Re: Nest Egg?
Quote "I have split 12k in premium bonds. 13k in peer to peer lending platforms" unquote
premium bond the value of the £ decreases so will your premium bonds in real terms and they don't pay any interest so it is a gamble but you don't loose what you put in.
Peer to peer lending i don't know much about, BUT the general rule is if the interest rate is high then be careful and remember those that do quote a highter interest rate is before tax.
We invested in granny bonds some 4/5 years ago which pay a better dividend but you have to leave the money in for the terms stated time wise. Any government backed bond issues you are safe with but they are as I said fixed term but you still have access to the money you just loose interest rates
Quote "I took early retirement some years ago as it was that or redundancy so I get a private pension of 1180 (net) per month.
My husband also took his private pension at 60 as he had been unemployed for a while.that is £800 per month. " unquote
from what you say you get a combined pension of around £24,000 a year, that is not including what you are earning.
it was mentioned in a previous post about £36,000 a year
Even so there are a lot of people earning far less than that and still manage, so this leads me to think of what your excess expenditure is?
quote " House insurance,car insurance car tax, AA membership,TV license,internet subscription all add up. I had to get some glasses last month and they were £400. My husband is currently undergoing a course of dental treatment..no NHS dentist so it is going to come to around £2000." unquote
house and car insurance I bet you have not gone on a internet compare site and got the same cover with another company far cheaper. AA? one of the most expensive breakdown cover companies you can get, look at green flag.
Internet subs do you need them. if no national health take out private dental insurance cover @x amount a month, but try NHS first. Say with Denplan
quote "Husband drives,and pays around £400 a month in fuel as he can be expected to do 100 mile round trip some days" unquote
If on company business let the company pay as expenses
quote"Groceries (including cleaning products and cat food) is around £400 a month.) are you buying the most expensive?
Seems to me just on those alone it is a case always have so will carry on the same.
Maybe sit down and list what you spend on a day to day basis and at the end of each week ask yourselves "did we really need that
This day and age you HAVE to compare prices. Our car insurance quote came through and by challanging the letter quote we got over £85 knocked off, and that was the same company we are with already.
Do you know about the hook line and catch method companies use? NO
first of all the hook, quote first year as being cheaper than others
then the line, that is to pull you in to the company, saying you won't find cheaper or better
the catch, got you now we well grab cash as much as we can from you, you are in our net
Only trying to help it is difficult to cut down but sometimes one must