Spending no more than £12,000 on everyday living in 2018

[BixieThoms]

Me and DP are starting to turn our attentions very seriously to early retirement. We're some years off yet but we're working towards it and thinking about what life will be like when we get there.

In 2018, we've decided to have a practice run on the money front and see if we can bring in our yearly everyday living expenses at less than £12,000 for the year.

We're not including our mortgage payments or what we pay on commuting in this because those costs won't exist when we're retired.

We've worked out that all of our "necessary" bills (not including food shopping) come in at about £400 per month:

Gas/electricity: £60
Council Tax: £95
Water: £23
Phone/Internet: £55
Gym: £40
Dog grooming: £30
Beauty Stuff: £30
Birthdays/Xmases averaged out per month (other people's presents, not me and DP buying for each other): £40
Home Insurance: £10

Monthly total: £383

I say "necessary" as some could be cut but this is how it stands at the minute. That leaves us about £600 per month for food shopping and treats. So, about £150 per week

To try and achieve this, we've got three aims:

• Try and bring in a weekly shop for as close to £40 as possible

In the past, we've had online shopping delivered twice per week (with a minimum £40 spend each time) and have spent an average of about £90 per week on shopping. This year we're going to have cheaper meals whenever we can and try to concoct meals from bits and pieces we've got left over from previous weeks. We're also going to cut down on buying sparkling water (currently costing us about £80 per year and generating lots of plastic waste).

• Shop around for best prices on bills In the past we've been lazy and auto-renewed for basically everything. This year, we've already saved £250 on our home insurance by swapping provider We're looking at energy providers over the weekend and will call our internet provider when our contract is up to see what they can do for us.

• Start accounting for every penny At the end of each month, we're going to download our statement and see exactly where our money's been spent so we can map where it's all going and if there are any ways we can trim this back. Where we get cash out, we're going to account for where this went too. For me, this means avoiding "popping" into the £1 shop where I can very easily spend £10 on basically nothing.

In November, we should have a pretty good idea of how well we've done and we'll use this to set a Christmas budget. We've never had a budget at Christmas before and normally spend £200-£500 on each other. However, we can still have an amazing Christmas on £50 or £100 each so we'll see how much we get

Erm, that’s quite a lot of money to spend on essentials. More than a lot of people have at the best of times.

Sounds good! I'd like to know how you get on if you update through the year. I do something similar but having massive childcare costs is a killer!

I'll be sure to update throughout the year

Interesting thread

So far this month, we've done two online shops.

The first covered 1st-5th January and came in at about £46. It was expensive because we had to stock up on a lot of essentials.

The second covers 6th-12th January and came in at £45.

What about vet bills, how is your home and contents only £10 per month?, what about tv license?, car? Don't have my list of dd atm but you seem to have very few necessary monthly outgoings, are you sure you have thought of everything or have you forgotten annual expenses?

Roystonv
Vets: Sorry I should've been clear about vets bills. For the last two years our dog only cost us £65 (per year) for her vaccinations and this in included in the "grooming" costs as she gets them done during one of her grooms. I know emergencies can crop up but I'm talking about regular, everyday costs.

Home Insurance: We recently switched our home insurance from John Lewis £320 per year) to Halifax (£145 per year).
Since we bank with Halifax, we got 10% discount and £50 cashback. We didn't opt for the "extras" on the home insurance (e.g. taking things out of the home, accidental buildings insurance, we don't have any high value items etc.) so it's quite low.

TV License: We don't watch TV so don't need a license

Car: We don't have a car

Very interesting, I will keep reading this and will return with my annual figure when I've used a calculator to work it out🤔

It was four years ago it will have changed obviously, but for myself and DH not inc any housing costs as mortgage free this was the figure we came to for living expenses. This also included a 12 year old.

What beauty stuff costs 30 a month? I buy a bit of Clinique but only need couple bits a year.

Peanutbutter I get my hair cut/coloured every eight weeks and it costs me £60 per time

When you retire, could you quit the gym & go for a lot of walks instead? (Just a thought?)
You will have more time to cook & to get the best deals at the supermarket, so could better value out of cheaper food. If you have a garden you could grow a few bits too - herbs, salad leaves etc are not too hard. Anything that is relatively low maintenance, costly to buy but cheap to grow is good.

But I get a free hair cut every 4 times and a free colour every 10 times so it works out cheaper than this. So, I include make-up in "beauty stuff" as well, which I don't spend much money on at all.

Joz I use the gym for swimming and classes, not the actual gym. Otherwise I would quit now.
We already cook from scratch nearly every night but, you're absolutely right we'd have much more time to shop for offers and be more inventive.
We have a little back yard (Victorian house) so no room for vegetables but we do grow some herbs. It really does reduce the cost of herbs quite considerably.

I also need to think about retirement, so interested in how you get on. I have quite expensive gym membership, and I've been wondering whether to give it up but decided it was a false economy, as it does actually make me go as it's a pleasure to be there, and being able to do proper cardio (I can no longer run due to injury), a wide range of weights, swimming and sauna are all things that will help me to live more healthily for longer. I think there's also a similar balance around spending money on cultural events / socialising so I'm not bored and lonely! I do need to cut money on buying random stuff at the shops though.

WeAreGerbil That was exactly my thinking about the gym
My gym costs £40 per month and I go twice a week on average though some months I don't go at all. It means each swim is very expensive but I love it and it makes me feel great so I'll keep at it.

Similarly with my hair, I know it's ridiculously expensive. I don't have to colour it, I don't have go get it done so regularly but I enjoy it and you have to strike a healthy balance between enjoying life and keeping an eye on money.

Just to check on TV licence - you watch nothing live on any device and you don't use I player.

Dentist? Specs or contact lenses? Travel? Car expenses?

Do shop around for utilities but compare actual unit prices, the official model is a lie.

So what are you planning on doing when you retire? Nothing that costs money? I wouldn’t be counting on free bus travel still available in 20 or 30 years.

I'd be loath to retire early with a financial model that requires a lot of complicated comparison shopping and Home growing- remembering that the whole reason for retirement existing is that you (we all!) are likely to be much less mobile etc as the years go by...

Not saying you are, especially- our essentials come in at about 17k for a family of four including housing costs, so you should be comfy!
Have you remembered to allow something for Home maintenance, since you own?

i pay £35 for fibre optic broadband and mobile phone ( 4mgb 1200 minutes & unlimited text)with virgin

Have you factored in inflation

Placemarking cos I am such on an economy drive!

You can cancel the gym membership and use the local council pool.

My gym membership is £29 a month . Council pool is £3.75 a session so I only need to go twice to break even and classes are included. The gym is a much nicer pool too.

And there it is! . Fucksake, with the competitive poverty.

Just to check on TV licence - you watch nothing live on any device and you don't use I player
Nope, over the last six months we only watched the BBC a couple of times so we decided to give up the license.

Dentist? Specs or contact lenses? Travel? Car expenses?
No glasses here. We get free dental care through work though we'll need to factor this into retirement of course. I said in the OP, we're not factoring in commuting as this won't exist when we retire. We don't have a car.

Do shop around for utilities but compare actual unit prices, the official model is a lie
I used to work for a utility company, I know all about unit prices

I'd be loath to retire early with a financial model that requires a lot of complicated comparison shopping and Home growing- remembering that the whole reason for retirement existing is that you (we all!) are likely to be much less mobile etc as the years go by...

We're planning to retire at 45 so hopefully a good number of years in very good health/mobility. Plus, there's noting more valuable to me that freedom of time. I'd rather have complicated comparison/shopping than be working for longer. Plus, it's not that complicated!

Have you remembered to allow something for Home maintenance, since you own?
Yes and no. I haven't included the costs of our house renovations because we see them as an investment (i.e. increasing the value of our house) and I'm only looking at everyday costs. But, when we retire we'll likely downsize so that will free up capital which will cover the maintenance.