2024 Spending Reviewed: How Much do you really need for a Comfortable Retirement

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.

Our finances had another injection of welcome income in 2024 as my partners state pension and final work place pension kicked in [hurrah to a bus pass and a Christmas bonus of £10 :)]. Near the end of 2025 my own state pension will begin and we will be fullon pensioners and have two bus passes! Even in 2024 93% of our spending came from income, rather than our savings, and this number makes a massive difference to how secure I feel about our finances.

Nevertheless, inflation continues and after spending £28,573 in 2023, we began 2024 with a budget of £30,000 but quickly revised this to £31,000 and added £3,000 for expensive [non-campervan] holidays. You can see how that additional income is going to my head. We managed to keep to this budget [just!]

Once again this year, as well as considering the budget, I also weigh up the environmental impact of our spending and I have highlighted this under each spending category.

Here is how our budget breaks down:

Essentials – total £11,753 [35% of total spending] [2023 £8,418 / 30%]

Food – £4,970 [2023 £4,535] – Averaging £414/month, this is an increase of around 10% on our food and alcohol. We continue to both be vegetarian and often vegan and shop mostly at Lidl, with the exception of wine which comes from our local wine shop, The Wine Society and France. 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 – £4,131 [2023 £3,584] – Our gas and electric has remained expensive this year averaging £70/month. We decided to enter a fixed price contract towards the end of 2024, which we hope was the right call. In winter we keep the house moderately warm but we do wrap up in layers too and always have cosy blankets to hand. Our water bills remain low [about £18/month] as we have a meter. When we are at home we use about 90 litres of water/day, which is less than the average for a single person household in the UK. United Utilities tell us a single household uses an average of 149 litres of water/day and a typical couple use 276 litres/day. We find it hard to imagine what people do with this much water. We continue to be careful with our gas, electric and water usage, aware that these are resources we should be conserving. Saving energy and water is a win for the environment and our pockets

Essential repairs and replacements – £1,916 [not a separate category in 2023] – This is our spending on essential repairs to our property and the cost of replacing our elderly mattress and laptop. Repairing is better for the environment than replacing but we still have a gas boiler which contributes to climate change. We have begun to think about heat pumps.

Our health – £736 [2023 £299] – We replace our specs every three years at the moment and in 2024 it was my turn. Fortunately we only needed check-ups at the dentist and various over-the-counter medications.

The money we spend on the essentials above are, in theory, the minimum we need to survive. It does now include some repairs and replacements but not the costs of owning a campervan, stuff buying and holidays.

Stuff (electronics, books, newspapers and other kit) – £4,969 [15% of total spending] [2023 £5,832 / 21%]

Household spending [everything from glue, newspapers and books to bird food, gardening stuff and parts for the bikes] – £3,612, [ 2023 £4,979] I have separated out essential repairs and replacements from items that are truly more stuff, although this category will include smaller repairs. In 2024 we did more work on our garden, buying recycled bricks and building a raised bed which then needed plants and a new tree to fill it. We also purchased one new replacement mobile phone and new ladders.  Buying reclaimed bricks and planting a tree are environmental wins and costs that we could bear.

Clothes & accessories – £1,357 [2023 £853] – Another expensive year for clothes! A good chunk of this spending was buying new waterproof jackets, which will hopefully last a few years. I had a spectacular fall in 2024 and ripped the knees of a pair of good walking trousers [not in a stylish way]. I did manage to replace these in a sale and we continue a one-in one-out policy on clothes. Where possible we have scoured charity shops for clothing, particularly for fancy dress parties. An environmental and spending thumbs down.

Experiences – £16,061 [47% of total spending] [2023 £13,619 / 47%]

Holidays [still our favourite spending line] – £7,358, [2023 £4,481] – This paid for around 17 weeks of holidays in 2024. We spent 86 nights in our campervan [including five weeks in France]. We also tried some non-campervan holidays including a couple of weeks self-catering in Scotland and a pushing-the-boat-out trip to Italy. This was our February visit to Turin and Florence for an unforgettable two-week trip by train that cost £3,000. We have also stayed in one of Manchester’s Premier Inns about half a dozen times when we are visiting for friend’s celebrations. Taking the train to Italy is at least 80% less in carbon dioxide emissions than flying and is much more fun!

Restaurants & cafes – £3,554, [2023 £2,687] – Wow! What can I say, we clearly love going out for coffee and food and watching the world go by!

Running the campervan [servicing & insurance etc] – £1,975 [2023 £3,475] – 2024 has been a much cheaper year for our campervan as it has required no major work, just the usual services, insurance and MOT.  A campervan does burn fossil fuels, so a thumbs down for the environment but camping holidays are cheaper, so a plus for our pockets!

Diesel for the above ‘van – £1,076 [2023 £1,210 ] – We can’t save the planet single-handed but we can try. One way is to use our campervan [our only vehicle] as little as we can. For short journeys we walk or cycle and for longer trip we take the bus or the train if it is feasible.

Tickets for concerts, football & attractions – £1,081 [2023 £696] – We continued getting out to see good films at the cinema in 2024 (The Outrun was a favourite] but around 20% of this spending was during our holiday to Florence. We didn’t visit everything in the city but entrance fees are high in Italy.

Public transport costs – £1,017 [2023 £1,070] – A consequence of using our own vehicle less is using public transport more and this figure does not include our train travel to Florence, which comes under holiday spending. In 2024 my partner got his much anticipated bus pass and with the £2 capped bus fares we have used buses without a thought and made the most of it, travelling to the Lake District and out of Morecambe for linear walks. The increase to £3 in 2025 feels steep but by 2026 I will have my own bus pass! We have a Disabled Rail Card to reduce the cost of our train fares and this is our preferred method of getting to Manchester. A return to Manchester is around £30 for the two of us, although unreliability continues to be frustrating. Although rail travel is often more expensive than driving, we prefer to keep our environmental impact as low as we can.

Giving – £1,057 [3% of total spending] [2023 £704 / 2%]

Gifts & donations – £1,057 [2023 £704] – In 2024 we continued to support charities that we care about and an increase in our gifting to charities and family and friends reflects our greater security with more income. We have also both taken up some volunteering in 2024, giving our time and skills to local organisations. By focussing our giving on environmental charities we can be part of the change required.

TOTAL SPENDING FOR 2024 – £33,840

I am pleased that we just came in just under the £34,000 budget. Our actual spending is still much less than the £43,100 quoted in 2024 as the amount needed for a couple to achieve a moderate retirement but well above the minimum amount. I would suggest our retirement is much more than moderate!

2024 has been our highest spending year in retirement. In the last eight years of retirement we have spent an average of £26,619 a year.

By the end of 2025 our pension income will be complete when I reach state pension age. We are currently expecting to spend around £35,500 in 2025 [including another splashing-out holiday]. This will be mostly, but not entirely, funded by income.

Here’s to 2025 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 2024 and your hopes for 2025.