To ask for examples of living contently in retirement

[MrsEdithOrme]

On a modest income.

It could be you, your family or friends.

DH and I won't have gold plated pensions or huge pension pots so I'm looking for positive stories.

You’ve stolen my retirement plan! 😅

lol no it’s not amd when they stop supporting DC’s uni fees, they’ll be loaded! 😁

I feel retired now as I haven't worked for a year whilst waiting for surgery, will still have 10 years before state pension, and would love to retrain, but can't afford it. Quite content to have a job helping people, and want to volunteer for the Samaritans once my youngest starts university in 2 years. No savings, miniscule local government pension one day, but what I really long for is a tiny home! I don't think I have a chance of buying a house and I would love to relocate to be near the sea, but it feels like such a major decision! All I need is a view, solitude, books and a walkable village or town. I have always excelled at doing nothing-which for me, is daydreaming or just sitting under a tree with a mug of tea. I want and need to sleep and wake to fresh air and trees and wind, and to relish every day as a gift and an adventure.

I'm writing this while sitting in our campervan looking at the sea on a quiet campsite.

The van cost £16k of my retirement lump sum and although DH and I have a decent retirement income, we're at our happiest in the van, as counterintuitive as that might sound.

Being the boss of our own days is such a joy after many years in stressful occupations.

I'm not overly interested in fancy dining, beauty treatments and new clothes (Vinted and charity shops do me well enough, and I enjoy making some of my own clothes).

You need enough money to fulfil your needs and pay for hobbies but having more doesn't automatically spell happiness.

Try to work out what makes you happy and fulfilled and then see how that fits with your budget. That will be different for everyone.

I've really enjoyed this thread. Thanks @MrsEdithOrme MrsEdithOrme for starting it. I was inspired to start a thread about what single, retired women (or women who suspect that they'll be single in retirement) are doing to try to remain living healthy, independent lives for as long as possible. Would love it if some of you would come over there and contribute!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/retirement/5367073-are-you-a-retired-single-woman

It is a lovely thread @TeachMeSomething

I love Kaizen! It feels really satisfying. It doesn't have to be extreme or anything. Just things like looking at the ingredients on the packets in your fridge or cupboards and trying to find something 'cleaner' to replace them with. At the moment, I'm trying to replace all my chemical-laden shampoos and stuff with cleaner alternatives. I usually change one thing per shop if possible.

I like that idea - I want to eat less UPF.

This weekend I'm going to go through our bills and see where I can make savings. I'm quite excited about it 😂

Rainy days like this, I wonder how I'd cope in retirement. Today is fine being the grass is re-joicing. It's the endless grey days I worry about.

She says after moaning about the heatwave!

I just feel grateful that I don't have to go out on rainy days if I choose not to! 😀

Especially those days when it's so windy that you get that horizontal rain and you have no chance of keeping a brolly up!

Here's something that might cheer you up, @MrsEdithOrme. It's a waterhole in the Namib desert. It's a bit quiet at the moment because they were cleaning it earlier (so probably scared off a few of the more timid animals). I've seen warthogs, jackals, an ostrich, vultures, giraffes, zebras and all kinds of antelopes.

Not retired yet but both nearing 60. I work part-time and am planning to gradually reduce my hours down. We are lucky to be mortgage free and downsized to a flat. The remaining equity we used to buy a second, small flat which we rent out. This will be my pension as years of self employment left me with a very small pension pot.

I would very much recommend to anyone thinking of retiring, who owns property, to downsize. All our bills have reduced and we have a better lifestyle because of it.

We're very much looking forward to 'retiring' even though we both plan on doing some limited paid work until we're 70, mostly because we enjoy it. We live in a cheaper town, surrounded by beautiful countryside and coastline and we both love walking.

This is such a positive thread, thank you.

That’s exactly it - rainy days become days where you widen your interests. Do all those things that you’ve never had time for beforehand. Even if you don’t know what that might be, you’ll discover something.

My word that sounds blissful- to be left alone to be yourself.

Rainy days are a blessing to me. If it was always sunny I'd never do any housework or admin. It really helps to have wet weather hobbies as well as bad weather ones. It's also lovely to go out, buy some food and have a good cook up for the freezer, visit the library to stock up on books or go to see a matinee at the cinema.

I'm on long term sick leave, but about to have early retirement due to ill health. DH retired 4 years ago. I won't get my state pension for another 2 years so we are going to have to rely on my small NHS pension, DH's very modest pension and our savings. We are in a good position in that we have paid off our mortgage, we have kept our home in good condition and made some improvements, including solar panels, our car is less than 3 years old and we have no credit card or other debts.

We know we are going to have to budget carefully to get through the next couple of years and to ensure we can live on our pensions going forwards. We have never gone overboard with holidays, expensive clothes and beauty treatments, etc. and we have always kept to a comfortable but not extravagant budget for birthdays and Christmas. We live very comfortably but without a lot of extravagance or conspicuous expenditure. We have a cleaner for 2 hours fortnightly to do the things I find difficult to manage, and a gardener for the same. I think we will be able to cope.

I think the answer is to do as much as possible before retiring to ensure that big expenditure is less likely and to reduce costs going forward (we put in a downstairs shower room, replaced our double glazing and had solar panels fitted, plus when our white goods needed to be replaced we chose energy efficient items.)
Ensure you have no debts, or reduce them as much as possible.
Ensure you know how much you have to live on, set budgets and stick to them!
Everyone needs some fun occasionally - budget for that too.
Save anything you can spare - unexpected things happen and it is really good to know that if there is an emergency you can afford to cope with it.

Just updating re the waterhole because several people have liked the post.

Some days, there can be quite long periods of time with no activity. Other days, it's busy, busy, busy!

Yesterday was a quiet day but then two ostriches and 8 chicks came for a visit. Both parents sat and had a soak in the overflow while the chicks scurried around the edge but were a bit too scared to join mum and dad. (Or maybe they'd been warned to behave themselves.)

I'm currently eating my lunch and watching a herd of 8 gnus - the most I've seen is a single gnu in the past.

I open the tab on my laptop and leave it open with the sound on while I do something else. (I've been watching for a few months now so I can tell by the sound if something is happening - an unexpected snort or the sound of hooves on the concrete).

Bump

I would very much recommend to anyone thinking of retiring, who owns property, to downsize

Those of you who downsized to flats - do you have to pay high service charges.

God, it would be a wrench to leave our house.

Same here, I'll be taken out in a box if that works!

I live alone so my plan is to live downstairs (it's already future proofed for that), and have a live in companion/carer upstairs, since I can - with simple modifications make it a self contained unit.

But hey, the best laid plans of mice and men 😊

We've no intention of downsizing - or at least not for a while. We've got a home we love, where we want to be.

I absolutely do not want the fuss and hassle of trying to sell and buy somewhere else.

Great thread.. hatti65, we would get on great. I'd love a motorhome. We did the downsize bungalow as near to the sea as we could afford,10 minutes by car. With 200 foot of garden though because that is our thing..I worked till 65 nursing, tiny NHS pension and state,DH 7 years younger. Smaller pension. My tax free lump sum was spent on replacing 30 year old doors and windows, his on solar panels, future proofing. Part exchanged his little city car, for something practical for dogs, compost, plants, grandkids. One DD has moved a couple of miles away. I share childcare. I knit,sew, make jam, chutney, diy decorating.garden,read,we usually go out once a month for a meal, together, with friends every few weeks..I think having your health is the most important thing. We've got 4 greenhouses,25 orchids,that require spraying, feeding, watering fruit,veg, flowers,shrubs, trees, goldfish in a pond. Patios to weed and sweep.

Our service charges are £125 per month. We own the leasehold though and we have a limited company set up to manage it. Charges include insurance, cleaning of external areas, gardening, window cleaning, building repairs, etc. Garages can be rented and that money goes back into the 'pot'.

DH and I are retired and content. We go for a Weatherspoon's breakfast or a pub lunch about 3 times a week. Pensioners often get a discount on lunches. We go on day trips out and like visiting National Trust gardens, we take DC to play cricket and instead of dropping off and rushing off we take a nice picnic and watch him play. We go to swim, a spa day occasionally or a theatre trip. We go on cheaper holidays out of school holidays. We are free to catch a lady minute cruise deal which we do a couple of times a year. We do our own DIY and decorating. We have a comfortable lifestyle but we are not rich. We don't buy much new clothes because we already have lots. Last winter I counted I had 7 coats which I do wear all of them, but I realise it's ridiculous and I won't be buying anymore.

Caringcarer,that sounds fabulous.we went to a National trust house and garden a couple of weeks ago.was due to go to Bodium castle today, but it's over 30c in the SE I feel ill above 23c,so am struggling.

A friend of mine a couple of years younger, downsized from a 5bed 3 bathroom property big garden (her and one disabled son
Moved to a block of flats,they own the freehold between them. Her maintenance charges this year are over £8k, she has no outside space apart from a minute balcony, she wants to move.