20 Years Of Tracked Spending And How It Helps Me Plan For The Future

[Cervelo]

Okay guys as mentioned in another thread below is a spreadsheet of 20 years of tracked spending

I’m opening this up to you because over the years there’s been many a thread here about retirement with the usual array of questions like how much I need to save, what size fund will provide a comfortable lifestyle, can I retire early and recently we had one about the pension councils figure as to what’s needed for a “comfortable” retirement €43200

My usual first response to this is “well how much it does it cost you to live now”

Quickly followed by “and how much have you got to play with”

Most of you know by now that I’ve been tracking my spending for years and how I feel it has helped me along my journey of early retirement, like making the decision to retire, what type of lifestyle I can maintain and enjoy but ultimately has put my mind at total ease with the whole decision process of what I can or can’t afford while I’m on this journey

I’m hoping by doing this I’m showing that life can be expensive at times depending on what you get up to but also how you can pair back some of the expenses should the finances require you to

I’m doing this with two posts, the first will deal with my spending for the last 20 years and the second will deal with the pension fund that I feel is sufficient to give us not just a good retirement but a very comfortable one and how much that actually cost me

I’m open to all questions should you feel the need to ask but if you’re going to critique my spending or come on this thread and tell us that you need X amount be it a low or high figure, that you put some figures behind that number like what I’ve posted otherwise it’s pointless

YEAR

FOOD

GAS

ESB

BB

WASTE

MOBILE

TV

CAR

FUEL

HOUSE

SOCIAL

TAKEOUT

MEDICAL

SPORT

GAMES

CD/DVD

GIFTS

CLOTHES

LOTTO

HOLIDAY

SPAIN

MISC

TOTALS

2005

3136.33​

809.29​

711.94​

1178.32​

300​

1440​

1152​

67133.25​

1306.97​

7443.89​

7350.26​

695.57​

3364.78​

10893.01​

501.7​

465.67​

1431.3​

104​

1016​

8499.19​

1371​

120304.5​

2006

3442.08​

1486.66​

876.43​

1115.15​

300​

1440​

1236​

38668.77​

1158.08​

4727.34​

6738.38​

524.59​

1593.61​

10345.08​

270.92​

695.49​

1758.37​

334.15​

1448​

7932.5​

2636.17​

88727.77​

2007

3242.31​

1439.51​

918.89​

790.75​

240​

1440​

1229.88​

23592.23​

1566.3​

2186.88​

5643.81​

727.34​

1718.34​

1881.2​

117.46​

381.91​

1403.51​

470.19​

1445​

4506.24​

4655.77​

59597.52​

2008

3189.85​

2364.23​

748.05​

801.44​

180​

1440​

1253.88​

601.1​

1196.55​

2884.49​

5436.64​

815.02​

3031.37​

6856.99​

168.16​

222.65​

800.23​

136.79​

2188​

7966.4​

3570.93​

45852.77​

2009

3143.76​

1737.33​

602.99​

819.01​

124.2​

1440​

730​

1812.56​

950.92​

7422.32​

4430.75​

757.41​

2195.95​

8511.21​

85​

137.98​

713.95​

165.86​

602​

5869.8​

724.06​

42977.06​

2010

2924.32​

1116.59​

1061.76​

722.41​

59.4​

1440​

744​

2970.67​

1232.7​

4701.6​

4730.69​

1055.7​

1822.32​

1572.07​

251.92​

336.9​

705.56​

23.96​

1260​

9628.31​

2326.07​

40686.95​

2011

3027.82​

860.59​

784.66​

566.02​

80.88​

1440​

840​

4728.94​

927.99​

2307.94​

3419.52​

816.93​

3619.78​

558.44​

199.91​

231.84​

466.84​

893.72​

1401​

7705.4​

876.01​

35754.23​

2012

4076.5​

1234.1​

980.47​

616.07​

22.16​

600​

610.22​

735​

691.01​

1286.05​

331.64​

137.15​

1270.22​

1751.7​

303.83​

74.96​

133.37​

28​

768​

0​

0​

15650.45​

2013

3365.07​

1441.12​

834.92​

502.35​

57.25​

400​

346​

28575.5​

468.51​

2113.64​

360.4​

706.11​

575.75​

9323.62​

338.96​

117.99​

215.29​

36​

318​

0​

58.6​

50155.08​

2014

4532.05​

1168.57​

802.1​

441.48​

86.16​

203.06​

359​

1032.28​

1641.91​

1671.28​

847.86​

1282.1​

209.82​

486.41​

577.31​

198.89​

585.85​

261.17​

435​

42​

1298.3​

18162.6​

2015

4319.98​

1213.29​

926.3​

411.48​

115.77​

186.71​

392.5​

3096.15​

1034.93​

2634.15​

1468.22​

1018.45​

3394.96​

1105.34​

901.77​

296.05​

1450.17​

456.88​

485​

22​

2403.15​

27333.25​

2016

4795.71​

1181.23​

897.77​

397.19​

165.92​

196.72​

280​

2415.48​

767.1​

1188.13​

1235.79​

1218.45​

2579.03​

2090.25​

139.98​

216.74​

873.59​

148.86​

62​

455​

1003.41​

22308.35​

2017

3361.13​

886.95​

833.94​

432.19​

172.68​

469.5​

761.1​

4068.14​

662.35​

1421.52​

1169.45​

695.52​

2819.82​

2545.05​

264.43​

198.09​

758.02​

96​

239.5​

9169.23​

6532.31​

1476.73​

39033.65​

2018

3787.72​

1109.15​

885.03​

436​

149.8​

149​

447.1​

3202.67​

789.88​

3343.63​

839.47​

655.5​

3903.25​

1964.14​

374.46​

14​

198.49​

495.43​

139​

17173.98​

5623​

3863.43​

49544.13​

2019

3659.17​

1120.08​

1053.26​

270.94​

189.66​

129.1​

470.7​

1909.73​

887.02​

927.98​

1248.01​

599.05​

3748.04​

22649.87​

134.98​

308.12​

1002.67​

68.68​

274.5​

0​

4344.62​

1315.75​

46311.93​

2020

4051.57​

1282.02​

993.97​

390.26​

193.23​

242.16​

480.9​

4556.23​

453.27​

2238.53​

208.5​

434.02​

4294.47​

4627.95​

134.98​

77.99​

460.94​

62.22​

339​

1942.61​

5313.34​

1015.31​

33793.47​

2021

3427.47​

1013.33​

947.55​

369.89​

198.97​

240.36​

410.56​

2035.6​

552.22​

7986.7​

270.15​

670.81​

5021.24​

2733.61​

152.46​

90.79​

1435.72​

377​

392.5​

0​

6742.79​

1753.8​

36823.52​

2022

4103.39​

992.03​

680.82​

370​

178.39​

239.76​

191.85​

1851.33​

547.53​

906.05​

703​

590.83​

4200.13​

6070.86​

251.44​

62​

73.55​

290.5​

0​

4480.57​

186.39​

26970.42​

2023

4018.06​

2279.86​

1303.6​

370.81​

181.19​

242.65​

294.87​

3142.85​

457.79​

3647.07​

775.15​

776.88​

4629.56​

1613.62​

529.91​

66​

721.64​

193​

1079​

0​

0​

237.13​

26560.64​

2024

4619.69​

1362.09​

1196​

356.58​

70.26​

239.76​

178.85​

4304​

675.57​

3241.34​

630.01​

767.04​

4668.45​

248​

1468.86​

132.92​

530.7​

283.2​

703​

924​

1339.28​

27939.6​

​

TOTALS

74223.98​

26098.02​

18040.45​

11358.34​

3065.92​

13618.78​

12409.41​

200432.5​

17968.6​

64280.53​

47837.7​

14944.47​

58660.89​

97828.42​

7168.44​

4326.98​

15719.76​

4635.11​

14885​

81836.66​

33036.63​

32111.29​

854487.9​

​

I can fully appreciate that everybody’s opinion of what is a “comfortable standard of living” is very subjective to the individual or couple so for reference and probably TMI

we are a late fifties couple with no dependants, we live in South Dublin in a 3-bed Semi D Dormer Bungalow, have two cars, a 07 Qashqai and 131 Juke,

All our food shopping is done in Dunnes or Lidl and doesn’t include alcohol, we don’t usually drink, I had a few drinks at the AAM Christmas party this year and the time before that was last year’s AAM Christmas party

We don’t subscribe to a 5-star lifestyle but wouldn’t call us frugal either and generally look for value in all our spending, like there’s no Paddy Gibo’s here when we eat out, very much standard restaurants where our bill for a two course is in and around the €80 mark for the two of us

The days of doing a two-week package holiday are not something we’re interested at this stage, we do city breaks, road trips and tours with the accommodation and flights been of the budget and economy standard most of the time

Also, our days of buying new cars and changing them regularly are long gone and I expect in the future we will be buying second hand cars and more than likely as we get older make do with only one car

All figures quoted are the net price I paid and does not include mortgages, loans and pension costs as I presume the majority will be debt free at time of retirement and have their pension fund sorted

Now I can hear you asking how does tracking my spending help me with retirement planning

And I sure most people have looked at the overall figure of €854’487.90 and averaged it out at €42’724 per year, which is fine, I’ve done what I’ve done and spent what I spent

But we can also break this down further by just looking at the last 10 years giving an overall spend of €336’619 averaging out at €33’661

But if you break down the spending into two categories essential and non-essential which will vary from individual-to-individual things become a little clearer or at least they do for me

What I consider essential spending from the above spreadsheet is everything from food to medical and the rest non-essential

So, for us the essential figure is 522’926.60 and non-essential is €291’548.30

Or averaged over the 20 years at €28’146.33 for essential and €14’577.41 for non-essential

And for the last 10 years that is Essential €194145.70 and non-essential €142473.30

Which averages out at essential €19’414 and non-essential €14’247 per year

But also note the total spend for the last 3 years ’22, ‘23’ and 24 came to €81470.66

Which averages out at €27’156.88 total spend for each of those 3 years



I’ll finish up this part on this final thought, which is not financially related, I’ve said a few times here over the years that I break my retirement down into three areas

The financial side, money, the physical side, how I occupy my day but there was one area that I didn’t pay much attention to until one day late in 2013, when it hit me like a ton of bricks, the mental side

As I was making the transition from having a regular yearly salary to living off savings and investments, I happened to be walking through Dundrum shopping centre, and something shinny and sparkly caught my eye in Weirs, so I went and had a look at the watches on display in the window and then it hit me, the days of spending without any real concern or thought were over and I had to revaluate my relationship with spending, material objects and consumerism

It was then over the next few years I started to realise that happiness or to be truly happy in life doesn’t come from consumerism or material objects or how wealthy you are but comes from within and your relationships with other people and the outside world and when you start to grasp that concept, well everything should change for the better, it did for me

 

[Cervelo]

Back in the 90’s I didn’t really care for or think I needed a pension as I was working in a family business, My father like his father didn’t really believe in them and would use and did use the business to fund their retirements, so I thought along the same lines that the next generation of family employees would carry me through the golden years

This all started change in and around the early noughties with the changes in legislation, the introduction of PRSA’s and my opinions of work life balance and the future

I happened to be down in the WRC with my IBEC representative and she said something that put the final rubber stamp on whether I should start a pension or not

“It doesn’t matter how much you save or how the pension performs, when you get to retirement age, you’ll be glad to be looking at it rather than wishing you had it”

So, in ’05 I started my pension, I invested €14k a year for the next 6 years giving a gross total of €84k that I paid in, nett I think that would have been around €50k total

I started with BOI and during the eight years I was with them the fund grew to a high of just under €190k and a low of €110k in late ’12

I then moved to Zurich in ’13 where it grew to €180k by late ‘15

In ’15 I transfer my pension from Zurich to my Financial adviser plan as I had other investments with them, and it seemed like a good idea at the time

In late ‘18 I tried to move back to Zurich as the fund was not preforming as had been projected but that took nearly a year due to a legal battle between me and the trustees of the pension

In November ’19 it finally happened and €202k was transferred to Zurich where it is today with a current value of €347K

So how does this all fit in in the general scheme of things, when we read and discuss this subject here we use an awful lot of estimates and averages, the numbers I’ve used here are actual, what I’ve spent, what it’s cost me and how tracking my spending in real time indicates what future spending should be and whether I’ve enough funds to get me to the, how shall we call it, the final destination

We are both entitled to the full contributory pension of €28’839,

So that will take care of the essential spending and then some

That leaves the question how much I will need in a pension to fund the non- essential side of my life, I’m thinking at today’s values my fund of €347K should be more than enough to cover it, Take the 25% and invest the balance in an ARF should bring us to just over €39k a year pension to live on using the 4% rule , which I’m guessing is a smaller fund then you expected when you started reading this thread

So, if I was hypothetical to retire tomorrow with just the state pension for the two of us and my pension fund I’d be, from my prospective, very “comfortable” with that and that is simply because I tracked my spending, understand how and why I spend and can adjust and control it should the need arise at some future date

But what If we didn’t have a pension fund, the public opinion is that living on the state pension alone would be a bleak or insufficient existence and I’m not going to suggest that it wouldn’t be challenging but bleak or insufficient, definitely not, that state pension can cover an awful lot depending on your own prospective.

Let’s take last year for example, if we were to pair back what I have classed as essential spending to just everything from food to TV that comes in at €8023 which would leave just over €21k for all the other variable or non-essential spending

Just to sum up I’m not for one minute suggesting that you shouldn’t save for your retirement, you most definitely should and the earlier you start the better but what I am suggesting is that its not as binary as some people would suggest and that by tracking your spending you’ll get a much clearer answer to the question as to how much do I need

 

[Dr Strangelove]

This is very interesting but it doesn't account for inflation! I looked up CPI for Ireland averaged for each year, source here.

If you divide all of the annual expenditure amounts in your table below by the value for each year and multiply by 100 you will get everything in 2005 prices for each year.

If you can round off the cents I think it would be much easier on the eye as well.

Year	CPI 2005=100
2005	100.0
2006	103.9
2007	109.0
2008	113.4
2009	108.4
2010	107.4
2011	110.1
2012	112.0
2013	112.6
2014	112.8
2015	112.4
2016	112.4
2017	112.8
2018	113.4
2019	114.4
2020	114.0
2021	116.7
2022	125.9
2023	133.8
2024 (11 months)	139.8

I think you'll find inflation has dipped more than you think in the last few years when you adjust for inflation.

 

[Johnny apples]

Okay guys as mentioned in another thread below is a spreadsheet of 20 years of tracked spending

I’m opening this up to you because over the years there’s been many a thread here about retirement with the usual array of questions like how much I need to save, what size fund will provide a comfortable lifestyle, can I retire early and recently we had one about the pension councils figure as to what’s needed for a “comfortable” retirement €43200

My usual first response to this is “well how much it does it cost you to live now”

Quickly followed by “and how much have you got to play with”

Most of you know by now that I’ve been tracking my spending for years and how I feel it has helped me along my journey of early retirement, like making the decision to retire, what type of lifestyle I can maintain and enjoy but ultimately has put my mind at total ease with the whole decision process of what I can or can’t afford while I’m on this journey

I’m hoping by doing this I’m showing that life can be expensive at times depending on what you get up to but also how you can pair back some of the expenses should the finances require you to

I’m doing this with two posts, the first will deal with my spending for the last 20 years and the second will deal with the pension fund that I feel is sufficient to give us not just a good retirement but a very comfortable one and how much that actually cost me

I’m open to all questions should you feel the need to ask but if you’re going to critique my spending or come on this thread and tell us that you need X amount be it a low or high figure, that you put some figures behind that number like what I’ve posted otherwise it’s pointless

YEAR

FOOD

GAS

ESB

BB

WASTE

MOBILE

TV

CAR

FUEL

HOUSE

SOCIAL

TAKEOUT

MEDICAL

SPORT

GAMES

CD/DVD

GIFTS

CLOTHES

LOTTO

HOLIDAY

SPAIN

MISC

TOTALS

2005

3136.33​

809.29​

711.94​

1178.32​

300​

1440​

1152​

67133.25​

1306.97​

7443.89​

7350.26​

695.57​

3364.78​

10893.01​

501.7​

465.67​

1431.3​

104​

1016​

8499.19​

1371​

120304.5​

2006

3442.08​

1486.66​

876.43​

1115.15​

300​

1440​

1236​

38668.77​

1158.08​

4727.34​

6738.38​

524.59​

1593.61​

10345.08​

270.92​

695.49​

1758.37​

334.15​

1448​

7932.5​

2636.17​

88727.77​

2007

3242.31​

1439.51​

918.89​

790.75​

240​

1440​

1229.88​

23592.23​

1566.3​

2186.88​

5643.81​

727.34​

1718.34​

1881.2​

117.46​

381.91​

1403.51​

470.19​

1445​

4506.24​

4655.77​

59597.52​

2008

3189.85​

2364.23​

748.05​

801.44​

180​

1440​

1253.88​

601.1​

1196.55​

2884.49​

5436.64​

815.02​

3031.37​

6856.99​

168.16​

222.65​

800.23​

136.79​

2188​

7966.4​

3570.93​

45852.77​

2009

3143.76​

1737.33​

602.99​

819.01​

124.2​

1440​

730​

1812.56​

950.92​

7422.32​

4430.75​

757.41​

2195.95​

8511.21​

85​

137.98​

713.95​

165.86​

602​

5869.8​

724.06​

42977.06​

2010

2924.32​

1116.59​

1061.76​

722.41​

59.4​

1440​

744​

2970.67​

1232.7​

4701.6​

4730.69​

1055.7​

1822.32​

1572.07​

251.92​

336.9​

705.56​

23.96​

1260​

9628.31​

2326.07​

40686.95​

2011

3027.82​

860.59​

784.66​

566.02​

80.88​

1440​

840​

4728.94​

927.99​

2307.94​

3419.52​

816.93​

3619.78​

558.44​

199.91​

231.84​

466.84​

893.72​

1401​

7705.4​

876.01​

35754.23​

2012

4076.5​

1234.1​

980.47​

616.07​

22.16​

600​

610.22​

735​

691.01​

1286.05​

331.64​

137.15​

1270.22​

1751.7​

303.83​

74.96​

133.37​

28​

768​

0​

0​

15650.45​

2013

3365.07​

1441.12​

834.92​

502.35​

57.25​

400​

346​

28575.5​

468.51​

2113.64​

360.4​

706.11​

575.75​

9323.62​

338.96​

117.99​

215.29​

36​

318​

0​

58.6​

50155.08​

2014

4532.05​

1168.57​

802.1​

441.48​

86.16​

203.06​

359​

1032.28​

1641.91​

1671.28​

847.86​

1282.1​

209.82​

486.41​

577.31​

198.89​

585.85​

261.17​

435​

42​

1298.3​

18162.6​

2015

4319.98​

1213.29​

926.3​

411.48​

115.77​

186.71​

392.5​

3096.15​

1034.93​

2634.15​

1468.22​

1018.45​

3394.96​

1105.34​

901.77​

296.05​

1450.17​

456.88​

485​

22​

2403.15​

27333.25​

2016

4795.71​

1181.23​

897.77​

397.19​

165.92​

196.72​

280​

2415.48​

767.1​

1188.13​

1235.79​

1218.45​

2579.03​

2090.25​

139.98​

216.74​

873.59​

148.86​

62​

455​

1003.41​

22308.35​

2017

3361.13​

886.95​

833.94​

432.19​

172.68​

469.5​

761.1​

4068.14​

662.35​

1421.52​

1169.45​

695.52​

2819.82​

2545.05​

264.43​

198.09​

758.02​

96​

239.5​

9169.23​

6532.31​

1476.73​

39033.65​

2018

3787.72​

1109.15​

885.03​

436​

149.8​

149​

447.1​

3202.67​

789.88​

3343.63​

839.47​

655.5​

3903.25​

1964.14​

374.46​

14​

198.49​

495.43​

139​

17173.98​

5623​

3863.43​

49544.13​

2019

3659.17​

1120.08​

1053.26​

270.94​

189.66​

129.1​

470.7​

1909.73​

887.02​

927.98​

1248.01​

599.05​

3748.04​

22649.87​

134.98​

308.12​

1002.67​

68.68​

274.5​

0​

4344.62​

1315.75​

46311.93​

2020

4051.57​

1282.02​

993.97​

390.26​

193.23​

242.16​

480.9​

4556.23​

453.27​

2238.53​

208.5​

434.02​

4294.47​

4627.95​

134.98​

77.99​

460.94​

62.22​

339​

1942.61​

5313.34​

1015.31​

33793.47​

2021

3427.47​

1013.33​

947.55​

369.89​

198.97​

240.36​

410.56​

2035.6​

552.22​

7986.7​

270.15​

670.81​

5021.24​

2733.61​

152.46​

90.79​

1435.72​

377​

392.5​

0​

6742.79​

1753.8​

36823.52​

2022

4103.39​

992.03​

680.82​

370​

178.39​

239.76​

191.85​

1851.33​

547.53​

906.05​

703​

590.83​

4200.13​

6070.86​

251.44​

62​

73.55​

290.5​

0​

4480.57​

186.39​

26970.42​

2023

4018.06​

2279.86​

1303.6​

370.81​

181.19​

242.65​

294.87​

3142.85​

457.79​

3647.07​

775.15​

776.88​

4629.56​

1613.62​

529.91​

66​

721.64​

193​

1079​

0​

0​

237.13​

26560.64​

2024

4619.69​

1362.09​

1196​

356.58​

70.26​

239.76​

178.85​

4304​

675.57​

3241.34​

630.01​

767.04​

4668.45​

248​

1468.86​

132.92​

530.7​

283.2​

703​

924​

1339.28​

27939.6​

​

TOTALS

74223.98​

26098.02​

18040.45​

11358.34​

3065.92​

13618.78​

12409.41​

200432.5​

17968.6​

64280.53​

47837.7​

14944.47​

58660.89​

97828.42​

7168.44​

4326.98​

15719.76​

4635.11​

14885​

81836.66​

33036.63​

32111.29​

854487.9​

​

I can fully appreciate that everybody’s opinion of what is a “comfortable standard of living” is very subjective to the individual or couple so for reference and probably TMI

we are a late fifties couple with no dependants, we live in South Dublin in a 3-bed Semi D Dormer Bungalow, have two cars, a 07 Qashqai and 131 Juke,

All our food shopping is done in Dunnes or Lidl and doesn’t include alcohol, we don’t usually drink, I had a few drinks at the AAM Christmas party this year and the time before that was last year’s AAM Christmas party

We don’t subscribe to a 5-star lifestyle but wouldn’t call us frugal either and generally look for value in all our spending, like there’s no Paddy Gibo’s here when we eat out, very much standard restaurants where our bill for a two course is in and around the €80 mark for the two of us

The days of doing a two-week package holiday are not something we’re interested at this stage, we do city breaks, road trips and tours with the accommodation and flights been of the budget and economy standard most of the time

Also, our days of buying new cars and changing them regularly are long gone and I expect in the future we will be buying second hand cars and more than likely as we get older make do with only one car

All figures quoted are the net price I paid and does not include mortgages, loans and pension costs as I presume the majority will be debt free at time of retirement and have their pension fund sorted

Now I can hear you asking how does tracking my spending help me with retirement planning

And I sure most people have looked at the overall figure of €854’487.90 and averaged it out at €42’724 per year, which is fine, I’ve done what I’ve done and spent what I spent

But we can also break this down further by just looking at the last 10 years giving an overall spend of €336’619 averaging out at €33’661

But if you break down the spending into two categories essential and non-essential which will vary from individual-to-individual things become a little clearer or at least they do for me

What I consider essential spending from the above spreadsheet is everything from food to medical and the rest non-essential

So, for us the essential figure is 522’926.60 and non-essential is €291’548.30

Or averaged over the 20 years at €28’146.33 for essential and €14’577.41 for non-essential

And for the last 10 years that is Essential €194145.70 and non-essential €142473.30

Which averages out at essential €19’414 and non-essential €14’247 per year

But also note the total spend for the last 3 years ’22, ‘23’ and 24 came to €81470.66

Which averages out at €27’156.88 total spend for each of those 3 years



I’ll finish up this part on this final thought, which is not financially related, I’ve said a few times here over the years that I break my retirement down into three areas

The financial side, money, the physical side, how I occupy my day but there was one area that I didn’t pay much attention to until one day late in 2013, when it hit me like a ton of bricks, the mental side

As I was making the transition from having a regular yearly salary to living off savings and investments, I happened to be walking through Dundrum shopping centre, and something shinny and sparkly caught my eye in Weirs, so I went and had a look at the watches on display in the window and then it hit me, the days of spending without any real concern or thought were over and I had to revaluate my relationship with spending, material objects and consumerism

It was then over the next few years I started to realise that happiness or to be truly happy in life doesn’t come from consumerism or material objects or how wealthy you are but comes from within and your relationships with other people and the outside world and when you start to grasp that concept, well everything should change for the better, it did for me

Your social life came to an abrupt end in 2012

 

[Brendan Burgess]

What is "sport"? In one year, it was more than all the rest. Ah, I presume that is some sort of holiday spending as you don't have anything in for holidays.

 

[Cervelo]

This is very interesting but it doesn't account for inflation! I looked up CPI for Ireland averaged for each year, source here.

If you divide all of the annual expenditure amounts in your table below by the value for each year and multiply by 100 you will get everything in 2005 prices for each year.

If you can round off the cents I think it would be much easier on the eye as well.

Afraid I don't agree with you here Dr, It of course accounts for inflation as the figures quoted are what I spent in each year so there's no need for any adjustment for inflation

With regards to the rounding off, yeah it probably would have made better sense and easier reading but my OCD wouldn't allow it

 

[Cervelo]

Your social life came to an abrupt end in 2012

It surly did, but 2012 was my first year of retirement and after 27 years of weekend binge drinking I felt I could no longer afford that lifestyle

 

[Cervelo]

What is "sport"? In one year, it was more than all the rest. Ah, I presume that is some sort of holiday spending as you don't have anything in for holidays.

Sport is what I've spent on cycling and anything sport related, no holidays that's in the column "holidays" and the column named "Spain" is what it cost for my winters cycling in Spain

 

[Dr Strangelove]

of course accounts for inflation as the figures quoted are what I spent in each year

No it doesn’t. You don’t adjust for changes in the prices of goods and services in the economy.

Prices have risen 40% in 20 years.

 

[jpd]

It would be clearer to represent the values in today's terms rather than 2005

 

[Cervelo]

No it doesn’t. You don’t adjust for changes in the prices of goods and services in the economy.

Prices have risen 40% in 20 years.

Nope your not getting it, reread what I've posted
Prices may have risen or fallen over the 20 years but what I've spent is what it has actually cost me in real time

 

[Jordan Belfort]

@Cervelo your username gives a hint why sport/cycling was so expensive back then ;-)

Very interesting table and excellent food for thought for anyone in similar situation

 

[jpd]

In 2005 you spent € 3,136 on food
In 2024 money that's € 3,136 x 1.398 = € 4,384
So not a lot different from your 2024 spending

 

[Sarenco]

That leaves the question how much I will need in a pension to fund the non- essential side of my life, I’m thinking at today’s values my fund of €347K should be more than enough to cover it, Take the 25% and invest the balance in an ARF should bring us to just over €39k a year pension to live on using the 4% rule , which I’m guessing is a smaller fund then you expected when you started reading this thread

Presumably that means you won’t retire your PRSA until you are 66 - what do you live on in the meantime?

Also, you must have both started working young if you both already have at least 2080 PRSI contributions in your 50’s to qualify for full State Contributory pensions.

Incidentally, I very much agree that having a good idea of your “burn rate” is critical for retirement planning purposes. Mind you, your lifestyle/spending habits seem to have changed pretty dramatically in retirement.

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Thank you for sharing this information. It does come across as quite frugal though and I think people should aim to maintain their lifestyle in retirement rather than having to make sacrifices.

 

[KOW]

April 2025 will see myself and the boss two years retired. Over the past nearly two years of retirement our spending is around 20% more than when we were working. We are 62&64.
I do not see this changing over the next several years if our health holds up.
We both worked 40yrs plus on average type incomes. Again what is comfortable for some would be stressful for us.
Sure we go to Lidl shop around on insurance and utility bills.
I still like a few holidays a year maybe one long hall and maybe a Spain/Portugal.
Go out for a coffee every day. Pints might be 6 nights in a month or one night in a month depending on whats happening.
At our stage we would need 50k plus per annum.
What I do see a lot is couples who had good incomes and now have really good pensions who absolutely stress when it comes to spending.
The people I am talking about are are so long saving that they cant seem to break the habit. Mid to late sixties and stashing cash with all bases covered.

 

[messyleo]

Thank you for sharing this information. It does come across as quite frugal though and I think people should aim to maintain their lifestyle in retirement rather than having to make sacrifices.

Agree with this. For some it's not a case of "what could we survive ok on" but how could we have an enjoyable enough life/
OP seems to have retired mid 40s from the post details so that's factor in frugality I guess. Personally I would rather work another 5-10 years and not have to make sacrifices / cut backs in retirement. Horses for courses!

 

[Persia]

Cervelo, may I ask if retirement was forced on you through illness or similar or was it a calculated move to step back from the grind at a youngish age?

 

[jimmij]

shop around on insurance and utility bills.

Previously it used to fill me with rage having to waste time playing this stupid game every year.
I felt that something should be done about it to stop company X from trying to gouge me for being a loyal customer.
Now however, I take a different view.
This shopping around would only be unnecessary if all rates were bang on what they 'should be', i.e. the cheap ones higher and the dear ones lower.
By definition then shopping around should enable you to get a cheaper rate than whatever the 'correct' (I know...), smoothed out, rate would be.
This shopping around carry on is an objectively good thing for people who are prepared to do it
Probably obvious to a lot/most of you but it wasn't to me and it's certainly changed my perspective.

 

[Cervelo]

In 2005 you spent € 3,136 on food
In 2024 money that's € 3,136 x 1.398 = € 4,384
So not a lot different from your 2024 spending

Sorry don't agree with you here either, you're just seeing a food figure in 2005 and comparing it to 2024 figure adjusted for inflation
What you're not seeing is the numbers behind that figure and how they came about

In 2005 I was working, so work looked after my breakfast and lunch 5 to 6 days a week, I was also a meat processor so work provided somethings that most people would have included in their weekly food shop
Also back then we shopped in Superquinn, there were no discount vouchers like there is today in Dunnes, we also used to buy a lot more branded products and the cost of your weekly shop was whatever the till said it was

Fast forward to today, I'm not working so I have to pay for my breakfast and lunches and all the other things that were provided by work
We shop in Dunnes and we shop to our needs and the voucher value be it a €50, €75, €100 yada yada yada
we have also changed how we shop like more of our groceries are own branded which are generally cheaper and of just as good quality
we avail of all the special offers on the products we buy and would buy enough of that item to last us until it's next on offer
we've also stopped buying somethings like brown bread as Mrs C bakes a loaf or two a week, when she's cooking meals she might cook in batches rather than single meals
There is things that have been added to the food shop that technical shouldn't be in that column, like for the last two years Mrs c has decided to light the fire during winter, that costs about €25 a week for about 20 weeks of the year

So for me there's a huge difference between '05 and '24

When I look at my spending I don't look at '05 '10 or '15 I look at the last 3 maybe 5 years to see where my spending is headed