It is that time of the year when once again I share the expenditure of a couple living in the northwest of England and reveal our spending in all its individualism and flaws.
Given current inflation, it isn’t a headline grabber to reveal that during 2023 our spending increased. When we retired in 2017 our budget was £27,000 a year or less and although we budgeted for inflation we mostly spent less than £27,000 until 2023. Last year I watched our spending increase by a whopping 8% on 2022!
Below you can read the details of this spending. This year I have highlighted how our attempts to live a more environmentally-friendly life both costs us and saves us money.
The big change for us in 2023 was an increase in our regular income. Hooray! My small NHS pension [it doesn’t even pay our supermarket bills] and my irregular and diminishing travel writer income and interest on our savings are now joined by my fellow frugalista’s local government pension. Successfully getting this money out of Lancashire County Council is a long and sorry tale of out-sourcing mayhem that I won’t bore you with but it did involve the helpful people of Fort William Library as we got to grips with their ancient flatbed scanner during our Scottish holiday. Our income is now about 70% of our spending and we are starting to feel just a little secure.
Our other big expense in 2023 was trading in our much loved blue Renault Master campervan for a younger and smaller Ford Transit in a shade of silver that looks almost blue in the right light! We received a good trade-in for our Renault but still reduced our savings by a chunk to make this purchase. The only big home improvement expenditure was flooring in our kitchen that was reassuringly expensive enough to surely outlive both of us!
Here is how our budget breaks down into my different categories:
Essentials – total £8,418 [30% of total spending] [2022 £8,941 / 33%]
Food – £4,535 [2022 £4,074] – Averaging £377/month, it isn’t surprising we spent more on food and alcohol in 2023 as we have all witnessed the supermarket price rises. We continue to both be vegetarian but in 2023 we leaned closer to being vegan motivated by health issues. As well as being healthier, a vegan diet is generally a cheaper way to eat. I always say I couldn’t give up cheese and I haven’t, but we’re limiting our dairy consumption to some mature Gouda in the Friday night risotto and I find I’m not missing it through the week. Butter on my toast, in contrast, is a tough sacrifice. Our shopping habits are mostly a win for the environment and our pocket.
Utilities, insurance & phones for a 2-bed 57.2 sq mtrs [615.7 sq feet] bungalow – £3,584 [2022 £4.031] – By contrast I am suprised that the cost of our bills has reduced. In 2023 we managed to save money on our water bills by using less and we found cheaper contracts for our mobiles and broadband. Our gas and electric only increased by £26 in 2023 and the biggest increase was our council tax. Saving water is a win for the environment and our pockets
Our health – £299 [2022 £836] – 2023 has been the year of teeth! We still have a NHS dentist and constantly count our good fortune as the tooth is [groan] this budget line would have been considerably more if we were paying private prices!
The money we spend on the essentials above are, in theory, the minimum we need to survive, if nothing goes wrong or wears out and we didn’t own a campervan and never went anywhere!
Stuff (electronics, books, newspapers and other kit) – £5,832 [21% of total spending] [2022 £4,719 / 18%]
Household spending [everything from glue, newspapers and books to bird food, gardening stuff and parts for the bikes] – £4,979 [ 2022 £4,076] I thought 2022 had been the year of stuff and hoped to reduce this budget line in 2023 but it wasn’t to be! Instead we flashed the credit card to purchase two handsome new armchairs from John Lewis that make me happy every time I curl up in one to read a book. We also spent money on the garden, creating a new hedge with wildlife in mind and replacing plants lost in the frosts of December 2022. The PC we use for TV viewing began to fail and we spent £470 updating the components while re-using the existing case. Fortunately my partner is able to carry out all the labour for this sort of work. In the autumn a storm wrecked a garden arch that we replaced and one of our mobile phones was long overdue being replaced. There is always something! With the exception of the wildlife friendly garden plants this is an environmental and spending thumbs down.
Clothes & accessories – £853 [2022 £643] – Until the last few months of the year I was hopeful we were keeping this category in check as all we had purchased were a few replacement t-shirts from charity shops and new cycling helmets. Then suddenly a new padded jacket, a fleece and hiking shoes could wait no longer. We still have a one-in-one-out policy with clothes as the space we have hasn’t increased. Again an environmental and spending thumbs down.
Experiences – £13,619 [47% of total spending] [2022 £11,805 / 46%]
Holidays [still our favourite spending line] – £4,481 [2022 £4,096] – Our spring holiday to France in our campervan was wonderful and it was where we made the decision to downsize our ‘van. This decision was made for many reasons and one was an urge to have other sorts of holidays that didn’t involve a campervan. So, this total also reflects a week in a holiday cottage and a few days in a hotel in Glasgow [travelling by train] as well as those [getting more expensive] campsites.
Restaurants & cafes – £2,687 [2022 £2,311] – In 2023 we made a conscious effort to particularly support our local veggie and vegan restaurants. We are lucky to have The Whale Tale, Pure Vegan and The Herbarium nearby in Lancaster and they all serve fantastic food and we don’t want to see any of them close.
Running the campervan [servicing & insurance etc] – £3,475 [2022 £2,058] – With perfect timing we traded in the Blue Bus beautifully kitted out with four six-month old tyres. We didn’t think our two-year-old Ford Transit with around 18,000 miles on the clock would need new tyres immediately. However, when we gave its tyres an up-close-and-personal check up they looked as if the previous owner had spent all those 18,000 miles off-road! Life is precarious enough without risking being on the road with cracked, pitted and battered tyres and we replaced them. Our much-loved Renault also developed an electrical fault in the spring that required a replacement leisure battery and needed a new bathroom tap. The new-to-us Ford had a minor dent, a small patch of rust on the rear doors and the sliding door needed adjustment. Ford require owners to pay a few quid for an annual bodywork inspection to keep any warranty valid and as the previous off-roading owners hadn’t done this [goodness knows why not!] these cost us £600. A campervan is neither positive for the environment or our pockets!
Diesel for the above ‘van – £1,210 [2022 £1,905 ] – We can’t save the planet single-handed but we can try and one way is to use our campervan [our only vehicle] less. In addition we are getting more miles to the gallon of diesel from the Ford Transit and it is Euro 6 compliant. There is a tiny environmental win here.
Tickets for concerts, football & attractions – £696 [2022 £744] – In 2023 we re-discovered our love of cinema, something that had taken a bit of a knock during Covid-19. The Dukes in Lancaster shows some fantastic films as well as theatre and the highlight of the year for me was Carol Morley’s Typist Artist Pirate King, a moving and funny road trip film. Look out for it on TV if you missed it in 2023.
Public transport costs – £1,070 [2022 £691] – A consequence of using our own vehicle less is using public transport more. We have a Disabled Rail Card to reduce the cost of our train fares and a return to Manchester is around £30 for the two of us, although unreliability is frustrating. While the trains continue to cause us more drama than you want from public transport, the £2 bus fares have transformed our local travel plans and we hop on and off buses with abandon. In 2024 my older partner will get his bus pass and we can’t wait! Using public transport is a tick for the environment but using the train is often more expensive than driving.
Giving – £704 [2% of total spending] [2022 £940 / 6%]
Gifts & donations – £940 [2021 £1,352] – In 2023 we supported Morecambe’s Food Bank, charities campaigning against climate change and Ukraine once again. I wish we didn’t have to support any of these charities but the need continues. Gifts to family and friends, it seems, have become more frugal and none of them have complained!
TOTAL SPENDING FOR 2023 – £28,573
2023 has been our highest spending year iin retirement. Over my seven years of retirement we have spent an average of £24,988 a year. With inflation remaining high we are now budgetting around £30,000 for 2024 and we’ll see how that pans out.
In 2024 our income increases as Anthony reaches state pension age. It is now only two years until I will be 66 years old too and our income will [hopefully] be sufficient for our lifestyle.
Here’s to 2024 when we hope to continue to live the life we want to lead and have the resilience to survive whatever 2024 brings us.
Let me know in the comments below how your budget matched your spending in 2023 and your hopes for 2024.
Back on the road again 