Age related money savings?

jackyann

I'd go with most of above, but add:
Our hobbies tend to be "useful" stuff - making things etc. so they mostly pay for themselves, especially "upcycling"
More time to plan, so food shopping is better planned and more careful (and I love cooking so do almost everything from scratch)
Same for using electricity, heating etc. all carefully planned
Easier social contact means more bartering, sharing etc. and our entertainment is mostly local and low-key.
Again, planning: I can make the most of my bus pass and "off peak" membership (I pay £12 per month for swimming)
Although I don't do it myself, friends volunteer at things like local festivals, National Trust etc and get free entry to things.

AnotherJoe

jackyann wrote: »

I'd go with most of above, but add:
Our hobbies tend to be "useful" stuff - making things etc. so they mostly pay for themselves, especially "upcycling"
More time to plan, so food shopping is better planned and more careful (and I love cooking so do almost everything from scratch)
Same for using electricity, heating etc. all carefully planned
Easier social contact means more bartering, sharing etc. and our entertainment is mostly local and low-key.
Again, planning: I can make the most of my bus pass and "off peak" membership (I pay £12 per month for swimming)
Although I don't do it myself, friends volunteer at things like local festivals, National Trust etc and get free entry to things.

Can you explain that? How do you carefully plan electricity and heating? Indeed wont most peoples electricity and heating bills go up? In the winter when I'm in the office all day, the heating isnt on. When I'm home it will be even if i take up a hobby of knitting jumpers

Or when its 4pm on a damp December afternoon, if I'm in the office the lights arent on at home, but when I'm retired, unless one of my new hobbies is making my own candles, they will be.

PennyForThem_2

AnotherJoe wrote: »

I really dont get where this expectation that your spending drops off a cliff when you retire which is what a lot of articles state. When you read the reasons why they say, a lot of them are unconnected with retirement. Kids left house, no mortgage and so on.

So agree. I don't see where the savings occur unless you are spending a lot on commuting, office clothes, children, mortgage. I am really comfortable now, salary, widow's pensions which are 50% of what we would be getting as a couple (and grateful for that in the present climate) but I am loathe to retire on a substantially lower income where I have to think about every purchase and cannot save.

I really admire those that manage on an income that is free of tax. I also admire those who are a couple who can live on less than double that.

My failing.

I have pushed money into a SIPP so that I have a pension to fall back on when I am 75 + (long lived family so odds are I will live beyond and into my 90s) so I have extra income to draw on - if I die before I draw my relatives get it!

Thrugelmir

In preparation we applied for an allotment last year. Thought it would take two years to be allocated a plot. The reality was only 3 weeks. So we've started slowly.....:rotfl:

jackyann

I guess I didn't explain it very well.
We use most electricity (eg: washing machine) at the cheapest times: which for us is in the daytime as we have installed photovoltaic cells.
We have also insulated to the max and use a wood burning stove.
I know you don't have to be retired to do these things, but it was part of our "prepping".
I plan cooking to use only a small amount of electricity and that helps to warm the house.
The house itself is planned to take account of air flow.

I suppose I meant that we have worked out the best time to use energy in the best way, and can do that because we have fewer constraints on our time.

Also for us, a mix of "on call" & shift work meant that for our last few years at work we were often at home at odd times, sometimes for short periods, and it felt tht we were heating inefficiently.

fatbeetle

Sjmb wrote: »

You might have save on the cost of your own children, but you may find that some of these are replaced by any grandchildren, especially if you are providing care for them whilst their parents are at work.......

Got that sorted. My daughter will still be living in Australia!

Oh hell! Have to budget for trips to see any grandchildren she pops out!

AlanP_2

I think that recognising the difference between "spend" and "income" is the key thing.

You often hear people say "I need to have as much in retirement as I do now to maintain my standard of living and my current salary is £xxxxx" so that is what I need."

What they have failed to consider in that scenario is the Tax, NI, Pension etc. that will come off that salary and that they will only be paying Tax and maybe £2880 pension (which is only a way of getting more income in reality).

Travel costs will also reduce and for some that is significant (over £7500 pa for an annual season ticket into London from where I live). For others, who have a company car for example, the reverse would be true.

Costs for retirement activities , holidays, utilities etc. may be higher for some, stay broadly the same for others or even decrease for some people - We will all make different choices about what we do with our "extra time".

Triumph13

I'm budgeting for higher spending in retirement due to increased holidays, but I do expect spending to drop off over time for 2 main reasons:
1. Less need to buy new toys as I'll already have them;
2. Less energy as I get older meaning the ratio of days having fun (more expensive) to days relaxing and recovering (cheaper) will steadily shift.

Goldiegirl

AlanP wrote: »

I think that recognising the difference between "spend" and "income" is the key thing.

You often hear people say "I need to have as much in retirement as I do now to maintain my standard of living and my current salary is £xxxxx" so that is what I need."

What they have failed to consider in that scenario is the Tax, NI, Pension etc. that will come off that salary and that they will only be paying Tax and maybe £2880 pension (which is only a way of getting more income in reality).

Travel costs will also reduce and for some that is significant (over £7500 pa for an annual season ticket into London from where I live). For others, who have a company car for example, the reverse would be true.

Costs for retirement activities , holidays, utilities etc. may be higher for some, stay broadly the same for others or even decrease for some people - We will all make different choices about what we do with our "extra time".

Alan has hit the nail on the head. After retirement, it's possible you may need less income, as you will get to keep more of it.

We've found that our transport costs have dropped a lot after retirement. We were running 2 cars and both driving to work. At retirement we went down to one car, and even with going out for day, our petrol consumption is nothing like it was when we were working.

Another area were I've noticed a difference is supermarket shopping. Before retirement, I'd often buy premium ready meals from places like M&S. But now I cook nearly everything from scratch, and have noticed that the supermarket spending has dropped a lot, compared to a few years ago

We now have time to look for deals, and when the sales come round we're there when they open, so we can get the decent stuff before it sells.

Also, going out mid week means things tend to be cheaper with off peak ticket prices.

We are spending more on holidays, and would expect this to continue for the time being, as we want to do our 'big' holidays while we can.

atush

aldershot wrote: »

i remember a lovely early retirement quote. "It's the small things I miss the most: pens, paperclips, post-it notes...."

Get into Tesco or the others right now- back to school time means stocking up on such for cheap prices (now you cant use your 5 finger discount).