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

michaels

pensionpawn said:

Sea_Shell said:

We've recently dumped Sky for a firestick on Prime!!

Ads are a bit of a pain (on ITV etc) but we'll suck that up for a saving of over £30 a month!!!

With the size of your pots why don't you treat yourselves instead of putting up with the "pain in the a... adds". I'll never quite understand why people (including family and colleagues...) don't fully utilise the wealth that they have?

People might feel that the hassle is worth 360 that can then be spent on something else like another weekend break.

Albermarle

michaels said:

Daffodil1234 said:

Wishing everyone a good 2023 !

Closed off the 2022 accounts - while we are not yet retired, we're trying to live "as if" so that we can check what budget we need to plan for - with the hope to move into retirement within a couple of years.

Totals came out as below at £29k spend for 2 adults.  Looking at this, I can see we could have been more restricted on spending on some items.  We're budgeting £30k for 2023 and will probably aim to reduce spend on some of the categories below.

Categories	Actual Spend per year 2022
Bills (household inc gas, elec, water, council tax, insurance etc)	£6,515
"Supermarket", inc all food and drink plus any other items typically bought for the household from a supermarket (e.g. loo roll, household cleaners, cat food)	£5,741
Discretionary & Leisure (e.g. hobbies, days out, visiting relatives, occasional meals out)	£5,722
Personal care (inc clothes, shoes, haircuts etc)	£2,148
Holidays	£1,761
Transport and travel (car inc insurance, MOT, petrol, parking, bus, train)	£1,743
Tech and Comms - broadband, phone bill per month, TV licence, anti virus software, tech upgrades, etc	£1,617
Health care (inc prescriptions, dentistry, optician, some specialist health items)	£1,304
Cat (inc vet etc)	£746
Exercise (gym membership)	£510
Presents / Gifts	£469
Charitable donations	£432
Cash	£260
Totals	£28,967

When I do an annual budget I do 'accruals' for big one of spends which I count even if they are not spent in any particular year.  For example if I anticipate changing car every 5 years and the cost of the change is £10k (eg new to me car 15k, sale of old car 5k) then I will put down car expenditure 2k per year into my budgeting.  Similarly for household maintenance expenditure, new boiler/settee/white goods.  I feel I then have a more realistic view of the actual annual spend needed to maintain my lifestyle.

That is what I do as well. It is the same as the way companies usually accrue for costs/depreciation . They spread it out over a few years.

SarahB16

Albermarle said:

michaels said:

Daffodil1234 said:

Wishing everyone a good 2023 !

Closed off the 2022 accounts - while we are not yet retired, we're trying to live "as if" so that we can check what budget we need to plan for - with the hope to move into retirement within a couple of years.

Totals came out as below at £29k spend for 2 adults.  Looking at this, I can see we could have been more restricted on spending on some items.  We're budgeting £30k for 2023 and will probably aim to reduce spend on some of the categories below.

Categories	Actual Spend per year 2022
Bills (household inc gas, elec, water, council tax, insurance etc)	£6,515
"Supermarket", inc all food and drink plus any other items typically bought for the household from a supermarket (e.g. loo roll, household cleaners, cat food)	£5,741
Discretionary & Leisure (e.g. hobbies, days out, visiting relatives, occasional meals out)	£5,722
Personal care (inc clothes, shoes, haircuts etc)	£2,148
Holidays	£1,761
Transport and travel (car inc insurance, MOT, petrol, parking, bus, train)	£1,743
Tech and Comms - broadband, phone bill per month, TV licence, anti virus software, tech upgrades, etc	£1,617
Health care (inc prescriptions, dentistry, optician, some specialist health items)	£1,304
Cat (inc vet etc)	£746
Exercise (gym membership)	£510
Presents / Gifts	£469
Charitable donations	£432
Cash	£260
Totals	£28,967

When I do an annual budget I do 'accruals' for big one of spends which I count even if they are not spent in any particular year.  For example if I anticipate changing car every 5 years and the cost of the change is £10k (eg new to me car 15k, sale of old car 5k) then I will put down car expenditure 2k per year into my budgeting.  Similarly for household maintenance expenditure, new boiler/settee/white goods.  I feel I then have a more realistic view of the actual annual spend needed to maintain my lifestyle.

That is what I do as well. It is the same as the way companies usually accrue for costs/depreciation . They spread it out over a few years.

I think it is a very sensible approach that you both take.  When you actually make the purchase do you then compare the cost to the accrued cost and account for the difference?  Or only add the extra cost if it exceeds the accrued amount?  

In the scenario where it is the opposite perhaps you also credit that expense account if the cost was less than accrued/budgeted for?  For example, the £15,000 car only actually cost £14,000 but you still received £5,000 for your old car would you credit that expenditure by £1,000 or just ignore it?  

Albermarle

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

michaels said:

Daffodil1234 said:

Wishing everyone a good 2023 !

Closed off the 2022 accounts - while we are not yet retired, we're trying to live "as if" so that we can check what budget we need to plan for - with the hope to move into retirement within a couple of years.

Totals came out as below at £29k spend for 2 adults.  Looking at this, I can see we could have been more restricted on spending on some items.  We're budgeting £30k for 2023 and will probably aim to reduce spend on some of the categories below.

Categories	Actual Spend per year 2022
Bills (household inc gas, elec, water, council tax, insurance etc)	£6,515
"Supermarket", inc all food and drink plus any other items typically bought for the household from a supermarket (e.g. loo roll, household cleaners, cat food)	£5,741
Discretionary & Leisure (e.g. hobbies, days out, visiting relatives, occasional meals out)	£5,722
Personal care (inc clothes, shoes, haircuts etc)	£2,148
Holidays	£1,761
Transport and travel (car inc insurance, MOT, petrol, parking, bus, train)	£1,743
Tech and Comms - broadband, phone bill per month, TV licence, anti virus software, tech upgrades, etc	£1,617
Health care (inc prescriptions, dentistry, optician, some specialist health items)	£1,304
Cat (inc vet etc)	£746
Exercise (gym membership)	£510
Presents / Gifts	£469
Charitable donations	£432
Cash	£260
Totals	£28,967

When I do an annual budget I do 'accruals' for big one of spends which I count even if they are not spent in any particular year.  For example if I anticipate changing car every 5 years and the cost of the change is £10k (eg new to me car 15k, sale of old car 5k) then I will put down car expenditure 2k per year into my budgeting.  Similarly for household maintenance expenditure, new boiler/settee/white goods.  I feel I then have a more realistic view of the actual annual spend needed to maintain my lifestyle.

That is what I do as well. It is the same as the way companies usually accrue for costs/depreciation . They spread it out over a few years.

I think it is a very sensible approach that you both take.  When you actually make the purchase do you then compare the cost to the accrued cost and account for the difference?  Or only add the extra cost if it exceeds the accrued amount?  

In the scenario where it is the opposite perhaps you also credit that expense account if the cost was less than accrued/budgeted for?  For example, the £15,000 car only actually cost £14,000 but you still received £5,000 for your old car would you credit that expenditure by £1,000 or just ignore it?  

To be honest, I am not one for fine details/spreadsheets etc, so would probably just ignore it/assume it would be balanced out by some over expenditure somewhere. As long as I am in the right ball park, then that is enough for me.

Kim1965

swindiff said:

IPTV Internet protocol television. Depends on if you are concerned about its legality or not. There are legal IPTV subscriptions, but the ones that offer Sky movies and Sports at huge reductions certainly aren't.

 I wonder who regulates iptv, several people i know have it, sky, netflix all included. The people concerned are pillars of society.. Or so i thought. 

pensionpawn

SarahB16 said:

Albermarle said:

michaels said:

Daffodil1234 said:

Wishing everyone a good 2023 !

Closed off the 2022 accounts - while we are not yet retired, we're trying to live "as if" so that we can check what budget we need to plan for - with the hope to move into retirement within a couple of years.

Totals came out as below at £29k spend for 2 adults.  Looking at this, I can see we could have been more restricted on spending on some items.  We're budgeting £30k for 2023 and will probably aim to reduce spend on some of the categories below.

Categories	Actual Spend per year 2022
Bills (household inc gas, elec, water, council tax, insurance etc)	£6,515
"Supermarket", inc all food and drink plus any other items typically bought for the household from a supermarket (e.g. loo roll, household cleaners, cat food)	£5,741
Discretionary & Leisure (e.g. hobbies, days out, visiting relatives, occasional meals out)	£5,722
Personal care (inc clothes, shoes, haircuts etc)	£2,148
Holidays	£1,761
Transport and travel (car inc insurance, MOT, petrol, parking, bus, train)	£1,743
Tech and Comms - broadband, phone bill per month, TV licence, anti virus software, tech upgrades, etc	£1,617
Health care (inc prescriptions, dentistry, optician, some specialist health items)	£1,304
Cat (inc vet etc)	£746
Exercise (gym membership)	£510
Presents / Gifts	£469
Charitable donations	£432
Cash	£260
Totals	£28,967

When I do an annual budget I do 'accruals' for big one of spends which I count even if they are not spent in any particular year.  For example if I anticipate changing car every 5 years and the cost of the change is £10k (eg new to me car 15k, sale of old car 5k) then I will put down car expenditure 2k per year into my budgeting.  Similarly for household maintenance expenditure, new boiler/settee/white goods.  I feel I then have a more realistic view of the actual annual spend needed to maintain my lifestyle.

That is what I do as well. It is the same as the way companies usually accrue for costs/depreciation . They spread it out over a few years.

I think it is a very sensible approach that you both take.  When you actually make the purchase do you then compare the cost to the accrued cost and account for the difference?  Or only add the extra cost if it exceeds the accrued amount?  

In the scenario where it is the opposite perhaps you also credit that expense account if the cost was less than accrued/budgeted for?  For example, the £15,000 car only actually cost £14,000 but you still received £5,000 for your old car would you credit that expenditure by £1,000 or just ignore it?  

I thought I'd strolled onto an accountancy thread by accident. I needed a new tv so I went to John Lewis's, signed the paperwork, and walked out of the store paying nothing on the day though knowing that it's going to cost me £55.56 for the next 18 months, interest free. Mental note I have £55.56 less available to spend for the next 18 months. Job done!

swindiff

Kim1965 said:

swindiff said:

IPTV Internet protocol television. Depends on if you are concerned about its legality or not. There are legal IPTV subscriptions, but the ones that offer Sky movies and Sports at huge reductions certainly aren't.

 I wonder who regulates iptv, several people i know have it, sky, netflix all included. The people concerned are pillars of society.. Or so i thought. 

IPTV as a technology is perfectly legal, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Netflix, Youtube, Amazon and Sky all offer legal IPTV content along with many other providers.  The problem is the term IPTV has become synonymous with illegal content, intercepting streams from many of these services and bundling it together as a package with a much reduced price (and quality usually). Asking who regulates that is like asking who regulates shoplifting. 

quirkydeptless

Happy New Year Squirrelers!

pensionpawn

michaels said:

pensionpawn said:

Sea_Shell said:

We've recently dumped Sky for a firestick on Prime!!

Ads are a bit of a pain (on ITV etc) but we'll suck that up for a saving of over £30 a month!!!

With the size of your pots why don't you treat yourselves instead of putting up with the "pain in the a... adds". I'll never quite understand why people (including family and colleagues...) don't fully utilise the wealth that they have?

People might feel that the hassle is worth 360 that can then be spent on something else like another weekend break.

I get that when someone hasn't much set aside for retirement, however when you're pushing > £0.5M surely the act of saving money isn't the issue...?

Sea_Shell

pensionpawn said:

michaels said:

pensionpawn said:

Sea_Shell said:

We've recently dumped Sky for a firestick on Prime!!

Ads are a bit of a pain (on ITV etc) but we'll suck that up for a saving of over £30 a month!!!

With the size of your pots why don't you treat yourselves instead of putting up with the "pain in the a... adds". I'll never quite understand why people (including family and colleagues...) don't fully utilise the wealth that they have?

People might feel that the hassle is worth 360 that can then be spent on something else like another weekend break.

I get that when someone hasn't much set aside for retirement, however when you're pushing > £0.5M surely the act of saving money isn't the issue...?

For us, it comes back to value for money.  Not whether something is affordable or not.