How much to live on

sheilavw

managed to change my deal with EE, now get 30gb , and unlimited calls and text for £10 a month

[Deleted User]

Let’s not get too obsessed with phone deals lol! It happened once before with energy prices ! I do believe they have their own threads somewhere.

How much are you needing to live on these days? 

I am still reading great posts from some living happily on £10000 p.a. or just the state pension. In those cases most people do tend to own their own homes but not everyone. Others need a bit more, some a great deal more!

I will look again at my minimum as a point of interest, but fortunately when state pension kicks I will have more than enough for my lifestyle.

I must admit it’s a pleasant feeling to know I don’t have to work again nor really worry about money anymore. It took a while for full realisation lol! I am extremely fortunate. 

Best wishes to all.

bluenose1

Totally agree Barondale, it is a lovely feeling knowing I don't  have to work ever again and am financially secure. I was talking to someone in the gym yesterday that had just spent £25k on a 3 week cruise where you  get chauffeur driven from your home to the airport etc. I was amazed people spent that much and I could never justify that type of expenditure with our income, just as well as my savings would be gone in a few years. Quite happy with the cruise I have booked for much  less than 10% of the costs for 3 of us. Quite happy with the cruise I have booked for much  less than 10% of the costs for 3 of us.

Just checked and our essential outgoings for 3 of us (adult son at home) are £14,488 per year which includes £7,200 per year for food. I do charge him £2,400 per year keep but saving that up for him, unbeknownst to him.

[Deleted User]

£25000 for a three week cruise! You can actually do a world cruise for a few thousand less.
My one week cruise in November 2025 is costing just over £1000, and that is for a balcony cabin all to myself!  (I am giving cruising one more chance as I hated my first one in October 2022. lol.) Hopefully it will be ok.

I can probably manage to spend a few thousand a year on travel when state pension kicks in, which will be fine. I had an idea about flying around the world with about 4 stops to explore. I love air travel!

I was amazed to see that current prices for around the world tickets start at just £2500 which is incredible value.

When dreaming I did look at round the world cruises. Some look amazing, but when you break own the trip you actually find that something like 60 days of your 99 days are actually just spent at sea. I couldn’t cope with that.They are also remain poor value for singletons. My November 2025 cruise has 4 stops in just 6/7 days which is more suitable for me.

jackieblack

I’ve just finished updating my budget with all the increases of the new financial year and my ‘needs’ total is a little under £11k for the year. I still have a small mortgage (although Council Tax is my biggest bill) and run a car, this also includes amounts for dental/optician expenses and gift giving. I allow myself a fairly generous amount for groceries as I have specific dietary requirements (for medical reasons) which means avoiding a lot of the cheap ‘filler’ foods, and am not prepared to skimp on the food I buy, to the detriment of my health.
On top of this, I’m allowing an amount every month for days out etc with my granddaughter - I have her for a night and day every week during term time and usually  more often during school holidays, depending on how her parents shifts fall - this is my ‘fun’ money

I don’t get paid a huge amount, but I’m squirrelling away as much as I can each month with a view to early retirement, hopefully within the next 5 years 🤞🏻, and filling the gap until SPA (around 7 years, hopefully) - in my ideal world that would also entail moving closer to my daughter/s-i-ll/granddaughter, but there are lots of factors that would need to line up for that to work out, not all of which are in my control, so we’ll have to wait and see...

otb666

Been retired 2 years now and have managed on our 1800 pa 700 bills 550 on food and 550 on everything else and thats with a 26 year old living with us.  We also have a 3k annual slush fund for annual car ins mot service and short breaks.  I managed to save 200 on car insurance and 80 on AA. We also spend quite a lot on grandchild.  I have a mobile that costs £2 per month but was never a convert really and just for emergencies.  I prefer a landline.  We have been very busy with caring for FIL and helping younger generation. I read a lot and the house has never been cleaner..  I also like small pleasures cooking from scratch and wearing what i like just to please myself.  Its the small things but i get great enjoyment from my life now

Organgrinder

Personally I like any suggestion that can reduce my personal "how much to live on" whether that be energy prices, phone deals etc, and I find it handy to not have to browse through threads on boards I rarely if ever frequent.

[Deleted User]

Great to hear from you again @otb666!

blue.peter

[Deleted User] said:

£25000 for a three week cruise! You can actually do a world cruise for a few thousand less.

That'd be halfway tempting for me. I rather fancy the idea of going round the world on the surface (i.e., no flying), but not entirely on ships. I'd like to do some of it by train - notably across North America, maybe other bits as well. I also don't like the look of those huge floating hotels that seem to dominate cruising. They look so top-heavy as to be a capsize waiting to happen, and appear to have next to no open deck space. I recall my grandfather going on a trip to Australia and having a passenger cabin on a cargo ship. I wonder if that still happens? I wonder how much such a trip would cost? I ought to look into it.

TallGirl

It is so helpful to read about how much to live on as it is so hard to gauge. I have just increased my payments into my works pension from 10% to 20% as I realised I really was not paying that much in. It will now increase from £730 to £1140 (roughly) a month that is of course including employer contributions. I think a lot of people in their mid 50's (like me) think the boat has sailed if you have not started contributing  but something is better than nothing and you do get the tax relief on top. 

As for the £25K cruise that does seem a lot but if it was a trip of a lifetime maybe but I would want longer than 3 week in that case. I have done 1 cruise and it was amazing because my whole family was on it. It was fun to see now ports but also exhausting the trips you can book on are expensive but doing it yourself is more work and there is always that fear of not getting back in time lol. I hope you enjoy it Baron Dale and the weather is kind that does make a difference to the sailing and the time ashore.