How much to live on

Dazza1902

Certainly wouldn't run two cars.

otb666

well we will be 1850 per month 600 bills 600 food petrol miscellaneous and 600 to do what we want with.  The 600 bills ctax 138 gas and electric 120 broadband sky 120   We have survived on a lot less in the past when we had mortgage and credit cards And tbh there seems to be lots of jobs out there So we will see how it goes.  We gave both our kids some money for weddings but they used it for other things We told them thats it as they are both on a lot more than us But do have savings 30k emergencies -

middlewife

Dazza1902 said:

middlewife said:

I fell foul of the break in service rules, so bizarrely, the NHS will pay me my 2008 and 2015 pensions but NOT my 1995 pension until I turn 60 next year. I am going anyway in 3 weeks time, but returning on a contract just 5 hours a week which will go some way to covering the shortfall. Still hopping mad that amongst all the emails back and forth not one person pointed out they wouldn't pay me!!!

On the original query from way back   we should have a comfortable life on £16k per year. We could manage on less but OH wants to run 2 cars....sigh....

16 k a year for you as a couple ?
Would you mind giving an idea of how that breaksdown, I assume that's nett?. I've toyed with 2 X tax allowance for a couple , but deemed it insufficient. I'm always amazed at how little some people appear to live comfortably on, I've never considered myself as particularly extravagant. Modest house, rarely go on hols, don't eat out much, don't smoke etc

It's nett figure. We won't need to pay rent or mortgage which makes a huge difference, otherwise would be a different story.
There are some assumptions as we will move to a 2 bed property so expect council tax and utilities to be lower, so a bit of a guesstimate, but here goes:
Monthly Outgoings

• Mobile phone        30
• Mobile phone 2     26
• Gas & electric       100, this was done a year ago, so might be a bit optimistic given current prices....
• National trust Scot 9    we might not keep this going, depends how much/often we want to drive places, less as we age
• Council tax             200 ( 2 months free will go into emergency fund so extra £400 a year in that too)
• Car fund 1               100 - to cover repairs,Insurance, servicing, tyres & fuel, (Electric vehicle so cheaper) 2nd car not                                         so.........

• Groceries &

• Cleaning products &

• Toiletries                250 - I cook from scratch, grow fruit & veg, don't eat red meat and use cheaper supermarkets

• Water                       42
• Savings for hols       75 - we rarely fly, might occasionally go in February for a very short break abroad, usually holiday in UK,         visiting kids

• TV licence             12.83
• Christmas &

• birthdays               150 tricky as we can't forecast grandchildren numbers but anticipate maybe 4 - again it's personal as to how 
•                                      much people expect to give, we have 4 adult "kids" too so £200 per person with a bit extra for christmas
• haircuts                    20 I go to the local college for a student cut £15 every 8 weeks, hubster gets OAP at £12 every 6 weeks 
• Singing group       19.50 keeps me sane
• second car fund    260 - to cover repairs,Insurance, servicing, tyres & fuel, VW so 600 miles for £70
• U3A                         20 - not joined yet, but plan for 1 group per week for each of us to get out and away from each other!!!
• Home insurance    25
• Pub lunch monthly 30 followed or preceeded by a walk
• Pocket money       40  for the odd coffee, garden centre trip etc we''ve always done this so we can suprise each other with the       odd small gift, book etc

• Emergency fund  100 for home improvements/repairs/replacements/garden/weddings/etc possibly not enough.....
• leisure centre         40 swimming membership x 2 per month  off peak
• dentist optician      30 savings towards new glasses, NHS dental bills, assuming replacement glasses every 2 to 3 years
• Clothing                  20 neither of us are fashionistas, we may ask for vouchers from family to spend on clothes, happy to use charity shops for some things, NOT undies though.....

Things we will sacrifice
Private dental insurance (especially as our dentist cheekily charges for PPE!!!)
OH watches rugby so has a season ticket, but won't want to sit out in the cold with arthritic joints as he ages (at least that''s what I told him!) plus we will move maybe 100 miles further away from the stadium which is already 90 miles away
BT sports subscription - will be too busy with grandkids at weekends and sitting down for too long isn't good for anyone.........
Rescued fruit and veg box, again, cost is actually comparable to supermarket so would like to keep if poss
A dog - however, if OH can be persuaded to give up his diesel guzzling monster, then it becomes an option
I have a massage every other week £18  which could also continue if 2nd car went......
Cinema/Theatre - however, if we can afford it would like to keep netflix or Britbox, but not both

It all depends on your expectations of social life, whether you eat out, get takeaways, shop in Waitrose, holiday abroad etc. there is nothing wrong with any of that, but as the saying goes "you dont miss what you never had" and we have never really had/done the above, so for us it doesn't seem strange, others would  find missing out on things unacceptable so if you can afford it, go ahead and enjoy. 
Nervously pressing "post" now, in case someone spots a glaring error........

otb666

wonderfully detailed post Middlewife love it really helpful to refine my figures as so detailed which mine are lacking 

middlewife

otb666 said:

wonderfully detailed post Middlewife love it really helpful to refine my figures as so detailed which mine are lacking 

I am a dreadful forward planner, as in, I plan EVERYTHING!

Dazza1902

Middlewife, that ads up to way more than£13333 per month.
My personal expenses at retirement per month

C tax.   180 
Gas elect 170
Water.   50
Wood 20
Mobiles 50
Broadband 40
Sky 55
Car ins 18
House insurance 19
Car tax 10
Netflix 9.99
Spotify 7.99
Groceries toiletries 300
Petrol 50
Car depreciation maintenance 150
House maintenance. 100

Total £1229.98

Monthly discretionary
Joint 200 
Me 200
Wife 400

Comes to  2030 .
2 X tax allowance is 2095.
Should be able to do this.
Would folk consider this a  generous budget or tight ???

[Deleted User]

Dazza1902, your monthly discretionary spend seems high to me. After bills, I allow myself about £200 a month maximum. However, I save monthly for things like clothes, holidays, birthdays and Christmas so they do not have to come out of discretionary spending. The £200 a month covers things like monthly haircut, meals out, little treats etc… 

[Deleted User]

Pension income at the moment after tax (I have another 3 years before state pension) is about £1500 a month. After all bills and the discretionary spends about £650 goes to various savings. £300 of that towards annual bills, car maintenance,house maintenance etc… £200 towards longer term savings and £150 towards Christmas, birthdays and clothing. It seems to work for me and the ‘bills’ savings usually run a little surplus. 

At the moment I am working a couple of days a week on a part-time casual type contract which suits me fine. At the moment I save the money I earn from that.
I have spent a lot on house improvements this year including new kitchen, garden upgrade, conservatory guttering and new garage roof. However, I had budgeted for these from savings. Hopefully, house maintenance will be a lot less for a few years. I am capable of the cosmetic upgrades like painting rooms etc ..
I will probably continue  2 days a week until next July and then after that only do exam invigilation for a couple more years. 

I expect to have by that time savings and investments of about £45000 as a useful back up. 

When the state pension kicks in I feel I will be very comfortable. 

[Deleted User]

From 2022 I plan to start travelling again. A few trips to Europe and maybe try a cruise. I also want to visit Canada again and go to Singapore and Australia just to say I have been there! Why not lol! I also like the look of Hawaii! I will finance these trips from savings and increased income when I receive my state pension. I have no plans to be a wealthy occupant of the graveyard! 

Hopefully I will remain healthy to carry out my plans. You have  to be positive. My mother is now 82 and planning her next cruise!

As for the potential dreaded care costs (should they arise, hopefully not) I feel that I will have sufficient pension income along with my house to finance a few years! However I refuse to let it dominate my thoughts or plans.

I have no direct dependants but a close and loving extended family. They all know that anything I do leave will just be an added bonus for them not a given!

I now dip very rarely into the Pension threads in the other place lol! I continue to be perplexed by those who have hundreds of thousands in assets and large pension incomes who continue to worry about retirement and having enough. I guess it’s lifestyle and choices, but surely as you enter your 60s and beyond health, relationships and general quality of life take precedence. You certainly don’t need great wealth to enjoy those.

helensbiggestfan

Hi everyone.....not visited the thread for a while but have been reading along.  

Funnily enough I checked my figures the other day.....still doing ok despite Gas and leccy jumping up by £40 a month from December.  

I've spent the summer sorting out the garden and putting the finished touches to the house renovations.  Nearly finished, aiming to have it market ready by spring.  Not sure whether I will jump straight into another project or take a break. 

My little sideline business is doing ok, won't make me rich but it's fun, doing something I enjoy and making a few extra shekels. 😀

Baron.  You've hit the nail on the head, retirement is all about lifestyle choices and I think the best choice anyone can make is to invest in their health and well being.  Private health  insurance if you can afford it and certainly eat well and keep moving.

 I am 70 now and determined to stay fit, strong and healthy as long as I can. That will be my new "job" next year. I intend to invest some of  my time and money in gym membership. I will treat it like a part time job, a minimum of 3 sessions a week. Well that's the plan.  

Unfortunately I do need some extensive dental work soon.  There goes the world cruise. 😂🤣.  I don't mind really.  I'm not sure I really want to bother with long distance travel for the foreseeable future. Covid isn't done with us yet, so I'm happy enough not bothering much with travel next year.  Will just stick to the U.K.  for the time being.