Cost of living 2008 for these Pensioners

I am a bit short at the moment.....can I borrow 3K??? I know you have it spare :):)

Good on you Willem for putting that up. It just reinforces that you can adjust your living costs to fit your income if you be prudent with how you spend your money, and more importantly, continue to do the things you like to do, as you obviously do. Good luck to you.

Just an observation, but if you were to cease drinking water & put the $400 into Alcohol would seem a better option to me. LOL. Cheers

Well!!, Wot ya saying is i'm in the black, BUT!!, one small F@@ up might change that!!. Bit like being in business in 2008!....LOL.


Cheers Axle.

That means you have $60.00 left over pw, with odd jobs, that means party at your place )))))
Lotzi

why does the x trail cot less to register? from memory SA rego goes on cylinders so the 6 should cost more?

my folk with the stock market going down are managing to live on their pension of $56k a year down from $61.5k a year. They are doing it pretty tough and are hoping the investments dont go down much

I got this at a another webb site....it's from a person called Pelbo

Please don't give people the wrong impression you need to be a millionaire to enjoy this lifestyle.

YOU DON'T

We have manged this lifestyle being self funded for less than $400,000 in our funds.

We spent quite a bit of money in the last two years adding things to our van, such as $2,500 for a Webasto heater, $500 for extra spare wheel, and another few thousand on smaller things we founde we needed. Plus the money we lost in selling our new Pajero and buying a Pathfinder to tow the weight of our new van. That cost $20,000 to change over.

Plus we have private health cover. Plus we had all 3 kids get married. Plus airfares to visit all 3 kids scattered over Oz.

We don't go out to dinner at restaurants very much, but don't want to - my wife and I are better cooks than most restaurants. My Lobster Morney is the best you would ever have. We also enjoy a beer and a glass of wine every night. We do most museums and paid entry tourist trips. Even the $95 per head boat trip in Tasmania. Oh! And of course, our expenses included shipping over to Tasmania and back.

We have done it all for less than $36,000 per year for the last 2.5 years. We do bush camp most of the time. And from now on, we dont have any more wedding expenses!

We are not due to draw a pension for another 4 years. We aim to have enough cash left in super to suppliment our pension income to keep life comfortable. Keep in mind you don't need a lot of capital to die! You can spend some of it before you cark it. If your goal in life, to be considered successful, is to leave your kids a million bucks each, then my plan can't help you. If I get it close, my kids will have just enough money to bury us. One of my super funds I kept going was because there is a death insurance fund included to cover our funerals. Because of cancer, I cant get any other insurance to cover it!

Right now, with the market slump, we have lost 3 years supply of super. (My financial adviser made a big mistake - have a new one now). So we are sitting still and surviving on just $20,000 per annum. Yes, I may have to go to work next year if the market continues to slide. But just for one year. Until our funds are back up to where they almost were.

So you CAN enjoy this lifestyle without being too wealthy!
Don't let the doom merchants put you off. You only get one chance at life. I try to live by this poem, which I have 'published' here before:

The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you own.
Live, love and toil with a will.
Place no faith in time.
For the clock may soon be still.

They have been on the road for some time and doing OK.....so are lot's of others

I luv reading this stuff cause I have 'almost arrived' at this stage in life and have wondered how its all going to pan out especially when you take the following into account:

May 08 - wiped out the front suspension on the Troopy.

Jul 08 - wiped out the front suspension on the Troopy again (kid you not - lasted 6 weeks), however did a proper job this time and bent the diff housing like a banana.

Bit of a residual bend from the first time I think/hope. (LOL)

Both times included a front right wheel, HOWEVER! get this you COOPER critics.

Never marked the COOPER STT and both times the licenced repairers couldn't get an Ins claim for a new one because there was absolutley nothing adverse to be found to claim on.

If you saw the wheel/s, your first thoughts would be - the tyre must be gone - but not on your life. More lifes than a black cat.

Only thing now is I think I will be paying a $30,000 insurance premium which means I am going to have to stay working until I can afford to retire. according to the figures quoted above.

Willem

I think you've made a mistake by making your budget public........if kev07 sees it you'll never get any more !