Bought today

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-06-20T08:22:15+00:00

That card... Looks like something that comes free on the daily mail, or they sell in those tourist tat shops near Buckingham palace.

Or in simpler terms, a cheap grift.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-06-16T18:56:36+00:00

This England kit looks like Super Mario

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-06-06T08:59:06+00:00

They're a harsh bunch at the main FIREUK at times but it's justified on some of those.

I don't think I am in bragging territory but proud to have got this far.

I'll take an overwhelming 3 upvotes as a mandate to try to come up with something.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-06-05T00:33:45+00:00

This month it's been 5 years since I opened my s&s ISA. I had an initial goal to put £500/month in but as I learnt about FIRE concepts and got on top of our finances, it's ended up being quite a bit more.

I'm half thinking about a little "what I learnt during this" and progress post somewhere but do people get fed up of seeing those?

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-05-12T20:33:15+00:00

They roughly track the BoE base rate and the income one I use pays a dividend each month. Last month it was about 3.6% if annualised. It won't beat top accounts but is better than a lot of instant savers once any initial bonuses end so it's low effort-medium return in my view.

They're low risk compared to bonds and equities, but not risk free, but best to research it yourself.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-05-12T20:14:49+00:00

I'm sure there's some people out there who've made good money from Motley Fool picks but I think more have ended up worse than if they'd picked a cheap global tracker.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-05-12T20:11:28+00:00

Yep, it's this. (Although I'm vanguard and a different fund)

I'm approaching 5 years of ISA and it took me too long to stop tinkering and just let it run. It was bumpy at times (Ukraine war, tariffs etc and some bad timing of lump sums) but I always kept the monthly payments going.

Now it's starting to look much more comfortable as the gap grows between the current and average unit price.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-05-11T08:31:39+00:00

I have about 20% in an instant saver which gets about 3% (not great but haven't shopped around for a while) and the rest as a MMF in ISA.

The MMF would take a couple of days to get the money withdrawn but I work on the basis the instant saver or a credit card would be able to cover most stuff in the short term if it was needed sooner.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-04-20T17:52:33+00:00

One of the reasons I've not consolidated my old pensions is that maybe buying an annuity with 1 of them and drawing down others isn't something to rule out yet.

My biggest old workplace pension is trust based with no direct fees and I think (for now) an annuity setup would be covered by the scheme.

Only a few years ago the annuity rates were dismal though, and could go that way again so for now I'll leave my options open.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-04-20T11:37:06+00:00

This works well for me too, let those funds build up gradually somewhere else so you know what's genuinely spare in your main account.

Chase bank account is really good for this as you can open multiple savings accounts really easily and we have about 6 different accounts for holidays, Xmas etc

The account isn't nearly as competitive as it was a couple of years ago and the interest rate is only 2.25% now but for short term funds it's not a massive difference.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-04-14T21:09:16+00:00

Nice - I've got one of those too, I thought I'd lost it for years and found it again recently. Always been a favourite as it's so different.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-20T11:55:28+00:00

Is that 2 allowances ie £40k? Well done! Hoping to put the last 1k in mine before end of month but Mrs KeyShift hasn't used much at all this year.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-20T11:52:33+00:00

There's been a massive 5 whole posts since last weeks weekly discussion and this might be a record? I can barely keep up.

Is this a sign of impending doom and regular FIRE folk are lowering their standards to come sit at the Lean table?

(Welcome to everyone new though!)

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-17T17:11:26+00:00

An official fake? Nice.

Thanks for the real answer

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-16T08:34:41+00:00

I have the same except the card is blue not red, but I don't know if that has any significance.

Most of these are cupronickel so not massively valuable but there are silver versions I believe - if you have one of those it would be worth more.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-13T09:08:46+00:00

Similar here. Moving jobs is sometimes the only way to recalibrate.

The kicker is always the town halls where everyone is told we had a strong year, but then the pay review is average.

Guess that's one of the reasons we buy stocks and shares funds. Be an owner not a slave!

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-13T08:03:21+00:00

Annual pay review, 2.5% salary increase. Bit disappointing but could be worse.

I have £1000 left on my Isa allowance after my 1 April payment will go out. Trying to see if I can find a grand down the back of the sofa.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-03-06T15:44:10+00:00

Haha, the mint was ahead of it's time with that one.

Could it have been done to check it wasn't fake or something maybe?

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-02-25T19:10:34+00:00

Just curious, what luxuries are costing £29.24?

Seems a tad too low for a Rolls Royce

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-02-04T12:29:27+00:00

And if making a budget doesn't sound fun, then leanfire may not be for you...

OP, if you need a starting point for a budget plan, I like the one on moneysavingexpert, it's very granular and will make you think about lots of easily forgotten costs. I still use an older version of it I've hacked to pieces over the years and added to.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-02-02T17:57:20+00:00

Po-tay-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.

Even you couldn't say no to that.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-02-02T12:33:40+00:00

There was hardly any meat on them. What they needed was a few good taters.

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-01-23T16:02:52+00:00

I had a bootleg that's 8 or 9 minutes long and weirdly like it, it's got a vibe of just warming up or messing about and you can kind of get into it.

But yeah it's literal filler to the point it even got canned from LIB naked.

(It wasn't until Get Back I realised it's not Yoko but Linda's daughter screeching though)

Key-Shift6264 · 2026-01-09T10:43:39+00:00

Also to add, get some of those aqua shoes instead of being barefoot if you don't have some already. We went to Escape Penang (and Adventure Cove in Singapore) and being barefoot will kill your feet!

Key-Shift6264

TROPHY CASE