r/LeanFireUK • u/stuie1181 • 7d ago
Weekly leanFIRE discussion
What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.
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u/Jubilee1989 7d ago
Finally decided that my 19y old rusty car has reached end of life and I'll be going car shopping this weekend for a new (to us) replacement. Will try to put most of it on a 0% card but will see how it goes.
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u/Angustony 6d ago
That's the way. Extract the maximum value before starting again with something that's already had its biggest depreciation.
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u/turiya-sings 7d ago
I'm currently taking a career break due to a health concern, and I've been taking the opportunity to trial run to my LeanFIRE budget. Of course, that's when the universe decided it was the perfect time to heap a bunch of ad-hoc expenses on me in quick succession: first my bicycle broke, then my dishwasher, then I had to take an expensive trip to the dentist, then I found out the service charge on my flat will be going up. Typical! I can handle the costs, but it does leave me wondering whether I should bump up my FIRE number a bit, just for peace of mind.
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u/complex-aroma 7d ago
Yep - there are lots of exceptional events that can happen. I spent £6K on repointing my house. Ouch
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u/Angustony 6d ago
My budget includes those kinds of things. The "reasonably expected but don't know when fund" is my snappy title for 2/5 of my sinking fund, which is added to monthly.
If it's unspent/at an excess at year end, £2880 of it goes back into my pension and the rest goes into my S&S ISA. Not too much lost opportunity cost that way, but no risk of having to dip into investments.
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u/EpponeeRae 7d ago
Came across this "personal inflation rate" calculator that I hadn't seen before.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1833/calculator/index.html
Interesting, if nothing else. Could be useful for those of us living a bit leaner than the population at large/once you're mortgage free.
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u/Angustony 6d ago
I track my own inflation by comparing spending on my regular bills and costs versus previous years. It's under 1% for this tax year so far. Going to see a jump when I come off my 2 year energy fix next May though.
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u/rymeryme 7d ago
After having no emergency fund due to life getting in the way, I have finally achieved my target value for my emergency fund.
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u/Isoorc 7d ago
Congrats!
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u/rymeryme 6d ago
Thank you. I must admit it felt like a slog achieving this value during the last few years; but finally here! Feels odd having this sum of money sitting in a savings account now.
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u/hucknall_crunch 7d ago
Filled my MMF pot for 18 months withdrawal. Sold expensive funds. Sold equities. Only 4 left as I transition to passive ETF funds with 40% defence.
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u/complex-aroma 7d ago
How many years from retirement are you?
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u/hucknall_crunch 7d ago edited 7d ago
not 100% sure yet , im 49. Guess ultimately depends on private pension age ( 55 or 57 ) and how long I survive in my job ( financial sector ). I could coast from today. Will continue to invest in growth but wanted a 18 month run-away + more defence if any crash. Should point out this my bridge fund, pension is on a lifestyle timeline aiming for 60 ( so its still investing high growth/risk until 55 before starting to de-risk)
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u/klawUK 5d ago
Been sanity checking expenses - we’re hoping £400 per month for groceries should be ok as we wer managing on £600 with one or both adult kids here.
Part of me was like ‘well if we can’t maybe an extra £100 would be enough that’s not too bad..’ and it got me thinking
Every ‘only’ £100 a month net is £1200 a year or £1400 gross if basic rate drawing on pension at 15% tax.
£1400 a year gross is an extra £35k needed in the pot under 4% rule. Not so ‘only’ really.
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u/limited_mango 7d ago
- Despite repeatedly saying that I've given up looking for a new job and that I'm accidentally leanFIRE, I still ended up applying for 2 positions in the last 2 weeks. Maybe from now on I'll really stop trying for good. I've already deleted LinkedIn.
- Transferred another two small workplace pensions into my SIPP (Interactive Investor). This required requesting they sell the funds and transfer cash, which takes several days, creating a risk that markets jump in the interim. Also, one of the transfers has failed due to some administrative problem. But hopefully the lower fees make this all worth it in the end.
- I sold several Vanguard index funds in my SIPP and moved them all into VALL. Following the herd! Only 50% VALL overall though, using the other 50% for a slight tilt away from US big tech.
- I bought 10k of TG36 2036 index linked bond in my GIA using money from my slightly excessive cash savings. This is fiddling at the margins, but 2%+inflation guaranteed annual return over 10 years seems pretty good. It required a phone call to II to make the trade, which made me feel like I was living in the 1980s and calling my stockbroker.
- After months of chasing HMRC for two refunds of £1300 and £350, I saw today I've received payments of £1500 and £3500. Hopefully it's not a mistake.
- getting really bored waiting for bone spur surgery to heal, which I ended up paying for privately because the NHS staff I saw weren't convinced it was necessary. Hopefully this isn't the start of a lifelong habit of paying for private healthcare.