Escape to the country & living off savings

DigSunPap

Skint_yet_Again said:

@DigSunPap my thread is called 

Escape to the country & living off savings

My signature below my posts explains… 
“Debt free & mortgage free & no longer working, now living off the equity”

I am living off the money I made by selling my house, downsizing and moving to a cheaper part of the country until my pensions start. 

You think I would be able to read the obvious! Lol. Good for you - good luck with the future.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks SQS and DigSunPap

Drove to our local mot centre and booked my car in for next month for mot & short service. May need new brake pads. Car pot currently £800. My niece recommend them so should be ok.  Then we went to the large B & M and bought 4 pillow protectors, mattress protector, double sheet & 2 pillowcases, (paid for from household pot) plus some garlic sauce, pork scratchings (low carb/ low sugar) from balance remaining in current account and walnut whips for a family member for Xmas (paid for from Xmas pot). Total spend £40.04. DF is storing the chocs at his house so I don’t scoff them 😋 

Trip to b n q for window seal £7.49. Hopefully no more draughty living room. Paid for from household bills pot. 

DF planed off a bit of the door & that can now be closed properly. I’ve been out in the garden this afternoon. It’s been a dry, sunny and warm autumn day. A few shrubs chopped, bedding plants pulled out & general tidy up. Parasols & garden hose now put away in the shed for winter. Washing dried on the line. 

I now have the gas & electric bill for October £57.05, paid on credit card & will use November budget to clear the card. I will also put £50 into the gas & electric pot so I will have £500 credit going into winter plus £100 a month in my budget. This will be my first winter in the house so hopefully that I will be enough to stay warm

SuzeQStan

Fab energy credit balance for winter! With your £100 debit & that credit you should be covered especially with the precautions you are taking.

You beat us on October energy bill - we come in at £65 so very well done to you! 

Sounds like you made out like a bandit at bm - good price for all that! I do love our bm it has a garden centre in it.

ps for being a self proclaimed ‘non gardener’ it sure sounds like you been doin a lot of gardening 😉🤣 

SuzeQStan

Meant to add 🤞🏻 it’s only the brake pads as they really aren’t that expensive normally.  But even if the discs are involved you should have way more in your car fund than you would need

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks SQS 

Low g & e as I was away for 2 weeks down south, but have had the heating on occasionally since I got back. 

Love b n m. Had an email from wilko today (aka the range) to say they are resuming online trading but I like to see bedding before buying. Need a nice weather day to wash & then dry it outdoors… next Tuesday according to the forecast 😆

Only mentioned pads as they were advisory on last year’s mot but due to v small amount of mileage they said they would last the year (Under 4k)

Skint_yet_Again

I have been over on the pensions board reading about living off (state pension) income of £10600 a year with some describing the expected lifestyle as miserable, very tight and certainly not reasonably comfortable & just existing. Have run away quickly back to this quiet little corner 🙈🙉🙊

My back is aching today after my “gardening” attempts yesterday. My DF’s neighbour gifted me some petunias back in June and we found 2 wooden planters under the overgrown bushes, so they added some pretty colour to the garden for the summer. All I did was pull out the plants now they are dying off & chop back a shrub & put them in the green bin. 😆 Luckily we have a free green collection once a fortnight until November. 

I am going to mr T with my friend this morning. Her mum is still housebound and struggling after a fall and breaking her arm and then having covid while I was away. I offered to help with the shopping as my friend can’t push 2 trolleys and usually fills one with her own stuff. I will only buy some low carb wraps which I haven’t seen anywhere else. 

I have plenty of food including frozen batch cooked soup, Cajun chicken & Mediterranean veg, beef stew, chicken & butternut squash and chickpea curry & fish stew. Lunch today will be Cajun chicken & veg on low carb wrap with natural yoghurt and grated cheese & some soup. 

Then I am going to visit my niece this afternoon with DF. 

I bought some liver in mr M yesterday £1.14 so I will cook that with onion gravy, swede and carrot mash & green beans for dinner. Any leftovers will be frozen. 

I think I will pay myself tomorrow so I can buy a hot roast chicken after aquafit and then I can sort my budget over the weekend 

[Deleted User]

I also saw that thread. it made a refreshing change from some of the usual numbers posted on there lol! There were some inspirational posts too. You have to remember that quite a number of the posters in that section are not typical earners or pensioner. There was a thread the other day where someone described his pension income along with that of his wife of £6000 a month as 'reasonable'!

I was actually thinking you should make a comment on that thread and describe your full and purposeful life on £10000 a year. Some of them have no idea about the average person.
Having said that there are some very good posts with useful information.

badmemory

How much pension you need to live on all depends on what it needs to fund.  If you exclude my savings each year then my income of less than £14k keeps me & my son very comfortably.  But then I don't like champagne but pay a gardener.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks @[Deleted User] and @badmemory

I know everyone is different and some may find my lifestyle miserable, but I’m happy with my life and so I didn’t open it up to debate. I’ve already posted on the How much to live on thread so hopefully that will help someone. 

Grey and raining here today. Went to mr T with my friend & helped her with her mum’s shopping. I bought some low carb wraps and a bath towel for aquafit. Yes I know I said I wouldn’t  buy anything other than wraps 🤦‍♀️ Lol but with the change in the weather it’s harder to get them washed and dried when I go to aquafit twice a week. The shelf price said £5 but when it went through the till it said £7 reduced to £1.75 !!! 😁 Maybe that was my karma for handing in the £20 I found the other day! I was tempted to buy more but I now have 4 bath towels & don’t “need” any more. Had a nice visit to my niece with DF. 

SuzeQStan

SYA! No way are you living any kind of miserable lifestyle!

You got yourself out of a toxic workplace And you are living near beloved family and friends. And you are you own boss!

That’s a success story far as I’m concerned xx

your karmic Aquafit towel for £1.75!  That’s brilliant made me laugh - well done you what a bargain. You can’t even get a flannel for that these days!