Thrifty in my 60's

OpalGirl

Happy birthday @Brambling, welcome to the 60 club. I had my birthday in February but I'm not planning on retiring until September so I still have a little way to go. It must be lovely to be able to say you only have 13 working days left. Although I confess I did sit down and work out that I only have 20 weeks left!

weenancyinAmerica

Happy Birthday to all of you youngsters turning 60 this year. Hope it is a good one for you. Brambling, I actually read all of the Cooking for One thread over about a month. It was fun seeing all of the changes especially through the Covid period.  Glad to see several of you still posting. Hope you had a Happy Day on your Birthday!

IzzyBee

Happy birthday Brambling I retired 8 weeks ago although I was 66 I don’t know how I had time to work 

Rosa_Damascena

Happy Birthday for yesterday @Brambling

Slinky

I'm another of the ones hitting 60 this month. Somehow I feel the urge to have a bit of a clear out. I've finally managed to part company with an old video recorder and tapes that have been cluttering up my office for the past 5 years since we moved. I've accepted that we'll never get around to linking up a telly in my office so I can watch some of them one last time.  I have however hung on to some with a plan to try and sell them, but having checked online they don't seem to attract any interest, so those will also have to go.  I cleaned out a drawer of some old junk too. Parting company with things that no longer serve me.  It's the guilt. If somebody else wanted them I'd be happy to give them away, but they'll just be incinerated. 

Need to keep this up, which is easier said than done.

SandyShores

Slinky said:

 I have however hung on to some with a plan to try and sell them, but having checked online they don't seem to attract any interest, so those will also have to go.  

Hope you have a good birthday when it arrives.  I've had the un-nesting urge since turning 60 this year too - its really rewarding.

I get you with the guilt at throwing things away.  I'm a member of a local gifting website on FB where people offer up their unwanted items free for collection.  I've used it to pass a few things on successfully - you could try to see if you have a local one.  Unfortunately my last item posted - bag of nails opened but never used was wanted by no-one - we paid about £8 but they were the wrong ones.  It seems so wrong to send them to recycling.

There are some VHS tapes advertised on V1nted, might be worth a try as it costs nothing.  I sold a book on there this week that I'd had no luck with on flEabay, I find it a much better site for passing on small items.

Brambling

Thanks for the birthday good wishes I had some satisfaction in booking my next hygienist appointment this morning and saying no to the 8.30am I make 🙂

slinkly i rehomed my old video player a few months ago on the local free cycle page dome one was asking for one to watch old family videos and there is often people asking for them 

weenancyinAmerica

@SandyShores - are there any drama groups near you that could use the nails for making sets - or a drama class in one of the schools? We rehomed some with a group that repaired toys, but they were small nails. The larger ones can be used to build booths for school fairs as well. Good luck.

Moorviews

I’m a little ahead of some of you but still a child of the 60s. Happy Birthday to those of you celebrating the big 60th year recently🥳 I am calling myself retired now, having slipped into it from taking a break through the lockdowns. I decided not to return to work and DH had retired already. We seem to be managing alright so far but did have some capital to draw on. We are going through the process of working out the future finances with a financial advisor. Life has been somewhat topsy turvy for quite a few years, hence being rather late with getting properly organised for retirement although we have paid into pensions. We felt exhausted and rather beaten down. We spend less on food now and also fuel. There is time to make considered purchases and to use things up. We coordinate our errands to reduce the car journeys. Trips into the city are very rare, rather than being a daily commute. I actually spend less at the garden centre now because I do more propagation at home and raising from seed. We do prefer eating my homemade cakes and having a pot of tea or coffee in our own garden too. I am very thankful for being able to make the choice to retire a few years early and really don’t mind watching the pennies to enable that. 

C_J

I am following this thread with interest - I have decided to take early retirement from work (Mister CJ is back on chemo and the prognosis isn't terribly positive, so we want to spend time together while we can). I only have 13 working days left and I whilst initially apprehensive, I now cannot wait to retire.

My occupational pension is a good one, and I think I will manage okay on that for the eighteen months before my state pension kicks in. At least, that's what my endless spreadsheets tell me

I'm looking forward to picking up useful tips from all my fellow six-decaders (that's probably not even a phrase!) on this thread.