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The Save £12k in 2025 challenge
I give details below of the savings challenge I have been running this year and will continue to run next year with the help of @Suffolk_lass This is the new Challenge thread for savers in 2025. The aim is to get more people saving throughout the year and this thread gives a space for people to record their progress. The…
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taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be
Good morning MSE'ers I have been reading diaries for the last few months and have found peoples stories so inspiring that I am hoping for some company on my own journey , this will be my own log which hopefully will motivate me at times of bleakness so I can look back on any progress I have made My sitituation is quite…
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Uswitch 25 hours free electricity
I’ve seen a promotion advertised by Uswitch offering 25 hours free electricity if you connect your smart meter. Has anyone taken part in this before as I think they may have ran something similar at Christmas? I assume the catch is they collect and sell your usage data to target you with tailored tariffs?…
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Registered Users Only on PRIVATE LAND
Hi MSE Forum , I am a newbie and have gone through the newbie guidance and used that to submit the AOS so would like to thank you all for all your advise in past posts as it really feels like it helped me but would like to ask for more advise if i may for filling in the template that you provided as i have gone through…
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The second hurdle - Nichelette v the huge mortgage
Hello! I thought I would start a new diary as we attack the second phase of our mortgage... In Jan 2019 we bought our first (lovely, but little) house for 320k with a 10% deposit. South east prices :s . With the fees we began our journey with a mortgage of £289,500 over 30 years. To be honest, whilst it was affordable to…
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Worth buying freehold
I have just received a letter from my freeholder to pay my yearly ground rent. £7.50 per year. Included was another letter with an offer to buy the freehold for £695. Apparently she is considering selling a large proportion of her freehold rents to an institutional investor. Me and my wife have lived at my property for…
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Tax back from hmrc
Not sure if the right forum - I think I overpaid income tax by about £1000 through PAYE in the 24-25 tax year. I saw somewhere that HMRC have usually sorted refunds out by October, should I be contacting them?
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Is an IFA really worth it?
Hi All ! Yes I know that this is an old question - I have been reading a lot - but unfortunately haven't been able to make a decision, yet! Take this scenario * No debts at all * Not working * 59yo * Cash savings * A couple of pensions - both DC I have been asking IFAs what they would charge for simple high level advice,…
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Heathrow T5 drop off - simplest option outside ULEZ zone
We’ve a forthcoming Friday evening flight from Heathrow T5 - we were going to do the train from North of England but potential rail strikes/engineering works are making this less appealing. We’ve an offer of a lift from someone who’ll then head west to Bath but the car is non ULEZ compliant. Any suggestions of the simplest…
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The 365 Day 1p Challenge 2025
This challenge has been running for a number of years and is so popular I have agreed to run it again in 2025. If you wish to join please post on this thread and I will allocate you a number which should be quoted when you update on your progress. You can do this either using cash in a jar or virtually by transferring to a…
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PCN - Basepoint Gosport - DCBL
Hello I received a bailiff collection notice for £170 for a pcn from July. It happened during a house move and they have been sending to an old address all pcn notices inciting NTK. I've requested my details updated and sent them an email disputing the charge. They won't let me dispute on the website as they say it has…
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The Mortgage Free in Three - Take 7 challenge (MFiT-T7)
A three-year challenge for all of those who are want to pay down their mortgage (or save for house-related expenses) over a longer time period than MFW. First of all, a huge thank you to trix-a-belle who ran the 4 and 5 iterations of this challenge, inspiring many of us to stay on track (and becoming mortgage-free…
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Home security - Locks
Hi, After some advice regarding the above subject please. We have a porch door with a 1* eurocylinder lock - not particulary concerned about this as we tend to leave the porch door unlocked except for overnight and if away from home for an extended period. The porch leads to a substantial front door which is fitted with a…
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Higher Rate Tax and Pension relief
Hello All. So as a complete newbie now just opening my first pension SIPP ( albeit very late in life) , hopefully I am now right in assuming 60k limit ? Self employed and will go into higher rate tax this year but I am slightly confused on the part I claim separately on self assessment. I would like to pay in the max sum…
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Can someone help dumb this down (even more) for someone who's trying to learn credit card basics...
Hi! So for the past few years, I've made tried to make the effort to learn about credit cards and how they work, but for the life of me, my brain just can't grasp even the most basic of information in relation to how they work, when to use them, when I should pay off a credit card etc. etc. I don't know why I'm struggling…
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Assured shorthold tennancy coming to an end
Hi, My Assured Shorthold Tennancy is coming to an end on 4th Feb 2026. My landlord has written to me to ask whether i would like to renew the tennancy for a further 6 month term or whether i intend to vacate the property in expiry. ..Though can't i just ask to have it transition to a rolling month by month tennancy?
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Prolific Academic Survey Alerts
Here we go again.
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Are British Gas overcharging? advice needed
I did an energy price comparison on the MSE Energy Club for my mum's gas and electrictity (she's 88 and can't do it herself). She is currently with British Gas on a fixed rate tariff ending in July 2026 and paying £223 a month. I worked out her annual usage and did a new price comparison. The results show that she can save…
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Employer Pension Requirement
Hi everyone, Recently, I have started being employed as an employee with the business I work at. Previously, I was a contractor with them, but I felt the need for a more secure monthly income coming in. The business is small and we have quite a few contractors that we use to provide our services, but there is a small…
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Electric heating only flat
Hi If anyone has electric only heating, how have they found the bills? There is a 2 bed flat I am interested in, but it is ground floor and I am worried about the costs to heat the flat. Having spoken to some people who live in the block, they have said the bills can range from £75pm in the summer, up to £200-£300 for the…
