It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

saver_ali

westv said:

A flask and sandwiches when you go shopping?! 

I can’t stand shopping! Anything more than an hour is painful, and I have a wardrobe full of clothes already! I have a bit of a weakness for dresses in the sale on the Phase Eight website, but otherwise most of my new stuff comes from Sainsbury’s.  🤣

Sea_Shell

westv said:

A flask and sandwiches when you go shopping?! 

Well, we usually take some coffee and a croissant!!

We don't shop for long enough to need sandwiches!

Even if it's just when we get back to the car, before driving home.

bluenose1

I certainly don’t have any trouble spending and can’t see me being any different. I like my iPad Pro and my gadgets. 

Just been into our local town and bought a vintage gold ring that took my eye for £120 from a lovely antique shop, felt good to treat myself and support a local business at same time. Going to get new spindles and bannister put in shortly as our is a 60s one that I hate. Then I want to buy a new mattress cos ours is 10 years old. Also half thinking how nice a summer house would be in the garden!!! 

We have kept our gym memberships, etc going, they just paused the direct debits when they were closed. Nice to be able to go back the gym and for a swim. Looking forward to the sauna etc reopening.

drummersdale

Funnily enough we have just bought a summerhouse for the garden - it’s become a bit of a Labour of love as it’s a good way of relaxing and pottering around - although they can become a bit of a money pit as it started out fairly low key now wife has bought 3 sofas and 3 bar stools from Dunelm and was out today buying laminate flooring!  I’m hoping to take partial retirement next year so thought it might be a good project and somewhere to relax and enjoy the garden!

atush

eastcorkram said:

ErinGoBrath said:

Sea_Shell said:

First quarter figures are in....

Our pots now stand at:
Pensions - £349,012
ISAs - £180,303 
Locked cash - £59,560 (matures in Sept)
Ready cash (net) - £9,020. (£12,000 total moved into ISA)

Compared to the end of 2020, we are up £236, but have spent £2,700.  So effectively up £2,936.   All pretty flat.

12 months to end March 21, we're up £91,860, with spends of £11,710, so growth of £103,570, or 20%  (but from the "low" point of last March of course - so skewed a lot)

You may have done OK last year but it looks a bit tight for retirement. Do you have any DB benefits kicking in at some point which may change the balance of the equation?

Whether it's tight or not, it's probably a lot better off than 80 or 90% of the population.

irrelevant to this discussion.

shinytop

I think there are two separate aspects of spending in retirement (for me at least) you need to think about. One is getting used to spending money out of a diminishing pot and the other is getting the best value for money when you spend it.  I'm starting to get used to the former but I don't think I will ever stop doing the latter. 

The other aspect (OK, there are three!) is our desire not to accumulate needless stuff.  This isn't about money or pensions, it's more that we want everything we have and buy to have a purpose.  And a purpose can be just that it's nice to look at; it doesn't have to be practical.  

Out latest splurge is garden related; new shed, landscaping, raised beds, etc.  Hopefully something we'll get a lof use and enjoyment from. 

Sea_Shell

Well at some point we will need a new shed, new sofas for the lounge and new carpet in there too.

And yes, I'd agree with those 3 aspects of spending too.   Not accumulating more stuff.    We definitely have a "one in, one out" policy!

I do, however, love sparkly things...hard to resist a Swarovski shop.   We did treat ourselves to a piece for a wedding anniversary a few years ago.

(That reminds me, I need a new battery for my Seksy watch - but then I don't usually wear a watch anymore - perk of retirement!)

I very rarely just go for a browse round shops, so I don't really SEE all the "must haves" that I might otherwise see.    Out of sight, out of mind!!    The middle isles of Aldi are hard enough to resist as it is!!!


Of course the easiest way to spend lots of money is on CARS.    One can easily dispose of £500 a month leasing something executive/sporty/luxury.    But then our Astra ticks all our boxes!!    

bluenose1

Yes, although I like to buy things I am fed up having too much clutter in the house and sometimes what puts me off buying is the thought of having to learn how to operate / build it!!! Definitely like getting the best value and always shop around. 

Oh I love a Swarovski shop Sea Shell , they have an outlet at Cheshire Oaks I sometimes go to. The ring I bought yesterday is a bit like their stuff. A gold ring set with about 20 tiny, pale pink cluster stones (no idea what the stones are) but looks pretty. Not too blingy (hopefully)
My car is 5 years old and I am going to keep it until too many problems. My sister bought my old car off me, 10 years old and still going fine. On reflection I shouldn’t have bothered getting a new one.
Right off to declutter.... 

Terron

shinytop said:

I think there are two separate aspects of spending in retirement (for me at least) you need to think about. One is getting used to spending money out of a diminishing pot and the other is getting the best value for money when you spend it.  I'm starting to get used to the former but I don't think I will ever stop doing the latter.

Ah, but what some of us experience is getting used to spending more from a growing pot, after spending decades saving to build up such a pot and then finding it more than covers what we have been used to spending. Getting best value is something we have generally been doing for decades too and won't stop.

I started taking some pensions in 2019. My post tax income for FY2019/20 was about double what I was taking home in my last job in 2013, after all deductions including paying into pensions. Before tax and deductions it was lower.

It is a nice problem to have, but still bears discussing.

Sea_Shell

Terron said:

shinytop said:

I think there are two separate aspects of spending in retirement (for me at least) you need to think about. One is getting used to spending money out of a diminishing pot and the other is getting the best value for money when you spend it.  I'm starting to get used to the former but I don't think I will ever stop doing the latter.

Ah, but what some of us experience is getting used to spending more from a growing pot, after spending decades saving to build up such a pot and then finding it more than covers what we have been used to spending. Getting best value is something we have generally been doing for decades too and won't stop.

I started taking some pensions in 2019. My post tax income for FY2019/20 was about double what I was taking home in my last job in 2013, after all deductions including paying into pensions. Before tax and deductions it was lower.

It is a nice problem to have, but still bears discussing.

I can appreciate that too.    You mentally gear yourself up to be spending from a diminishing pot, but we've got £53,000 more now than we had when I stopped work (21 months), and we've spent about £20,000, so we'd "made" £73,000.   

That's like having an annual take home salary of £41,700.

Obviously, that £53,000 (and more!) could get wiped out tomorrow, then again, it could make another £30,000+

If we took our current pot as our "day one" figure, we could base a 4% SWR at £24,200 pa, which is pretty much double our spending rate over the last few years.    Just looked, our 4 year average spend has been £12,141.


Talking of spending news, I needed a new running water bottle....all of £6.94.    That's really not going to make a dent is it?!?