Settling in for the long haul

Blackcats

if you listen carefully you will hear the orchestra's fanfare, the rustle of taffeta and the sound of the golden envelope being opened to reveal

We Solve Murders - 6.75/10

I'm currently reading Good People by Patmeena Sabit - it's soooo good!

Dakota_Rose

@Blackcats love it! 💃 🍾

Blackcats

Good People is the best book I've read for ages. I can't really summarise the plot because the storyline is so cleverly emerging. It's about an Afghan family living in America and there is an unexpected death. I will give my final score when I've finished it but so far it's 10/10!

Dakota_Rose

I’ll add it to my TBR list. Thank you for the recommendation!

I’ve started A Court of Thorns and Roses. Enjoying it so far, and it’s different from anything else I’ve read before. The closest I can compare it to is a mix of Traditional tales, Twilight and The Hunger Games but we’ll see how it develops.

Today has been a no spend day. I’ve taken Mum for a doctors appointment and Mr D and I have been ‘decluttering’ the Lego cupboard. The result of which has been cluttering up the dining table while we try to salvage some of the sets for displaying or selling. Mr D has had a couple of good sales so he posted those this afternoon and sent me £50 to treat myself to something 😊.

Bit of a hormonal migraine I’m battling tonight, but the relief of not being in work and just letting it ride out is helping!

Dakota_Rose

If anyone here has an old Kindle, please check it. I have one of the originals that I’ve kept for old times’ sake in my desk drawer. It’s somewhere I rarely go into, but last night I went to find an envelope and caught my hand on a very sharp edge. The Kindle casing had popped open due to a swollen battery. That was a house fire waiting to happen!

Sun_Addict

How frightening about the kindle! Thank goodness you noticed it.

Dakota_Rose

I’ve done a grown up thing this morning and delved into the world of pensions and investments. Something I understand frighteningly little about. Logged on to my pension account and had a look at my annual statement. Did a bit of calculating estimates for amounts if I retired earlier by different number of years and considered if I could live on those amounts. The answer is probably not but maybe. Maybe if my mortgage was lower (it should be), maybe if we reduce outgoings (we could - lifestyle would change with needing one car etc).

I have taken a jump and applied for AVCs to come out of my pay each month. I’ve started small at £50 per month and this will be taken before tax. This means that less than £50 will come out of my pay-check - how much less, I’m not entirely sure until the first payment comes out, but as I’m a higher rate tax payer, I think it should be £30. What I didn’t realise before my research was that this is then invested rather than saved. They invest in higher risk shares to begin with to try and grow the fund, and then in the second phase, as you near retirement, they go into defend the fund mode and move it to lower risk shares.

Now, if nothing changes with the amount I contribute, and I retire at 58, which would be wonderful, I’d have a pot of £9k waiting for me extra at retirement. Obviously I’d need that to be higher but it’s £9k more than I’m on track to have now!

The rest of the day’s plans are to read, relax and play with littlest - marbles and some time in the garden is called for. Much more my wavelength 😂.

RhiBi

I don’t understand pensions at all and I need to learn. I won’t get full years in as I took 12 years off work when my children were young, so need to do something! I’ve read about AVC’s but don’t understand it!

Well done on getting it sorted xx

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099241#Comment_82099241

We’re signature twins @RhiBi

RhiBi

we are indeed @Dakota_Rose