How much to live on

sheilavw

I have been granted 4 days from Sept, so I will have Mondays off. If the retired lady who is coming into school to do my Mondayis on holiday,I will work the Monday and I get an extra day off of my choice when she's back in. I have worked 45 years, and I am a carer too so the day off will be nice

louby40

Baron Dale, you are so organised and on the ball. Thanks for sharing your plans.

I'm 3-4 years off retiring but am currently overpaying my mortgage and am writing down EVERYTHING I'm spending. Trouble is, I'm a lady that enjoys clothes, weekends and holidays away plus socialising so I really need to start curbing my spending a bit and saving more.

We are considering downsizing which will make us mortgage free and give me more options regarding saving more but need to refurb one of the bathrooms as it is dire and still had the original fittings when the house was built 20 years ago, before we can sell. 

After some serious health issues in 2021-2022, teaching has lost a lot of its appeal. Sadly I can't quite afford to retire yet. 

It's definitely in my sights though.

[Deleted User]

louby40, don't forget life is also for living. Ensure you budget for some fun too! With your teacher's pensions and eventual state pension you will be fine! As mentioned in another thread also do not rush into downsizing. Best wishes.

Albermarle

We are considering downsizing which will make us mortgage free and give me more options regarding saving more

Just be aware that downsizing is often not as successful as usually hoped for in generating a large chunk of money.

Human nature being what it is means that as one searches for a new smaller home, you might find yourself saying things like.

' It does look a bit small' ; ' I would like to move to a better area'; ' It would be lovely to have a sea view' ; ' I hoped I could have retired somewhere nicer than this ' etc etc 

MarzipanCrumble

Concerning upgrading your house i.e. bathroom...

Have you checked with an estate agent how much value that would add?  I would.  In our area it is location which can sell a house and if the location is right it seems to not affect the price that much...unless it is a total renovation - in which case yes, you can recover costs, maybe depending when done.  If you upgrade bathroom but rest is not up-to-date and you want to sell, why bother?  Chances are the new owner will gut and change.

Albermarle

MarzipanCrumble said:

Concerning upgrading your house i.e. bathroom...

Have you checked with an estate agent how much value that would add?  I would.  In our area it is location which can sell a house and if the location is right it seems to not affect the price that much...unless it is a total renovation - in which case yes, you can recover costs, maybe depending when done.  If you upgrade bathroom but rest is not up-to-date and you want to sell, why bother?  Chances are the new owner will gut and change.

Yes location is most important, followed by floor area. The advice I have seen is not to spend money upgrading bathrooms etc as may not be to the buyers taste anyway.
Caveat to that would be if the house proved hard to sell for other reasons, like not such a good location.

BooJewels

I'm just astonished that someone considers 20 year old bathroom fittings as 'dire'.  Mine's easily twice that. 

Granted, I want my bathroom totally re-working for a number of reasons (purely for me, not to sell) when I can find a tradesman who will return phone calls.  But I sure as heck wouldn't be wasting money on it just to sell - a new owner would potentially upgrade it to their taste anyway.

louby40

BooJewels said:

I'm just astonished that someone considers 20 year old bathroom fittings as 'dire'.  Mine's easily twice that. 

Granted, I want my bathroom totally re-working for a number of reasons (purely for me, not to sell) when I can find a tradesman who will return phone calls.  But I sure as heck wouldn't be wasting money on it just to sell - a new owner would potentially upgrade it to their taste anyway.

You've not seen it. It's been the domain of a teenage boy who doesn't flush the chain and who's caused the wall to become splashed with pee and the plaster is crumbling.

The shower is beyond hope - I've scrubbed and scrubbed at it and even bleach can't get it clean. 

It is totally awful believe me. 

louby40

Albermarle, I don't want to live in a 4 bedroomed house when there are only 2 of us. We live in a 3 storey house. We don't need it. Too many rooms to keep clean. Yes the space is lovely but it's not needed. 

Our search area up is a 1 mile radius when we eventually decide to sell. We like the area but just need to downsize.

Having an extra £700 a month (plus the £150 a month overpayment) will be a great boost to my savings. Plus give me more flexibility about going part time if I need to . 

I had cancer during 2021-22 so life has different priorities now. 

Albermarle

louby40 said:

Albermarle, I don't want to live in a 4 bedroomed house when there are only 2 of us. We live in a 3 storey house. We don't need it. Too many rooms to keep clean. Yes the space is lovely but it's not needed. 

Our search area up is a 1 mile radius when we eventually decide to sell. We like the area but just need to downsize.

Having an extra £700 a month (plus the £150 a month overpayment) will be a great boost to my savings. Plus give me more flexibility about going part time if I need to . 

I had cancer during 2021-22 so life has different priorities now. 

Downsizing can be a good move if approached realistically and sensibly ( like you seem to be doing).
However many people can be unrealistic in their aspirations/what is possible.