A New Adventure

cfw1994

k6chris wrote: »

...Elvis has left the building.......let the adventure begin!

:beer:

Congrats!

Be sure to update us on how things go, there's a queue lining up on this forum to join in the fun

bugslett

Yay, well done. May I ask what the last day felt like?

k6chris

bugslett wrote: »

Yay, well done. May I ask what the last day felt like?

Odd. There was some admin to do (hading over my 'badge & gun' etc) and then saying goodbye to various people. The overriding oddness came from watching people carrying on with their day job as I slipped away quietly. Everything changed for me and nothing changed for them.

k6chris

So dear reader, into my third week of the adventure and all is well, if slightly dull. I have found myself having an unplanned (but strangely enjoyable) time decluttering and getting rid of things on eBay and the like. This has the twin benefit of creating some money and making the house lighter. Other dull activities include the annual game of ‘no Virgin Media you are not going to put my monthly bill up by £xx a month’, which disappointingly took me 19 minutes to win this year. I have got rid of some old work shirts, bought some new trousers (the same as I already have of course) and decided that learning to touch type is too much like hard work, especially given you can dictate straight into Word. Ooh, made my first soup too!

In more exciting (but not very much) news, I am also in the throws of changing cars, in a kind of down-valuing but upsizing experiment which sees my mid-life crisis Mini Roadster making way for a (ahem) gold Volvo S80. It’s a long story, but it will be interesting to see how cost effective the long-term ownership of an older, bigger car will go. Gold? Horrible colour, but I don’t get to see it when driving and I figure the previous owner is unlikely to have been a boy racer! Also, I have not actually sold the Roadster yet – well it’s not really summer is it…. In doing all of this I also had to update my employment status for the insurance – so it would appear I am actually ‘retired’ after all!

In more exciting news, I am booked on a creative writing course, once a week for the next couple of months. It goes without saying that the most likely outcome of this will be I become a best-selling novelist (especially now I have discovered the Word / dictation thing). How difficult can it be after all? I will keep you posted.

Right, must dash, I have a water butt to clean and mend, then off to the tip, sorry, ‘recycling centre’. Very early days but not bored yet and not missing work one jot…and hey, I’ve bought a gold Volvo. #livingthedream

bluenose1

Haha k6chris, you know how to live!!!
Seriously, can't wait to be in your position. Sounds like you are making good use of your time.
I have started decluttering in anticipation of retiring and downsizing. I too have sold stuff on eBay, though the local homeless charity shop is also benefitting from my excessive buying. Another 4 charity bags to go this week. Frightening how much stuff I have.
Good luck with your retirement.

enthusiasticsaver

It will take some getting used to if you worked full time before retiring. I only worked part time so was already used to having more spare time but DH went from full time to retired. I think a slower pace of life is definitely beneficial to us.

You may find more time to exercise/walk which will benefit your health and maybe more time to shop and plan healthy meals. As you ease into retirement over the next few years though you will wonder how you found time to work. A new wardrobe almost seems compulsory when you retire. A lot of my black trousers and boring tops went after I finished work and colour has been introduced into my wardrobe and comfortable clothes, shoes and a warm coat are my winter essentials.


A new car also seems to be common for new retirees. Decluttering is also common. It seems to be when you embark on a new way of life clearing out the old to make way for the new is the order of the day. I also find the older I get, the less things I need to accumulate. I am very selective about what comes into the house now and if it is not used then it goes. DH sadly is not quite so enamoured with the decluttering but is gradually clearing our garage out. After all he no longer has the excuse of no time

bugslett

Gold volvo, way to go:p Cleaning the water butt, attaboy/girl.

Some people may scoff at such mundane achievements and aspirations, but it all sounds like heaven to me. Let me know when the book is written, I want to get my pre-order in before the rush:D

crv1963

k6chris- way to go! I'm nominally de-cluttering leading to retirement like bluenose. My problem is as I clear space Mrs CRV seems to take the chance to buy more material for her retirement plan of dressmaking and quilting. I do think the collection of sewing machines is growing too.

Oh and I am finding more tools for my planned hobby of woodworking- that lathe on e-bay..............

MallyGirl

bluenose1 wrote: »

Haha k6chris, you know how to live!!!
Seriously, can't wait to be in your position. Sounds like you are making good use of your time.

I know it was written with a wink but I think this is exactly what I am hoping for in retirement. Yes there will be some 'big' travels but the rest of the time I am looking forward to just being me, rather than who my employer wants me to be. We have been restricted on the foreign travel by having a child and then on free time by choosing to support her musical activities. Once she has flown the nest we will be doing some big trips while still earning (less scary than seeing the pot balance drop once in retirement).

PJM_62

Another for the queue
53 now. Eyes firmly fixed on early retirement at 55.
Although my wife would rather I wait another year until she's 55.
ATM I'm busy trying to get my head around best way to sequence my pension income from a few different sources (none of them big money). Peeps on here in other threads have been really helpful.
This thread is going to be great for ideas of how to spend time as well as the pension