Now for a healthier, wealthier me

AntoMac

I can help during November on the PAD thread for the time you’re away in November if you like LMD.
Great that you coped so comfortably when your other half wasn’t on full pay

LittleMissDetermined

AntoMac said:

I can help during November on the PAD thread for the time you’re away in November if you like LMD.
Great that you coped so comfortably when your other half wasn’t on full pay

Thanks AntoMac, that's greatly appreciated I will see how I go.

LittleMissDetermined

Morning all! Recently I have been waking well before my alarm and I feel better for it. Although I have been staring work earlier as we are so busy at the moment and then I forget to post as I get carried away with work. 

It's not a NSD for me today as I need fuel for the car and I have an appointment so I will need to pay for parking. Tomorrow evening we are having a night out, in fancy dress for halloween so tomorrow will be spendy too. 

The PAD today was £45, which was £5 to the sabbatical as usual and then £40 cash budget left over which has gone into my sealed pot tin. I have 3 physical tins this year as I am trying to be smarter (emphasis on 'trying' there ) one is for coppers, one is for silver and one for notes. My £1 and £2 coins go in separate challenges so I can easily swap them for notes when I need some change (parking, pool table, window cleaner etc). If it works I will be impressed!

I think that's all I have to update you on today...not much going on here except work and booking holidays it seems haha!

Have fab days
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Up super early again today and it doesn't bode well for me going out tonight... I shall be yawning into my wine glass!  I have been productive though and I have switched our broadband this morning. 4x speed for half the price with a black Friday offer so that's not too bad.  Plus we get £110 cashback after 3 months and I went through a charity donation site so they should get £30 too by the end of it. 

It'll be a spendy day today, although we haven't been out into town for months so I think it will be nice, plus there are always loads of people dressed up on Halloween and i just love it. We will leave a bowl of sweets on the doorstep in the porch for the kids of our estate and pop a note on the street social page. 

This morning's PAD was £21 to various places, including £5 to the sabbatical fund. I'm still working my way through book 61 but it's almost finished so I think I'll be able to start 62 either at lunch or tomorrow.

Totals...I almost forgot here are my totals after booking 2 expensive F1 holidays for 2026 

Sealed pot 26	£ 123.45
Emergency fund	£ 1,008.78
Other savings	£ 1,163.77
Sabbatical	£ 3,842.00
Travel pots	£ 4,985.00
Sinking pots	£ 3,883.78
Total	£ 15,006.78

And that's it for today's update. I hope you're all doing OK 
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you have all had a nice weekend?

It was a busy one for me, but I did manage a non-spend day yesterday, today will be too. I am working a later shift today so I can accommodate a late call (the joy of working for a Global company) so It's been a bit more relaxed this morning. Hubby has gone into work and DSD has a late start too today. 

My PAD today included the mortgage payment, but I have sent £5 to the sabbatical as usual. There's not much else going on... maybe I need something to replace my envelope challenge as it doesn't feel like I am saving much at the moment. From December I will be adding the percentile dice back into the mix so perhaps I can do that one on a Monday to mix it up...especially as the roll could be £90 (!) I will have a think.

I have had a busy weekend so I've not managed to get much reading done but I'm enjoying this one so far. I was in town on Saturday and managed to avoid books in the charity shops, as I have a big stack already waiting to be read. It was difficult to resist though!

That's all from me, I hope you're all doing well
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Oh my goodness, what a start to the day... especially after all these 'waking up earlies' - I forgot to set my alarm and I overslept! Yesterday was really manic in terms of work and trying to get stuff done around the house and I must have been really tired when I went to bed.

Anyway, it'll be just a quick check in today to say it's not a NSD as I'm out tonight as usual, I'm driving so should be a low spend though.  The PAD included £5 to the sabbatical as usual and that's still growing nicely, that pot earned £10+ in interest last month so that's an extra 2 payments for free  

Still reading book 62, just haven't had much time lately but it's very well written so I am enjoying it. No plans this week after tonight so hopefully it'll be finished by Friday

That's all from me, I'm off to work
Have lovely days 
LMD x

AntoMac

You must have needed the extra sleep LMD. We’ve all done it but it throws you out doesn’t it!?

LittleMissDetermined

It definitely did Ant! I was not quite with it until after lunch... although at lunch I managed to buy 3 Christmas gifts instead of reading my book, I was out last night anyway so I figured I would make the most of a spendy day. It's all budgeted for in my Christmas sinking fund anyway.

Today will be a NSD for me, and I was allowed to sleep in as I am on my day off today. I am catching up on some cleaning and then I have to do the grocery shop later.

I did have a silly moment this morning though and on autopilot I sent the dice roll amount to the sealed pot instead of the 10k fund. Will try not to do that in the future but at least it gave the sealed pot a bit of a boost. Oh well  

Not much else going on here trying to rein in the spending as we are on holiday the week after next although I would like to get my Christmas shopping done and wrapped before December starts. That's what I do usually do, but it's been a bit upside down this year so it can't be helped if it slips into the festive period.

That's pretty much it from me, hope you all have good Wednesdays!
Ooh and enjoy any fireworks/bonfires you may be going to
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Morning! back to dark and damp weather this morning, it's very gloomy indeed. 

It's a no spend day for me today though, I have no spending plans until Sunday now, so i will be able to add some left over budget to the sealed pot tomorrow

My PAD was just £5 to the sabbatical today but that's creeping closer to £4k now. I'm wondering whether I should be putting this into an ISA, as I don't plan to touch it... I've never had an ISA before but mow my savings are getting higher I think it would be wise to take advantage of the tax-free savings.

I've also been thinking about premium bonds, so the other alternative is to buy premium bonds with the sabbatical fund...

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for me?
Would be appreciated 
LMD x

AntoMac

Well LMD, I’ll give you a nice on the fence non answer about the choice between Premium Bonds and an ISA.
 Bear in mind you can earn a certain amount of interest free of tax each year. £1,000 p.a. If your income tax rate is 20 Pete pc and £500 if your rate is 40 pc (I think, but always worth checking)
So don’t necessarily be tempted by the lure of tax free interest as you might be within your limit anyway. You also want to look at the actual rate of interest on offer.
As for Premium Bonds, I have some as I like to have the chance, albeit a tiny chance, to win £1million each month, without losing the original amount invested. 

My luck on the Premium Bonds has been rubbish, and I have only had a couple of small wins. I would say you need to have a fair amount to have any chance at all of my kind of win. I THINK the expected average annual return on Premium Bonds is just over 3 per cent p.a, and any winnings are paid tax free.