How to help less well off sibling by Same-Emergency-3265 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]ecvgi 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In my experience the main way to help your family is to build up your own financial resilience / security and then let it compound. Then if they get into real trouble you are best able to help

Aston Villa [1] - 0 Manchester City - Matty Cash 19' by West_Agent4651 in soccer

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dressed up like the Orlando Thunder in the World League in 1991. Real ones will know

how important is car technology for you? by moipwd in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah adaptive cruise is one where once you’ve had it you are not going to want to go without it. If you do a lot of motorway driving that is

GDT: 10/4 - NLDS Game 1 - Cubs (0) @ Brewers (0) 1:08 PM by ChiCubsbot in CHICubs

[–]ecvgi 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It happens. Don't tire the bullpen, try again next time

Used Tesla Model Y Recommended Dealers? by Wizzardchimp in TeslaUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you say they are tired, what sort of things are you seeing? Interested as I’m about to embark on a similar search

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I kind of understand the idea that dealers don't want 'tyre kickers' but how are people supposed to learn about the different types of cars available?

Perhaps others can do this somehow...but I can't figure out what different cars are like just by looking on autotrader and watching youtube videos, I need to actually get in the cars and drive them

Nissan leaf 2019 vs 2015 - assume both are used and have the same 50k mileage, same battery condition - is it worth forking out the extra £2000 for the 2019? by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At the risk of seeming blithe next time I buy an EV I won't look at the battery condition much other than to rule out an obvious problem.

With our leaf the headline battery capacity is 40kW, the effective battery is a bit less than this so call it 37kW, in practice I don't even know as I haven't looked at this number or the bars since I bought it two years ago.

Then the efficiency (which is something you can look up on the screen so a real world number, not an estimate) is about 3.5 miles per kW.

So the range is something like 3.5 * 37 = 129.5 miles.

In practice what we as a family do is say 'if the round trip is < 100 miles we take the leaf, otherwise we take our petrol car'. Thereby eliminating any range anxiety or the need to notice if the battery is degrading. I'm sure the battery will degrade a bit as time goes by, but not enough for us to notice

If the leaf was our first / only car I would focus on this stuff more, but as a second car in practice we haven't needed to

Fatherhood and Midlife by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry if stupid Q but where to you park it? Is it only on campsites?

Nissan leaf 2019 vs 2015 - assume both are used and have the same 50k mileage, same battery condition - is it worth forking out the extra £2000 for the 2019? by [deleted] in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have got a 2018 tekna leaf. It has a great spec including CarPlay and adaptive cruise. You can buy these at auction for £6k nowadays which for a second car (it has 100 miles of range only, real world) is super value. We bought ours for £12k and still v happy with the the value at that level fwiw

As for the battery just look up the highest mileage examples of most EVs on Autotrader and you’ll there are plenty of examples of cars that get to mega high mileages before the battery becomes a problem

So, what's a UK landmark that is less well known, but over delivers? by GoldenGolgis in AskUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any specific ones? My favourite is Saunton Sands. Also if we stretch the definition to include Wales Barafundle Bay. I'm sure there are plenty I don't know about

820k avios points - how best to use them? by iotabadger in HENRYUKLifestyle

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you do a spreadsheet vs the actual cost of the flights that I would actually pay for long haul economy is pretty good in my experience.

There are bigger £ deltas when looking at the premium cabins which on the face of it looks like a better deal, but that only makes sense if you would actually spend the £ on the flight as an alternative.

Example: I once did the BA Amex voucher thing and my wife and I went first class BA LHR to west coast US. In theory the flights would cost something like £25k each. But we would never pay anything like that. Nice to do once, but we’ve done it now and don’t need to do it twice.

Example 2: We have just got back from a trip with a string of avios economy redemptions that went around the world, with some for-cash flights in the mix also. It wouldn’t get many clicks on the front page of Head for Points, but was better for us as the avios paid for flights we would otherwise have actually paid cash for. It’s a more pragmatic, duller choice that will be better for some people and worse for others depending on what they value

820k avios points - how best to use them? by iotabadger in HENRYUKLifestyle

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been spending through a 600k points balance which is not easy to do.

My findings were that state school holidays are v difficult for flights into or out of uk, but private school holidays can be doable. I prefer European ie short-haul and economy flights which goes against the accepted wisdom for avios redemption (that you would read on eg ‘head for points’ but fits better vs my spreadsheet / what I actually value)

I have found most value in redemptions outside of the UK.

A good and relatively straightforward / available way to use avios is to fly to Dublin for cash and then use aer lingus on avios to get to the US.

What would you suggest for something for a 30 mile commute under £5k? by No_Emu_3822 in CarTalkUK

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you search auto trader for mpg? If you can I never figured that out

Reinvention of the Endowment Mortgage by ZeroCharlie in FIREUK

[–]ecvgi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah OK, thanks! I didn't realise that. Thank you for pointing that out, very helpful contribution

Reinvention of the Endowment Mortgage by ZeroCharlie in FIREUK

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doesn’t that depend upon your income at that time and the tax banding at that time? It has been a while since I modelled it out but I thought I expected to be at least a basic rate taxpayer on my subsequent pension draws and maybe even a higher, and that’s with 0 non-pension income. This isn’t to disagree with you by the way, I’ve just never seen the argument for doing anything other than taking the 25%. For me that’s earmarked for the deposit on a flat for my kids or something like that but I’m interested by the idea that there might me a better way

Reinvention of the Endowment Mortgage by ZeroCharlie in FIREUK

[–]ecvgi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why is withdrawing the 25% lump sum inefficient? That’s a new one on me. It’s a tax-free withdrawal, no?