Those Things you do...

fatbeetle

Prompted by this quote;

Terron wrote: »

I didn't have enough leisure time to do everything I wanted to do before, and I still don't. Luckily many of my interests are fairly cheap.

This has always struck me as as important a part of the retirement planning as the financial side, even though the two are massively overlapped.

I'm hoping this is the path we will follow, starting Jan 2018, constructive, enjoyable, life-enhancing hobbies..

Mine and my wife's hobbies;
Hill walking (two JR dogs to keep fit.)
Photography (Will be buying a new camera (5DIV) before retiring, and investing in /photoshop*)
Music making (computer based.)
Rock climbing (Just bouldering.)
Cooking / baking*
Gardening
Foraging
Visiting / being visited by friends*
Reading
Writing (mainly poetry, some short stories.)
Live comedy/music/theatre*
Fine dining.*
Local charity supporting (mainly RNLI)

So out of those, the main money eaters will be the one's I've marked with an asterisk*, though most require petrol outlay.

What are your retirement time uses, and how do you make the money work wisely for them?

(MODS; please move to another forum if apt.)

enthusiasticsaver

My husband retired last year and I retire this year, although I only work par time anyway. Our hobbies are as follows. Some are joint and a few are just for one of us. My husband is a retired engineer so likes always to have a project on the go which tends to be expensive.

Husband
Anything to do with railways and model railways
Electronic projects
Both of the above are expensive and he has a monthly hobbies spend which mainly go on those.

Me
Playing the piano
Reading
Cooking/baking
U3A

None of these involve spending a lot of money. I will be using the library more once retired and joining our local U3A which involves a sub but not ridiculously expensive.

Joint
Gym, swimming, exerclasses at our local country club - expensive monthly sub
Travelling - holidays form a large part of our retirement budget
National trust - we have a sub for this
Eating out - we plan to do this at least once or twice a week
Gardening and DIY - lots of home projects which are expensive
Walking
Looking after our grandchildren
Visiting friends
Visiting family
Concerts/theatre/cinema

A lot of the things we enjoy doing does involve some degree of money being spent on it. I would say about 30 - 40% of our income is spent on leisure time so that is up significantly from when we were working.

EdSwippet

fatbeetle wrote: »

What are your retirement time uses, and how do you make the money work wisely for them?

I asked a similar question to this on another forum a couple of years ago -- you might find something of use in this thread.

On reading what I wrote a couple of years ago, I see that since 'pulling the plug' on work I have actuated around half of my ideas, and modified a few others.

I structure five days of the week around gym classes, and although never in bad shape I am now much fitter both in body and mind than before. I have worked through more online classes (EdX, Coursera, FutureLearn) than I can count, in areas as diverse as Quakerism, Buddhism, exercise, physical theatre(!), and neurobiology. I hike regularly, and cycle 20-40 mile round trips as weather permits. The garden is much neater and tidier.

As for using money efficiently around these, the only real expense here is the gym membership. This is a joint enterprise with the local authority, so less than £30/month or around £300 for a full year. Well worth every penny given the use I get out of it, perhaps seven or eight classes each week and swimming/sauna in between. One downside is that it is used by all the local schools to teach swimming, so pool times can be restricted.

Cycling is pretty much free once you have bought the bike and cycling gear. Same with the hiking. All the online courses I do can be obtained for free if you don't require a 'certificate of accomplishment' at the end.

Media interests are all satisfied by a combination of "free" (ad-supported) online catch-up services and DAB radio. I do not have a TV licence, and truly consume very little media, at least when compared with the national average. I do like a good movie though, so do visit the local cinema when one appeals -- Odeon 'silver screening', Tue and Thu morning/afternoon, £3 including tea and biscuits! -- and it's a 20 mile round trip cycle, so no guilt on the biscuits.

What didn't pan out, at least yet?

It turns out that being a NT volunteer gardener, at least around here, is a 'competitive sport', so I have not managed that yet. And the local group that teaches swimming to disabled children has become less open and started adopting policies like requiring police clearance for helpers. Not that I would fail, but it is a barrier to entry I haven't yet negotiated, because one aim of retiring is to eliminate from my life as many as possible of those organisations that demand that you live by their rules. Maybe in a year or so.

I did learn to read music, but still cannot play it. Travel has been sporadic, in all honesty no more than before retiring. Part of this is that my wife still works, so opportunities don't present much more readily than before. That doesn't explain why I haven't taken a Yoga retreat on my own though -- that's down to my own laziness.

Bravepants

Now then, this is a very interesting thread.

I am 49 and partner is 45, so I'm about 6 years away from retirement, but my partner and I already have started planning and we have a lifestyle we enjoy with various hobbies, and we fully intend to carry them on and expand on them. So although not retired yet here are our hobbies:

Me:
- Piano: have been taking lessons for a few years, currently Grade 6. I pay around £125 per month for lessons. So this deserves a * based on FatBeetle's labelling scheme. :-) This is my top prioiry hobby and I could happily spend the whole day playing and practicing if I got the chance!

- Guitar: No lessons so far but I can strum and pick a little and I like to sing. (Although I use the word "sing" in the widest possible sense hehe).

- Electronic music: Yes I enjoy that too...I use FL Studio, one off payment and free upgrades for life. You just pay for add-ons, but I have enough of those. I have a hardware synth too, but I really would like one of the new Yamaha Genos Workstations! So a possible * there for capital outlay!

- Classic car: Well just on the cusp of a classic...a year 2000 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo. I really want to keep this car for as long as possible so a bit of a * there too. I have never really been into cars, but when I saw a few of these when they came out new in 1995 I just fell in love with them.

Partner and I:

- Badminton: My partner and I play once a week with a local club and we have made some good friends there. * but cheap

- Swimming: My partner and I swim once a week with extended family in a private pool, a small * there too.

- Cooking - My partner and I like to cook but wish I had more time to really get into it. I was thinking that one of the first things I would do when I retire is go on a professional cookery course. Could be useful skills for part time work that I would enjoy.

- BBQs and get togethers: We love entertaining and spending time with good friends.

- Travel: My partner loves to explore new places, and with my work we have been all over the world. We are really getting into short breaks away, and have recently enjoyed the Lake District. We want to do more of that. A little * depending on accommodation, but we plan to get into camping. Youth Hostels are great too!

- Reading: Goes without saying! I have expanded my breadth of reading over the last few years and really enjoy the peace and quiet.

- Sailing: My partner has just inherited a boat from her dad. We need to get a few courses under our belts. So * for now, but pootling around off the coast here should be quite cheap, especially if we have a mooring up the river instead of a marina berth. Early days but we shall see how things pan out with this. We may end up as a marked wreck on a chart somewhere! :-)

Thanks.

kidmugsy

A friend wanted to take up play-writing in her eighties. She found an enthusiasts group and joined it. Great joy.

crv1963

fatbeetle wrote: »

This has always struck me as as important a part of the retirement planning as the financial side, even though the two are massively overlapped.

What are your retirement time uses, and how do you make the money work wisely for them?

(MODS; please move to another forum if apt.)

Hi fatbeetle


This something that we have given thought to as well


Me:


Sheepdog training weekly £25 per week (moderate cost?)
Gardening- I love it and it is just as well as we have a large garden and my wife doesn't enjoy the work but does the results so no arguments over it! (moderate cost)
Allotment just taken a share in one probably more for the social chats than the produce! (little cost)
Hill walking (no cost as have the boots!)
Gym- regular use local gym pay as you go (£25 pm)


Wife


Marine Fishkeeping (moderate to expensive)
Saxophone playing (no cost)
Dressmaking (moderate to expensive)


Joint


Dog agility training (Low cost £10pw)
Dogs up keep 2 dogs one diabetic (so high cost)
Trips to beach/ hills/ lakes (petrol costs mostly, although we have hills a short walk from home so regular access at no costs)
Holidays- we always used to go regularly but diabetic dog has curtailed these so are looking at possible motorhome/ caravan/ cottage hire so we can take these with us. Additionally seahorses need twice daily feed, daily clean and general high maintenance time wise!
Cooking


So most of our costs are dog/ fish related and time consuming but it floats our boat!

Terron

Since you quoted me I suppose I should respond

Reading
Watching cricket (on Sky and live. I am a life member of LCCC.)
Walking (I can see the entrance to a country park whilst typing this at home. Don't do as much as I would like as I hasve a bad knee)
Catching up on the decent TV programmes from the last 20 years (Most is rubbish but there is some good stuff that I didn't have time to watch).
RPGs (I visit friends about once a month to play)
Cooking

bostonerimus

I've got a garden, it's a bit more of a chore than a hobby, but I like the results and the extra time I devote to it in retirement is paying dividends. My main hobby is cycling and I try to go on a big tour each year. The year I retired I rode across the USA. I read a lot and have season tickets to a local independent cinema and theater company. I also volunteer at a local university and do some consulting which gives me some extra income. Apart from that there's friends and beer.

atush

Gosh all these hobbies sound little like hard work just cramming them all in lol.

My plans are restrained in comparison.

Readiing, walking, gardening, TV catch up, movies out, and eating out. I aready cook and bake and will carry on doing the same.

fatbeetle

Some fascinating, and inspiring, ideas here, many thanks all.

I'm sat here in my office in Canberra, it's a public holiday, but we're a 365 day intensive service ("First episode" psychosis/schizophrenia/bi-polar.)

All I can think about is how much more happy I would be if I were walking my dogs on a Cornish beach, and stopping off for a beer in a proper pub afterwards.

fatbeetle

Bravepants wrote: »

- Electronic music: Yes I enjoy that too...I use FL Studio, one off payment and free upgrades for life. You just pay for add-ons, but I have enough of those. I have a hardware synth too, but I really would like one of the new Yamaha Genos Workstations! So a possible * there for capital outlay!

.

I use Reason (Propellerheads,) and Audobe Audition. I'm not a musician, but enjoy "constructing" ambient and pseudo-classical stuff..