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

michaels

chile_paul2 said:

zagfles said:

Sea_Shell said:

Do 'high grocery spenders' routinely have puddings/deserts?   We don't.

What about portion sizes?  Do you weigh or measure stuff out?   We do.

Maybe that's the difference?

Does money spent = calories consumed?

There's probably a link - rubbish like crisps and chocolate are very expensive for what they are and of course highly calorific.

The other major thing is probably meat, our kids were veggies at uni because they were too tight to buy meat

Also how much cooking from scratch you do, or do you buy ready made pizzas, pies, sauces etc. Plus do you insist on top brands for stuff like coke, cereals etc or have you tried the supermarket's equivalent which is often far cheaper and quite often unnoticably different.

I'm sure there is definitely a link yes, however from our family's perspective:

Puddings - yes for the kids, they get a Mr. Kipling type cake with their packed lunch and then either a yoghurt, mousse similar with tea along with fruit (I'll come back to that!). They also get a snack bar when they get in from school to bridge the gap until tea as they are ravenous when they get back from school. Adults rarely have pud, an occasional yoghurt sometimes. We may have a family pud with sunday lunch

Our kids all have a second lunch at 3.30 when they get home from school, doesn't in any way spoil their appetite for dinner either

cfw1994

atush said:

Albermarle said:

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 

We get the odd meal or drinks out paid for,plus this year we got a $150 gift card to our fave FL beach bar, a michelin one star lunch out from one, and a 150quid meal from another as xmas gifts.

Ours are now earning a decent wage, & it is a nice feeling when they offer to pay for a meal or buy the drinks….I have been known to let them, with my thanks 👍

Sea_Shell

Sea_Shell said:

We buy the Aldi 19p lemonade...it tastes...lemony.  

I just checked the receipt from yesterday and it's now 26p.     Shocking!!!!

L9XSS

Sea_Shell said:

Sea_Shell said:

We buy the Aldi 19p lemonade...it tastes...lemony.  

I just checked the receipt from yesterday and it's now 26p.     Shocking!!!!

It’s still the best lemonade out there all things considered.

Expotter

 A new Retirement Living Standards report by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association indicates that the cost of a basic retirement has increased by 18 per cent to £12,800 for a single person and 19 per cent to £19,900 for a couple. For a moderate lifestyle it quotes £23300 or £34000 respectively and for a comfortable one £37300 or £54500. 
I get the impression quite a few people here manage on less than these figures, but I suppose these are averages and what constitutes a comfortable retirement will vary a lot from person to person. Anyway here's the link for the full article:


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-11623925/How-income-need-retirement.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/index.html

geoffers4

Sea_Shell said:

Steve_PL_too said:

I don’t know what it’s like in the various places that you folk live, but around here the checkout queues at Aldi and Lidl are pretty much always horrendous. I tend to value my time (and my mood) more highly than the undoubted financial savings!

We are blessed with a fairly quiet Aldi, so no problem with queues. We've got checkout down to a well choreographed art. 😎 Maybe because we have 5 in or around our town!!

I go at 9.30pm - and try to be the last out of the door before closing at 10!

michaels

Expotter said:

 A new Retirement Living Standards report by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association indicates that the cost of a basic retirement has increased by 18 per cent to £12,800 for a single person and 19 per cent to £19,900 for a couple. For a moderate lifestyle it quotes £23300 or £34000 respectively and for a comfortable one £37300 or £54500. 
I get the impression quite a few people here manage on less than these figures, but I suppose these are averages and what constitutes a comfortable retirement will vary a lot from person to person. Anyway here's the link for the full article:


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-11623925/How-income-need-retirement.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/index.html

So they have increased the size of the 'essentials' basket by upgrading the food part and that along with inflation gives the near 20% increase.

And they still seem to assume a 5-6% SWR when calculating the DC pot needed to supplement state pension to give the suggested incomes ignoring tax so probably even higher in reality.  Clueless

Albermarle

Expotter said:

 A new Retirement Living Standards report by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association indicates that the cost of a basic retirement has increased by 18 per cent to £12,800 for a single person and 19 per cent to £19,900 for a couple. For a moderate lifestyle it quotes £23300 or £34000 respectively and for a comfortable one £37300 or £54500. 
I get the impression quite a few people here manage on less than these figures, but I suppose these are averages and what constitutes a comfortable retirement will vary a lot from person to person. Anyway here's the link for the full article:


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-11623925/How-income-need-retirement.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/index.html

These new figures are for living outside London. New figures for London based retirees will follow later, but of course they will be higher.

 and what constitutes a comfortable retirement will vary a lot from person to person. 
As discussed many times on this forum 

zagfles

Expotter said:

 A new Retirement Living Standards report by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association indicates that the cost of a basic retirement has increased by 18 per cent to £12,800 for a single person and 19 per cent to £19,900 for a couple. For a moderate lifestyle it quotes £23300 or £34000 respectively and for a comfortable one £37300 or £54500. 
I get the impression quite a few people here manage on less than these figures, but I suppose these are averages and what constitutes a comfortable retirement will vary a lot from person to person. Anyway here's the link for the full article:


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-11623925/How-income-need-retirement.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/index.html

Yes, I suspect the main reason the PLSA is so different to MSE forumites is simply that we know far better how to get value from spending, as this site's name implies! Most people don't, I'm sure we all know people who are clueless with money or who spend without thinking, and don't look to get value as MSE'ers generally do.

As in the previous discussion linked below some of the stuff you need to be "comfortable" is staggering!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6282632/actual-spending-in-retirement-against-expectations/p7

Sea_Shell

That feeling when you're just waiting for stuff to happen....[drums fingers on desk]

Still waiting for my voluntary NI payments to show on my on-line Pension Summary (paid early December)
Waiting for written confirmation that my ISA transfer from Fidelity to iWeb is all in hand (from either of them!)
Waiting for a referral to hospital early Rheumatology dept (they said I should hear by 1st Feb)

Doesn't help that snail mail seems to be even more hit and miss after the strikes.