A ‘smart financial moves’ thread

[crabsaremisunderstood]

A space to share anything and everything, big or small, that has helped your finances in some way recently. You never know - it might help another person on this thread!

My smart move was opening a Lifetime ISA 3 years ago. The government gives you 25% on top of everything you put in, on funds up to £4k a year. If you put in £1k, you get £250 extra! I bought my first house this year and wouldn’t have become a homeowner if it hadn’t been for this. For those that have already bought a first home, you can also use it to give yourself a retirement fund.

Smartest move I did, was to do a share save with work. It's a win win, if the shares are worth more you can make money, if not you simply take your investment out.

I bought my first house with the deposit which came from a share save

@Kennykenkencat wowsers!

First of all I'm in the wrong because I don't want the hassle of paying back CB I am not eligible for.

Then I agreed that if I was out of work I would claim but that's also wrong because I may also struggle to fill in the forms myself in the future.

Also ignoring the fact I have already paid 22 years of NI & have at least 29 yrs until state pension age but only need 35 yrs of contributions. Honestly you don't need to worry about my NI. 😆😆😆

Same!
For people receiving Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit, the Help to Save scheme is brilliant, giving a bonus of 50% on a maximum saving of £50 a month over 4 years - i.e invest £2400 (max) and get £1200 bonus.

Overpaying the mortgage - slightly !
I started off by rounding up the payment to the next whole £.
Then the next £5 when my finances improved.

Can't quite remember, but I think my mortgage was paid off about 7 years early.

keep divorce amicable to save solicitors costs - even if he was a bastard! Bite your tongue, and compromise. Work it out between you and get solicitors to only do essential legal speak documents.

Absolutely yes in principle BUT if dealing with abusive ex of any kind accept that this may not be possible and DO NOT give up what you might be entitled to to 'keep the peace'. I would not have had a roof over my and my childrens' heads right now if I had agreed to the 'compromise' exH thought was fair and he had a big shock at court, that solicitor paid for itself IYSWIM.

Is it still possible to open a LISA if you've already bought your first home? It says you can withdraw to buy first home, but I'm not seeing anywhere that says you can't open/invest after this point.

Also, can anyone recommend bank accounts to me please? I've a number with a high street bank specifically split for bills/savings/every day spend like food and fuel, but I'd love something where I can have lots of different pots and named for things like Xmas, car MOT and tax, holidays.

My best tip is using a cashback credit card for every day spend (although I've always got the cash to clear monthly set aside in advance), but make around £100 a year doing this. Also never make a big purchase without checking out work place discount and vouchers

Yes, as long as you are under 40.

Using sites such as Vinted and Marketplace.

I've bought 3 pairs of boots on Vinted which are in very good condition and only worn by the seller a couple of times. All under a tenner each when brand new would cost at least £40 - £80!

Marketplace great for furniture, you can get real bargains. I kept the same 2 shitty sofas for years thinking I couldn't afford to replace them as sofas new tend to cost £££s. I then found Marketplace and bought a 2 seater in great condition for £40 and a lovely chair for £20 and they've really changed my living room!

Between DH and I we earn quite a bit less than 50k but I also agree that 50 isn't that much.
It's the cut off for me ...

Thanks @YaffleYaffle

Absolutely. I have 2 credit cards which have always been strictly for emergencies or for purchases which I can't afford to pay outright. Examples being: a car. My old car completely died and I bought a new secondhand one on my credit card at 0% and paid it off. I'd rather do that than take out finance and pay an APR % rate.

Second was I needed a solicitor for something so had to put their fees on my credit card, again at 0%.

The second credit card is for when the 0% offer expires on one so I do a balance transfer to the other at a new 0%.

Having a credit card isn't a bad thing as long as you manage it well and don't use it for frivolous stuff. It helps with your credit score too.

Snap - I've been doing that since February and paid £270 into it. Currently worth more than £1k. The term I selected is three years, so could make £3-4k back.

Recently applied to do another share and save with work. Again, over three years. Potentially £8k from both schemes in three years' time.

Double roundups in banking app plus saving monthly AND overpaying mortgage by however I can. Even a tenner helps.

The main thing I did to transform my finances was to simplify them as PP mentioned. Set all DDs to go out approx a week after payday (in case of any payroll issues), all go out on the same day (so many people don't know that you can change the date of the DD to suit you). So income goes in, DDs go out a week later. Anything left is swiped into savings. All monthly spending on a credit card (for cashback) paid in full in the above DDs. So simple.
I track all income and outgoings on a spreadsheet to check I'm on budget.

Something I read on Mumsnet was that once you've spent a pound it's gone, you don't get it back. So basically before you buy anything consider if you need it, would that pound be better spent paying off debt or decreasing your mortgage or going into savings.

Some women are routinely spending £40-£50 a month just on manicures, current thread on Style & Beauty. I'd rather buy a bottle of polish and do my own because to me I'd rather have that £500 a year in my savings account. Once you get in the habit of saving it becomes a mindset, and you don't have to turn into a miser, you can still have fun.

@Labraradabrador

My vanguard fste all share index has also done so well ( not as well as USA)

I'm not bothering with the EU investments at all.

Re Lisa.

Don't forget you also get free money if you invest into a sipp from gov.
Taxed on first 25% take out though.

If you are not eligible but one of you isn't working (e.g. if a SAHM) then it's definitely worth applying and saying you don't want to take the money - it keeps your NI contributions up to date. I didn't realise this and just about claimed in time - you don't have to do any ongoing paperwork, you just say 'I want to claim CB but not actually take the money' and nothing happens except you're on record as doing that.

I paid into a pension for years

It doesn’t mean that I get anything back.

We worked evenings and weekends for a year to raise enough to buy the tiniest flat on the market

On paper I should have a comfortable life. I did everything right

Instead I am in my 60s, I have no pension but the state pension if I live that long to see it. (They keep upping the pension age)
I live in a rented house with the only income from sporadic freelance work. (One area of freelance work has dried up because I am not vaccinated as I am allergic to the vaccine)

Over the years the NHS was supposed to treat my slipped disc instead they refused to investigate and I was off work for 7 years in agony with no income

The NHS was supposed to treat dh’s cancer But the GP wouldn’t refer him and told him to keep off Dr Google as he was just frightening himself. Instead to access treatment we had to pay for dh’s operations, cancer treatment and hospital bed (6 figures+) and the 20 months we had with no income with him off work and myself acting as carer which ate up his pension and our savings.
Then Covid put paid to jobs, business.Had to sell our home quickly.

Any money we have is being eaten up with bills. (Rent and electricity last winter was over £2000 per month)

I live in a terrace house in a crummy area.
If I was to have my life over I wouldn’t bother saving. I wouldn’t go to work. I wouldn’t buy a house. I would live off the state and not have any worries and claim for everything. Might pay into private health insurance

The results wouldn’t be much different and I would probably live longer and dc would be happier.

I have done all the things on this thread that were available to me
I even earned so little last year that I was due a tax rebate as I paid tax on my earnings. Like my pension I was told that I would get the money back. HMRC have no record of tax having been paid. Pensions I paid into the money was used to pay off the companies debts.

You think you have everything sorted but something always comes along to screw it up. I don’t plan for anything and I certainly don’t believe any rubbish about pay in now and get money back later

It might work for other people but not for me.

If a company goes into liquidation and you've paid for something from them and used cash then you've got little to no chance of getting a refund.
Some debit cards might offer protection but it's not a definite, it doesn't come under Section 75 in the way credit cards do.

The best thing I do was to pay additional AVCs into my pension, as it has made the difference between struggling and doing reasonably OK (before the financial meltdown, anyway)
I had to forego things in order to do this, the money wasn't spare.

An offset mortgage which has unlocked massive savings for us.

Any savings we get go against our mortgage and reduce interest. If we need a holiday or a new car, we draw it out again, penalty free.

Savings rates are never as high as mortgage rates so it's a total win.

Moving my shares from a broker who charged 2% per annum and investing in a Vanguard fund at 0.06% per annum with a super cheap platform.

Buying home and car insurance directly through a comparison site instead of through a broker.

@Kennykenkencat I'm sorry your life hasn't worked out how you planned or envisaged but i'm not sure why you are directing that anger at me.

@NatalieIsFreezing I'm aware of that but as I said upthread we both work

Labelling people who make different financial decisions to you as" rich" isn't helpful.
Most people aren't rich.
The difference between those who are financially stable on average wages and those who see themselves as poor is as simple as the decisions they make.

Overspending by £100 a month vs underspending by £100.

The best financial decisions I ever made was to stop labelling myself and others,stop comparing myself to others and set my own goals.