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

LHW99

With an annual spend of £11000, there's not much consumerism going on in our house!!!;)

Yes, I have marvelled at that on a separate thread - although my comments were intended more generally, not specifically targeted at you SeaShell.

But if you own something, use it up, then make further decisions after further research. That's my current thinking.

Fully agree with that too.

Sea_Shell

LHW99 wrote: »

Yes, I have marvelled at that on a separate thread - although my comments were intended more generally, not specifically targeted at you SeaShell.

Fully agree with that too.

What thread was that?

I realise you weren't targeting me, no worries.

LHW99

Sea_Shell wrote: »

What thread was that?

I realise you weren't targeting me, no worries.

This one recently:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6087242/early-retirement-calculations-help
post #8 - possibly another, but I'm not sure now

JoeEngland

Sea_Shell wrote: »

The scores on the doors are in…

In 2019 we spent the grand sum of …..£11,087 !! Including £400 for a new washing machine! We haven’t tried to do this, it’s just what it is.

Saying that, we had planned to go on 2 additional UK trips, but due to the weather we didn’t end up going. One was June when I was still working and had a specific week booked off work, and it rained all week, and the other was going to be October, but again it was wet. Even so, that would have added only £1000 - £1500 to the total.

So basing on a “budgeted” spend of £15,000, we’ve got £4k carry over, so can spend £19,000 in 2020. At least now with no work commitments, if the forecast is good, we shall just book and go!!

If we have a bad spring, we may well fly south to see the sun, in May maybe.

The breakdown for the 2019 spends looks like this…

Bills (DD) £3651
Holidays £1272 (3 UK short breaks plus days out)
Car (1) £397
Groceries £2586
Household £1050 (includes the WM)
Health/Beauty/Fitness £878
Clothes £163
Fuel £432
Gifts £180
Fees/ISA £317
Phone £158

The overall picture of our finances is looking very healthy at the moment as it would appear 2019 has been a good year.

Our total pot is now at c. £560k, which is made up of…

DC Pension pots £323,705
S&S ISAs £138,075
Locked Cash £79,780
Instant Cash £20,777

At the end of 2018, it was down at £480k, due to the end of year dip, so the year on year figures are skewed a lot by that. The previous high was £509k in August 2018.

So there we have it…Happy New Year and here’s to 2020!!

I just updated my spending tracker spreadsheet to totalise monthy spend on groceries (food and household products). In our annual budget for retirement I'd assumed about 5k for groceries (100 per week) but that is much higher than reality. The good thing about that over estimate of groceries is the financial plan should be more secure in the long term. When DW gives up FT sometime this year I need to ensure that she doesn't think coming in under budget one year means we should be profligate in the next!

atush

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I think we ALL have a personal responsibility to do our bit, however large or small, to help alleviate damage to the planet. Whether that's to the climate, to the oceans or to the land.

IMO you can't split the 3, they are all interconnected.

In the bath the other day...I realised my Body Puff was looking a bit tired, and starting to come apart. Usually, i'd just get another from Poundland or somewhere (they're only cheap), but then I thought NO. I have a perfectly good cotton flannel, and a hemp body mitt, so do I really need another piece of plastic in my life that will eventually end up in landfill somewhere!!!

Will my decision save the planet....obviously not. Will thousands (if not millions) of body puffs still be manufactured...of course. Does that mean I should just buy one and sod it!!!!??

Anyway, that's my 2 pence worth.

We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror each morning, and for those with kids or grandkids...that stare should be a long hard one!!!

I've never used a body puff, dont see th point.

But i do use plasitc straws. And my box is over 5 years old as i wash and re use them.

atush

JoeEngland wrote: »

I just updated my spending tracker spreadsheet to totalise monthy spend on groceries (food and household products). In our annual budget for retirement I'd assumed about 5k for groceries (100 per week) but that is much higher than reality. The good thing about that over estimate of groceries is the financial plan should be more secure in the long term. When DW gives up FT sometime this year I need to ensure that she doesn't think coming in under budget one year means we should be profligate in the next!

I spend 100/week and more sometimes, but that includes all our alcohol too.

Sea_Shell

atush wrote: »

I've never used a body puff, dont see th point.

You get an amazing lather from your body wash of choice, plus added exfoliation!!

Sea_Shell

atush wrote: »

I spend 100/week and more sometimes, but that includes all our alcohol too.

Our groceries includes shop bought alcohol too!

If bought "out" goes in with holiday/entertainment.

Sea_Shell

Had a little spendy splurge yesterday!! Bought some car cleaning stuff that DH wanted, some fragranced skincare items that I love the smell of, and a new pair of running shoes. About £120 in total.

In other news i'm not giving up or cutting down on anything during January, as I've actually started the year, at my lightest and fittest that I've been for years. Didn't put a pound on over Christmas. So I have nothing to "atone" for!!:A

January and February are non-months a bit really, especially as it's been so wet, we can't even risk many countryside walks as the fields are still a quagmire. Have to stick to "accessible" walks with hardstanding.:(

We'll start on the big spring cleaning early too, so as soon as the weather starts to improve in March, we'll be ready for the off!!:beer:

Brilley

...I am not doing dry January this year as I actually gave up drinking (alcohol) in August, and don 't really miss it! (There are some really nice alcohol free beers about now). This has also helped to keep the weight off over Christmas. Also watched a good program the other day regarding exercise, (Dr. Michael Moseley), apparently its a bit of an urban myth that you need to do 10k steps per day, it's actually better (and quicker) to do 3 * 10 mins of "fast" walking instead. (Although I do enjoy walking for pleasure).

Based on some unplanned/un-budgeted income from part time work I have increased our planned spend for this year, just not sure what to spend it on! Also still struggling to get my head around the the idea of spending rather than saving!