Can you live solely off state pension?

pseudodox

I have no private pension provision because I was in and out of low paid jobs, unemployed or in self-employment all my working life & never earned enough to pay into a scheme anyway.  I saw friends in high paid jobs who hated their lives but stuck it for the pension.  Some did not live long enough to collect it.

I bought my perfect brand new car 21 years ago and she runs like a dream.  Cheap motoring gets me from A to B & the guys at the service garage treat her with TLC.  My standard of living does not depend on gadgets and being able to shop at M&S.  We are all different thank goodness.

My monthly spend is arouind £700 as a single household.  Most costs would be the same if there were 2 of me, except C Tax and household/food.

In the last 12 months on top of the £10,000 SP I received the EBSS, WFA, C Tax rebate, so income was around £920 per calendar month

My expenditure average per month was
Council Tax                        130
gas/elec/water                   122
car exps inc petrol             110 (I have my free bus pass, plus paying £10 gives me free train/metro travel)
house ins                             13
food, household                165
phone/BB/mobile                49
TV  licence                          13
annual servicing (boiler etc)  17
subscriptions/donations       80 National Trust, Ancestry, e-card site 

TOTAL  £699

which left £220 for frivolities like garden, holiday, books, meals out/takeaways, small repairs/replacements around the house, some new walking boots & NHS dental costs.  I had a glorious week walking the Yorkshire coast for under £400 & some days out on cheap train tickets.  I don't drink, smoke or pay anyone to cut my hair & have no-one to buy pressies for.  I get free annual eye tests & prescriptions should I need anything.

My parents educated me to live within my means so apart from a mortgage I have never had any debt.  As a child I got the best shoes but hand me down clothes, so I can happily dress from charity shops and chain stores, or make my own clothes.

I dipped into savings last year for essentail private dental work (which put paid to some 2022 holiday plans) and this year need to have new glasses, but will have previous frames re-glazed, so that might be covered by the £220 monthly "surplus".  I also took a major decision to replace my 18 year old boiler with a more efficient model with a 12 year guarantee to mitigate against any more repairs/problems or a major breakdown.  A capital investment which I wil not recoup anytime soon in saved running costs but which gives me peace of mind.

I know this all sounds like some people's idea of hell.  But I would be thoroughly miserable on a luxury cruise, in a posh hotel, wearing smart clothes, driving a prestige car, eating at a restaurant where the meal was a design on a plate not real food, or waving around the latest "look what I got" gadget.  I have slept in airports on my travels, walked on the Great Wall of China, cruised the Yangtse River, flown over Sydney Harbour in a seaplane, back-packed the east coast of Australia, climbed the lower reaches of Mt Olympos in Greece.  I have my photographs & my travel journals to read and re-live my journeys and have been almost everywhere on my bucket list.  I spent my life making memories whilst I was young and fit in case I was unable to do such stuff when I retired.  Maybe that is why I am now old and fit!  Like someone above said - my ambition was to stop work.  Make a life, not a living.

eskbanker

SVaz said:

How can someone’s total monthly spend be only £600?
Even with only £70 a week for food and petrol, add in utilities and insurance, running a car etc. 
would be a minimum of £700 a month and I live in a house with cheap Council tax.

But you've failed to recognise the fundamental issue colouring threads like this, i.e. that everyone is different!  You present car ownership as if it's some sort of basic human need, but many will disagree and live happily without one....

pseudodox

eskbanker said:

But you've failed to recognise the fundamental issue colouring threads like this, i.e. that everyone is different!  You present car ownership as if it's some sort of basic human need, but many will disagree and live happily without one....

And who would have it any other way?  I am not sure I could live happily easily without a car as I live off bus routes.  But I only need something with a wheel at each corner and the means to steer it so when my pride and joy turns up her tyres any old serviceable banger will do me.  Including initial purchase 21 years of virtually trouble free motoring have cost me £36k (tax, insurance, repairs, petrol).  Wonder how much my buying a new car every 5 years would have run out at?  Each to his own.  I don't need status symbols & don't mind if that is what floats other people's boat.  We ARE all different, except some people really don't want to be and think they have to make an impression or conform to what others regard as a norm.  I rejoice in being unique!

Pollycat

We've worked hard all our lives and we want to enjoy our retirement.
We want holidays, a good social life and good food - either cooked at home or eaten out.
I wouldn't want to live on that per week. Even if it's possible.
Luckily, we both have decent private pensions.

It really depends on what you want out of life so it's very much a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

eastcorkram

Pollycat said:

We've worked hard all our lives and we want to enjoy our retirement.
We want holidays, a good social life and good food - either cooked at home or eaten out.
I wouldn't want to live on that per week. Even if it's possible.
Luckily, we both have decent private pensions.

It really depends on what you want out of life so it's very much a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

I am not sure anyone would want to live on the SP alone. I know I certainly wouldn't. I know I probably could if needed, but wouldn't want to. 

We have also worked hard for 40 odd years, and still both do, but we don't want holidays, and don't want a social life either. Unless going out as a couple , or individually, to stuff like gigs, theatre, cinema etc, counts as a social life, then we have zero social life either as individuals or as a couple. 

That's just the way we are. I can't imagine that changing once we stop work. 

I'm much happier though , knowing that if something breaks, we can just replace it. So although I'm sure I'd survive on just SP, I think I'd find it stressful.  

SVaz

Unless you live in a city with the resulting good transport links, you need a car.
I’d have to take 3 buses (or a £15 taxi ) to get to my nearest railway station at Stoke, which is only a couple of miles away but would take over an hour.  No direct bus to either our GP surgery or our Dentist,  which have moved out of our village after being swallowed up by a chain,  we’d have to walk a mile into town for a bus or get 2 buses. 

dealyboy

@pseudodox said:

eskbanker said:

But you've failed to recognise the fundamental issue colouring threads like this, i.e. that everyone is different!  You present car ownership as if it's some sort of basic human need, but many will disagree and live happily without one....

And who would have it any other way?  I am not sure I could live happily easily without a car as I live off bus routes.  But I only need something with a wheel at each corner and the means to steer it so when my pride and joy turns up her tyres any old serviceable banger will do me.  Including initial purchase 21 years of virtually trouble free motoring have cost me £36k (tax, insurance, repairs, petrol).  Wonder how much my buying a new car every 5 years would have run out at?  Each to his own.  I don't need status symbols & don't mind if that is what floats other people's boat.  We ARE all different, except some people really don't want to be and think they have to make an impression or conform to what others regard as a norm.  I rejoice in being unique!

Of course you are unique, but I have been lucky enough to meet people like you at various stages of my life.   

zagfles

SVaz said:

Unless you live in a city with the resulting good transport links, you need a car.
I’d have to take 3 buses (or a £15 taxi ) to get to my nearest railway station at Stoke, which is only a couple of miles away but would take over an hour.  No direct bus to either our GP surgery or our Dentist,  which have moved out of our village after being swallowed up by a chain,  we’d have to walk a mile into town for a bus or get 2 buses. 

Unless you're disabled walking 2 miles should take about 30 mins or not much more. Then there's cycling. I know people in their late 80s who can outpace me on a 10 mile hike, they can easily walk a couple of miles in 30 mins. If disabled then should get extra through benefits like attendance allowance.

Plus obviously if you don't have a car you'd normally choose to live somewhere with good public transport.

zagfles

pseudodox said:

I know this all sounds like some people's idea of hell.  But I would be thoroughly miserable on a luxury cruise, in a posh hotel, wearing smart clothes, driving a prestige car, eating at a restaurant where the meal was a design on a plate not real food, or waving around the latest "look what I got" gadget.  I have slept in airports on my travels, walked on the Great Wall of China, cruised the Yangtse River, flown over Sydney Harbour in a seaplane, back-packed the east coast of Australia, climbed the lower reaches of Mt Olympos in Greece.  I have my photographs & my travel journals to read and re-live my journeys and have been almost everywhere on my bucket list.  I spent my life making memories whilst I was young and fit in case I was unable to do such stuff when I retired.  Maybe that is why I am now old and fit!  Like someone above said - my ambition was to stop work.  Make a life, not a living.

Absolutely. My friend's Dad is now filthy rich but when he was a poor penniless youth he backpacked all over the world sleeping in hostels, dives, even rough sometimes, and those are the stories he loves to tell, that's when he really enjoyed himself. He's been on expensive holidays/cruises but really finds them meh, I think he'd like the challenge of backpacking round SE Asia on £20 a day but it's not really the same when money is no object

zagfles

RG2015 said:

scoobydoo8 said:

As per title, do you think you would be able to live just off a full state pension, currently £203pw /£10,6k per year, reasonably comfortably if you already owe your own home?

I think I could but then again I don't really do a lot! 

This thread has taken a fascinating turn. From being reasonably comfortable to being miserable if you cannot afford international travel and dining at fine restaurants. One focus is purely monetary and the other is verging on the meaning of life.

Then there is the wonderful post from @pseudodox , ending with such a heart warming sentiment.

“Just grateful to be happy, fit & healthy - all that money cannot buy!”

You certainly don't need a lot of money for international travel, I travelled internationally loads when I was a student on less (real terms) income than the state pension. These days you can get flights to places which are far cheaper than the UK for around £10-20 (eg eastern Europe), or go on longer haul longer term holidays and spend less than you would have living at home. I know someone who goes off on 6 month holidays to places like SE Asia, south America and rents her house out while away, the rental income pays almost the whole cost of her holiday! Someone else I know goes to the Canaries for 3 months every winter with a friend of his, they rent an apartment for £4k inc all bills (so £2k each) and spend less than they would have here particularly avoiding winter fuel bills.