Pensions Planning: The NUMBER 14 December 2009 at 2:44PM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 2.3K replies 622.6K views

Secret2ndAccount

Ahh, I should learn to read. Yeah. That could be seen as lavish.

SouthCoastBoy

We are a family of four, and our food bills is about £450 a month, total bill when buying non food at supermarket between £500 and £550 a month, with just two of us I would expect to get the 450 to around 300

Sea_Shell

We've spent £15,500* in the 12 months to date 😎


That includes 6 UK breaks!!   27 nights self catering.



ETA - that was in fact £15,800.   I can't read my own writing!!

jimpwarsop

Sea_Shell said:

We've spent £15,500 in the 12 months to date 😎


That includes 6 UK breaks!!   27 nights self catering.

Similarly we spend around £18k, from DB pensions taken early.  Sadly those pensions wont keep pace with current inflation rates. But hey, I got my SRP in January, so thats inflation double covered. The wife gets her SRP in 3.5 years, so IMHO we are well covered to spend £25k.

Capital purchases are covered by a saving "pot" mainly in shares, of around £130k

pensionpawn

Me and Mrs PP have just returned from Sainsburys with what we call our 'big shop' (overflowing biggest trolley, not budget brands..) and that cost us £223 (including 6 bottles of nice wine via the 25% off offer) for three adults, however that will last us 2-3 weeks (besides bread / milk). We just buy what we need (want... wine) and never really bothered about tracking the cost so I really had no clue until it became a focus point on this thread. So for us ~ £1k / month at the supermarket is mind boggling. We enjoy Domino's / Chinese / chip shop about once a month and eat out at a nice pub once every 2 - 3 months. 

pensionpawn

Just thinking about it the income / savings from our solar panels in July just paid for that shop (with change). Given the direction of travel with the cost of energy, they are really worth getting.

PennyForThem_2

so

I actually (as a widow who had DB from husband - widow payable - and an annuity based pension from husband paying 4% p.a.) tailored my expected income via pension by deferring SP (10% p.a) and working beyond NHS pension age, so to make absolutey sure I had enough slack to ensure I would not worry about inflation and/or gov lack of generosity for public authority pensions/state pension.

This meant working past SP age and also deferring SP (at 10% p.a interest - :0  ).  Achieved.  Now no stress as got really good margin which WILL reduce - totally aware of that!

I don't want to have to think too much about budgeting or what I buy when.  I want to be able to pay for help without worrying.

I am a singleton - I am fully aware of what practicalites I cannot do.  So I need to pay for services.  

elantan

pensionpawn said:

Me and Mrs PP have just returned from Sainsburys with what we call our 'big shop' (overflowing biggest trolley, not budget brands..) and that cost us £223 (including 6 bottles of nice wine via the 25% off offer) for three adults, however that will last us 2-3 weeks (besides bread / milk). We just buy what we need (want... wine) and never really bothered about tracking the cost so I really had no clue until it became a focus point on this thread. So for us ~ £1k / month at the supermarket is mind boggling. We enjoy Domino's / Chinese / chip shop about once a month and eat out at a nice pub once every 2 - 3 months. 

is that including butcher meat, fish etc ? 

I dont tend to spend too much at a supermarket, I spend a lot at butchers fishmonger fruit and veg shops etc. tend to stick to supermarkets for things like pasta which I buy maybe once every 3 months, I buy milk and bread every week from supermarkets but havnt done a "big shop" in years and years 

we tend to eat out fairly often though, I have lunch with friends atleast twice a month OH has dinner with friends atleast once per month and we eat out together fairly often as well 

people just spend differently according to their wants, needs and availability of money I reckon 

german_keeper

It's horses for courses really. I think Sea Shell has mentioned a figure of about £15k or £16k on her never ending thread. We will have about £28k pre SPA, £33k post SPA and I have recently realised that if we commute some of my wife's DB when she is 60 we may be able to equalise those figures a bit more and also reduce the tax as well. That will be plenty for us. Others may well need £40k or £50k or even more to do what they want.

On Friday I went out for a few pints with a good friend of mine on his retirement. Both of us have retired around the age of 58, me just before and him just after. One of the other lads was saying "how have you 2 beggars (or something similar!) managed to retire at that age". So I asked him how his golf game was, a subject he loves to talk about. For as long as I can remember him and his wife have done the whole golf club thing. He has had his time as Captain and President and she had her go at Ladies Captain. They play all the time and a lot of their social life revolves around the golf club, the 19th hole and all the usual functions. When he had finished I just said "the answer to your original question is that we don't play golf!"   

pensionpawn

elantan said:

pensionpawn said:

Me and Mrs PP have just returned from Sainsburys with what we call our 'big shop' (overflowing biggest trolley, not budget brands..) and that cost us £223 (including 6 bottles of nice wine via the 25% off offer) for three adults, however that will last us 2-3 weeks (besides bread / milk). We just buy what we need (want... wine) and never really bothered about tracking the cost so I really had no clue until it became a focus point on this thread. So for us ~ £1k / month at the supermarket is mind boggling. We enjoy Domino's / Chinese / chip shop about once a month and eat out at a nice pub once every 2 - 3 months. 

is that including butcher meat, fish etc ? 

I dont tend to spend too much at a supermarket, I spend a lot at butchers fishmonger fruit and veg shops etc. tend to stick to supermarkets for things like pasta which I buy maybe once every 3 months, I buy milk and bread every week from supermarkets but havnt done a "big shop" in years and years 

we tend to eat out fairly often though, I have lunch with friends atleast twice a month OH has dinner with friends atleast once per month and we eat out together fairly often as well 

people just spend differently according to their wants, needs and availability of money I reckon 

Topside roasting joint, beef mince, meatballs, chicken fillets, steak and £21 worth of cat food! We reserve visits to the farm shop for Christmas and Easter. We don't eat out as much as most do on this forum because Mrs PP works shifts that start at 6am or finish at 10pm. No doubt we'll eat out more as time permits after she retires next week. As you said, everyone is different and the cost of someones shopping basket is going to reflect the size of their income.