As a retired person could you live on £10,000 a year.?

[allamberedover]

To cover bills but not housing costs.

current bills 2 bed flat single person discount as DD is a student
council tax £123 in Scotland so this includes water
electricity £135 ( no gas and night storage heaters) never cold
broadband £32
my phone SIm only £8
house insurance £35
car insurance £40
fuel £80 ( often less)
food including cleaning and toiletries £200
car MOT service £50 ( car is £0 road tax)
Christmas and birthdays £50
netflix £6
BBC licence £15
dental and glasses £15
clothes skincare etc £50
eating out mainly cofee or lunch £50
charity £40 my choice
total £929 not £877 but not far off

I could shave a bit off, and to be honest as my income is greater I do spend more on some other things like holidays and set aside to add to savings ( I'm not disclosing this)and I do have my NHS lump sum earning interest so there are savings for replacement appliances, major emergencies as well as holidays, eventually a new to me car , replacement hearing aids and once DD is no longer a student there will be more too, but I do think you can live on roughly 10-12K as a single person in a reasonably well insulated 2 bed flat without being cold or living on baked beans. if you have absolutely zero savings it would be much much harder, but I would then be trying to save £100 a month to build up an emergency fund by cutting the clothes/ charity / fuel / eating out budget by at least 50% for 10 months of the year excluding December and July when I do holidays, I would probably also try and do surveys and other things to earn a few extra pounds for treats too.

Someone on a low income in retirement (or pre retirement) can get free or reduced vet treatment from the pdsa. So wouldn’t actually need insurance or have to worry about any big bills.

Only if they live in the catchment area. Sadly, I don't.

Nail on the head. The pension firm guides are all grossly over stated so that people will invest more in pensions! When you main costs, such as mortgage, child care etc are over, you don't need anywhere near as much money. When you retire, your costs also fall drastically, no need for life insurance or income protection insurance, no commuting costs, no expensive coffees or lunches every day, no work clothes, etc. no longer need to pay into your pension scheme, etc.

Cars, mobile phones, utilities, etc can usually all be cut back drastically with shopping around, keeping things for longer etc. You don't "need" a new lease car every 3 years, you don't "need" a brand new iphone every 2 years, etc.

Most people just cut their cloth. Lots of retired people are still actually saving some of their pension income because they have too much income far beyond what they need to live on.

@Blondeshavemorefun By 90 he may be infirm and have his licence taken away.

My DF was driving at 89 but not at 90- ill health by then and not safe.

You couldn’t afford pets . I paid out 10k last year in vets bills alone . That wipes out your whole annual income @ 10k.

No, I’d be utterly miserable. I want to travel, eat out, do hobbies etc. not just exist at home counting pennies.

Not everyone wants pets, though.

I personally can’t imagine anything worse than living with an animal, so why would I budget for one? I can’t be alone in thinking that.

Hear hear. Ok we won’t have a mortgage any more but council tax, utilities, phone, internet, food …. And being at home more means greater costs on heating. Plus I want to travel, sign up for daytime classes to pursue hobbies, go to museums and exhibitions etc This is why I’ve always paid several hundred ££ per month into my occupational pension- because I absolutely do not want to exist on the paltry state pension.