Welshlassies MF quest by 40

Welshlassie

StuartGMC wrote: »

LOL Right - not a hard sell to you of course. I'm sure you'll find time with DS will pay you back at a much better rate than 2 hours of pressure selling; unless you enjoy that????

No danger of being forced into buying anything, that MF goal will help keep us focussed and able to say no and leave with a problem. DH can be very forceful as well if need be

Welshlassie

Well I have started my new job, compromise agreement has been sent back so redundancy should be coming through in the next couple of days (with any luck). We didn't make it to the holiday exhibition as couldn't get a babysitter and have been unable to reschedule (we would have only ended up spending a fortune of the holiday soi am looking at it as a saving )

DS seems to have settled back into a routine quite quickly, I'm sure tons of new toys has helped though as it was his 1st birthday on Sunday and I started new job on Monday so plenty to keep him occupied.

I haven't got around to sorting the new budget out yet as I'm not sure how much I'll be getting, but I'm going to dig out one of those salary calculators and have a go one of the next few evenings as DH is out all of them until Sat (only socially tonight, he's working Fri and Sat so can forgive him).

I've had to start taking a packed lunch to work as my old job provide lunch as part of our package, has been a bit strange but am eating really well.

Costco opened by us the other day and we managed to pick up 2 32inch LCD TV's for just over £200, we're keeping one and selling one, we will also be selling our current Sony TV, but this will pay for the new stand we need for the new TV, We have already had a few friends over to give us more than we paid for the other one, so to be fair we have said one of them can have for an extra £100 more than we paid for it, that gives them a saving of £100 if they had bought it full price in eg Comet and we make £100 so eveyone is happy.

Welshlassie

Well my redundancy arrived in my account on Monday so we just need to make a decision on exactly what we are going to do with it. I've moved in into my linked savings account for the time being and we're going to see my financial guy next week so he can put his 2pence worth in. I've already decided what I want to do with it, but DH needs convincing.

New job is going well, and have just found out that the permanent role now includes a car (which wasn't an option when the job first came up), this will save us a considerable amount of money each year (don't have the option to take a cash alternative), this will mean we can sell my car, and we can put that approx £5k into savings, which we will use towards getting a larger car for DH when baby no2 arrives in a few years - he currently has a van which he uses for his DJing as well.

We have already made a decision about how to spend some of the redundancy and our Black Lab puppy arrives this afternoon. He's almost 8 weeks and will be a wonderful companion for our 12 month son so they can grow up together.

StuartGMC

Sounds like things are really moving forward in a positive way, well done!:j

Welshlassie

We saw our financial advisor yesterday and we have made the decision that we are going to put between 10 and 13k of my redundancy into the mortgage as we can overpay upto 10% per year and it sits in a reserve fund, so should we need it in the future we can get at it. Before I do this I'm going to transfer £500 in and then back out again a few days later just to see how quickly we can get it. DH has now been convinced so will go ahead and satrt the ball rolling over the weekend.

Playing with the Egg overpayment calculator shows that if we pay £10k this year another £5k next year (with the savings plans maturing that we have) and then continue to pay £100 min OP we will pay the mortgage of in 28 years, that means that an additional OPs that we can find will actually start to take time off the mortgage. I hadn't expected us to get to that point for several years, but am really chuffed by that and has given me more motivation to find extra money.

My new job pays full amount on 20th so will see how much that is and redo the budget, it should find us in a better position, but will have to wait and see.

Puppy has settled in well and DS is loving him (except first thing in the morning when he is a little too boisterous)

Welshlassie

Well I have transferred the £500 into mortgage and once cleared will transfer it back to see how long it takes. I actually spoke to IF last night to reactive my account and mentioned the reserve fund, he said that 99 times out of 100 there are no problems at all, but occasionally they will ask for proof of income, if there have been changes, if you want to withdraw any of the reserve fund back. This has made me rethink things as DH is now no longer working so in theory we wouldn't actually get the money should be have to reapply now.

I think I'm going to stick to my original idea of £7000 OP and save the rest in high interest accounts, adding to the OP pot as and when I can, not ideal but we will need to withdraw some of the reserve at some point and don't want to find we can't get at it.

7 days til my first full pay packet from my new job, be good to see how much it is and if they have got my tax code sorted yet, which they should have considering I gave them my P45 weeks ago, should get a bit of a rebate as well, it all adds up and can go in the OP pot.

StuartGMC

I've been away on business so just back. Good to see that your planning is starting to show results and targets are coming together, and that you "checked the small print" restrictions rather than getting caught.

Hope the tax code and such are in place quickly to help you get firm data for the planning. If you have to have professional membership of a recognised body but employer doesn't pay for it, then do tell HMRC; wife got a good amount back and her tax code modified to account for the £200 per year she has to pay.

Welshlassie

A busy week or so here. First full pay packet today and it looks like they've sorted my tax code out as I have a tax code in place, not the correct one mind, but at least its not BR. Slightly more pay than I was expecting as well which is nice so I can put a bit more in the OP/savings pot.

I had a tax coding trhough from HMRC earlier in the week telling me I was on a BR tax code, I called them to ask why and they explained that because it was my second job?? that is the rate they use. I explained it wasn't a 2nd job and they went on to ask me about a company I had never heard of that they had me down working for. A similar thing happened several years ago so I'm getting a bit concerned they keep getting my employer incorrect and not really sure what to do about it.

They are going to send through my correct tax code in the next week or so. I also have to write to them with my professional subscriptions that I now have to pay so I can get tax relief on them.

I've sorted my car insurance out for next year - unfortunately it is almost the same as last year as I have increased the number of miles I'll be doing and reduced the excess, but at least its not more. Next year should be much better as our points drop off both licences. DH also sorted his van insurance, he was unable to get quotes at alot of places because of the age of the vehicle and get commerical insurance, it has come down a little though. I've paid on our cashback card and will then transfer the money from our car savings account so all covered.

Will sort our new budget out over the next few days as I now have a better idea about much I'll be bringing home and I think we should now be at break even point, which means any money DH earns can be used for holiday savings. We're looking to use our Tesco vouchers for a break soon, but not sure when as want to get a permanent job sorted first (should be able to get his done within the next few weeks), its likely I'm staying where I am now, but they need to give the go ahead and fill the relevant forms in.

I need to decide on the best high interest savings account, will probably get a 1/2 year bond of some description for the rest of my redundancy after I've transferred the rest into the mortgage. Any suggestions? I'll pop over to have a read of martins savings article shortly.

Welshlassie

Bit annonyed as I've had a letter from IF saying thank you for your OP of £500 as per your terms we're taking 5% early repayment of £25.

This is totally wrong and the first time they have done it (although it is the biggest OP I've paid). I've now got to get on the phone and sort them out. I'm able to OP upto 10% per year according to the key facts doc I've got, just have to dig it out before I call and check.

Something I coudl have done without. Glad I didn't send the £7k straight over that would have been £350 charge.

evab_2

naughty people, and what a huge charge on that amount I hope you get it sorted.