Prosperous and Creative Soul Year 5

savingholmes · 12 February at 3:50AM

Thanks Merlin, Beanie, Lucielle, Jwil, TG, EH and Humdinger

Really appreciate your encouragement. Went to site yesterday - and my car dashboard started flashing a cluster of warning lights. Not what I needed. I made it home - but my fave (cheapest) garage can't help until a week on Friday - so need to decide whether to ring the breakdown insurer / call around other garages or not. It kind of derailed my day somewhat.

I was falling asleep on the drive home - literally feeling cross-eyed with tiredness but I'd only had 4.5 hours sleep the night before which didn't help. I then went to bed for 4.5 hours - and felt I rested rather than dozed - and then had something to eat. I still can't sleep now which really isn't helping either.

I felt a bit riled by a work meeting - but may be over-reacting. That also hasn't helped.

Money-wise the stock market has recovered a little of its dip of the last few weeks - so my accounts are looking happier. DD may be able to repay some / all of her debt to me on Friday - which if she does would be a major win. I'm back to metaphorically clinging to my job by my fingernails in the face of an almost over-whelming desire to quit - but it would be good to get past my remortgage date at the end of the year before doing anything more radical - especially as I'm planning a trip to Oz to see DS.

I keep reminding myself of the benefits of keeping going with my 'day job'.

Clear CC debt and preserve some savings and investments by September.
Currently £1.4K positive difference between my savings and investments and my CC. If DD repays her loan from me - that will double on Friday.
Pay for Oz trip - even though my flights are covered - Ideally I'd like £3K available. I also want to improve my health and fitness before then.
Remortgage around Xmas - ideally to a retirement interest only deal to reduce the minimum payments.
If I manage to re-establish my emergency fund at a decent level though - and worked until at least the end of this year - I'd potentially be able to delay accessing my pension until aged 57 even if I only worked another 10 months. So that is my interim target. I need about £13.5K net savings after any CC debt (excluding mortgage).
I could also access a small pension pot with £5.1K in it if I needed to.
If I sustain my current hours - which feels doubtful - then I should be able to boost my tax free AVCs from my current £34.5K to £47K by the end of this year (unless there's a stock market crash).
Ideally, if not offered VR, then work until at least 57 so maximise AVCs and minimise pension impacts. So another 15+ months. Really not sure I can last that long.

Let's hope writing that cleared my brain a little and that I can get some sleep.

Early pay day on Friday - but this coming payday - due to have a known car bill of around £250 plus whatever this dashboard lights issue is (sensor / battery / alternator?). I also need to get my boiler serviced £100-150?

As Beanie says - keep plodding.

jwil · 12 February at 7:47AM

Hope you managed to get some sleep.

Sunshine_girl2 · 12 February at 8:23AM

SH you have a lot going on , hope you managed to get some rest .

Honeysucklelou2 · 17 February at 10:18AM

Hi SH…just catching up as it’s half term. Your heron picture sounds amazing. Botanicals and wildlife art do look stunning…hope the scanning possibilities are fruitful and allow you to develop a passive income stream.

savingholmes · 27 February at 6:07PM

Thanks Jwil, Sunshinegirl2 and HSL

So another £1.1K went into AVCs. That balance today is c£36.2K so around 28.5% of my age 60 target. Stock market seems happier currently.

My car bill came to around £360 so could have been worse. I'd budgeted £250 for the mot related works - so had £110 left to find.

I had £9 in cashback - so put that towards groceries. At renewal I got £20 back on my delivery pass too as I'd under-used it.

DD gave me £310 of what she owed me.

I've had new smart meters fitted - so hopefully that will help me with energy efficiency. When they read the meters - I'd used less than they expected which was positive.

All being well over the next fortnight I hope to have cleared £600+ off my CCs this pay period. I also increased my savings by £125 (plus/minus any interest / stock market shifts).

Over the last couple of weeks I've bought some nice B£st* cabinets via FBk - 2 really tall units, and 2 media units that I stacked on top of one another. Some of them have see through doors. It has really helped improve the storage in my art space and I'm gradually getting tidier. That cost me around £180 and they look like new - and I didn't have to assemble them so total win. I think RRP would have been closer to £500.

As my home has become slightly more under control - my mental health has stabilised a bit. I think I've also been helped by it being slightly quieter at work over the half term period.