyway. You can also pay them for financial advice

Finally as we are with finances regarding the platforms I can save quite a bit using a start up platform see here:
My Bank (Safe but Pricey)    Cost (Annual) £1659 Age 150+ years.

Saxo / Nordnet (The Middle Ground) Saving £232 to £580 . Age~25-30 years

Endavu (My Nephew's Choice). Cost ~0 kr.  Age~3 years. 

I am not really tempted by my bank unless they give me something else for having such a large portfolio with them they should match Saxo I think (they are the ones giving 1% interest my bank gives nothing). 

In order life admin I am trying to get my dad on a cancellation list for his hearing aid appointments. He has to wait 9 months but I am tempted for us to go private but need my sister onboard so I said I would do the leg work. I am waiting on the phone I was number 17 I am now number 4 only taken 30 min so not too bad. 

I have also asked the Danish company to do my patio ready for Spring obviously with the current 10cm of snow it will not be imminent but they are only small (but local and a good price) so wanted to give them loads of notice. I have also asked them to clean our windows. If you use trades (aka not cash in hand you can actually deduct it from your tax bill). 

TallGirl

Yesterday DG was going stir crazy being stuck in the house so she insisted we went out even though there was snow storm. I took the snow shovel with me and true enough she took the first corner too tight (think max 200 years from the house) and she got stuck. Well I was prepared and got us dug out and she returned home while I got my rucksack and walked to the shop. When there is a snow storm it looks really benign but the problem it the snow drifts and our road had only been gritted which had not helped and no one had driven on it. 

This morning however we have been dug out but DG is asleep after a late movie night in the pool bar so it is just me and the cats ginger is so annoyed about the snow he has started using the oriental rug as a place to poo. Not good so I put him outside the door he is such a soft southerner he really needs to get used to the climate lol.

I got a lot more research done on the investment planning and realised the free platform does not offer the tax efficient account I need so the middle option sounds better now also that company offer the 1% interest my bank only offered .15%.

The motor for the broken cat fountain arrived and it works but I do like the new £40 one and it has a sensor so it does not run all the time which has to save money so I will keep both and then if there is an issue I have a spare. I will register it online as I foresee issues. 

Did the cashing out of my shared accounts in the UK so I can transfer that money over soon. Felt a bit sad but it had to be done. 

I have ordered the flower print for the lounge it was £50 but I did a small discount off it and I really do not need buy two get one free so I just ordered the one. Will be nice to get that up in the lounge then all that is left is to fix all the holes. 

Today I am planning on getting creative finishing my cardigan which I actually bought the yarn for two years ago. I knitted the pink on first but it was so out of shape with huge sleeves I did not like. I unravelled it and will use the yarn on a free top they sent me. I then started on the blue cardigan but had not knitted anything since moving here. I have now started and turns out I only had 1 sleeve left to do so now I am almost done then it is just sewing it together which is the bit I struggle with. I would also like to sew the covers for the cushions in the guest bedroom. 

To do
House stuff
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Make gallery wall in office. 

Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 
Go to kitchen shop and look at options for kitchen remodel, research other companies and order

Finance stuff
Do a budget for bills almost done just waiting for 1 bill
Research investments here. in progress
Check MitID if my address can be changed yet

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

I am really loving researching investment options and tax efficiencies over here and bouncing off Gemini and my nephew. It is really complex and there seems to be constantly something new to think about. I must say IA is really good at prompting to find out more like how to transfer currency using my new accounts instead of old ones. So much to learn but I am getting there with a plan. There is also the money laundering rule to comply with so got some help with that. AI can never replace financial advice but the advice i got from my bank was really rubbish I am actually chocked. Turns out they have a tax efficient account you can stick £20K in once only. It has lower tax but the investment is tax annually. My bank mentioned this type of account in the letter in passing like you can open one. It is crucial for tax to have one you save quite a bit and even though they say you can use our advice for this type of account it was not right as the fund they suggested was not suitable due to tax. I will need to keep them but pay fees on the account but that is fine. 

We finally got out yesterday and went for a walk along the harbour it was really nice and quite slippery. We cannot wait until the summer and see it all with pop ups and loads of people. It is a bit of a tourist town so in Winter some places are shut but there is still life. 

I got my final sleeve done so once i have done this I shall start assembling the cardigan and then I will start on the pink yarn which will actually be a raglan sweater and not a top I forgot that was the free pattern. 

Hoping to retrieve DGs golf clubs we could not get them off her trolley yesterday as they were frozen onto it. Need WD40 and hot water I think. It is minus 11 and bright sunshine. 

TallGirl

Nice weekend did not get a lot done by ready to sew that cardigan together and I have started the sweater so need to get it done. 

Went on the investment webinar this morning it was really for beginners and they were pushing their affiliated links which is not the ones I am looking at. However one was a bit like money box and robo investing which might be nice. Nephew and I still discussing options and funds he is not so scared of tax as I am. I am still keen to wait until I get the reply from the equivalent of Which here. That is not until the 18th Jan so a week to go. 

I have done my LinkedIn and Facebook group updates. I am getting lots of reactions to my LinkedIn and I am hoping eventually that will lead to some leads for our new business. I am using my personal Facebook page to post on one of the bigger groups only way to do it but we shall see if it generates and interest. 

It is currently snowing so we shall see if we get to go out. 

To do
House stuff
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Research other vet if they do Healthy pet club and then book cats in for injection in January. 
Make gallery wall in office. 

Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 
Go to kitchen shop and look at options for kitchen remodel, research other companies and order

Finance stuff
Do a budget for bills almost done just waiting for 1 bill
Research investments here. in progress
Check MitID if my address can be changed yet
Cashout my investments in the UK (only 3 small pots)

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

As there is no work to be done it is full steam ahead with life admin. I have now got my NINO card and even an electronic version very smart. I am registered with the local GB on the same road as us. I have got app for Monday you can book online and they give you the times available. No e consult first just an app. My GP has also chased me but I will wait until Monday if the Danish GP is fine then I will say I am no longer with UK one obviously. Might see if I can get some more HRT patches as they are free in UK and no doubt super expensive here. I have also signed up for the medical insurance where you get money back on physio, prescriptions etc it was £244 more expensive per yeara to go for the bigger package so I went for that. It includes feet as well so that should be worth it. They will not accept Dg as she is 60 it is a real shame but cannot be helped operations etc are free over here it just the medication can be expensive but if you use a lot you get a discount. 

My poster is at the local shop so I am going up there in a min to collect and find something nice for lunch. I might even walk the snow is melting so it is a lot easier to move around. We have the cinema tonight but Dg is really stressed out about her work so hopefully she will see it as a distraction and come out with me. 

Best get up there we also need loo roll. 

TallGirl

Life admin continues finally got the membership to our local supermarket so we can start earning cashback. It does cost £25 but it supports them to do good locally and we will make that money back. 

Now that I am officially registered I can set up the investments account. I am going to start with the one I want to use for individual shares. Now this is a tiny proportion of my portfolio so really just play money and a lot of it was earnt from cashback or referral fees in the UK. So far I have £1600 and another £1000 when I close down my MoneyBox S&S. ISAs are no good here as you pay tax on them anyway and it is a pain to have to tell the Danish Tax man so if I use a DK company they will tell the tax man. I will buy the same shares again and then I have something to look at as I like to follow my shares and check my dividends. The rest will get properly invested and will be funds mainly and passive investments so save on costs. 

I have enjoyed the two webinars I have attended about the beginner investors in Denmark. Useful and made me realise how much easier things are in the UK. It looks like they have one robo investment platform and it is Swedish but they do not have Danish support so they have the whole site in English how rubbish is that. Anyway I am not going to use that I am using the free one my nephew recommended and I get a £35 cashback for using his link which is quite cool. Final webinar in a bit.

DG is off to her Danish lessons she is still working all hours and we have not progressed with the side I will be working on so I am still free to do what I want. It is fine because if we start she will need to check my work and she really does not have time to do that at the moment. The main issue with her big work is the courts keep doing strange things and there are huge delays. She filed something in November then chased it and got a hearing date in 10 days time. Gives her little time to prepare. 

Anyway enough waffle I am cracking on with that to do list and assembling my cardigan. I do need to go to the shops at some point but that can wait. 

To do
House stuff
Hang up new picture
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Research other vet if they do Healthy pet club and then book cats in for injection in January. 
Make gallery wall in office. 

Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 
Go to kitchen shop and look at options for kitchen remodel, research other companies and order

Finance stuff
Do a budget for bills almost done just waiting for 1 bill
Research investments here. in progress
Check MitID if my address can be changed yet DONE
Cashout my investments in the UK (only 3 small pots) DONE

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

My Financial Journey So Far

I’ve been completely immersed in sorting out my finances lately. I am so relieved I decided to take charge of it myself instead of just following the bank's recommendation—honestly, looking back, that would have been a bad move and I would have missed out on so much.

It’s funny, doing this for real has taught me more than that Open University course I took years ago. I remember learning the theory of ETFs and funds back then (before they started charging for the course!), but you learn so much more when you actually see it in action—especially how much fees and costs matter.

I’m really glad I started investing when I did, though like everyone else, I wish I’d done it years earlier. That’s why I’m so pleased my nephew is already on the ladder; he started five years ago at just 16 when his dad got interested. I didn't really start until I was about 30 and had the mortgage paid off early (9 years thanks to MSE) A friend recommended a passive global tracker fund, so I gave it a go, and it actually went really well.

Later on, I even got DG interested. Moneybox had a special offer, so we turned it into a bit of a competition. We both opened a Stocks & Shares ISA, put in the same monthly amount plus our "round-ups," and tracked who did best. She went for the "High Risk" option while I went "Medium." I eventually moved my money to a Cash ISA and a different platform, but DG kept hers going. She now has over £10k in there! She is so proud of that, especially since she had never invested a penny before. I know those "robo-investors" have slightly higher fees, but they really are a fantastic starting point.

I’ve dabbled a bit with individual shares, but mostly only when cashback offers made it feel like free money. I did buy shares in Egg a long time ago, and I even had some Danish shares (which I eventually sold because the account fees got silly).

I actually really enjoy keeping an eye on this stuff now. I’m glad Martin Lewis is beginning to talk about investing more; it’s such an important topic. Obviously, with all the regulations, you can’t go around giving financial advice—so this is definitely not advice, just a record of my own little journey! 

I have invested in the cheap tracker fund for my pension and waiting for my nephews link so I can get onto the individual shares to play with (using the money I had in there in the UK). My main platform has as expected limited me so sent them proof where my money comes from. 

In other news the to do list has not moved on but I have been out shopping and got some cheap plugs for our phones I needed the USBc. They did not have the solar light on offer I really wanted in Netto so that was annoying but I did get some shopping. It is really scary how expensive Lidl is over here. You also have to watch the prices as they hardly ever have the right price for the right product so you can end up paying a lot more. At the weekend will go to the big store and do a bulk shop as we have 15% as I got stickers and you have to use them in store. 

Also yesterday I went to the local shop to get pita and bumped into a guy who was doing petrol cards so we got some of those and free carwashes next month plus a free brolly. 

Going to have some lunch now.

TallGirl

Looking at my list I really should get on with Vinted but it is so boring to do and I have to do it in Danish it would not let me transfer my UK listing over so I will be a brand new account. I have done the kitchen shop and the vets so that is something.

Update on to do list

House stuff
Hang up new picture
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Research other vet if they do Healthy pet club and then book cats in for injection in January. BOOKED FOR 22-1
Make gallery wall in office. 

Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 
Go to kitchen shop and look at options for kitchen remodel, research other companies and order GOING THERE SAT

Finance stuff
Do a budget for bills almost done just waiting for 1 bill
Research investments here. in progress
Transfer all cash from UK in progress
Invest main bulk

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

Up early so want to get as much off that list as possible today is listing on Vinted day when it is a bit lighter outside. I got the link from my nephew so I now have a share portfolio again with some of my old share choices from the UK and some American ones (AI suggested those and as a Dane we are not super keen on a certain orange person right now). Anyway this is not a political forum so I will shut up. 

My main shares account is still locked while they look at my proof of funds hopefully get unlocked later so I can transfer some more money in. I need to investigate a few more things about the interest paying side and see if we could live off the dividends so I know how much to invest or not. It feels a bit up in the air until I get all the bills down but I am really close so I might just tackle the last bit and at least we can start to see what we need to live on a month. I might see if Gemini can help as a test to make the budget. 

Booked at TGTG bag for tonight we need to stock up on bread and DG want to go to the simulator golf tonight but I doubt there will be any slots we shall see. I will update when I have put my first item on Vinted. 

TallGirl

So we now have a plan for the bills money and joint expenses

Total bills £600 

Food & petrol £640

Total £1240 that is £620 each 

No treats has to be paid separately

01/03/26 DG to start paying £620 into bills and food

01/07/26 Business should by now be make the bill money

Money set aside for large house purchases

Car £40,000

Kitchen £12,000

New door £5,000 DG to pay

Pergola £6,000

Garden shed £15,000

Garden other £10,000 (plants, garden design, golf net)

Purchase of land £4,200 (left to pay)

Total £92,200

Holidays try to fund via Premium Bond winnings 

I feel better now I have a plan and I know how much I can afford to invest and how much I need to leave in cash to pay for those things. I hope I have budgetted enough cars are super expensive here because of taxes I would never spend £40K on a car but that is a brand new Skoda like I had but I do not have to have a new one but just put an amount in just in case. 

Next step is now to do the Vinted listings. It is so boring but needs must.