The cost of living

downshifter98

Hi all.
Just my point of view. Wife and I early 50's. Kids all grown up (1 still at home). Mortgage paid, wife working part-time but I'm basically retired. 1 or 2 foreign holidays per year and keeping new cars until about 12 years old (we drive less and less). I've tracked our spending for the past 20 years (yup!) and will say that finishing bringing the kids up means our spending in pure cash terms is not much higher now than it was 20 years ago (3 kids). I can tell you that our spending on survival basics (ie food, gas, leccy, water, insurance, running car, council tax, phone, broadband, repairs) is £10t per annum but remember that excludes mortgage or rent! So to live fairly freely without counting the pennies too much I would suggest £25t plus is required (we seem to hover around £28t at the moment) but less holidays and a bit of care could bring that down to £20t - below that would be possible but a bit tedious.

Just our 'real world' experience.

atush

elona wrote: »

I have downsized from a five bedroom, three bathroom house with a large garden which I could not deal with now I am on my own.
The new property was described as a five bedroomed "house" but it is what I would call a chalet bungalow with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

The council tax is two bands lower and bills should be cheaper. The upstairs is modern but downstairs will have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the early eighties. I have had two downstairs bedrooms knocked into one, the stone monstrosity of a fireplace removed from the living room which makes more space and lighting changed.

I have only been here for seven weeks and have plans for a bigger properly fitted modern kitchen and a bathroom with a walk in large shower and modern loo, basin etc.

Eventually I will have the downstairs sorted so it feels like a modern bungalow with space upstairs for the family and privacy.

Having read margaretclare's post I am now thinking of a wet room. I am only in my sixties but want to future proof my home so I am comfortable and dds and sil don't worry about me.

Yes, we are renovating and the master bath will have a wetroom shower. And where we move to (probably a bungalow) will have one too.

Well_excuse_me.

missbiggles1 wrote: »

It wasn't the income I was questioning, it was having £100k sitting in the bank as well.

Its not in the bank.
Roughly :-
£35k in shares -3%
£21k unit trusts -5%
£30k premium bonds 1.3%
£20k cash (Santander) 3%.

Those are this years returns (May15 to April.)

If we want a car we can buy one, if we want a cruise we can, etc.

But for not too basic living its £18k+

zagfles

downshifter98 wrote: »

Hi all.
Just my point of view. Wife and I early 50's. Kids all grown up (1 still at home). Mortgage paid, wife working part-time but I'm basically retired. 1 or 2 foreign holidays per year and keeping new cars until about 12 years old (we drive less and less). I've tracked our spending for the past 20 years (yup!) and will say that finishing bringing the kids up means our spending in pure cash terms is not much higher now than it was 20 years ago (3 kids). I can tell you that our spending on survival basics (ie food, gas, leccy, water, insurance, running car, council tax, phone, broadband, repairs) is £10t per annum but remember that excludes mortgage or rent! So to live fairly freely without counting the pennies too much I would suggest £25t plus is required (we seem to hover around £28t at the moment) but less holidays and a bit of care could bring that down to £20t - below that would be possible but a bit tedious.

Just our 'real world' experience.

Yes I'd agree with this - although when I went through my parents' finances after my Dad died I couldn't believe how little they were living on - about £15k between them with a big house to maintain, the gas and council tax were shocking, yet they never seemed to be short of money. Regular trips abroad (though mostly staying with relatives/friends) and generous with presents etc.

We spend about £30k now, family of 4, at least 2 foreign holidays plus long weekends UK and abroad. So without kids to support, and downsized house, bottom line would be about £20k which we're up to already inc drawdown till state pension kicks in.

More would be good but not essential - so we're now in a position where we'll carry on working while we enjoy it and it's not stopping us doing stuff we want to do. When I stop enjoying work, I'll retire, money isn't the driver. Great position to be in at work - if I get asked to get involved in a boring project I refuse, I simply don't care if I get marked down on my appraisal and only get a 1% payrise instead of 2% or even if I get made redundant!

missbiggles1

margaretclare wrote: »

Thanks for this, elona. About wet-rooms, no longer are they seen as 'institutional' and not what you'd want in your own home. We've experienced a lot of them when we go on holiday. Any modern hotel will have one. Two things to think about. A non-slip floor is a must. We've actually experienced a wet-room which looked fine on the face of it, but the floor became very slippery when wet. Also, the shower-head. The water shouldn't go all over the place. Some of them have obviously been installed by people who haven't thought it through. Have a look at this: http://www.mobility-plus.co.uk/

We're having the Richmond version, starts on Monday.

Some people who design showers for the less able seem to have no idea of practicalities (unless it's just those who design the advertising photos). It's amazing the photos you see with the chair or seat up one end of the large shower area and the controls up the other!

downshifter98

The way I see it is that wife and I will qualify for the new state pension eventually and that will cover our basic spending (£10t) plus £6t extra so all we need on top of that is between £4t and £12t per annum to have a reasonable life - not forgetting that at 80 plus (if we get there) our spending will inevitably start to decline (we will keep care costs out of this for now). At the moment we can manage that, unless we desire more shiny new things and the older we get the less those things seem to matter...

margaretclare

downshifter98 wrote: »

The way I see it is that wife and I will qualify for the new state pension eventually and that will cover our basic spending (£10t) plus £6t extra so all we need on top of that is between £4t and £12t per annum to have a reasonable life - not forgetting that at 80 plus (if we get there) our spending will inevitably start to decline (we will keep care costs out of this for now). At the moment we can manage that, unless we desire more shiny new things and the older we get the less those things seem to matter...

I don't think it's a question of 'shiny new things' but that essential items do break down and need replacing. We've just had to replace our washing-machine which had lasted approx 15 years. Also, jobs you used to do for yourself with ease become more difficult and you end up paying someone else to do them for you - I'm not talking about 'care costs' but things like gardening, windows cleaned, small basic repairs that involve going up a ladder, those kind of things.

downshifter98

I'm thinking of more indulgent shiny things of course. Regarding general repairs I'm already a fan of websites such as rated people etc so we will just have to budget for that the older we get. As an aside re window cleaners - we have lived here for 25 plus years and never had one - I clean the downstairs windows perhaps twice a year and the upstairs once every 2 years and our house looks no different to those that have them cleaned monthly - draw your own conclusions (yup I am a bit tight haha).

westv

downshifter98 wrote: »

I clean the downstairs windows perhaps twice a year and the upstairs once every 2 years and our house looks no different to those that have them cleaned monthly - draw your own conclusions (yup I am a bit tight haha).

Specsavers?

zagfles

downshifter98 wrote: »

I'm thinking of more indulgent shiny things of course.

Yes although I know a guy in his early 60's always told everyone he's going to retire at 55 but is still working in a job he hates - reason being his wife's love of "shiny" things like a new car every 3 years, totally unnecessary upgrades to the house like new kitchen, bathroom even though current ones perfectly fine, conservatory on an already massive house, ridiculous amounts on shoes, clothes etc, and she's showing no signs of slowing down in her 60's!

He's due a DB pension of over £30k but reckons he needs at least £40k so will have to carry on working till his state pension age (66) and has no savings as his leech of a wife spends it all. We keep telling him to grow a pair and tell his wife is she wants to spend like crazy then she can get a job and pay for it! She's not had a paid job since they had kids over 30 years ago!

Regarding general repairs I'm already a fan of websites such as rated people etc so we will just have to budget for that the older we get. As an aside re window cleaners - we have lived here for 25 plus years and never had one - I clean the downstairs windows perhaps twice a year and the upstairs once every 2 years and our house looks no different to those that have them cleaned monthly - draw your own conclusions (yup I am a bit tight haha).

We have them cleaned once a month for £6 - it's not really a major expense!