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

plumb1_2

Sea_Shell said:

I have a full belly, a glass of wine in my hand, and a jigsaw puzzle on the go.

All @1:45😂 Go for it.

zagfles

pensionpawn said:

Sea_Shell said:

pensionpawn said:

Albermarle said:

Kim1965 said:

Sea_Shell said:

There's plenty of room for belt tightening if we really HAD to!! 😉

How?
 Your annual spend for a couple is 15 k approx. That already puts you below the last "which" findings for a basic life style.
 What sort of things could you cut back on? 

I had the same thought. In my mind a couple living off two state pensions ( £20K) would be a rock bottom minimum, unless you had no choice but to live on less.

However it's not really about running out of money though when you have >£0.5M squirrelled away. Two personal allowances come to ~£25k pa and you could withdraw that from age 55 - 67 and suffer a 10% fall in fund value each year and still (just) not run out of money before (if a couple both qualify for full SP) £21k2 pa (from April) comes to your rescue. I chose to enjoy my last decades / years rather than just survive them. Some people unfortunately don't have that choice.

So do we!!

Enjoyment doesn't automatically = amount spent.


I have a full belly, a glass of wine in my hand, and a jigsaw puzzle on the go.

I completely agree, however with respect to your earlier reference regarding cutting back on expenditure and putting up with the ads, I would argue that money saved / spending reduced rarely = enjoyment maintained / increased. A strategy I have difficulty understanding in wealthy people.

Ads are not much of an issue on free streaming services - ad breaks are usually quite brief. On Freeview channels ad breaks can be really long, seem to be longer than the programme itself, but we'd rarely watch live, just record and watch later, skipping through the ads.

We got Amazon Prime for the films during lockdown and have kept it - watch a few films a week - but also watch free streaming services with ads and there's little difference in the enjoyment, in fact they can be quite useful as can go to the toilet during the ads without everyone else whinging about pausing the film 

Audaxer

michaels said:

Interesting what people consider as essential - personally I recognise SeaShells 10.7k rather than other posters 25k as to what is really essential - although the 10.7k does not cover nay capital spend (car replacement, house repairs etc) so it is not really long term sustainable.

I think it is worthwhile recognising what is truly essential rather than coming up with a list that includes stuff that many in this country (let alone in other countries) can not afford and is therefore clearly not 'essential'

I just posted the other main categories we spend money on in additional to essential spend items that added up to £24.5k in total. That amount enables us to enjoy a reasonable standard of living in retirement. If we didn't spend money on holidays, meals out, hobbies and and didn't have a dog, we could probably get our spending down quite a lot. However I don't think our spending is in any way excessive and thankfully we have enough retirement income to cover our spending, so we don't need to cut back to absolutely essential spend.

Nebulous2

michaels said:

Interesting what people consider as essential - personally I recognise SeaShells 10.7k rather than other posters 25k as to what is really essential - although the 10.7k does not cover nay capital spend (car replacement, house repairs etc) so it is not really long term sustainable.

I think it is worthwhile recognising what is truly essential rather than coming up with a list that includes stuff that many in this country (let alone in other countries) can not afford and is therefore clearly not 'essential'

The question wasn't about what is essential, but asking at what point does cutting back impact on enjoyment. That's closely linked to the one more year syndrome for me. 

That is very individual. We see people on here who will be higher rate taxpayers in retirement, wondering whether they will have enough. My great-aunt didn't have carpets or a hoover until she got a state pension, and couldn't believe the riches she had been blessed with. Most of us will be somewhere in between those extremes. 

It's a fair point that by some measures we are all very fortunate. I had a great great grandfather who drowned in his 70s, while still working as a fisherman. I wonder what he would have made of me retiring at 59? 

Kim1965

plumb1_2 said:

Sea_Shell said:

I have a full belly, a glass of wine in my hand, and a jigsaw puzzle on the go.

All @1:45😂 Go for it.

At 1.45 i was crawling through an attic to change a zip heater, bet plumb 1 was doing something equally Grim. Lol

plumb1_2

Kim1965 said:

plumb1_2 said:

Sea_Shell said:

I have a full belly, a glass of wine in my hand, and a jigsaw puzzle on the go.

All @1:45😂 Go for it.

At 1.45 i was crawling through an attic to change a zip heater, bet plumb 1 was doing something equally Grim. Lol

Actually I’d just finished work, started at 10:00  1st job replacement of a bath shower screen. 2 nd job replacing a kitchen mixer tap and replace a manky shower hose and head.
Then called into Lidl for some bread rolls for our lunch.

Kim1965

Nebulous2 said:

michaels said:

Interesting what people consider as essential - personally I recognise SeaShells 10.7k rather than other posters 25k as to what is really essential - although the 10.7k does not cover nay capital spend (car replacement, house repairs etc) so it is not really long term sustainable.

I think it is worthwhile recognising what is truly essential rather than coming up with a list that includes stuff that many in this country (let alone in other countries) can not afford and is therefore clearly not 'essential'

The question wasn't about what is essential, but asking at what point does cutting back impact on enjoyment. That's closely linked to the one more year syndrome for me. 

That is very individual. We see people on here who will be higher rate taxpayers in retirement, wondering whether they will have enough. My great-aunt didn't have carpets or a hoover until she got a state pension, and couldn't believe the riches she had been blessed with. Most of us will be somewhere in between those extremes. 

It's a fair point that by some measures we are all very fortunate. I had a great great grandfather who drowned in his 70s, while still working as a fisherman. I wonder what he would have made of me retiring at 59? 

Exactly my feeling.
For myself, i would find it too much like a full time job to cut expenditure down  to sea shells levels. Im not materialistic, not interested in possesions, cars, watches etc. But, and this may well be down to being a Dad, if i couldnt treat my family to say a take away every so often, i wouldnt be happy. In fact, very little of what i earn is spent on mě.
 Perhaps having had the enormous expenses of having kids is the reason why i cannot come to terms with 15k as a couple. It should mean that when the kids (tapeworms) are fully independent, i will be minted 😁. 
 Are there any parents out there who have older kids who pay for meals out, get the tickets to the game. Does any of it flow back? 

SouthCoastBoy

Kim1965, I am have 2 daughters, early 20s and a wife, the only reason I am working is to prop up their lifestyle, I am not at all materialistic, never have been, I just don't need stuff, whereas the 3 women in my life have an excellent propensity to spend, for example I noticed the other day my wife has 3 dressing gowns, 3!, surely one is enough. Personally I don't have any. Just a simple example. Don't mention bags I reckon she must have between 10 and 15. Shoes, just too many, Coats loads, why so many? I have 2, one winter coat and a jacket for spring/autumn.

So I know if I lived on my own I would have plenty of money and could stop now, however I'm not so convinced when factoring in daughters and wife, and to answer "does any of it flow back", in my experience no.

Albermarle

michaels said:

Interesting what people consider as essential - personally I recognise SeaShells 10.7k rather than other posters 25k as to what is really essential - although the 10.7k does not cover nay capital spend (car replacement, house repairs etc) so it is not really long term sustainable.

I think it is worthwhile recognising what is truly essential rather than coming up with a list that includes stuff that many in this country (let alone in other countries) can not afford and is therefore clearly not 'essential'

Our bills come to about that much just on their own ( including petrol/diesel)
So that is without any food ( or drink), or any days out, Xmas/birthday gifts, Gym member ship, clothes, meals out, or any discretionary or capital/spending/holidays at all.

So as said before, I would see living off two SP's for two, as a minimum for a normal day to day life for most people, especially since recent price rises for everything . £25K if there is a third adult still to support in some way. Then plus holidays, home improvements, new cars etc, but obviously they are not really essential.

Albermarle

Are there any parents out there who have older kids who pay for meals out, get the tickets to the game. Does any of it flow back? 
Occasionally a meal will be paid for . Usually when on an expensive holiday, that we have paid for