Frugal in retirement

comeandgo · 4 January 2019 at 3:27PM

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I relate to what you are saying, Plumduff, as we are also using savings for holidays.

It's a very personal thing, to get the balance right between savings and spending.

Like you, I don't regret any of the holidays that I've been on, and that persuades me that, for us at least, we are doing the right thing by having the holidays now. Life can change quickly, and I don't want to get to a point where I regret not doing things while I had the chance.

We got a new car nearly 4 years ago, shortly after we retired, and so far we've done about 4800 miles in it. I have toyed with the idea of getting rid of it, and working out how much taxis would cost for the places we need to get too. However, so far, the convenience of having the car outweighs any possible savings we might make by getting rid of it. In the last couple of weeks, my husband had some problems with his eye, and needed two appointments at Maidstone Eye Hospital. It was so easy just to go by car, rather than think about taxis or working out how to get there by train and bus. At present the car is staying.

Wow, that is one very expensive car. The depreciation would be about £4 thousand on its own.
Put a local taxi number on your phone if you find it troublesome to find a taxi and get to be a regular with them.
I am planning on giving up my car. We still have a 4 by 4 which is needed here due to weather but for long distances plan on hiring a car.

Goldiegirl · 4 January 2019 at 5:07PM

comeandgo wrote: »

Wow, that is one very expensive car. The depreciation would be about £4 thousand on its own.
Put a local taxi number on your phone if you find it troublesome to find a taxi and get to be a regular with them.
I am planning on giving up my car. We still have a 4 by 4 which is needed here due to weather but for long distances plan on hiring a car.

Depreciation isn't an issue that concerns me. I had my last car for thirteen years and we intend keeping this one for even longer. We bought it to do a job for us, and aren't planning to trade in for a new one every couple of years. If it's worth anything when we've finished with it, then that'll be a bonus.

It's a small car, so the running costs are low - for example the Tax is only £30 per year.

Once we're done with this car, I doubt if we would get another one, and would revert to relying on buses and taxis. at that time I'd be in my mid 70's and my husband would be in his mid 80's. I'm currently still in my 50's, that's way to early to give up the independence of a car when I don't have to.

buildersdaughter · 4 January 2019 at 6:42PM

A lot of my friends have 'bucket lists' of travel and a lot of them like to spend on travelling - some can afford it easily, for others it is a careful decision against other expenditure. I personally don't really like travelling a great deal - we do have 'holidays'( usually camping) once a year, and we do travel to see family and friends around the UK, and once every few years, France.

I think it's always a good idea to take a step back and say 'what do I want from this trip - why do I want to go to this place?

I say this because we have always holidayed 'off the beaten track' and found some lovely places, much cheaper than the 'big names'. When we think about going somewhere, we get Rough Guides / Lonely Planet guides from the library - they are a little out of date, but you can still get a good idea of the areas and places. Then we buy a current guide before making firm decisions.

plumduff55 · 4 January 2019 at 9:37PM

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my post. This has given me lots to think about and here's my thoughts at the moment.

Goldiegirl I too would really regret it if I didn't travel now and then was unable to travel as I get older. Before I was married I spent every penny I earned travelling the world. Got married, had kids then divorced. Brought 3 children up on my own and there was no money for travelling far afield. We did have some great caravan holidays in Nairn. It's only in the past 10 years that I've started travelling again and I've found the ME of 40 odd years ago so I shall keep travelling and give myself an annual allowance from my savings.

Buildersdaughter Given that I don't like driving and grudge spending the money on the upkeep of the car the sensible thing would be to get rid of it. My main reason for keeping it is my fear regarding my mobility in the future. Is it feasible to keep a car simply because of a future fear that may not happen? This is a hard one so I'm going to give myself a month to think about it. During that time I will not use the car at all and see how I feel then.

Lesson learned While I was paying off the mortgage I stopped buying clothes for a year - not even a pair of tights. I managed it fine and then went daft in the January buying clothes. So a bit of a fail

I'll happily try this again as I have plenty clothes and the money saved could be spending money for Poland. Re decorating - I think I could do some if I took it slowly. I could even do it to coincide with eldest sons visit and he could give me a hand. Youngest sons always too busy but that's another story.

Cuddlymarm I've never had a bucket list before but my friend gave me a "Bucket List 2019" book and it's maybe giving me too many ideas - certainly won't get through them all this year. I have always lived on a very limited budget so being frugal has just become a way of life.

dreaming My two small pensions aren't enough to live on even with my frugal budget so I withdraw £128 each month from my savings. I have always been a saver and find it very difficult always dipping into savings. I thought I would get used to it but I have not. I have spent £19,500 from savings since retiring in October 2015. This covered all holidays, home repairs/maintenance and the new to me car. Every penny is accounted for. Over the six year period till I get my state pension another £10,000 will be used.

I'm so glad I posted my dilemma here - I have a plan and lots to think about. I will let you know how I get on being car less for a month. Thanks everyone xx

buildersdaughter · 5 January 2019 at 9:11AM

Thank you for letting us know. I was actually talking to my son about keeping a car on the road, as I saw him just after posting. He and his wife have a 'second' car - a Toyota Yaris, bought new for his first job 15 years ago. They don't really 'need' it but are reluctant to get rid of it as it is occasionally useful (and indeed gets loaned to other family members).
Thy reckon on spending about £1k a year, on average to keep it road worthy and legal. Depreciation is not issue for them.
I do think your idea of not using the car for a month a good one. My son also reminded me that when we retired, we loaned my small work car to a young relative who needed one for her first job. The idea was that if we needed it, we could ask for it back - we didn't so 'sold' it to her after 6 months.

An issue for me, would be the cuts in bus service. When we first retired, our car was mainly used for long journeys. Now, I use it a couple of times a week for local shopping as our bus service has been badly cut and has become unreliable. Depending on where you live, that may or may not be a consideration.

dreaming · 5 January 2019 at 12:18PM

plumduff55 wrote: »

dreaming My two small pensions aren't enough to live on even with my frugal budget so I withdraw £128 each month from my savings. I have always been a saver and find it very difficult always dipping into savings. I thought I would get used to it but I have not. I have spent £19,500 from savings since retiring in October 2015. This covered all holidays, home repairs/maintenance and the new to me car. Every penny is accounted for. Over the six year period till I get my state pension another £10,000 will be used.

I'm so glad I posted my dilemma here - I have a plan and lots to think about. I will let you know how I get on being car less for a month. Thanks everyone xx

Re pensions - what has annoyed me (about myself) is that my works pensions are actually quite good. Although just below the tax threshold, with no mortgage to pay it should be plenty for me to live on. I think I just got a bit too "relaxed" last year after the family turmoils of the previous 3 years and got too used to "treating myself". It's fine though - I realise I am in a better position than many, and I can reign my spending back now I can see what I've done.

Re car ownership. I could manage without mine, and in fact don't do a huge mileage per annum, but like others have said, our bus service is being reduced all the time and is quite expensive (sadly, no free bus pass until SP age, if the scheme is still going then). Some activities would necessitate 2 buses each way which would probably mean I would have to give up 2 evening activities I enjoy. Taxis could be used but the evenings don't finish at set times so makes booking taxis a bit more difficult. Also youngest lives a little way away, and although on a bus route it takes a good 2 hours to get there as the bus goes round all the villages on the way. I do like the freedom having a car gives. Just being able to decide on the spur of the moment to go out for the day is lovely, and for me freedom is what retirement is all about.

lessonlearned · 5 January 2019 at 1:43PM

My car is due it's MOT this month. It's a few years old but has done a very low mileage so although it's resale value is low it would be hard to replace it with something as good without having to chip in several thousands. I estimate it costs around £1k to run.

I tend to use if for just local driving, for long journeys I usually go by train. I do have a free bus pass which I use. I could do without my car. but I too like the freedom and independence it offers.

At some point I will probably move into an apartment in the city centre when I would be more inclined to go car free but for now I would like to keep my wheels.

buildersdaughter · 7 January 2019 at 10:33AM

I wanted to keep this thread active, so thought I would post about something I save a lot of money on now - clothes! My days are spent mostly in slightly run-down clothes - I'm not ashamed to open the door in them, but I wouldn't plan to wear them in company!
I have made my own clothes for much of my life (first full outfit I made, age age 11) but when I was at work, saved my precious time for 'specials' and actually had a period of time when I couldn't make much at all. Now it is my main hobby. I seek out remnants and also 're-purpose' clothes as well as being quite happy to wear mended clothes on an everyday basis.

cuddlymarm · 7 January 2019 at 10:50AM

Hi buildersdaughter
We wear the life out of our clothes before they are consigned to the cleaning cloth pile. The only ones that make it to the charity shop are the decent ones we’ve dieted out of, I am determined we aren’t going back into them so they go straight away.
Not much to report here at the moment. I’m working some overtime this week to cover hols which I’m happy about because the shop normally goes down to base hours until Easter.
I hope everyone is keeping well and warm, it’s a bit chilly here today.
Anyway breakfast time so I’d better go
TTFN
Cuddles

System · 7 January 2019 at 11:32AM

Although I do agree about wearing your "not so nice" clothes around the house (I am currently sat here in a pair of old leggings and a very well washed and loosing its pile, fleece :eek:), I did once read somewhere a little quote that got me thinking......"Don't save things for a special day, every day is special!"
I do try and dress a bit better on a weekend when OH is home though, even after nearly 22 years married I like to make an effort for him.

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Frugal in retirement

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