Recent Discussions

Hi all, My wife is 62 and planned on retiring at 65 (state pension 67). She just realised that her private pension was payable at 60. We now understand that the monies she should have been receiving for the past 2 years are essentially being saved up to give her at the point she decides to start receiving this pension. We…

Surprised by the lack of outrage that tax on savings income (over PSA) has just been increased to an extra 4% above current rates from April 27. Seems that hardly anyone noticed. 1.1 Income Tax: Savings Income Tax Rates for tax year 2027-2028 As announced at Budget 2026, the government will introduce legislation in Finance…

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. What is FLYLADY? Well, it's our version of the US flylady idea - but we work on the principle that housework is not fun, it's boring, can be time-consuming, is often thankless but, unfortunately, necessary. It's here on Old Style to provide the support we all need and to make the whole…

After several years of reading diaries on here I have decided to write my own. I bought my forever home in January this year. I got a fixed rate mortgage at 1.99% for 5 years. I am allowed to overpay by 10% each year in this period. It was £124,499 at the start. I am a single Mum to two lovely boys aged 16 and 11. I have a…

To use Guineapigsqueaks/Sa1sysoo words “A new thread for declutterbugs in (2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025) 2026!" My 2025 has been another washout on the decluttering & decorating fronts as my Decluttering Mojo went ‘walkabout’ presumably as a reminder that I should Plan Ahead 😔 A better year…

Even in a forum designed to talk about long term financial planning, it seems lots of posters are only putting money in unnecessarily low risk pots, like savings accounts, premium bonds, and bonds. Great, there’s little chance you’ll lose this money... But at the same time these advocates for cash savings seem to omit that…

My son has just graduated university in August and started a new job in September. He has not worked during this financial year prior to this. His first payslip was for a partial month and his tax code was as expected the standard 1257L; he has just been paid for October and his tax code is showing 1249L M1. We’ve just…

New year, new car and new loan, equals new diary. My previous dairy; Why am I doing this s**t agin? Right…because last year I had a midlife crisis and succumbed to the ‘shiny new car’ syndrome. Buggers. I very much enjoyed the challenge of debt busting last year so lets gooooooo round two! My finances so far: Sinking Fund:…

I sometimes feel like posting little updates of what I’ve done, what I’ve been thinking about, what I’ve been reading up on - but doesn’t feel like its worth a thread. But maybe it woudl be good to have a general thread for musings and little steps you’ve taken this week (and next week etc)? Just a thought

I am mid 50s and mortgage free. My children are mid 20s. I have seen a 2 bed flat in London £580k. I have £350k in savings. Do I a/ Buy this in my own name, as a buy to let. Being a second property, so I would only have £300k to put down and roughly £50k on stamp duty? or b/ buy it with my son who is renting in London and…

So, Capita have taken over the admin for the CSPS and their new website and members portal went live this week. I have just registered on the new portal and am not in the least bit surprised to find that the information available on the new portal is very scant and incorrect in terms of my length of service. With…

Have a Chase Bank account for about a year and all seemed well until a friend sent me £30 from her business account. The money was held up until I explained what is was and from who. After a day nothing so telephoned as messaging is just digital. It appears that my friend and I were obviously suspects in an international…

Happy New Year! I thought it was about time I started a new diary. I've been on these diaries since 2008. My last diary is here Things can only get better My first diary is here Champagne Lifestyle Lemonade Budget and the one after that here Looking for the Silver Lining. That's a hell of a lot of waffle over the years 😆…

We bought a cabinet from Victorian Plumbing which we later returned as it was not required for our bathroom refurb. sent back via ParcelForce, Victorian Plumbing claimed the item was damaged on return and sent images saying we needed to speak to courier to get money back, We did not believe we had claim against the courier…

Well here goes, my first diary...After being an avid lurker both here and on the MFW boards over the years I have been amazed and inspired by the success of many individuals and the support of other forum members so hoping to do the same. So why am I here? In the 6 years since DH and I bought our home we have undergone…

Hi all As a registered keeper I've received a letter from Trace chasing payment for a parking charge issued by Times24 UK. I was rather shocked since I haven't received any ticket initially. Turned out I forgot to change address on my logbook.. I've changed my driving license and insurance but simply forgot the V5C. I have…

Good news for small traders on various online sites like eBay and Vinted (as well as other categories) the trading allowance is increasing in 2027 to £3000. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-increasing-the-trading-allowance/increasing-the-trading-allowance

I apologise if this is a recurring problem, but VP plays this card alot!! I returned a vanity unit because it was the wrong size. Opened it and realised straight away. Closed it, taped up very well (photos to prove). They received it 2 days later. 'NO refund' email right away stating it was damaged in transit on the way…

After some pondering, I've decided to start a new diary to reflect a new focus chez la maison Blackcats. My previous diary (giving every £ a job) was pivotal to moving from early retirement wannabe to achieving early retirement and it has kept me on the straight and narrow through my first years of leisure time. Being on…

I recently returned to my private eBay seller account in order to sell off some unwanted CDs and video games from the house. The last time I did this was before the advent of Simple Delivery. Unfortunately I have dug myself into a hole because some of my orders started using Simple Delivery and giving me parcel sizes that…