Now for a healthier, wealthier me

LittleMissDetermined

Good morning, the rain has subsided for the day, whilst I welcomed the freshness yesterday, that fact that it rained non-stop was quite depressing by the evening I guess that's a case of being careful what you wish for! 

It's already Wednesday and this week seems to be flying by. I've got to go into the office tomorrow which will make a change and the days are usually quick to pass when there are colleagues to chat to. The downside is that I won't be able to keep an eye on Prolific like I can at home. 

Today will be another NSD for me and I have sent £5 to the EF this morning as part of my PAD. 
That's it. Short and sweet today
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Happy Thursday everyone. Almost the weekend, although the forecast here will not make for a pleasant day out on Saturday with hubby.  As he says, it's not raining in the pub. 

I've a busy day today and I have been working from early this morning to try and get a head-start. No plans today so it will be a NSD and I have a night off cooking as hubby has decided to make a curry tonight so I have suggested we watch a film together after dinner.  We are out to visit friends for dinner tomorrow evening so that will be nice. 

A few bills came out this morning, but I have sent £5 to the EF as part of my PAD. 
That's it from me, have a good day everyone
LMD x

[Deleted User]

Congratulations on becoming debt free.

How much are you able to save or invest each month?

I would suggest the following, but each to his/her own!

1)An instant access account for the emergency fund. Aim for at least a £1000 and then add to it as desired.
I would not want to use a credit card as an emergency fund. However, I can understand that you may need to do so while building up an emergency fund. But stay disciplined and pay off in full before interest kicks in.

2)A savings account for annual bills, travel, Clothes, Christmas and birthdays. Work out a budget for each category, total them all up and divide by 12. This will be your monthly contribution to that account. Perhaps start it off with a buffer amount of say a £100. I have one account for these things bit it is divided into several pots on my spreadsheet. Also best to have a savings account that is easy to send money to and from your current account. I have a NW current account and a NW Loyalty saver for this purpose.

3) Longer term savings could be invested in a S&S ISA with a monthly contribution.

4) Perhaps a regular contribution to a cash ISA for medium term savings.

Personally I keep my Premium Bonds as a separate investment and don't touch them.

If you under 40 open a LISA asap and save to that regularly and enjoy the bonus money paid by the Government.

The key remains a sensible and accurate budget for each area of expenditure. 

You can read about how I do it in the thread in my signature.

Best wishes.

LittleMissDetermined

[Deleted User] said:

Congratulations on becoming debt free.
How much are you able to save or invest each month?

Thanks, since becoming debt free in April I am saving around £500 a month. This has been for some holidays we booked and now that they are paid it will be going to savings.  I was paying more than this off my debt monthly but now that they are gone I am aiming to have a much more healthy and sociable life.

[Deleted User] said:

1)An instant access account for the emergency fund. Aim for at least a £1000 and then add to it as desired.
I would not want to use a credit card as an emergency fund. However, I can understand that you may need to do so while building up an emergency fund. But stay disciplined and pay off in full before interest kicks in.

I have my EF in an instant access saver so I can get it as soon as I need it. The goal is £1000, but we also have a house savings account for household emergencies so I think that goal should be sufficient.

[Deleted User] said:

2)A savings account for annual bills, travel, Clothes, Christmas and birthdays. Work out a budget for each category, total them all up and divide by 12. This will be your monthly contribution to that account. Perhaps start it off with a buffer amount of say a £100. I have one account for these things bit it is divided into several pots on my spreadsheet. Also best to have a savings account that is easy to send money to and from your current account. I have a NW current account and a NW Loyalty saver for this purpose.

My new budget allows me sufficient personal spends, although I'm no longer a big 'shopper' person. DFW habits die hard the biggest expense is Christmas and hubby's birthday which fall at the same time. I use my sealed pot for Christmas, hubby's birthday and my car service which falls in December too. The only other annual bill I have is my car insurance which I pay in full with some of the money reserved for savings that month.

[Deleted User] said:

3) Longer term savings could be invested in a S&S ISA with a monthly contribution.

Longer term I will be building the sabbatical fund and we have plans to buy a second property so we will need to build a deposit for that.  Once the sabbatical is built, I will be putting it in a fixed term saver to get a decent rate. Focus will be these for the next few years. 

Unfortunately, I'm well on the wrong side of 40 to benefit from a LISA, although I am not really sure about the benefits of ISAs to be honest. My dad moved all his money out of his because he wasn't seeing any return, he's doing OK on the premium bonds though. 

Thanks for all the advice, I feel like I've added war and peace though! Sorry

badmemory

I think maybe ISAs may be worth it if you are paying 40% tax but otherwise it would be a challenge to earn enough to make it be more profitable than ordinary savings.  If you are getting 7% on savings you would have to get more than 5.6% on an ISA.

LittleMissDetermined

badmemory said:

I think maybe ISAs may be worth it if you are paying 40% tax but otherwise it would be a challenge to earn enough to make it be more profitable than ordinary savings.  If you are getting 7% on savings you would have to get more than 5.6% on an ISA.

I’m definitely not in the 40% tax group! 

[Deleted User]

I really must apologise @LittleMissDetermined. My post was meant for another thread. You must have wondered what on earth I was on about! Hopefully you find a little of it useful though. So sorry! 😳
I will now  place it where it should have originally gone.

LittleMissDetermined

[Deleted User] said:

I really must apologise @LittleMissDetermined. My post was meant for another thread. You must have wondered what on earth I was on about! Hopefully you find a little of it useful though. So sorry! 😳
I will now  place it where it should have originally gone.

Oh @[Deleted User] this did make me chuckle! Just what I needed on a murky Friday morning  

LittleMissDetermined

Happy Friday guys and gals, we made it through another week!! It's very dank outside but not raining at the moment which is a bonus. 

Today will be a NSD for me, I checked with this evening's dinner hosts to see if we should bring anything and we are under strict instructions not to bring anything other than ourselves.  The likelihood is that we will still take them a bottle of wine as thanks but we have plenty in so won't need to shop. 

Today's PAD included £5 to the EF and £6.69 in payouts from Prolific and WeAre8, this has put the sealed pot to £3290 and we still have 5 weeks to go. The EF is benefitting from the £2 a day boost in contributions and as I've not had a spendy month (compared to last month) I've not really noticed any difference. Will re-assess for October, depending on what I have on in terms of events. 

My rekindled relationship with reading is going strong, I have already read 3 books since being back from holiday and I am a third of the way through my 4th. I really do think I need to join the library or I will end up spending a fortune on second hand books.  I was always the bookworm of the family when I was younger, I remember finishing Charlotte's Web before school one day and had to go to registration with red eyes and a snivelly nose!  

That's my update for today, I hope everyone had a decent week and has a fab weekend. 
LMD x

Sun_Addict

Happy Friday 🥳 I’m an avid reader and buy most of my books from charity shops. We have one shop locally that sells 10 for £1 which is amazing. I’ve only ever found 10 in one go once but still happy to part with £1 for fewer books. 

Have a fabulous weekend!