How much do you need to live a month?

loulou41

I am just wondering how much pensioners need to live comfortably a month after paying the utilities bills? My monthly outgoings is £450 for direct debits not including building + house insurance and tv licence. Credit cards usually £500+ a month. Hubby reckons a £1000 a month and some savings put aside to pay the big bills like MOT etc. Now that we are both pensioners, we might spend a bit more like joining a gym to keep active. We did not have time when we were working. It's a good job we do not have to rely on the state pensions which is £84 a week, I do not think anybody could live on that, with everything going up and up.

margaretclare

Hi loulou

But you wouldn't have to live on £84 a week - if this was all you got in SRP it would be topped-up to pension credit level. However, this is only a little over £100 a week. If you were on this you'd be eligible for various other means-tested benefits like housing benefit, council tax benefit etc.

Having said that, I wouldn't want to live at that level either. It's difficult to put a figure on how much anyone needs to live comfortably because people's ideas, needs, requirements, lifestyle etc is so different.

We live comfortably, we have all we need, we eat well and we're able to do all the things we want to do - and we're still able to save. We paid for the roof a few weeks ago, that was £3,500 and we're looking at getting the gas boiler replaced probably next spring - big projects like that are paid for from savings. In addition, we're going on holiday at the end of this month, a week in a self-catering farm cottage, and a 5-day Rhine cruise over Christmas.

Margaret

lilac_lady

It depends on your outgoings. That's why it's better to have no debt by the time you reach pension age. I wouldn't like to be paying off stuff when I retire, although I realise that some pensioners have more than others due to their previous careers.

margaretclare

Hi loulou

You asked 'how much to live comfortably a month after paying the utilities bills?'

Tesco shopping and petrol all get paid for on DH's credit card, and that, in turn, is funded by his Scottish Widows annuity, about £280 a month.

We both share the utilities etc and these come to £225 a month. We have a joint account just for the normal household bills and we both tip into it. These include phone, home insurance (buildings and contents), electricity and gas (which has risen astronomically over recent months), water and sewerage. Council tax is £99.

He pays all the car expenses, car insurance was paid for the year because he got a better deal that way. In spite of this he usually has approx £200 left over when the next 4-weekly payment arrives. He normally transfers this into his cash ISA. People in other places have wondered 'how on earth we manage to save?' Well, that's how. It's useful having some 'spare' - we hadn't budgeted for getting the trees and bushes seriously manicured, but some guys turned up yesterday and they've done a darned good job for £120 cash. They weren't 'cowboys' - DH checked that they had all the proper safety gear and professional equipment. So it's a good idea to have some spare money easily accessible via an ATM, but NOT lying around in the house!!

Me, I save first - £200 a month into my equity ISA, my share into the joint account, we both pay to HSA (that means we each get 50% back including hospital stays - i.e. 50 + 50 = 100%).

I agree with lilac_lady - from experience, make sure all debts are cleared before retirement. Yes, we get more than others because of a combination of circumstances. People have talked to me about £200 average income of a pensioner couple. I can't relate to the 'averages' and 'pensioner couple' - we don't get income as a couple but as two individuals. Averages are meaningless too because people are so different.

Margaret

al_yrpal

Just been updating my spreadsheet with new figures.

£4 grand to run the house - council tax, phones, broadband, water, Gas and Electric, TV, newspapers, £2 grand to run the car, and £6 grand for food/household (measured by collecting bills all the time, and analysing every few months). Our dental charges are an extra £400 pa.

Ties up neatly with your hubbies estimate. But...this is just living with no frills

kenshaz

loulou41 wrote:

I am just wondering how much pensioners need to live comfortably a month after paying the utilities bills? My monthly outgoings is £450 for direct debits not including building + house insurance and tv licence. Credit cards usually £500+ a month. Hubby reckons a £1000 a month and some savings put aside to pay the big bills like MOT etc. Now that we are both pensioners, we might spend a bit more like joining a gym to keep active. We did not have time when we were working. It's a good job we do not have to rely on the state pensions which is £84 a week, I do not think anybody could live on that, with everything going up and up.

Why not excercise in a manner that is productive .ie gardening,walking etc ,rather than spend money on futile exercises ,that produce nothing in a Gym,bet you drive there

seven-day-weekend

margaretclare wrote:

Hi loulou

But you wouldn't have to live on £84 a week - if this was all you got in SRP it would be topped-up to pension credit level. However, this is only a little over £100 a week. If you were on this you'd be eligible for various other means-tested benefits like housing benefit, council tax benefit etc.


Margaret

Only if you do not have much in the way of savings.

margaretclare

seven-day-weekend wrote:

Only if you do not have much in the way of savings.

Hi

You are allowed to have a certain amount of savings - this was the whole idea of pension credit, that people with some savings wouldn't be penalised. However, there is obviously a line drawn somewhere. There are some examples here: http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pensioncredit/examples.asp

Note that the 68-year old widow's income is 'too high' at £162.00.

It's being alone that makes you poor.

Margaret

gb57

I reckon it is almost impossible to judge how much one would need to live on, due to the increases in council tax and essential utilities (gas, electricity), and the cost of petrol etc. What might seem fine now may well be out of the window in a year's time (given the government's lies about the rate of inflation, which ignores all the things mentioned above and a lot of other essentials).

I agree with the comment about joining a gym - what a waste of money. Walking is much healthier - fresh air -and far more interesting. Cycling, too. Growing your own veg would be good exercise, and then you can eat organically very cheaply. Or take up a sport that you might really enjoy - there are loads of people in their 60s and 70s still playing tennis doubles at our club - none of them look their age and they are all pretty fit! Make exercise a pleasure and not a chore, without having to pay out gym prices. If you want to swim, many pools have "over 50s" or "over 60s" sessions, at reduced prices.

The important thing with retirement is to enjoy it as much as possible - most of us have worked hard all our lives, and this is not a rehearsal! It might be that some of the pleasures have to be things that are cheap, - a nice walk in the country, with the sun shining and the birds singing comes into that category, but how bad is that?

Edinburghlass_2

These last few posts have been so interesting I think I'll split them off this thread and start a new one about retiring abroad and the cost of living etc

Some posts have now been moved to this thread...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=912239#post912239