It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!
Comments
-
Yes, by tomorrow we might be back to drinking rose on the terrace!0
-
I really must be going wrong somewhere. I'm really interested in how you manage to spend so little - is £895 your total monthly expenditure for everything for the two of you?So far this year, we've only spent ave. c. £895 per month
I'm also retired with no mortgage and our lowest monthly spend this year was £1,590. Biggest items were £468 for food and household items, and £471 for various Direct Debits. Add to that dog insurance, petrol, the odd meal out and general cash withdrawals and it easily mounts up. We hardly drink at all and don't smoke, and are by no means big spenders but our annual spend is usually over £30k.
Sea Shell, I'd be interested if you'd like to share a rough breakdown of your monthly spend, so I can see how you do it.0 -
I think it very much depends on where, and in what, you live. Our council tax is £264 pcm spread over 12 so we would never get down to those sort of numbers unless we moved.I’m a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Pensions, Annuities & Retirement Planning, Loans
& Credit Cards boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
I am also amazed at how SeaShell does it.I really must be going wrong somewhere. I'm really interested in how you manage to spend so little - is £895 your total monthly expenditure for everything for the two of you?
I'm also retired with no mortgage and our lowest monthly spend this year was £1,590. Biggest items were £468 for food and household items, and £471 for various Direct Debits. Add to that dog insurance, petrol, the odd meal out and general cash withdrawals and it easily mounts up. We hardly drink at all and don't smoke, and are by no means big spenders but our annual spend is usually over £30k.
Sea Shell, I'd be interested if you'd like to share a rough breakdown of your monthly spend, so I can see how you do it.
When I factor in a monthly allocation for: optician. dentist, hairdresser, make-up, clothes, subscriptions, entertainment, pets, car (very low running cost), Christmas, house maintenance, garden maintenance, replacement of household goods, blah-de-blah., I needed £18k p.a. to live comfortably when I was single. No debt, no mortgage.
Now, OH and I spend over £45kp.a. between us, but that supports a second modest home (running costs of around £8k p.a.), OH's car is costly and he has expensive taste in clothes, wine and food.0 -
I've just read through this thread and am impressed at how you have retired at such a young age Sea Shell. I'm about to leave my job at the end of the month under a mutual agreement to leave scheme, with 6 months pay and plan to use the money to take a mid-life gap year. I'm trying to think of it as a trial run for early retirement lol. It remains to be seen if I can enjoy the time off, or find myself looking for work after the first few weeks. Sadly I won't be in a position to take early retirement - my pension forecast if I take it now is under £4k and I still have 10 years left on my mortgage
0 -
Not much to report this week....much like the last 4!!! ha-ha!!! Watch out for that tumble-weed blowing past!
Looking forward to this bout of good weather that we're due over the next week or so, so I shall mainly be lounging in the garden with a book and a cold drink (possibly alcoholic!!)
Once the school holidays are over, then we'll be all systems go, booking holidays (UK) and going places. So far this year, we've only spent ave. c. £895 per month, so if we take our annual (finger in the air) budget of £15,000 and deduct our normal spends, that means we've got £4,260 to spend on FUN THINGS, for the rest of the year!!!!. Although somehow, I don't think we'll get through £1065 pm!!!
I think we must be going wrong somewhere as well as our spends are a lot higher than yours. Having more time now we don't work has meant DH spends more money on DIY and the constant new tools he seems to need for them. We have had a new kitchen and bathroom put in but still every month it seems to be around £200 spent on house maintenance minimum not including the big jobs we have had done. We have the gym membership with spa facilities which luckily we do use and have recently reduced our level to off peak to make it cheaper but still amounts to £65 a month. We go out more for meals so that mounts up and entertainment is higher than when we were working. Energy costs over the winter were also higher as we were home more.
You might find the holidays boosts the spending somewhat.
YouI’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
Well, here’re the numbers so far this year…and it’s pretty much £900pm…(I’d not added in this weeks Aldi shop!)
Bills 2367.8
Usually £335 pm, but CT gets 2 months holiday Feb, March. This is further broken down to…
CT - £181
Water - £29
Gas/Elec - £63
Sky TV & BB - £49.50
TV licence - £13
Holidays/Ente 820.67
This includes 1x4 night break and 1x2 night break (both UK), including meals out, plus Sky PAYG films and magazine sub.
Car Expenses 313.89
Doesn’t include insurance due Sept - £200
Groceries 1680.43
95% of this in Aldi, includes household and toiletries stuff
Household 595.1
Includes Insurance, and general DIY stuff (no major works or appliances)
Health/Beauty 628.63
Includes new running shoes, dental, gym (swimming), hairdressers etc.
Clothes/Shoes 79.65
Hardly any needed so far, and probably no more this year! If we do, it’ll be a couple of bits in Primark.
Fuel 301.46
My commute was already very short – now unless we’re away, we don’t go far, probably annual mileage of approx. 5000.
Gifts/Cards 56.16
No Big Birthdays this year, and obviously no Xmas yet (but prob only £200 to be spent there)
Bank/ISA Fees 200.86
Fidelity ISA Fees
Phones/Calls 152.88
Includes new phone for DH - £130
Total of £7197.53, divided by 8 = £899
So there you have it…and that’s without trying. Just our natural spends. Yes, the back end of the year is more weighted for spends one way or the other, but even so, we’re probably going to come in around £13,000-£13,500 for the year, even with 2 or 3 more trips included.
Any questions feel free to ask.How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.31% of current retirement "pot" (as at end March 2024)1 -
Well, here’re the numbers so far this year…and it’s pretty much £900pm…(I’d not added in this weeks Aldi shop!)
So there you have it…and that’s without trying. Just our natural spends. Yes, the back end of the year is more weighted for spends one way or the other, but even so, we’re probably going to come in around £13,000-£13,500 for the year, even with 2 or 3 more trips included.
Any questions feel free to ask.
I think that it does depend on your personal spending needs. When we have worked out our bill we are on a par with Sea Shell, weighted slightly different on the exact spends, dogs being our biggest expense.
We do live in a less expensive part of the country for costs, but annual mileage will drop for me - currently 30,000+ miles pa, but Mrs CRV may increase- currently her mileage is 1500 pa or less. In fact her car is coming up four years old with 6800 miles on it of which I have put 2800 on it in the last two months! So her mileage is probably less than a thousand a year!
We worked out 12k pa to run the house, feed ourselves and cover our car insurances. Then we allowed 6k pa for personal spending (to include petrol costs) so reaching our minimum number of 18k pa.
For Christmas we (or I) shop over the year, buying things as I see them usually at a reduced price (for spirits in Supermarkets) or in sales. Then add £100 each cash for my sons. It's the end August and apart from wrapping and writing the cards I've got Christmas sorted. At work we all donate £5 to a nominated charity rather than send cards to each other, we also do a £10 secret santa over buying gifts for one another.
We do spoil each other at Christmas, I save £50 pm to buy Mrs CRV present, last year it was 150 pm, as we approach retirement we're finding we have most things we want already.
My biggest personal spending is on tools ready to use in retirement, but I buy them as I need them now so they aren't sitting around in packaging.CRV1963- Light bulb moment Sept 15- Planning the great escape- aka retirement!0 -
I am aghast... in an impressed way. You spend less than £240 a month on groceries.Groceries 1680.43
95% of this in Aldi, includes household and toiletries stuff
We tend to shop at Aldi, I need to figure out how we can get anywhere near your spending... where does ours go!!!!Personal Responsibility - Sad but True
Sometimes.... I am like a dog with a bone0 -
I am aghast... in an impressed way. You spend less than £240 a month on groceries.
We tend to shop at Aldi, I need to figure out how we can get anywhere near your spending... where does ours go!!!!
We're about £35 per week per head at Asda but then we buy a few things in bulk online which possibly push us towards £40 per week per person overall. So a little more than you two at about £300-£320 pm for the pair of us and a dog.
That doesn't include for alcohol which we drink fairly infrequently. I think it helps hugely if you cook most of your meals from scratch and have a reasonable healthy diet. I'm certainly of the opinion that healthy foods are cheaper which goes against the usual way of thinking.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards