Enjoying Retirement

[Sheepshanks]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Jaguar steve said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

For two adults! Are you shopping in Wholefood Supermarket? I've still got my youngest son at home, and we spend £400 for 3 adults. But we could cut that back by half if we had to.

Our spend is usually around £300 a month for two and that includes several bottles of wine and beer.

We don't buy alcohol, which helps. But that's offset with occasional trips to Waitrose and M&S food hall. My wife is a demon with the coupons though, we usually get at least 10% off.

This always causes my wife to get angsy but she reckons food only for two of us, with a bit added on for the odd meal for grandchildren, is typically £125 wk. We don’t buy alcohol either.

I have to say I can’t recall seeing a supermarket debit on the statements that low for some years. And around once a month we go to Costco where a 150 quid disappears in the twinkling of an eye.

[mikeiow]

272BHP said:

There are things I couldn't do without though which is where my costs load up. Gym membership, Sky, BT Sports and other subscriptions, DAZN, Prime.

Also I would miss it if I didn't go see my beloved Tottenham a few times a season.

The more I think about it the more an expensive prospect retirement seems to be.

That is okay!
No point retiring and doing FEWER of the things you enjoy!

Just accept the need to work longer: none of this is a race, & this thread is just about "Enjoying Retirement" - when you do decide to jack things in, just be sure your "Number" is matched by your ability to fund it, one way or another.

[Another project car]

mikeiow said:

272BHP said:

There are things I couldn't do without though which is where my costs load up. Gym membership, Sky, BT Sports and other subscriptions, DAZN, Prime.

Also I would miss it if I didn't go see my beloved Tottenham a few times a season.

The more I think about it the more an expensive prospect retirement seems to be.

That is okay!
No point retiring and doing FEWER of the things you enjoy!

Just accept the need to work longer: none of this is a race, & this thread is just about "Enjoying Retirement" - when you do decide to jack things in, just be sure your "Number" is matched by your ability to fund it, one way or another.

100% I wouldn't want to retire with just enough to exist and not enjoy the rest of my life. That would be more miserable than going to work

[CAH706]

For 2 adults and one growing 13 year old

We spend around £100/ week on our main weekly shopping but there are also school lunches and ad hoc purchases. I’d guess around £150/week for food and household cleaning stuff with a small amount of alcohol

I cook all main meals from scratch and we use some branded and some unbranded stuff. Not sure we could do this much cheaper without compromising on things (which fortunately I don’t need to do ….yet)

Council tax is £200/month, Gas and Electricity £160 and water £60. Insurance is not much at £25

So I’d guess for this we are at close on £900/month

Additionally, we have Sky, Netflix etc etc plus 3 phone contracts and run 3 cars. This is where I could make savings if I needed to but to be honest I’d have carried on working if I had to trade back on things like this.

[Drumroll]

Another project car said:

100% I wouldn't want to retire with just enough to exist and not enjoy the rest of my life. That would be more miserable than going to work

But this what the thread, one person having enough to 'exist' is another person's living their dream money.

I suppose a lot of it must be down how much material stuff some people need to be happy.

[Jaguar steve]

Drumroll said:

But this what the thread, one person having enough to 'exist' is another person's living their dream money.

I suppose a lot of it must be down how much material stuff some people need to be happy.

It's not all about stuff though.

Anybody's standard of living depends not only on how much money they have but a lot depends on how anybody uses money too and in many cases you can substitute spending money by putting some effort in instead.

We have a cottage style garden rammed with plants and shrubs. If we'd bought the lot from a garden centre the bill would easily be north of five grand by now, but it's probably a single figure percentage of that because we've taken cuttings, harvested and sewn seeds, divided plants and swapped with friends and neighbours and rather than paying a gardener £15 or £20 an hour we've put the effort in ourselves.

Same with much else besides when you're retired - you don't always have to throw money at whatever you want, you can throw time at it instead

[OldSkoolRS]

I suppose it depends on whether you get pleasure from doing things like gardening or other jobs...I get a feeling of satisfaction if I pull something apart that doesn't work and fix it, or clean up something that's a bit scruffy and make it look nice again rather than just buying another one. It's like 'The repair shop' in our house at times and having the time starting next week, I'll no doubt be doing plenty of jobs along those lines.

We also tried cuttings from our old Lilac tree before we had it cut down (I built a garden studio where it stood for my wife), though I didn't manage to get any to take. I have managed to fill gaps in our front garden with self seeded Lavendar that I've potted on and the replanted once they were established. It wasn't that I couldn't afford to go and buy more fully grown plants, but it just gave me pleasure to do it.

[Phil.]

Retirement is bloody brilliant especially as the weather improves

This week I joined a new gym on Monday. Tuesday I did some paid online consultancy that I enjoy. Wednesday was the first visit to the gym with a PT to work out a program. Followed by a swim and sauna. Thursday was a trip to Shropshire to walk 10 miles up/down 2,000 ft (I’m training for the Yorkshire 3 peaks in June). Chose Thursday cos’ the weather was good. Friday, more paid consultancy. Today tidied the garden, a nice walk in the sunshine and a BBQ this evening. Tomorrow, haven’t decided yet. A few DIY jobs to do but not if the weather is nice again. Definitely won’t have the Sunday feeling tomorrow evening. Total cost of activities this week, a few quid for fuel and the gym (£50 per month which I can reduce if I go off peak which is the only time I will use it).

[radovich]

Same with much else besides when you're retired - you don't always have to throw money at whatever you want, you can throw time at it instead
[/quote]

^^This one and a few subsequent similar comments. There’s also the ‘work not ruining your Sunday’ aspect plus, as somebody raised ages ago, you don’t so much begrudge doing stuff at home when it’s not taking up some of your precious 48/36/24 hour weekend.

I need to get there..!

[98elise]

Phil. said:

Retirement is bloody brilliant especially as the weather improves

This week I joined a new gym on Monday. Tuesday I did some paid online consultancy that I enjoy. Wednesday was the first visit to the gym with a PT to work out a program. Followed by a swim and sauna. Thursday was a trip to Shropshire to walk 10 miles up/down 2,000 ft (I’m training for the Yorkshire 3 peaks in June). Chose Thursday cos’ the weather was good. Friday, more paid consultancy. Today tidied the garden, a nice walk in the sunshine and a BBQ this evening. Tomorrow, haven’t decided yet. A few DIY jobs to do but not if the weather is nice again. Definitely won’t have the Sunday feeling tomorrow evening. Total cost of activities this week, a few quid for fuel and the gym (£50 per month which I can reduce if I go off peak which is the only time I will use it).

The weather thing wasn't something I'd considered before retirement. When you're working (in an office) any sunny weekday is wasted. When you're retired you can make the most of it. I feel like I've had a full summer of sunny days already this year.

[Jaguar steve]

98elise said:

The weather thing wasn't something I'd considered before retirement. When you're working (in an office) any sunny weekday is wasted. When you're retired you can make the most of it. I feel like I've had a full summer of sunny days already this year.

Weather really is a consideration in the winter though.

Pretty much all my interests and pastimes involve outdoors in one way or another, which is fine most of the year and I fill my boots but when it's endlessly pissing down with rain and dark at four in the afternoon and I'm stuck indoors with nothing apart from Bargain Brits In The bloody Sun or endless Minder repeats on tv I do sometimes tend to wonder if I ought to get some agency or voluntary work to put some purpose into the day.

[Phil.]

Jaguar steve said:

Weather really is a consideration in the winter though.

Pretty much all my interests and pastimes involve outdoors in one way or another, which is fine most of the year and I fill my boots but when it's endlessly pissing down with rain and dark at four in the afternoon and I'm stuck indoors with nothing apart from Bargain Brits In The bloody Sun or endless Minder repeats on tv I do sometimes tend to wonder if I ought to get some agency or voluntary work to put some purpose into the day.

Agreed. I tend to organise my consultancy work for poor weather days. In winter I either head off for a few weeks somewhere sunny (we have a place in Spain) or focus on indoor hobbies/DIY. But the dark cold wet days can be a bit long sometimes.

[OldSkoolRS]

My plan regarding weather and my activities is to do the garden, car cleaning, etc jobs outside and go for walks, etc on the sunny, warmer days. If it rains then I'll be either in the garage working on my restoration project, or if I've had enough of that, then inside practicing for the band or maybe recording stuff that I didn't have the time to do before.

For now I've got plenty of smaller indoor projects that I've been putting off/never quite finished off, so they will keep me going for quite a while yet. It remains to be seen what happens if/when I get to the end of that list. Some of those projects relate to my home cinema/projector set up, so at least on the long dark nights I'll be able to make the most of that.

Sometimes there are bright sunny days in winter, so at least I'll be free to make the most of them at the drop of a hat, rather than seeing nice weather during the week, only to see it rain all weekend.

[Jaguar steve]

Phil. said:

Agreed. I tend to organise my consultancy work for poor weather days. In winter I either head off for a few weeks somewhere sunny (we have a place in Spain) or focus on indoor hobbies/DIY. But the dark cold wet days can be a bit long sometimes.

Pre Covid we'd have two or three weeks in the Canaries autumn and spring and that shortens the UK winter nicely.

Last summer and just as the world was edging back towards some sort of normal the MiL was diagnosed with a terminal illness and leaving her to go on holiday was not even up for consideration.

Been a long time now but we're back out there this autumn.

[sociopath]

Yesterday morning I went to a kit car meet up

Last night I played a gig in a pub.

This morning I fixed my MiLs sewing machine as I'm making a tonneau for my cobra - which so far has filled the last week (measure 14 times, cut once)

Next week will be more of the same, plus a little cycling if the weather turns out as promised.

Retirement is ace, and unlike my wife I don't feel the need to fill the days with part time work of various types - I don't need the money and I always hated work - she loves it though, as she's gone from being a research engineer at the Blue oval to a fitness instructor

[Phil.]

Jaguar steve said:

Pre Covid we'd have two or three weeks in the Canaries autumn and spring and that shortens the UK winter nicely.

Last summer and just as the world was edging back towards some sort of normal the MiL was diagnosed with a terminal illness and leaving her to go on holiday was not even up for consideration.

Been a long time now but we're back out there this autumn.

Similar here. Had to return early from Spain in March because my elderly mother went in to hospital with a serious condition. She’s still in hospital and recovered medically but her mobility has disappeared. We’re still working out next steps in terms of care etc. meaning a holiday is out of the question for the next couple of months. Hopefully we’ll be back to some sort of normality by the summer.

Hope you manage to find warmer weather this autumn/winter

[skeeterm5]

Now the weather is warming I find myself spending a lot of time outside.

For example today I;

- traced the water pipes from the spring on the hill to the lower field to sort out a small leak, it wasn’t causing me a problem but I hated to think of the wasted water

- decided to mow some paths through the rapidly growing fields

- took down a bit of metal which blocked the view if you sit in the yard area on a chair, it was just at eye height

- pulled some trees stumps out with the winch on my truck which was brilliant fun

Tomorrow might be more of the same or I might have a day off, will see how we feel in the morning.

Is it Monday tomorrow? I have no idea and that is just one of the best feelings ever.

[GT3Manthey]

skeeterm5 said:

Now

Is it Monday tomorrow? I have no idea and that is just one of the best feelings ever.

This is exactly what it’s about for me.

I will make a point of playing golf, if anything, on a Monday just to remind me just how awful it was getting on that train at the start of the week !

[monkfish1]

Jaguar steve said:

98elise said:

The weather thing wasn't something I'd considered before retirement. When you're working (in an office) any sunny weekday is wasted. When you're retired you can make the most of it. I feel like I've had a full summer of sunny days already this year.

Weather really is a consideration in the winter though.

Pretty much all my interests and pastimes involve outdoors in one way or another, which is fine most of the year and I fill my boots but when it's endlessly pissing down with rain and dark at four in the afternoon and I'm stuck indoors with nothing apart from Bargain Brits In The bloody Sun or endless Minder repeats on tv I do sometimes tend to wonder if I ought to get some agency or voluntary work to put some purpose into the day.

Do you not have any indoor type hobbies?

If i retired today, ive so much lined up both inside and outside, i doubt i would get through it all before my life ends. and i keep adding to it!

I dont watch TV. Soul destroying waste of time.

[GT3Manthey]

monkfish1 said:

Do you not have any indoor type hobbies?

If i retired today, ive so much lined up both inside and outside, i doubt i would get through it all before my life ends. and i keep adding to it!

I had wondered how I’d fill my time during the winter months but , maybe I’d buzz off to Spain for a month on a cheap trip , learn to cook, use the winter months for indoor decorating etc .
Maybe with a mate spend some time working on a car .

Think that’ll be enough to keep me ticking over