February being the short month does fly by quickly, even with the extra day (leap year) it seems to have been quicker than ever. Maybe that is a good thing as this suggests I have been busy and active. I guess I have, although the weather has not been as good as I would like I have tried to get out and about.
I weight myself this month ( I don’t own scales) as I had the opportunity and found I have gained more weight than I would like. I therefore need to lose some especially as I have change my GP surgery and have now been invited for a NHS Health Check. I have never had one of those before and I guess I will learn how bad my health really is. Even though I have given up work and the work stress has now eased I still have the underlying ‘anxiety’ which I just do not seem to be able to get rid off. My body is in constant ‘fight or flight’ mode which is the reason my blood pressure is always high. I suffer from white cost syndrome so as soon as a doctor puts a blood pressure monitor on me my blood pressure rises so it reads as hypertensive. I laugh when they tell me to relax as I appear to me more relaxed yet my pressure has gone up more. I have the outward appearance of some one who is calm and controlled yet underneath my body is going mental. I will wait and see what the results of this health check are. I may have to do what I have done in the past which is take readings at home when I am relaxed and these then show as normal.
I think some of my anxiety is due to menopause but I am trying to avoid HRT medication but maybe it would help me. If I reduced my anxiety then it could benefit my health in general. I want to focus on my health this year and really need to motivate myself to exercise and also do things. I have agreed with my partner that each month we will do at least one overnight stay somewhere. This has given us a motivation to get out and find locations we would like to visit.
Yet another person I knew has passed away, I seem to be surrounded by this kind of news. This person was one of the only people I spoke to during lockdowns as they operated a business and I would go and visit them and have a chat while making my purchases. I am not sure what will happen to the business now. A really sad time as he was not very old either. I think that has also spurred me on to do things while I can. No point dying with money in the bank I could have spent on activities and memories.
On the financial front, I have reviewed all my accounts and have worked out what remaining allowances I have and have started the process of topping up my pension, given that I am classed as a non tax payer I can only pay in £2880 so I have now scheduled the payments. I have reviewed my other accounts and moved savings to gain better interest. I have started looking at withdrawals from my SIPP as I could take some money and top this up with dividends and interest from savings and use up all my personal allowance, starting rate savings allowances and CGT. I am crunching numbers to work out how to do this and the best way to do this, I think UFPLS may be the way but I need to understand how to do this. I have a personal allowance which I am only really utilising for my savings interest and dividends, which is helpful as both my savings and dividend interest is above the separate allowances. I need to determine a good way to utilise these in a tax efficient form to enable me to release cash and use this to fund my lifestyle and enjoy more things in life.
Income
No premium bond win this month either. I had a few dividends but the income has been small, so the dividends from Jan will balance out the smaller input. I need to look at ways to balance my income as I get a few large sums then nothing or very low income on other months. It would be good to spread it out a little more.
Expenses
Expenses have been mainly the basic costs of supporting a house and car. I have had a few social occasions and these have been great for my mental health. Next month will be interesting as some of my utility bills will increase with inflation and I will also receive my council tax notice and find out how much it will cost me for the next tax year.
Month End Summary
A quick month with my tax review completed and all my allowances accounted for and used where I can. I just need to look at utilising more of my personal allowance as there is spare and drawn more money and have more to spend and enjoy myself.
Enjoy March and the start of Spring and some better weather to enable us to get out and make the most of life!
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Sparkle Bee's Journey to FI 