Quit everything , and start again over 50?

harz99

LL, like i said ages ago AC could buy a brand new 2 bed up here in Co. Durham, and have enough cash using the sort of budget you outlined, to live a modest but comfortable life up to and beyond state pension age without ever working again.

Unfortunately as you and others have said, he does seem disinclined to change his lifestyle and aspirations to suit his circumstances, I really fear it will be all to easy for him to slip into debt again in a very few years unless he gives himself a good shake and wakes up to smell the coffee ( at home not in a coffee shop).

AC, at this stage please stop contemplating spending on anything else apart from clearing your debts and improving your health, as soon as your in the rental flat quit the coffee shops/patisseries and cafe meals/takeaways etc. and start cooking healthy meals for yourself, your paying enough for the facilities use them. Enrol in a diet and fitness club, not a gym (which if you are very overweight might not be such a good idea anyway). Let the club set you achievable goals and make the effort needed to achieve them. The support is out there but you need to get it, it won't come to you. While you get started forget about flats/ house/ forever homes as that can wait until January.

another_casualty

Wow! I think I'm still alive, after you all savaged me like a pack of dogs.
You are very good to me though, and have my interest at heart:)

Why have I been going to the coffee shop in Ashley cross? To get to know the area/boredom etc. It takes time , and instead of not going into the shops, I thought it best to frequent somewhere for a few days, or I'd be too lonely . It's only a stop gap.
Gym is the only thing that works for me. I am getting ready for next week.
Food: yes of course I can/ will cook for myself . Always have, but as. I say the croissants are out and I will be cooking my own stuff/ cutting back once I tart the gym.
Bluetooth speaker: not an expensive one. Just something that can play internet radio and my music from my phone/iPad. It can be moved around the flat, so won't disturb others.Obviously , low volume.
I've learned my lesson the hard way, and aim to keep spending to a minimum.

So today, I went for usual coffee & croissant in Ashley cross.
Then I did something which I knew I had to do at some poling in a totally random fashion. I walked for miles..

I looked at the place I will be staying next week. Needed to get my bearings. Also, I walked towards sandbanks, then went up and down hills, looking for potential shortcuts.
Somehow , I missed penn hill. I may go there tomorrow.

Very rarely say it, but I was exhausted. The condition I have, makes you breathless at times. However, I am out of condition as we all know. So it was well worth doing. Good for looking at places I knew only as ' view on a map.' So, if something interesting comes up on right move, I will know more or less what the area I'm looking at is like.
Speaking of which, I saw a flat in north road. I think it was around £165k
( brain sizzled. ) good location . Good price but between that one, and one in mount road, the service charges are in the way. 1 is £1100 pa
The other£1400 pa both share of freehold.
Still, as Harz says,,it may be best to wait till after xmas before I properly look .
Thanks for all of your valid points. I'm not ignoring what you said , but am trying to get to know people , albeit in an odd and expensive way

dreaming

I do understand how hard it is to uproot oneself and start again in a new place (not that I have ever done it - I am definitely a home bird), and I think AC should be applauded for that. I also understand how easy it is to convince oneself that a "little treat" now and then (cup of coffee and cake/magazine/cd/bottle of wine) won't break the bank. It is when those little treats become habits (rather than an occasional treat) that they can start to mount up. I was guilty of this when I was working. I used to shop after work on a Friday and it was easy to put the wine, and the chocs, and the magazine, and a ready meal into the basket, bearing in mind also that I shopped at Waitrose. It was fine because I could afford it (I have never been in debt since I divorced Mr "I will save the economy all on my own"), but when the redundancies were announced I took a proper look at my spending and realised that a quarter of my weekly shopping bill was "treats". They were the first things to go. Now I live quite comfortably on about £9.5k pa. I run a car and enjoy my hobbies. I also "semi" support my eldest who has had mental problems and moved in with me. She only receives JSA and does pay me a small amount of board each month but it is ok. I have cash put aside for a washing machine/oven/car/tv etc. as I know at least one of these will need replacing over the next few years, and we eat very well (too well probably as we both need to lose weight). I don't do holidays, but I do spend on the garden and have just had a bit of a spending spree on winter clothes - but that will be it for a couple of years probably. The funny thing is that I am so much happier than when I was working and didn't really have to think about what I spent.
LL - I occasionally think about moving to the seaside and sometimes put my budget in some random town on Rightmove to see what I could get, but I am very unlikely to move in reality. I have wondered though whether, with global warming (or global warning as my friend's little girl says) the seaside might come a bit closer to me.
Anyway, need to get up and do something. Have had a cold all week which is why I have been sitting here and rambling on on AC's thread. Feel better today so will revert to a quick daily read.


ETA - just seen your post AC. Well done on getting out and pushing yourself a bit. As I said yesterday (or sometime or other), you do actually seem more motivated and I know what you post on here is probably just "mulling things over". You have made a good start on your new life.:T:T:T

Verbatim

Hi againAC,
I don't understand what you have against freehold?

another_casualty

Verbatim wrote: »

Hi againAC,
I don't understand what you have against freehold?

Absolutely nothing . if I can get somewhere with freehold, all the better. May seem silly, but i think it's location x3 with me.
I like what I see so far. Maybe I'll get lucky ...

nkkingston

AC, you need to appreciate that from now until the new year, you are a gentleman of leisure, but you aren't going to be forever. You could fill that time with coffee and croissants, or you could fill it by doing all those money saving things that are such a pain to do when you're working: change bank accounts, compare insurance deals, wrangle yourself gym deals, create separate bank accounts for annual costs, monthly costs, food costs, free spends etc. Build yourself a budget and find out whether you can stick to it.

Equally, if slimming world isn't floating your boat, try thinking in the other direction and join some cooking classes. You'll get to know people with similar interests, and it'll take you from "can cook" to "love to cook". It's amazing the difference it can make to a person's diet, when they know what food ought to taste like, and what a portion ought to look like! I went right off shop bought croissants after making my own, and kneading the dough is half a workout in itself.

Verbatim

Good! Was thinking you had an aversion to freehold!
That suggestion a few weeks back of 2 bed freehold which you wondered if it was standard construction. One storey which LL thought might have been built in someone's garden, did you ever find out what the construction was?
Would have thought that would be ideal.

lessonlearned

Patisseries.:rotfl:

Coffee plus cake. £6

X 7 = £42

X 52 = £2184

Good coffee from Aldi £1.90 - you'll get around 30 servings. The best I've ever tasted and I'm a real coffee snob. They sell fab croissants and their deli produce, cold meats, pates, cheeses etc are as good as any posh farmers market and a fraction of the price.

They even sell artisan bread and Aberdeen Angus steaks, organic chicken etc.

Cafetière. Less than£10.

You can eat like a king on £42 a week.

Check these out.......

42 day cruise to the Amazon......£3795 shared cabin with cruise buddy

12 day cruise to the Baltic £1200 .....single cabin

7 day cruise round the Med £1300....single cabin

People assume I'm rich ..........

I'm not.

Smodlet

I will never understand the appeal of coffee shops, myself. Would it not be cheaper to go to a pub and ask for tap water? I believe, though I may be wrong, that they have to provide this free, does anyone know? Or you could just order half a pint of bitter/lager and then go on to the water... ain't my idea of fun, admittedly, but it's another way to meet people.

Granted, slimming clubs/the gym/cookery classes are better, healthier ways to do so.

wendym

Here I am again and you can all join in the chorus.

AC is not well (even though like me he is stubborn about admitting it) and he is tired and on steroids.

You should restrict your walking, AC, rather than going on until you are exhausted. Getting overtired with MG is not a great idea.

Of course a healthy diet is a Good Thing, but losing weight on 10mg Prednisolone will not be a doddle.

It affects men and women differently, but last year I spent a week in hospital first on nil by mouth, then on to water and clear liquids (sadly not wine) then a month at home graduating to clear soup. My weight loss? Two whole pounds.

Going wildly off topic - how can anyone take up boxing? Half my face hurts like hell after half an hour with a considerate dentist.

Although it might be a useful skill for anyone proposing to go into a pub and ask for a glass of tap water!:rotfl:

Not offended, I hope, Smodlet?