Success Stories - Pensions

SarahB16

Secret2ndAccount said:

2024 in round numbers:

Bills + Food:  20k
Holidays + Fun: 12k
Tax: 5k
New TV: 5k    Install Air Conditioning: 5k     Home repairs/improvements: 5k

Total Outgoings: 52k      This was taken primarily from savings.

I did a small amount of work. Income: 10k      Tough year for the buy-to-let. Substantial repairs, so annual profit just 2k. First time in 20 years, so I am neither concerned nor complaining.
Interest on savings: 20k.     Moved 20k from savings to ISA.     Paid 10k into SIPP.

ISAs ended the year + 61k             SIPP ended the year + 58k

Total pot ended the year +89k

I’m going to have to spend faster than this if I’m going to get through the whole pot.

Thank you for sharing this.  Is this for one person or two? 

Secret2ndAccount

Just me. In general, I don't have extravagant taste, but when I decide to make a purchase I am willing to go high-end if I feel I'm getting something for the money.

FIREDreamer

Secret2ndAccount said:

Just me. In general, I don't have extravagant taste, but when I decide to make a purchase I am willing to go high-end if I feel I'm getting something for the money.

How big is the £5k television?

Secret2ndAccount

85"   There's a lot of argument in TV land over which is the best TV money can buy. This is one of the two candidates. In 20 years of living in this house I've bought 4 TV's for the lounge. Each one has been arguably the best TV available. I think it's justifiable as long as you keep the sets for a good length of time. Would get expensive if I had to have the new best thing every 2 years.

FIREDreamer

Secret2ndAccount said:

85"   There's a lot of argument in TV land over which is the best TV money can buy. This is one of the two candidates. In 20 years of living in this house I've bought 4 TV's for the lounge. Each one has been arguably the best TV available. I think it's justifiable as long as you keep the sets for a good length of time. Would get expensive if I had to have the new best thing every 2 years.

In 18 years we have had …

2007 Sony 28” analogue / digital freeview CRT (my mum has this in a spare room now, still works)
2010 Phillips 41” HD Ready flat screen, quite chunky, 4 inches deep, now used as a PS5 display, no apps
2016 Sony 43” Full HD flat screen with built in DVD, no apps, died in 2019
2019 JVC 55” Full HD flat screen, built in Prime Video, Netflix and some other Apps, still in use

Can’t visualise an 85” screen, must be enormous.

Might get a 4K set next.

QrizB

I've still got the same 27" set I had when we moved in, back in the mid 2000s

We don't watch much TV, though.

FIREDreamer

QrizB said:

I've still got the same 27" set I had when we moved in, back in the mid 2000s

We don't watch much TV, though.

That was a decent size back in the day. Would feel like a portable to me now though.

kinger101

Secret2ndAccount said:

85"   There's a lot of argument in TV land over which is the best TV money can buy. This is one of the two candidates. In 20 years of living in this house I've bought 4 TV's for the lounge. Each one has been arguably the best TV available. I think it's justifiable as long as you keep the sets for a good length of time. Would get expensive if I had to have the new best thing every 2 years.

Can I come round yours for the football?

Secret2ndAccount

Sure, it will be cosy too - the air conditioning works great as a heater.

@FIREDreamer the larger screen was the motivation for the upgrade this time. I was happy with picture quality of the previous OLED. That was fine for watching TV, but when it was a movie, and half the screen was just black bars, I definitely wanted to go bigger.
With a 55" screen, and a 21:9 movie, the height of the picture is just 20.5".  85" much better in this situation.

FIREDreamer

Secret2ndAccount said:

Sure, it will be cosy too - the air conditioning works great as a heater.

@FIREDreamer the larger screen was the motivation for the upgrade this time. I was happy with picture quality of the previous OLED. That was fine for watching TV, but when it was a movie, and half the screen was just black bars, I definitely wanted to go bigger.
With a 55" screen, and a 21:9 movie, the height of the picture is just 20.5".  85" much better in this situation.

Can you get a 21:9 television?