A Paupers Pension Tale (Not many nuts to dig up)

george_jetson

As well as Libby and PressReader there’s also BorrowBox which focuses on books and audiobooks…

bluenose1

Annie1612 said:

I downloaded the Libby app a couple of days ago and apart from magazines, it seems all the other material consists of audio books which I sadly don’t get on with. I’m guessing it depends on what your particular library provides or am I missing the readable books section perhaps?

On Libby it looks like yours has filtered out the  readable books section. Might be worth going though the help instructions to check it is showing everything. 
In addition to Libby I had to download PressReader app and enter my library number to access the magazines.

Madrick

sheslookinhot said:

My budget for food and household items is £600 per month, (3 adults) actual spend is around that budget give or take 10%.

Daughter is moving to her own house in a few weeks, will be interesting to see our actual spend when she flies.

We too were 3 adults, myself and 2 sons, with similar spend (around £600 pm) on food, beer and household items. I include the occasional takeaway in the above figure.

Oldest son left in June and moved in with GF.

This has reduced by roughly a third
Last two months has been around £400 - £450

Shopping mainly in Sainsburys

So I would imagine you will see a similar drop

I've also noticed that I'm doing washing twice a week rather than 4 times, as older son was producing more through, gym, running, rugby etc

gambleruk

Another quick update on how early retirement is progressing.

The last couple of months have been really good, made great use of the Northern rail ticket sale and done Leeds, Liverpool and Blackpool so far and got Preston and York to do next weekend all for £20 in total. The least we spent was £54 in Leeds thanks to visiting many weatherspoons and that included a meal each and taxi home, most we spent was £80 in Blackpool last Saturday as got a table on the front and sat in the sunshine for a few hours people watching (and there were plenty to watch lol) and then waited for the lights to come on before we moved to get a takeaway before the train home.

Still finding it remarkably easy to keep within budget, these day trips out have been covered by our shopping bill so far, only concern I have at the moment like a lot of people is our electric costs (we have no gas) which are being moved again thanks to Symbio going bust. I still have not missed work in any shape or form and the longer it goes on it feels less likely that I will even bother trying to find a part time job as my days are always full and boredom never creeps in. 

One thing that has amazed me is how little all my friends know or even care about pensions, went out with a group of lads a few weeks ago all around my age and they really could not care less, most of them just said they will work until they drop. I have offered to help a few people go through there options but no one has took me up on it, I wish someone had offered to help me a few years ago that's for sure. I know we are different on this forum but I really cannot understand people not wanting to plan for their future.

So it is nearly a year since I received my last pay packet and I am really surprised on how easy it has been to adjust my life from 34 years of working to retirement. I have said before it will not be everyone but if you have structure in your life and you have plans everyday then I do not think you will go far wrong. 

sheslookinhot

I don’t think a “structure “ is that important. That’s is for when you work for the man. I would be happy to think about what I’ll do tomorrow, when going to my bed the night before. The weather will play a part. Good weather, I’ll be walking, cycling gardening, poor weather it will be gym, any jobs around the house, some stretching/yoga etc. Totally flexible

bluenose1

Wow, sounds fab Gambleruk, know what you mean about most others not being interested in pensions.  I know how easily I fill my days off now so can’t imagine ever being bored. Just looking forward to having more time to do the things I enjoy rather than sat at a desk all day. 

harlequinnyc

Sounds good to me @gambleruk personally, I do not understand why your pals wouldn't want a bit of a chat and advice with pensions and retirement planning, as it sounds to me like you are a great example of escaping the stress of 'working until you drop'. I retire myself in two and a half weeks, 2 months before my 51st birthday and I feel happy, lucky and proud that I can then enjoy spending time the way I choose to.

IamWood

I love this thread - so inspiring.

I am 47 years old having a dear wife and two beloved children. I had a well-paid job before I moved to the Southwest. The job was busy but helped me to pay off my mortgage and became an accidental landlord when I quit the job and moved to the Southwest.

Here is my current situation: two boys aged 18 and 16. The oldest is going to university next year and the youngest is still doing his GCSE. I plan to retire when they both leave home for university. My current pension pot is around 400K and my salary is around £75K. The pension contribution is maximized as advised in the forum. The house I rented out gives me about £1400 a month, but I would happily let my children live there if they go to the university there.

I live a humble life(still driving nearly 20 my year-old car), but do give a lot of money to the church as taught. I wonder if it will be enough for me to retire in 3 years? My wife works part-time and does charity work. Her income is minimal. In order to achieve my goal, I was tempted to return to my well-paid job for a few years but unfortunately, it would be in London. Of course, I can keep my current semi-retired job and work a little longer. However, I'm so eager to retire as soon as possible to do something I love.

Any input would be appreciated!

MK62

gambleruk said:

One thing that has amazed me is how little all my friends know or even care about pensions, went out with a group of lads a few weeks ago all around my age and they really could not care less, most of them just said they will work until they drop. I have offered to help a few people go through there options but no one has took me up on it, I wish someone had offered to help me a few years ago that's for sure. I know we are different on this forum but I really cannot understand people not wanting to plan for their future.

.....a very familiar story......not sure what it is tbh, but I suspect that, for some, retirement=old age, and they just don't want to think about it........for some, I fear a rude awakening might be waiting.

Albermarle

One thing that has amazed me is how little all my friends know or even care about pensions, went out with a group of lads a few weeks ago all around my age and they really could not care less, most of them just said they will work until they drop. I have offered to help a few people go through there options but no one has took me up on it, I

This is a regular comment on this forum. I have helped a couple of people out, but even then they do not always follow through with action when you check later . Even after I pointed out once that maximum 15 minutes work on the internet could have guaranteed someone  a few grand for no risk ( more 40% tax relief in last year before retiring ) and that worked out at over £10K per hour , so somewhat better than their  actual pay rate !

 I know how easily I fill my days off now so can’t imagine ever being bored. Just looking forward to having more time to do the things I enjoy rather than sat at a desk all day. 

I am newly retired and do not miss work, but I have to admit being  a bit bored occasionally . Then again it was the same at work so no big change !

In any cases some of it is  due to family circumstances ( including a struggling old dog ) that has restricted my activities/ability to go anywhere that isn't local. Some issues continue whether you are retired or not ,and not everyone has the freedom to just do what they want, when they want . In fact I suspect that probably applies to the majority of retirees rather than the minority , even if it just lack of money that is the problem rather than family /health issues etc