How much is 'enough' for a single pensioner?

sebastianj

If rent, Bills Elec. Gas, Water, Council Tax is to be paid then £1400 should suffice, as you do get travel card free.
seb

margaretclare

sniffles wrote: »

But how much money can a pensioner live on? Anyone?

OK. There are two of us at this house (2-bed 1930s bungalow). We each chip in £200 a month into the joint account, that's to cover all utilities, insurances (house and car), and the milkman. In addition, we each put £170 a month into a 'food' budget. That's £740 a month for the basic essentials. It doesn't cover petrol or any other car expenses. So, you could say that £170 a week is the absolute basic cost of living for the 2 of us. Of course that doesn't cover everything. But it does mean that the council tax is paid, the basic utilities are paid and there is food on the table.

Oooops. As of this morning, roof repair needed after the wild night we experienced! Not worth claiming off the home insurance - we have an excess on the policy anyway. So, there are always things which crop up which you can't budget for and will cost extra.

margaretclare

Katiehound wrote: »

pineapple wrote: »

Can I just say I have a sneaky admiration for her.
QUOTE]

have you actually read the whole thread?
You have a sneaky admiration for someone who is not frittering their own money away! Oh no- she's intent on spending money that was intended for her 2 stepsons because it isn't actually her own money it was her 2nd husband's.

I have no admiration for her at all. She obviously has no one's interest at heart but her own. A very selfish, wasteful woman.

I'm wondering if you had the vital paperwork to take to the solicitor.......and what happened at the meeting.

Yes, I'd like to know that too.

I don't admire anyone who 'fritters' money away. Money, for me, has always been hard to earn. There are too many good causes desperate for money at this very moment, and many of them are very close to home.

Pollycat

margaretclare wrote: »

Yes, I'd like to know that too.

I don't admire anyone who 'fritters' money away. Money, for me, has always been hard to earn. There are too many good causes desperate for money at this very moment, and many of them are very close to home.

TBH, I don't understand how anyone - at least anyone who has read the whole thread, especially the information provided by the OP (who sounds like a saint imho) - could say they have a 'sneaky admiration' for this woman.

Pineapple mentions her gran - who sounds a lot like the OP's MIL.

Maybe the 2 inheritances that Pineapple's gran 'frittered away' weren't somebody else's inheritance - as is the case here.

And maybe pineapple's gran wasn't like the OP's MIL - who will, I'm convinced, come running to her children to bail her out when this financial mess goes belly-up.

Parsimonia wrote: »

If I don't manage to help her to change her ways and take some responsibility, she'll just carry on with her headlong rush to insolvency, and I dread to think how she'd cope if she had to survive on her pension alone, with no emergency or rainy day fund.

If she doesn't change and runs through her remaining capital, she'll then start running up a huge overdraft and huge credit card bills . She hasn't got the coping skills to retrench and recover from a mountain of debt, so it's much better to try to prevent her getting into debt in the first place.

iris

sniffles wrote: »

But how much money can a pensioner live on? Anyone?

This has been asked on another thread and I worked out the following figures, but obviously this doesn't apply to everyone. However, the figures do show that it is possible to live on pension credit.


(No council tax if on Pension Credit).
£125 Food/toiletries per month
£90 gas/electric
£16 house insurance (would only be £8 if in rented)
£22 Telephone & broadband (which includes evening & weekend calls)
£5 Mobile phone PAYG
£5 (hair cuts)
£15 car insurance (I am assuming a small car with no Road Tax)
£20 car service/mot
£30 petrol
£25 water (metered)
£12.12 TV (free at 75)
£20 clothes
£10 presents
£50 Contingency sum for white goods replacement & car repairs etc
£30 Entertainment & holiday fund

Total £475.12

Pension Credit £628 x 12 = £7536

Amount left £152.88 x 12 = £1834.56


Plus, of course, £200 WFA, £10 Christmas Bonus and also £135 for Warm Home Fund and free Bus Pass.


A lot of over 65's also get AA at a minimum of £53 per week. If you had £10,000 savings there would also be the interest off this money i.e. another £300 per year.


Even when you are 65+ you have to look for the bargains and shop wisely if money is limited. You can get free cake and a drink in John Lewis. You can also go to the cinema for free. I haven't bought any toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner or dishwasher tablets for years. You can also get free postage stamps for very little effort. I enjoy the challenge and 'no' I am not on pension credit.

pollypenny

Tell me where I could get 3% on savings, please?

iris

pollypenny wrote: »

Tell me where I could get 3% on savings, please?

Lloyds bank vantage current account
TSB current account
RBS current account


There are many more ways and if you look on the banking/savings thread you will be able to find out more info.


Try below


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4897140

Pollycat

TSB current account:

With Enhance you can earn 1.50% AER/ 1.49% GROSS variable on balances from £1 to £1,000 and go up to 3.00% AER/ 2.96% GROSS variable on balances from £3,000 to £5,000. Interest is paid monthly. All you have to do is stay in credit during the monthly billing period, and pay in at least £1,000 – your salary, for example, each calendar month.

So - the 3% is only applicable to balances of between £3K & £5K.

AND you have to pay in at least £1000 per month.

Not looked at the other suggested options.

I think that the question the OP posed in the title of this thread wasn't really asking for actual amounts. :cool:

It's clear that the OP's MIL would not consider a budget of £20 pm for clothes and would need far more than £30 pm for entertainment.
I can't really see her 'hunting for bargains' either.

£125 per month for food and toiletries would hardly be enough for a lady who likes:

Parsimonia wrote: »

eating out (literally) five times a week.

Incidentally, I think £25 per month for metered water is quite high.

cupcake4

I have been reading this thread with interest

£125 a month for food and toiletries - that's not a lot just for food.
And where can over 65's go to the cinema for free, it's a concessionary rate of approx £5 or cinema club for about £3?

iris

cupcake4 wrote: »

I have been reading this thread with interest

£125 a month for food and toiletries - that's not a lot just for food.
And where can over 65's go to the cinema for free, it's a concessionary rate of approx £5 or cinema club for about £3?

Just join Showfilmfirst and look on the freebies board for codes or links. There are plenty of free tickets for new films, you just print out your tickets. A friend of mine in the west midlands is always going to the cinema for free and she also uses her free bus pass to get there.


As for £125 for food plus toilet rolls etc, I think that it can easily be done. Of course you are not going to be able to afford to eat out or eat fillet steak every day, but I think it's easily doable. A free range chicken at Aldi is £5 which would easily feed one person for 4 days plus sandwiches. Even a piece of sirloin steak is only about £3.50 at the moment for one piece. If you eat in season vegetables and fruit e.g. carrots and clementines, even grapes are only £1.49 for 500g. Milk (2 litres), Hovis bread and 9 toilet rolls only cost £3.60 for all 3 items.


It really is doable if you try HTH