How much to live on

Organgrinder

Plasticman said:

Organgrinder said:

I'd also add, take advantage of "free money". Be that bank switching, ISA incentives, cashback sites, stoozing etc etc.

I've increased my savings pots considerably since starting doing this. If I look at all the money I've managed to save (though I do often use some of it for holidays!) it will come to over £10,000 by the end of this year 

I got very lucky with a 5 year mortgage fix of 1.64% which finishes at the end of this year. Two years ago I had sufficient funds to pay off the mortgage but kept it invested. The difference will net me approx £6,000 in total.

Stoozing over roughly the same period will amount to £2,000.

Cashback sites are currently showing £600.

Bank switching offers over £2,500 in total over 4 years, though some of this includes compensation when things went badly wrong!

I've got £700 back on flight delays and fingers crossed Black Horse will have to payout as I once had a DCA on a car loan.

I've put roughly £6,000 of all this into my pension this year, getting a £1,500 top up and also reducing the amount I owe HMRC for 40% tax I haven't paid on my exam marking.

It sounds quite obsessive I know, but I spend very little time doing this. 

I also simply do not see the point in overpaying for anything. Eg my high index lense varifocals are £120 for two pairs in Asda. Less than the cost of one pair of lenses elsewhere.

But I don't live frugally either eg three foreign holidays a year (in school hols too!). I'm just a firm believer in maximising what you have.

I had to check who'd written this as I thought it might have been me 😁

I haven't done as much bank switching but otherwise very much the same. My fixed mortgage rate ends in less than two weeks time though so that'll be paid off and I won't be getting the interest any more.

Amazing. I honestly would never have thought of a lot of this if it hadn't been for MSE.

Better in my pocket than someone else's!

barnstar2077

Saver73 said:

I'm aiming for between £1,000 to £1,200 a month and I want to retire in Spring of 2030.  To be honest, I think I'll stop then with whatever I've got as I'm so tired of working, it's been more than 30 years full time, I never imagined I'd feel like this and that I'd find it so hard near the end of my working life.  I'm fortunate in that my current job is more than bearable in terms of content and the team I work with, it also pays well, I feel I'm a bit lacking in motivation and I'd rather have the time than money.  Since I decided on a timeline (because that is when I can draw my personal pension) I feel better. Now it's like a challenge to get there!

I guess there will always be an option to do part time work for additional income if needed up to state pension age but I have a feeling that once I stop working that will be it, I'm ready now, I'm not a big spender, so I'll just manage financially with however much I have. I don't have a car, I'm not much of a traveller, preferring UK holidays or weekend breaks and have no dependents.

I plan to spend all of my pension on living!

It would seem we are on a similar journey!  I too value my time over money and want to retire in five to nine years (depending on growth) with just enough to not have to worry about replacing a boiler or keeping myself entertained in old age. 

I also think that even doing nothing, just sitting in the park with an ice cream, reading a book etc, is a perfectly acceptable way to pass the time when you have earned it by (in my case) cycling to work daily for almost forty years by then.

Although I have mentioned a few things on here previously, I have started my own diary below, documenting the ups and downs of trying to retire early on a reduced salary.

High risk, high reward: A pauper's dream of early retirement. — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Organgrinder

I'm currently thinking about what next to do with my stoozing. I'm thinking about taking a couple of long term cards and moving the existing balances across. 

If so I can stooze about £20k at a cost of £640. Over the life of the cards I can put this into an ISA (well most of it) and make a net £2k according to a stoozing site calculator.

My only real issue with doing this is that my total stooze would end up at £36k. That level of borrowing scares me a little to be honest. 

But the net return at zero cost to me (other than my credit score) seems very attractive.

Plasticman

Organgrinder said:

I'm currently thinking about what next to do with my stoozing. I'm thinking about taking a couple of long term card and moving the existing balances across. 

If so I can stooze about £20k at a cost of £640. Over the life of the cards I can put this into an ISA (well most of it) and make a net £2k according to a stoozing site calculator.

My only real issue with doing this is that my total stooze would end up at £36k. That level of borrowing scares me a little to be honest. 

But the net return at zero cost to me (other than my credit score) seems very attractive.

I've got about £30k at the moment and another £12k of credit on a new 0% spend card. £10k due to be paid back in July - I'll probably try to do a balance transfer on that if I can get a very low / no fee card. The level of debt doesn't matter to me now as long as I've got the money securely tucked away to pay it back. I'm not expecting to need to borrow anything ever again so my credit score doesn't matter much.

kempiejon

Organgrinder said:
My only real issue with doing this is that my total stooze would end up at £36k. That level of borrowing scares me a little to be honest. 

If you've got £36k borrowed and £36k in cash accounts your net borrowing is zero!
I got to a similar balance stoozed around this time last year. It was my first large balance for about 10 years, In the olden days I had more than twice that in the air. I'm winding down for now as I have plans so want less on my credit record.

Organgrinder

Plasticman said:

Organgrinder said:

I'm currently thinking about what next to do with my stoozing. I'm thinking about taking a couple of long term card and moving the existing balances across. 

If so I can stooze about £20k at a cost of £640. Over the life of the cards I can put this into an ISA (well most of it) and make a net £2k according to a stoozing site calculator.

My only real issue with doing this is that my total stooze would end up at £36k. That level of borrowing scares me a little to be honest. 

But the net return at zero cost to me (other than my credit score) seems very attractive.

I've got about £30k at the moment and another £12k of credit on a new 0% spend card. £10k due to be paid back in July - I'll probably try to do a balance transfer on that if I can get a very low / no fee card. The level of debt doesn't matter to me now as long as I've got the money securely tucked away to pay it back. I'm not expecting to need to borrow anything ever again so my credit score doesn't matter much.

kempiejon said:

Organgrinder said:
My only real issue with doing this is that my total stooze would end up at £36k. That level of borrowing scares me a little to be honest. 

If you've got £36k borrowed and £36k in cash accounts your net borrowing is zero!
I got to a similar balance stoozed around this time last year. It was my first large balance for about 10 years, In the olden days I had more than twice that in the air. I'm winding down for now as I have plans so want less on my credit record.

Oh I know it's no different to me having the £60k mortgage in ISAs. It's just the headline figure that bothers me. Irrational I know.

But at the end of the day it's all adding to the pot.

When I first set my retirement budget a couple of years ago I thought I'd need my private pension pot. Now it looks like I might not have to touch it.

Indeed last year I was looking at retiring at 61. Now it's 60. I can't remember the exact figures but over the past couple of years I seem to have saved another £15k through a combination of pay increases, stoozing, bank switching etc, despite my holiday costs having increased by over £1,000 a year (holiday inflation seems to be about 33%). 

Sometimes I just need to run the figures through my trusty spreadsheet a few times to convince myself!

Saver73

thanks @Barnstar2077 yes we do look to be on a similar journey and timeline too!  I feel like there will something momentous about retiring at the start of a new decade!   I'd be content with walks, reading, plenty of coffee and cake! I'd like not to have to do grocery shopping on a weekend and pilates would be better mid morning than mid evening.  No early mornings or commuting... I still plan to have some structure and routine but with the freedom for it to be more flexible, not having to go to bed early during the week because of early starts, being tied to office hours, public transport timings...  Weekends away and not having to come home early on Sunday for work the next day.

I'm feeling a bit more motivated having set myself a goal of Spring 2030.  I did have in mind maybe doing one more year because then I would have worked for 40 years! But I'm happy to have achieved and don't have any ambitions left, I can live with knowing work ended in the 39th year!

I had a read of your diary and earlier posts, yor plans are more risk than my own but your numbers are impressive!  Good luck in your journey 😀

I'm confident in my own plans (cash savings and pension) I haven't ruled out part time working as an option nearer the end of my working life but decided a steady 5 year plan was for me.  I've read a few posts/threads about people retiring with smaller pensions, it's good to read other people's story, ideas, plans etc the time and freedom is definitely more important to me.  

MayDogsandCoffee

My 'how much to live on' might be changing slightly - I think I may be going to sign up to a p/t degree course starting in Sept  Starting to try and get my head around student loans, hoping to get tuition at least and then figure out payback as I am planning on finishing work next year.  I have looked at these courses for years and is mainly a 'hobby' course but could lead to some p/t or volunteer work once I have retired from my main employment.   Scary stuff.

BrilliantButScary

MayDogsandCoffee said:

My 'how much to live on' might be changing slightly - I think I may be going to sign up to a p/t degree course starting in Sept  Starting to try and get my head around student loans, hoping to get tuition at least and then figure out payback as I am planning on finishing work next year.  I have looked at these courses for years and is mainly a 'hobby' course but could lead to some p/t or volunteer work once I have retired from my main employment.   Scary stuff.

That sounds exciting, what are you planning to study, if you don't mind me asking? 
You are never too old, to learn something new!

MayDogsandCoffee

@BrilliantButScary - sorry it is a bit of a niche area and might blow my cover.  But animals are involved