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Original poster

What is the best financial decision you have made?

224 replies

Flyingfish111 · 26/03/2021 18:24

What is the best financial decision you have made and why?

If appropriate, has it helped you save for anything in particular?

Trying to rain in my spends and save as much as possible for a house deposit.. both myself and dp have a LISA and have done now for a few years!

I'm not so sure I have a best financial decision but one that stands out is staying at home during my time at university (of course there are downsides to this outside the financial remit) which means I will have paid off my student debt by the age of 35/36+ although I admit I wasn't as savvy as I wished I was in my 20s going on regular holidays and going out drinking etc!

Both myself and DP have also kept our savings in premium bonds and have worked out that we have won more than we would have gained interest, not a significant amount or a life changing amount but a small win all the same!

On the downside, DP is in a bit of a career rut at the moment, stuck in a particular 'specific' field in the civil service (his role is business support for a specific team with some project assistance work) and struggling to move upwards!!! Any other job in his field elsewhere is paid about 5k less. I know that this is something that is holding us back financially, something for my dp (with my support) to think about this year!

OP posts:
Buggerthebotox · 27/03/2021 13:14

Buying a house at a young age (28 -it wasn't particularly young at the time though.)

Being with a partner who's - - tight-- good with money and motivated and living with him in his house.

House is my security for old age.

dontsaveusername · 27/03/2021 13:15

work hard and saved the deposit for a house

mrsplum2015 · 27/03/2021 13:23

Buying property that we thought we couldn't afford

I totally spent up during my uni years and don't regret it for a minute as it will be years before I can have that freedom again!!!

We just sold a house which we used to live in and made 200k clear which frees up a lot of money to continue current lifestyle and live in a much nicer house and still enjoy the freedoms I have time to!

MrsWombat · 27/03/2021 13:37

Plenty of regrets. But glad I've never been one for major debt, and have also fairly recently (past year or so) found Dave Ramsey, and also the £10 a day thread on this very board.

CarolinaWeeper · 27/03/2021 13:45

I think top three for me are:

  1. Overpaying my mortgage from the outset, even if just by small amounts at first.
  1. Making sure I was contributing into a pension from the first time I got a job after University and making sure I contributed enough to max out employer contributions.
  1. Opening up a Stocks and Shares ISA and putting a bit each month via direct debit. I don't save loads into there each month but it's still really grown.
topcat2014 · 27/03/2021 13:47

Never even thinking about any public sector jobs because of the crap pay.

Bridget83 · 27/03/2021 14:02

Making sure to save a % of my salary every month since I started earning decent money.
Also I married a wealthy man, that helps too!

OneRingToRuleThemAll · 27/03/2021 14:07

Ending a relationship with someone who was financially incompetent (childrens father). He earns six figures and is still in debt. I earn a quarter of that and live below my means so have savings.

WobblyLondoner · 27/03/2021 14:22

Joining the final salary pension scheme in my first job. I dithered about this for weeks as it just seemed so much money. Very glad I decided in favour.

Buying my first flat when I did - though was just lucky in terms of the property market.

Always being financially independent.

Okbussitout · 27/03/2021 14:31

Unfortunately it was moving out of London

BJHair · 27/03/2021 14:45

Buying my council house
Using an inheritance to pay of my mortgage
Marrying my husband

Silkies · 27/03/2021 15:34

A year out of university I bought a flat, saved the deposit by renting rooms rather than whole flats and saved every penny I could. That flat was cheap and prices were rising very fast, not in the nicest area and very dated but bought it. Rented a room out and continued to be very careful with money and paid off mortgage at 29. When I sold it a few years later it was for four times what I paid without really spending anything on it.

shivawn · 27/03/2021 18:10

Buying a much cheaper house than we could afford.

Pooling our finances and tackling everything as a team.

Aj1400 · 27/03/2021 18:51

Any reccomendations for Stocks and Shares ISA's
my OH and I are looking into starting one but not sure if any are good, or if ones to go with?

Mumdiva99 · 27/03/2021 19:19

[quote Flyingfish111]@Touloser that's exactly where we're at, we're priced out the area where both me and dh grew up and my close friends all bought in this area within the last 5 years, it has literally gone crazy![/quote]
Buy in the next closest area you can afford and cross your fingers the gentrification effect puts up prices there too.

SandysMam · 27/03/2021 19:48

Interesting thread OP!

Mine is living below our means and overpaying the mortgage with the extra, saving tons of interest.
We effectively live on 1 salary and if the shit hits the fan, can hunker down and survive if we have to. Means we aren’t as flash as lots of our friends but the feeling of financial security is priceless.

Also, downgrading products has saved me an absolute bomb. I used to pay £18 for a facewash/mascara etc!! I switched to high street and own brand products and saved so much. My face wash is £3 from Boots and lasts the same amount of time as the £18 designer one I used to buy. My skin looks exactly the same, if not better! I get through one every 3 months so that’s £60 a year saving on face wash alone! Do that for another 10 products such as mascara, shampoo and conditioner, and that’s a massive amount of money! I really like Boots Natural Collection products and some of the Poundland bits are fab too.

CosmicComfort · 27/03/2021 19:50

Getting critical illness insurance with out mortgage; paid out when I got cervical cancer and we built a huge extension which transformed the living space of our house.

It was a really tough time in our lives but the money was a huge bonus. The real bonus of course is that I am still well almost 16 years later.

Kept working when dses were small. Did nights and weekends as a nurse so no childcare costs which helped financially.

Overpaying the mortgage, now paid off.

I like using Chip for automatic savings I don’t particularly notice coming out of my account. It all mounts up.

Dogsandbabies · 27/03/2021 19:58

Echo all other comments.

Single best decision was to not stop working when my first was born (I was a single mum and on low pay) although nursery fees wiped out my wages completely and I had to borrow on credit cards to live on. My career absolutely took off!

Save in my stocks and shares ISA as much as I can. They have really paid off and will pay for my children's uni fees and first house deposits. I never overpaid on my mortgage. It has always been low interest and I always earned a lot more from my investments.

Put as much as possible in my pension from as early as possible. Hasn't paid off yet but I am looking at a min 38k income per year when I retire.

wishingitwasfriday · 27/03/2021 20:18

Overpaying the mortgage as much as possible. Working full time to keep up with promotions and salary increases.
It worries me how many women have mentioned marrying their husband. Why should that be a financial move? You should be in charge of your own finances, not relying on your husband to make wise financial choices for you. You never know what's around the corner (affairs, divorce, illness etc) so stand up for yourself and take charge!

AllDoneIn · 27/03/2021 20:27

Buying a house as soon as I was able to and falling in love with a man who happened to be extremely financially literate.

weegiemum · 27/03/2021 20:48

Buying property. We bought the best house we could afford when we lived in a remote rural area, then have been able to rent it out as a holiday property (after subdividing) when we moved to a city property.

KeyboardWorriers · 27/03/2021 21:15

That's a good point, in reality my best decision was probably continuing working even when I only made £100 or so a month after childcare and commuting.

7 years later my salary has doubled and I have zero childcare costs because I have been able to negotiate working around the school run (I do the rest of my hours in the evening). So I have gone from "taking home" £100/month to taking home £2700/month in the space of 7 years.

jennymac31 · 27/03/2021 21:37

I've made a number of good financial decisions;

  • buying house with boyfriend (now husband) when we were both 26.
  • Paying monthly funds into savings account when we got engaged and are still continuing to do so 10 years on.
  • Sold 1st home and bought a doer-upper. It was great timing as property value has almost doubled.
  • Returned to full-time role after both periods of maternity leave in order to maintain salary, pension contributions etc.
HarryLimeFoxtrot · 27/03/2021 21:42

Going back to work FT after maternity leave even though childcare was expensive. The DC are now 15 & 16, and I love my chosen career. Plus I now a 6-figure salary and have a great pension.

Jackparlabane · 27/03/2021 21:42

Fighting with HR and managing to join the civil service a week before the Classic pension scheme closed.

Buying a flat in 2000 despite everyone warning of imminent price crashes that haven't happened yet. Upgraded in 2005 and house is worth 3x what we paid then.

Being on a tracker mortgage in 2008 was good too, but that was a good chunk of luck.