Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Great job on the January savings rate!

Great story Winfield! Welcome and good luck

<r>@Jacob<br/>
You're right it's archaic and a little unfair. We could opt out I suppose, however we're choosng to have a TV so we have to pay - my problem is that I've only watched one programme on the BBC in the last 12 months!<br/>
-also there's a lot of grumbling in this country about how much ...

<r>@ Mo thank you!<br/>
Mortgage balance £116k/just under 20 yrs left on the term/0.99% interest rate {tracker mortgage 0.49% above UK base rate}<br/>
As from January 1st we will be overpaying by £480 a month and saving approx this amount again. Here's a link on my website:<br/>
<br/>
<URL url="http ...

Good news - I got a job. It's part time but does mean we'll be able to increase our savings percentage.

<t>@photoguy<br/>
Re Food Inc - yes I thought about that!<br/>
I'm doing a little experiment with stockpiling {shopping loss leaders} over the next few weeks to see if this reduces my costs; it might not initially but longer term it should do.<br/>
I'm also starting to menu plan for a month, instead ...

@jason

Hi Jason, in the UK we pay an annual fee of £145.50 for a colour TV licence - it's basically for the BBC. It's compulsory if your have a TV in your home.

<r>I'm working my way through all 21 steps of Jacobs programme, paying particular attention to Step 3 grocery as I think this is an area I can improve on.<br/>
This month I've spent £238.45 for the four of us, more than I wanted to but it's getting there.<br/>
<br/>
I'm cooking nearly everything ...

<t>Freecycle is not going so well; 2 no shows; I'm going to give the matress to a local charity furniture place - <br/>
The de-clutter continues -<br/>
<br/>
Through Amazon I've sold all but one of our DVD boxsets - kept previously 'for old times sake' more than anything<br/>
To watch films in the ...

<r>I've had great success with Amazon and although the fees are quite high [now] it's easy to list stuff.<br/>
Books worth over £2.50 go on Amazon, anyhting else gets donated.<br/>
<br/>
Like eBay you can occasionally make a surprise amount on something; I remember once selling a Josh Groban video ...

<t>Step 2: I've joined freecycle today and listed a spare single mattress we have (just waiting for a moderator to authorise) I don't need a bike though as I can walk everywhere in my village!<br/>
My de cluttering continues: I'm now applying a 3 month rule to everything I own and so my DVD boxsets ...

<r>@Maus to answer your questions<br/>
- there is no problem with us moving to Portugal due to the EU<br/>
<br/>
- yes, we have concerns about the economic stability in Portugal however I'm not so sure the stability in Britain is much better! <E>:-)</E><br/>
It's a good dream to have, it's a ...

<r>@photoguy thank you and to answer your questions<br/>
1) we are moving for lifestyle reasons<br/>
<br/>
2) dh is looking to earn a salary approx 75% of current one; he is almost fluent in Portuguese now, so by then he will be<br/>
<br/>
3) we expect our outgoings to be 25% less in Portugal too<br ...

<t>To add to this thread here's our new budget: family of 4 in the UK - eldest son lives at home and pays monthly board<br/>
Mortgage £542.34<br/>
<br/>
Mortgage overpay£200.00<br/>
<br/>
Council Tax £107.50<br/>
<br/>
Water Rates £32.00<br/>
<br/>
TV Licence £11.87<br/>
<br/>
Life Insurance £21.08 ...

<t>the story so far:<br/>
L is in debt for 20 years (has 3 kids with ex-husband)<br/>
<br/>
L meets M (2003)<br/>
<br/>
L and M buy house (2006) – 10% cash deposit/ mortgage £138k<br/>
<br/>
Renovate house with cash (£13k)<br/>
<br/>
Pay for wedding (2007) with cash (£10k)<br/>
<br/>
Start to live ...

<t>I sell books/cd's on Amazon, good clothes on eBay, everything else at a car boot sale (like a yard sale). I always start eBay listings at £1 and this seems to work better; I'm yet to use Freecycle.<br/>
I've cleared so much that we could easily downsize our home, however need to wait for another ...

<r>I've spent 5 years de-cluttering and I'm nearly there; it's been a constant relationship with eBay, Amazon and the local charity shop.<br/>
I'm definitely moving towards a minimalist lifestyle and taking dh along with me....the kids? they keep stuff in their rooms so that I can't sell it on <E ...

Welcome IL and good luck; your plans sound interesting.

37% after taxes, would be 46% is I could lose my travel budget!

<r>Dare I say it, but this is a little easier for men <E>;-)</E><br/>
I stopped buying clothes in 2009 and reduced my items to less than 30 things, ok for normal days, the only problem I can forsee is weddings; I wouldn't want to go to every wedding in the next ten years in the same outfit; perhaps ...