Debt Goals

takingcontrolatlast · 12 April 2019 at 11:25PM

Hi enthusiasticsaver,

yes it does - it may be a poor decision i'm making but i really would benefit with as much income coming in to the home now. I will be paying a pension which will be cheaper on my outgoings.

I'm thinking my priority is to get out of debt and then focus on planning retirement seriously.

I hate this debt and I need to get rid of it.

Ideally I know it will be better to stay in the NHS pension but it is so expensive.

Thank you for interest which I'm grateful for

unicornrose2804 · 13 April 2019 at 9:38AM

Please dont leave your pension you will regret it when you come to retirement age! post an soa to see if we can help you make other savings. Do you do a budget at the start of every month? pointless having plans if you cant actually afford them! good luck x

in_need_of_direction · 13 April 2019 at 10:10AM

Another one advocating sticking with employer pension rather than the personal one

takingcontrolatlast · 13 April 2019 at 8:45PM

Thank you Enthusiastic Saver, Unicornrose2804 and in need of direction

Your comments are really appreciated and have actually made me pause for thought.

Maybe I am being blinkered ...

"Pointless having plans if you can't afford them" - this comment has really struck home ....thank you Unicornrose. I don't think I am seeing the bigger picture ... just the debt.

I am convincing myself that a personal pension would be cheaper and I can pay off debt quicker. That's all well and good if I stick to paying off debt but realistically I could easily not pay off a debt and spend the money if I lose focus or if I haven't budgeted properly - and that defeats the reasoning behind my decision and is not preparing me for my future.

DH and I do budget monthly. The savings that are being made is with food. DH is pretty much on the ball with everything else. I'm just so wanting to get rid of debt and maybe not cutting back on the pension is a wise decision. I do understand what you are saying about making savings so I don't stop the works pension.

I have already submitted the forms but I'm sure I could opt back in to the works pension.

I can't thank you enough for making me stop and reassess. I feel stupid but really grateful for your advice xx

takingcontrolatlast · 13 April 2019 at 8:49PM

Forgot to post - I made £5 savings on the food shop which has gone towards the car insurance - total now £61.20.

still_hopeful · 14 April 2019 at 9:18AM

Delurking to say please please opt back into your employer pension scheme asap. The NHS scheme is one of the best you can get - opting out will be the worst financial decision of your life and will cost you tens of thousands of pounds, if not more.

Pop over to the pensions forum and the very knowledgeable people there will be able to help.
I know things are tight just now, but your future self will thank you so much if you opt back in.

katsu · 14 April 2019 at 11:09AM

I'm really glad you've heard the pension feedback. I would definitely post an SoA and/or read the pensions board to see if you can balance the books without opting out. Public sector pensions are generally really good so it is rarely a good idea to opt out of them.

Good luck in tackling your debts and congratulations on the car insurance progress so far.

takingcontrolatlast · 14 April 2019 at 10:09PM

still_hopeful wrote: »

Delurking to say please please opt back into your employer pension scheme asap. The NHS scheme is one of the best you can get - opting out will be the worst financial decision of your life and will cost you tens of thousands of pounds, if not more.

Pop over to the pensions forum and the very knowledgeable people there will be able to help.
I know things are tight just now, but your future self will thank you so much if you opt back in.

Thank you still hopeful - I will take your advice although I'm in my early 50's I'm not sure what my pension would be when I retire. I've never really thought about a pension seriously as debt was just overwhelming me never and I have never thought about a future.

I will take a look at the pensions forum and educate myself - and I will opt back in to the scheme as soon as possible. Thanks again x

takingcontrolatlast · 14 April 2019 at 10:18PM

katsu wrote: »

I'm really glad you've heard the pension feedback. I would definitely post an SoA and/or read the pensions board to see if you can balance the books without opting out. Public sector pensions are generally really good so it is rarely a good idea to opt out of them.

Good luck in tackling your debts and congratulations on the car insurance progress so far.

Hi katsu, I am absolutely going to pop over to the pensions board and educate myself further. I will also opt back in to the scheme. The feedback from everyone has been most welcome. I thought I was doing the right thing in tackling the debt before addressing the pension issue, but obviously they both are as equally important.

Thank you for your support and good wishes xx

takingcontrolatlast · 16 April 2019 at 11:04PM

Not much to report except 1 NSD. I managed to sort a birthday present for my niece and Easter eggs for the small children in the family apart from 1 more Easter Egg I need to buy for my DD2. All have been purchased from food shop budget - doing a weekly itinerary of what essentials to buy has really helped me out!

I'm so tired atm - I don't know where the weekend went - feel like I haven't achieved much at all. I'm looking forward to the long weekend to relax, unwind and do jobs in the house. I also have a lot of reading I want to catch up on.

I have no spare money and its times like this when I'm off and want to buy paint, plants etc and I can't

What I can do however, is clean and make things more tidier. There may be left over paint from the previous home owner .. not sure.. need to check. Its frustrating as this is a house that we moved into last year and I haven't done a thing to it yet...luckily it doesn't need it but I do want to make my mark on it.

I will probably look at the budget for May at the weekend -financially it is one of the worst months for me. Birthdays galore! Needless to say not budgeted for

There's also an engagement and a 21st!! And it is also my DD2 birthday.

DD1 & DD2 at xmas bought DH and i a 4 day city break to Barcelona as a xmas present... which is in May....I'm just not excited as I'm worrying about the lack of funds I have to contribute.

it just highlights how poor at budgeting i've been but i'm trying to improve. I will need to be really creative in May!!

Debt Goals

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