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What have you changed?

Making your money go further
neversay
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What have you changed?

#306083

Postby neversay » May 6th, 2020, 12:42 pm

I expect that LBYMers here have already financially 'cut their cloth' and nailed their plans and strategies. So what has the coronavirus situation caused you to change in your finances or LYBM lifestyle?

Here's my 'LBYM audit':
- Household expenses: as usual monitored (using Moneyhub) and there are no areas for savings as our discretionary outgoings have already reduced
- Income: we are fortunate to not be affected in our roles/business but as always prudently prepare for the worst and keep a healthy emergency fund
- Groceries: spending has increased slightly with more home cooking and enjoyable choices
- Utilities: used a comparison site to renew home insurance for a lower price than last year while getting better cover
- Entertainment: increased subscriptions on streaming TV services for family movie nights and box-sets (finished Homeland!)
- Car: had helpful feedback on the Cars board that reminded me it's ok to stick with our old plug-in hybrid
- Holiday: we had a break in the US prior to the lockdown, but have optimistically made a cancellable reservation on a cabin in Scotland in August
- Purchases: stocked up in early Feb on consumables etc to hedge against scarcity and price increases. Need to run-down stocks if anything. Occasional treats for the kids (new trainers, Xbox credits) to give them some rewards for being so good at handling the lockdown.
- SIPP: I sold vanguard tracker funds in early Feb and did some buying back in on the lows, have 20% cash ready for other falls (15+ years to retirement)
- ISAs: made a quick 10% profit on some share trades (BARC, GSK, LLOY, HSBA etc) in my play portfolio, but back in cash now
- House: huge cleaning and decluttering and Marie Kondo of all rooms, with 7 bin bags ready for charity collection. Some other items disposed on Gumtree/eBay, but more to do. Wondering if I should be shedding many other optional assets for financial benefit as well as being minimalist.
- Extension: we still have plans for a large house extension in Spring 2021 but carefully watching the economy while sitting on the funds and having time to have some valuable insights about the design.
- Living: I already worked from home, but enjoy having my family home and long early morning walks every day, slightly more reading and enjoying the beautiful Spring and sunshine, late afternoon drinks.
- Health: about the same (longer morning walks, but less incidental exercise e.g. from running errands). Noticeably zero back problems due to long car journeys.
- Garden: most space devoted to edibles and many seeds have germinated, more kitchen waste recycling via compost/wormery
- Retirement: this has given us the first inkling of what it might actually feel like to be retired and made me think more about retirement planning and bringing forward the date (or gradually ramping down work over years).

At present we are fortunate in that our lifestyles have, if anything, improved as we continue to live below our means and savour the simple pleasures. I appreciate that is not the case for very many other people, so 'count our blessings'. I'm still wondering what else I can change though as it feels like I should be 'doing' something, but I can't think what else...

How are you all getting on?

AF62
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Re: What have you changed?

#306787

Postby AF62 » May 8th, 2020, 6:01 pm

Fortunately myself and partner are in jobs that have not been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and can work from home so in respect of pay have not been impacted at all, but on the plus side we are now saving almost £1,000 a month in train fares and three hours a day travelling. We are both likely to take early retirement at the end of the year, so this gives a small inkling of what is ahead.

A holiday booked for next week in Italy is now of course not happening, and as the travel agents are being gits and refusing to refund, the claim has gone into the card company for a refund. I have not bothered to look at anything else for the future and will see how things sort themselves out.

Shopping has got slightly more expensive as I have been using Tesco for deliveries/click and collect rather than Lidl/Aldi, but actually I could quite get in the habit of avoiding shopping and just have someone bring it to me.

Utilities are not up for renewal at the moment, although I can see that with the price falls that even paying the exit fee on the electricity would see a slightly cheaper deal, but I will wait an see what happens over the next few months.

Insurance - I see the companies are still being sharks. Renewal received earlier this week from Halifax for my house insurance where I paid £170 last year but also got £50 cashback from them, now increased to £220 on renewal. However getting a new quote from their website gave a price of £130. Phoned them up and just got a shrug, with a "shall I cancel the renewal so you can buy online". Crooks, as people like my mother would simply pay.

Cars - well the last time I visited a petrol station was almost two months ago, so that is a decent saving.

Spending more money on TV streaming services, but won't keep those on after all this is over.

House and garden have never been tidier or looked better.

monabri
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Re: What have you changed?

#307499

Postby monabri » May 11th, 2020, 9:05 am

That explains why The Halifax can afford to send me 12 identical letters on the same day to tell me that my home insurance was up for renewal.

AF62
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Re: What have you changed?

#307660

Postby AF62 » May 11th, 2020, 4:22 pm

monabri wrote:That explains why The Halifax can afford to send me 12 identical letters on the same day to tell me that my home insurance was up for renewal.


Well do check their website to see what the real price is and not the 'mug' renewal price they will have posted to you a dozen times.

At least Halifax have not completely descended to the shark infested depths that Saga Insurance have, where they have set their website up so that if you already hold a policy with them it throws up an error message when you ask for a quote. However Saga are so dim they didn't think that simply misspelling your name avoids their dirty tricks and does provide a quote.

neversay
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Re: What have you changed?

#307678

Postby neversay » May 11th, 2020, 5:08 pm

AF62 wrote:
monabri wrote:That explains why The Halifax can afford to send me 12 identical letters on the same day to tell me that my home insurance was up for renewal.


Well do check their website to see what the real price is and not the 'mug' renewal price they will have posted to you a dozen times.

At least Halifax have not completely descended to the shark infested depths that Saga Insurance have, where they have set their website up so that if you already hold a policy with them it throws up an error message when you ask for a quote. However Saga are so dim they didn't think that simply misspelling your name avoids their dirty tricks and does provide a quote.


For us Comparethemarket came right up with Tesco insurance as the cheapest at £140; that included many tens of thousands in property/rebuild cover, minimal excess, new for old, bike cover, valuables away from home, legal cover, etc. Normally I use multiple comparison sites but I'm very happy at that price.

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Re: What have you changed?

#309742

Postby richlist » May 18th, 2020, 7:15 pm

Not renewed annual travel insurance......can't see me going anywhere this year !
Not renewed my 'Two Together' annual railcard.....won't be using a train this year !
Not renewed my RHS membership.
Cancelled flights to Spain in March & June.
Not renewed my car breakdown cover......hardly using our cars.....and only local trips at the moment.
Put a number of DIY jobs on hold as it's to difficult getting hold of materials at the moment.
Just heard Bella Italia are filing for administration and I have prepaid gift cards for their restaurant......probably loose the £40
Great time to sell stuff......people queuing at the door to buy mystuff.......probably cos the shops have been closed.
The garden, house, loft, garages and outbuildings have never looked so organised and tidy.
I'm loving it......

neversay
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Re: What have you changed?

#309754

Postby neversay » May 18th, 2020, 8:35 pm

richlist wrote:Not renewed annual travel insurance......can't see me going anywhere this year !
Not renewed my 'Two Together' annual railcard.....won't be using a train this year !
Not renewed my RHS membership.
Cancelled flights to Spain in March & June.
Not renewed my car breakdown cover......hardly using our cars.....and only local trips at the moment.
Put a number of DIY jobs on hold as it's to difficult getting hold of materials at the moment.
Just heard Bella Italia are filing for administration and I have prepaid gift cards for their restaurant......probably loose the £40
Great time to sell stuff......people queuing at the door to buy mystuff.......probably cos the shops have been closed.
The garden, house, loft, garages and outbuildings have never looked so organised and tidy.
I'm loving it......


Good point on the memberships. We're in the middle of breakdown cover etc, but I haven't asked to put it on pause (it did only cost £20 for the year!). Our travel insurance is through the bank. However, I'm a Fellow of two professional societies that costs me about £80 a month through my business. On the one hand it apparently gives some kudos (to the uninitiated), and 8 more letters after my name, but I never interact with the Societies and can't remember the last time it came in useful. Half of me wants to give them up as it's £1k a year for 'baubles', but then again will having continuing professional membership be useful in the future?

I'm ebaying and gumtreeing clutter like there's no tomorrow. It was £300 on kids old toys/books/bikes last week alone, all going straight into their savings accounts but worth far more is the JOY of being rid of all that paraphernalia and having a decluttered home. As the recipients are also grateful of cut-price entertainment for their kids, it has been win-win-win. Incidentally some items are fetching the price that I paid for them up to 8 years ago.

On the points/vouchers side, I feel your pain. All those Tesco points are gathering dust. I had a dilemma with 55,000 points on an Amex Gold Card that I was saving up to transfer to Virgin Air Miles. As the free first year is over, Amex wanted £140 membership on the card for benefits like access to airline lounges (!). At first Amex said I'd have to use the points elsewhere, but now it turns out I can downgrade the Gold into a regular Rewards card so I can hold out longer to see if Virgin Atlantic make it through this. The airmiles may be worth more and we will be able to fly and see our family in the US again.

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Re: What have you changed?

#312744

Postby Jopo1 » May 27th, 2020, 7:00 pm

Well, I calculated that our joint income since 6th April is just 28% of what it was prior to that date. We just aren't spending much money at all except on food, utilities, and mortgage and books for my son!

I was already not buying clothes for a year since September, although my goodness I'm tempted by those Joe Browns ads the Facebook keeps showing me!!!

I've had to buy some shorts and summer pyjamas for my 7 year old who has grown, but that's pretty much it.

Jopo1

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Re: What have you changed?

#312885

Postby richlist » May 28th, 2020, 7:45 am

Strangely enough I've found exactly the opposite.

* I don't have any mortgages and my total income from...pensions, investments, property & self employment has actually gone up.
* Expenditure has gone down significantly....not going out, only buying essentials mainly online etc.

The benefits from lockdown for me are immense.....more money in the bank, a very VERY tidy house and garden, time to listen to loud rock music & lots of sunbathing.

I don't want it to end.

swill453
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Re: What have you changed?

#312889

Postby swill453 » May 28th, 2020, 8:11 am

Our income is almost entirely from dividends, being retired on private defined contribution pensions with still a few years before state pension. At this precise moment our income hasn't been cut at all, but I expect it will decline somewhat in the next six months or so.

Fortunately we've planned for this, and have about 3 years normal expenses in readily accessible cash or cash-like form. Like others our expenditure has greatly reduced in lockdown, so at this rate it could last much longer. I expect our spending will start to increase a bit soon though.

Scott.

monabri
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Re: What have you changed?

#313446

Postby monabri » May 29th, 2020, 7:02 pm

richlist wrote:
......time to listen to loud rock music & lots of sunbathing.

I don't want it to end.


Are you my neighbour? If so, turn the bl***dy music down!

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Re: What have you changed?

#313647

Postby stevensfo » May 30th, 2020, 12:12 pm

Well, I didn't immediately sell everything like some people. I learned my lesson from the Great Financial Crisis that, for many, many reasons, passed me by till it was too late. I was younger, had only a regular Halifax Sharedealing account, and the monthly transfers and automatic reinvestment of dividends just continued. Turns out to have been the best decision! I have neither the time nor experience to start actively trading.
Apart from a few topups that were just screaming at me, all Growth ITs or index ETFs, I've slowed down and channel more into cash savings accounts to build a bigger cash reserve for if the smelly stuff hits the fan even more in the future.
I think we are more careful about what we buy now and I think more about purchases. Probably a natural reaction for conserving resources at times of stress? Definitely consume less, so doing our bit for the world.

Steve

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Re: What have you changed?

#315060

Postby TopStar74 » June 4th, 2020, 10:32 am

Neversay,

"I'm ebaying and gumtreeing clutter like there's no tomorrow. It was £300 on kids old toys/books/bikes last week alone, all going straight into their savings accounts"

Just out of curiosity, may I know what stuff you were able to sell on gumtree and ebay? in the past I have tried to sell children's stuff including books, clothes, toys, all in good shape and some barely used, and has not attracted any attention and eventually did not have the time or energy to focus on it and just gave it away to charity.

neversay
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Re: What have you changed?

#315096

Postby neversay » June 4th, 2020, 11:38 am

TopStar74 wrote:Neversay,

"I'm ebaying and gumtreeing clutter like there's no tomorrow. It was £300 on kids old toys/books/bikes last week alone, all going straight into their savings accounts"

Just out of curiosity, may I know what stuff you were able to sell on gumtree and ebay? in the past I have tried to sell children's stuff including books, clothes, toys, all in good shape and some barely used, and has not attracted any attention and eventually did not have the time or energy to focus on it and just gave it away to charity.


On ebay - I sold star wars and minecraft toys.

On gumtree - two kids bikes, a climbing frame/swing/slide, lots of books, board games, assorted toys (furbies, toy camera etc), pizza oven, etc.

It's hard to tell what will sell, even with items at stupid discounts. I did find that job lots work best for low-value items like books/games etc as it's not worth people collecting for one item. It would be interesting to see the data that ebay/gumtree hold on what does sell. Likewise I'm not a facebook user but that marketplace might be busier now? (there's also shpock or something like that)

Overall though I spent ages listing other items that never got a bite. In truth the cost of my time outweighed the whole effort, but I had promised the kids that they will share the proceeds. We also gave a lot away to friends and neighbours as well as 7 bin bags full ready to go to charity.

What gets me are the items that are too good to go to charity (e.g. they underprice it, staff have their pick, they won't accept it, or a middle man takes the profit) but not valuable enough that there's market demand or profit to warrant the time spent selling it. It's these items that clutter up the house, garage and mind. I just need to get rid.

N

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Re: What have you changed?

#315165

Postby TopStar74 » June 4th, 2020, 1:25 pm

Ok, good to know! Thanks. I have given away clothes, some expensive toys, books, furniture, tools and appliances, everything for free. For me the time vs money option did not make good value and I felt if someone feels happier with it, that should count as value as well for me. In your case i understand. £300 is £300! Well done!

I have lost track of the number of things which my wife or kids kept saying are too valuable or too collectible or sentimental to get rid of, and then once given away have never ever felt the need or remembered it or regretted or cared about it. So I make it a point to be a bit ruthless in my decisions to de-clutter. It as only ever been a good decision and life has got a lot better

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Re: What have you changed?

#316761

Postby AF62 » June 9th, 2020, 1:23 pm

neversay wrote:It would be interesting to see the data that ebay/gumtree hold on what does sell.


On eBay in the filters you can select either ‘completed’ or ‘sold’ items, with the first showing you all completed listings with items which sold and their selling price in green and the latter just the items which sold (and again their selling price).

Whenever I sell anything on eBay I take a look at the recently completed listings just to see what the going rate is. Often I have been surprised at what high prices some things attract which I would have otherwise underpriced.

neversay
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Re: What have you changed?

#316768

Postby neversay » June 9th, 2020, 1:33 pm

AF62 wrote:
neversay wrote:It would be interesting to see the data that ebay/gumtree hold on what does sell.


On eBay in the filters you can select either ‘completed’ or ‘sold’ items, with the first showing you all completed listings with items which sold and their selling price in green and the latter just the items which sold (and again their selling price).

Whenever I sell anything on eBay I take a look at the recently completed listings just to see what the going rate is. Often I have been surprised at what high prices some things attract which I would have otherwise underpriced.


That's a great tip. Thank you!


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