u/Downtown-Bunch4137

This is a bit of bragging but also a bit of a realisation for me.

I am a high earner in London (tech). I hit 500k NW a few months ago (split is about 100k flat equity, 250k pension, 120k ISA, 10k GIA and 50k cash/premium bonds) and it was a great milestone but I kind of just moved on to the next target.

Today it hit me kind of like a brick though: this month I paid a large bill for renovations (8k) and paid for some vacation (1.2k) yet overall my NW is 12.5k higher than a month ago thanks to high investment returns in ISA and pension.

I'm finally at a point where market fluctuations are almost as important as my salary. This is super new to me when 4years ago I only had savings accounts and then dumped almost all of it into a flat, I never really had investments, grew up working class etc...

I guess this is starting to look to me like I might be actually able to FIRE some day.

TL;DR: why does this kind of arrangement exist when I ended up saving money by delaying? Who's getting screwed?

I bought a kitchen refurbishment on a buy now pay later arrangement. I entered a credit agreement where I would pay no interest if paid within 12 months.

Being somewhat savvy with my finances, I put the money in a high yield savings and waited almost 12 months. Today I go to pay for it and realize I can pay for it with my credit card. So I pay for it with my credit card (high limit but I never carry a balance). Credit company shows the balance paid, I'll just wait for the transaction to clear on the credit card, get the points and just clear it with the savings (I could wait for a direct debit but I don't like a 10k+ balance sitting there).

So in summary:

- Purchase price: 13800£

- Interests earned by waiting: 500£ (ish)

- Inflation (13.8k today is worth less than a year ago): 500£ (ish)

- Credit card points: 50£

To me it looks like I saved about 1k by using this arrangement. The credit company lost money on me (paid no interest and got inflation screwed). Is the kitchen company paying them commission? Then why is the kitchen company doing this? I could have paid on the spot, are they getting more business this way? Are they inflating prices to compensate?