Is £25k (Which) reasonable or unrealistic for a couple?

MallyGirl

AlanP_2 said:

A bit disappointed to see some of the personsal digs on here, we are all different and want to spend different amounts of money in deifferent ways whether retired or working.
I've never been in the camp of "higher rate tax is bad and should be avoided". I would prefer to have a higher income than a lower one and manage the tax minimisation or payment as necessary.
What does "basic" spending cover? 
Our regular bills, groceries, car costs, pets, personal care such as hair & toiletries, medical / dentists etc work out to about £22k a year and I would allocate all those to basic spending.
Entertainment, holidays, hobbies, clothes, sundry household costs (e.g. window cleaner), and any capital costs (house / garden or car) would be in addition so we are targeting ~£50k a year after tax in retirement although it won't be as smooth as that in practice.  

My spreadsheet has:
fixed costs - TV license, Contact lens plan, council tax, boiler plan, health insurance, car & camper road tax
variable costs - electric & gas, water, mobiles, dog insurance, vet plan, house insurance, property maintenance, car & camper insurance/breakdown/maintenance/MOT/service, fuel, groceries (inc cleaning stuff & dog food), entertainment
These 2 come to £29k. The split is a bit arbitrary but in theory we can shop around or cut down on the variable ones.
The rest of our 'number' is hobbies, holidays (home and abroad), vehicle replacement

AlanP_2

My "basic" as outlined broadly covers your fixed and variable items except for the entertainment and property maintenance (& the motorhome which I treat as fully discretionary).

If I included the additional items you have allowed for £29k seems about right for us as well.

CookieMonster

My 2020 basics covers all insurances, council tax, food, private dental, gas, water, electricity, phone, internet bills, emergency fund contributions, a little socialising and a small amount of travel. Total: £8,700.
Not paying rent or a mortgage helps keep my number low.

AlanP_2

CookieMonster said:

My 2020 basics covers all insurances, council tax, food, private dental, gas, water, electricity, phone, internet bills, emergency fund contributions, a little socialising and a small amount of travel. Total: £8,700.
Not paying rent or a mortgage helps keep my number low.

Neither MallyGirl or myself are including rent / mortgage in our numbers and they are much higher than yours so I don't think that is the reason 

MallyGirl

Indeed - my council tax is £3,228 and my gas & elec is £2,488.

marlot

Everyone's comfortable amount will be different.
We 'practised' for retirement by living on our to-be income for a couple of years before I made the decision to go.

becky_rtw

Really interesting thread - great to see how people factor for this. 
We're probably looking at about £15-20k a year for me and OH between us*, but we are cheapskates/most of our hobbies and holidays are outdoors. Current "fixed" costs are around £8,500 bills, food, occasional eating out etc. 
We will move when we retire though so that will make a difference, hence the wide range. 
(*that excludes the year we have planned to travel which we will cover with a fixed sum I am saving)

Dazza1902

Lockdown has shown me how little we could get by on. I have planned on £2500 to £3000 per month in retirement. I now know our core spending is about £1100 per month. So Retirement should be comfortable. Pity its taken a pandemic to come to this conclusion. 

robatwork

£25000 is plenty for the basics of life - food, taxes, utilities if you aren't above the standard deviation of housing ie. average or just above or below. Everything else depends on your hobbies - if you go to the theatre weekly (not that you can at the moment), keep tigers and enjoy the finest truffles every Wednesday, buy a new Jag every 2 years, then it won't be enough.

If your lifestyle is more ascetic then it's a decent amount. 

AlanP_2

robatwork said:

£25000 is plenty for the basics of life - food, taxes, utilities if you aren't above the standard deviation of housing ie. average or just above or below. Everything else depends on your hobbies - if you go to the theatre weekly (not that you can at the moment), keep tigers and enjoy the finest truffles every Wednesday, buy a new Jag every 2 years, then it won't be enough.

If your lifestyle is more ascetic then it's a decent amount. 

Would tigers and jaguars get on together do you know