Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Yeah working gets annoying after a while when you see how much time is wasted on things. Then if you think too hard on how pointless your job is in the grand scheme of things it can get even more annoying sitting faffing about at it. You are probably on the same income trajectory as me when starting...

How are you finding being outside the university system again. I am half considering picking up maths again now that we are free to do whatever. I vaguely remember enjoying the actual problem solving and kinda think warping it into the need for a job ruined it. Mainly because I could do it now witho...

Pretty much the UK system treats UK citizens with a foreign spouse like garbage. I think the total cost now for everything is up to 12k. Based one the net migration numbers, which is what it is supposedly about. Spouses accounted for about 30,000 out of the 700,000 net migration figure. Or 60,000 ou...

So if you have one passport then you can technically settle anywhere under EU rules. We did that in France. Different countries have varying degrees of annoying paperwork however. Typically you need some kind of income (say renting your soon to be paid flat) or sufficient assets set aside. The level...

Knock yourself with writing here I don't have any great attachement as to what is in the journal. Go off on a tangent if you find it interesting/helps in some way. As for the costs of UK vs Spain. I am not sure the major cities are actually cheaper. We were recently in Madrid for a few days as part ...

Here is my approximate 16 year career with various gaps as I attempted to retire. UK - £24,500 (£14.50 ph) - Well my first role post graduation paid this. UK - £32,000 (£19.00 ph) - Rise in the intial 4 years. CH - £65,000 (£33.90 ph) - Jumped when I moved country. CH - £86,000 (£44.80 ph) - Rise in...

Yeah I can understand that, back before the pandemic I probably would have kept the back up kicking along. The 3 year contract has moved our finances over to where we could support a dual house/life system if something like that were to happen. I am trying to nudge her towards training in something ...

Yeah it is nice have expenses at such a low base that even a splurge doesn't move a needle. It has shifted us to just setting up a good start for our son and going back to doing things we like. It is a very different routine when work doesn’t get in the way. My wife still feels the need to "con...

I will say the winters in the outer hebridies are pretty brutal. But you would get the summer holidays to enjoy it. I would try a trip in winter to see how you find it if you really want that as a back up plan. University advisors really pushed trying to get people to do Maths teaching back when I f...

Yeah that is the only fee. Repairs as and when they arrive, none have yet though. I think council tax would be the equivalent of your property tax. However the way ours works is only loosly based on the price of the property. There are Bands for each level of price. Meaning that really expensive (th...

Last month was the lowest monthly expense number we have ever had. Including when I was running the numbers on my own and just getting ready to retire the first time round. £142 - Council Tax £85 - Energy (was hardly on) showered at the gym, just food really and a couple of colder days. £25 - Intern...

Really? I have, at least in Glasgow. When I initially stayed here prior to moving to Switzerland there was no tipping at all. Post coming back I saw a lot more people leaving tips such that it seems to be an automatic 10%. Then more recently the automatic application of a 10-15% service charge. Alon...

Gracias, There is a bit of a change in my lifestyle, not as much as the update would suggest. We are outwith the city now, however day to day is a bit more like what we had when staying in France. Coffees, going for walks, learning bits and pieces we find interesting. Playing with son. Made a starti...

Wasn’t sure whether to bother with an update with it being so long. However our situation has changed a little with a child. He is doing well, now around 10 months. Fatherhood has not been quite what I was expecting. There are a few general things that can get frustrating rather than difficult. It i...

Hmm, dehumidifier is an idea I didn’t think of. I might take a look at that as well. We have a sunny corner in our place we put the clothes for hanging. But some days it can ages.

Agree with thriftyrob our evening cooking can sometimes take as much as that. You must be eating sandwiches.

How did you get daily energy use down to 2 kw for the day.

How are you finding Glasgow!

It was not planned but it does not put much of a dent in our plans either. We will still probably be in the same place until passports are all sorted. Then we will have a think about where we want to be. Although we like the flat we are in. At some point we will either switch over to a house with la...

So I have been away for ages.

Main update, wife is pregnant with an expected Christmas baby.

Yeah that was part of joining the library and building up a set of reasonable board games so we will avoid electronics too. i.e. not just no charging or having technical work arounds. The hot water will be switched off at the mains for that day too. We have been testing turning on the main water swi...