Pensions Planning: The NUMBER

Peterrr

saucer said:

That’s a really clear and helpful table Peterr. One question , what’s happened the poor dog? Is he an ex-dog or a retirement plan?

Haha - alive and kicking thanks saucer. We recently received the pet insurance renewal which keeps ramping up and as Ernie is 12, the excess is now £200, so we've decided to go the 'self insure' route. His food is included in groceries.

arthurdick

Peterrr said:

saucer said:

That’s a really clear and helpful table Peterr. One question , what’s happened the poor dog? Is he an ex-dog or a retirement plan?

Haha - alive and kicking thanks saucer. We recently received the pet insurance renewal which keeps ramping up and as Ernie is 12, the excess is now £200, so we've decided to go the 'self insure' route. His food is included in groceries.

Ernie? just wondering if because of Premium Bonds, Morecambe & Wise, or Benny Hill?

bownyboy

So how is everyone's number holding up after the last year or two of inflation?

Ours is edging towards £50k a year now when once £36k a year seemed 'enough' just a few years ago.

Biggest increases for us have been (like most people probably):

- gas / electric 
- insurance
- council tax
- food 
- socialising 
- holidays! (wow, have things increased massively this year)

Below is our updated spreadsheet; items highlighted in orange are those that could be reduced or eliminited if needed.

(oh, looks like I can't do colour but it is mostly travel, takeaways / eating out, holidays)

Be interested to get others feedback!

	Service	Month		Year
Home	Mortgage	£466.00		£ 5,592.00
	Council Tax	£ 270.00		£ 3,240.00
	Garden Waste Bin Collection	£ 5.00		£ 60.00
	Mortgage Life Insurance	£ 14.00		£ 168.00
	Buildings & Contents Insurance	£ 27.42		£ 329.00
			£ 782.42
Utilities	Water	£ 36.00		£ 431.94
	Gas & Electric	£ 200.00		£ 2,400.00
	Virgin Media 350 Phone / Broadband	£ 40.00		£ 480.00
	o2 SIM Pay Monthly (inc Apple Watch)	£ 24.00		£ 288.00
	o2 SIM Pay Monthly (inc Apple Watch)	£ 24.00		£ 288.00
	TV Licence	£ 13.30		£ 159.60
	Nest Aware subscription (cameras)	£4.58		£ 54.96
	VPN	£3.00		£ 36.00
	Apple iCloud 2TB family	£6.99		£ 83.88
	google one	£1.50		£ 18.00
	Moneyhub subscription	£0.83		£ 9.99
			£ 354.20
Food & Dining	Food / groceries / toiletries / Alchohol	£ 600.00		£ 7,200.00
	Takeaways / eating out / pub	£ 600.00		£ 7,200.00
			£ 1,200.00
Car / bike	Car MOT	£ 3.15		£ 37.80
	Car Insurance	£ 28.00		£ 336.00
	Car Road Tax	£ 24.17		£ 290.00
	Car Breakdown	£ 5.12		£ 61.44
	Car Service	£ 20.00		£ 240.00
	Car Maintenance	£ 50.00		£ 600.00
	Car diesel	£ 80.00		£ 960.00
	Car Legal Protection	£ 1.50		£ 18.00
	eBike insurance x2	£ 15.08		£ 181.00
			£ 227.02
Entertainment	Netflix 4k	£ 15.99		£ 191.88
	Spotify Duo	£ 13.99		£ 167.88
	Amazon Prime	£ 6.58		£ 79.00
	Theatre/cinema/gigs	£ 50.00		£ 600.00
			£ 86.56
Holidays	Holidays	£ 600.00		£ 7,200.00
	Travel (bus, trains, taxis, parking)	£50.00		£ 900.00
			£ 650.00
Health & Wellbeing	Clothing	£ 300.00		£ 3,600.00
	Hairdressing	£ 28.33		£ 339.96
	Dental	£ 25.00		£ 300.00
	Eye tests / glasses	£10.00		£ 120.00
	NHS Prescriptions	£3.05		£ 36.60
	Private Health Care x2	£23.80		£ 285.60
	Swimming Pool subscription x2	£4.17		£ 50.00
	Swimming pool sessions x6	£27.00		£ 270.00
			£ 421.35
Gifts	Birthdays, christmas, donations	£200.00		£ 2,400.00
			£200.00
Fees	ISA Fees x2	£19.98		£ 239.76
	Pension Fees x2	£20.00		£ 240.00
	Santander Lite 123 account	£1.00		£ 12.00
			£ 40.98
		£ 3,962.52		£ 47,796.29

SouthCoastBoy

We have moved from £2500 per mth to £2650, however this still shows an end of year surplus so could live of less if needed

Nebulous2

I've been looking to see what I previously said on this thread. With a finger in the air approach I made it £2500 net a month. With a more detailed look, that would be doable, but I think £3000 net would be more appropriate for where we are now. 

DB pension and state pension when it comes would more than cover that - so I simply need to fund a modest gap between now and SPA. 

kev2009

Just looking over the table above, didn't Amazon prime go up to £95/year? it used to be £79 but it went up..

Kev

westv

kev2009 said:

Just looking over the table above, didn't Amazon prime go up to £95/year? it used to be £79 but it went up..

Kev

Yes £95. We canceled as we almost always found anything worth watching on Amazon Video wasn't included. 

Mick70

On the table above , when you say £50k a year is that gross , before tax taken off.

and , £600 pm on pub and takeaways 😃

kev2009

westv said:

kev2009 said:

Just looking over the table above, didn't Amazon prime go up to £95/year? it used to be £79 but it went up..

Kev

Yes £95. We canceled as we almost always found anything worth watching on Amazon Video wasn't included. 

ah interesting, I've renewed mine as I purchase stuff from amazon so can take advantage of the prime delivery and when I do want to watch a film, I've so far always found something to watch. I had Disney+ before but cancelled that as wasn't much on there I wanted to watch. Prime has proved better value for me.  The year I got prime, i worked out I'd spent almost £60 on delivery charges as I tend to pay for a certain day so I was around to receive so the £79 at the time for Prime was a well worth it for me.  £95 was a bit of a price increase but still worth it for me as the additional cost is probably equivalent to buying 2 or 3 films to watch.

Kev

Somebody

And where can I get Private Health Care x2 for £285.60?