Our Early Retirement Budget- Cash is King and How we fund our travels

[@robinferguson8911]

I'm very fortunate and have retired early (a few years ago now at 51). I'm still in the mindset where I have a hard time spending money, worrying whether I have enough. Thank you for sharing your numbers. It's so helpful to compare to you guys because you live similarly (but with more travel) to me. My goal for 2025 is to loosen up a bit and do more traveling, to enjoy my life and to share more of what I have. Happy New Year to you both!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Robin. From what we have read- this is a really common issue with retirees and we have spent our whole lives being conditioned into saving for our future, and we don't really know how to let go. There are some staggering data from US studies show that even in late retirement, many retirees are still accruing wealth for "a rainy day" and never get the joy of using it. Obviously there is a balance between spending intentionally and spending irresponsibly. Thanks for the support and Happy New Year to you too👍

[@jnixo9900]

Same. I haven't retired but all my debts are paid and house is owned so I'm now moving into full savings mode. However I have to learn to loosen up and change my mindset and start living a bit more. Very hard when you've worked and saved your whole life.

[@RosemaryOltarzewski]

So true great comment. 😊 ​@@earlyretirementwanderlust

[@TimJefferis]

You guys are absolute legends. So relatable, so honest, so natural on camera. Your success is well deserved 🙂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we do really enjoy what we are doing which helps

[@christinebrush4399]

Greetings from North bay Ontario. Thank you for not doing Patreon etc. I have followed several people from their start only to get shut out when they went Patreon. It felt like all my early support was tossed aside. I am 78, born and bred in Brum. But emigrated to Canada in 1967. You should plan a trip to Nova Scotia where my husband and I lived for 50 years. But not just the usual Cape Breton and Peggy's cove. Travel the south shore and enjoy some awesome beaches and villages. Sadly, after 52 years together my precious husband died. so PLEASE. Enjoy every lovely minute together...it is so quickly taken from us.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

No worries - not something we will ever do 😊 We are hoping one day to take our new van over to Canada and tour between there and the US - there is a company that ships them into Halifax - Nova Scotia 🚐 Sorry to hear about your husband - I can imagine after 52 years there is a huge empty space. We are certainly having a good go at making memories and making the most of our precious time together.

[@christinebrush4399]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust If you take the South Shore route from Halifax, very near Liverpool is Kejimekujik National park where you can camp on a lot in your van. Or park your van and canoe the awesome lake to one of several isolated sites on little islands where you can camp.. There was nothing to beat a skinny dip at our rmote site with nothing but the Loons ( birds) to see us:):) It is awesome. We did that a lot.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@christinebrush4399 sounds fantastic ❤️

[@CiaraORourke-n2e]

Thanks for being so transparent with your numbers. Your income from Google is well deserved for the very interesting content you provide to this community. ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

I appreciate that! We do really enjoy what we are doing x

[@audreysutherland4739]

You Tubers with integrity. Quite unusual these days but thank you for staying true to your own guiding principles. Love your content x

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@ad9898]

This is your best video yet regarding early retirement. The figures are also great info, it gives people an idea of just what can be achieved when you look after your finances.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you...feedback like this really does make a difference to us when we read it🙏. Glad that the extra detail helped👍

[@Sharon-bw8zh]

Great vlog for anyone thinking of early retirement (or retirement later for that matter) - I went through the same sort of thought processes and my structure is very similar to yours - I also increased my pension pot payment for about 3 years up to retirement taking advantage of ‘salary sacrifice’ offered as part of my employer’s pension scheme. A few £ a month contributions (which I would have probably just spent/not missed) can make a lot of difference.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - I think for the next generation coming through school now it should be a compulsory part of the curriculum to learn about how pensions, tax and savings work so they are more savvy in their planning for old age - sadly I feel they will find themselves in a very different world to us. Hope you are enjoying your retirement as much as we do 😊

[@isleofthorns]

All good info and tips, but the most important lesson here is for couples to be on the same page and rowing in the same direction!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Absolutely - it would be so hard if we both wanted different things in our early retirement or if one of us resented having to budget carefully 😊

[@Trevor.Adams640]

We’ve also retired early, me at 60 and my wife at 53 and we also have a VW Campervan. We try to get away at least once a month for a week and we have a longer trip each September (we have other commitments in the summer on certain days of the week). We’ve been all over the UK in our van but we’ve not yet been abroad in it. We’ve had it for just over 5 years now. You give a great insight into your life and give us some good ideas of places to go.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Trevor...we have found that our little van has changed our life for the better over the 7 years we have owned him. It brings us so much joy when we are out and about👍 Glad that you are finding the same. Thanks for the positive feedback. It is always greatly appreciated🙏

[@simondavies9315]

My favourite tip was how you practiced living on the retirement budget BEFORE you retired. Not only was it a reality check but as you said it meant you saved a bit more for the day you stopped working. We found that once we retired, saving money became a hobby in itself.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Simon, it is true, it really did help us to reframe our thinking and prepare for living more simply...which we love👍

[@JC-kh1ut]

You have good values and set a wonderful example. Thank you for sharing. I just became‘unemployed’ 8 days ago! and using the next few months to see if I can make it permanent… you give me lots to think about and action. Thanks

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this JC- gutted for you about the job situation, but if something positive for you comes out of it that will be ace. We love what we do, but we think about every expense, and actually say no to way more stuff than we say yes to. It is really quite refreshing and becomes a real habit. Best of luck with your planning, which ever way you choose to play it. 👍

[@0runny]

Loved this video. You guys are a great inspiration for younger people. I retired aged 45 in 2015. I couldn't have done it without hard sacrifices throughout my working years and you guys show how it can be done practically moving forward. Also, use a pre-paid card and top it up with £200 every week.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we know we are lucky to have been able to stick to our plans and retire early - and as you say a few sacrifices in our working years helped - we never lived a lavish life style eating out a lot so we are comfortable with the life that we now live. We have opened an online bank account now where we can pot our money into different pots for spending so may resort to using that if it does keep getting harder to spend cash!

[@TravelwithTanyaandSimon]

As a couple who are close to retirement and have set up a travel KZbin channel 7 months ago, I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for sharing your journey. As a current teacher, I’m hoping this will keep not mind active when I get to retire. ❤ thank you

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It's a pleasure - it sounds like you are on a similar journey to us! For Richard particularly - KZbin has helped give him a purpose and he enjoys the challenge of learning all the new skills needed. Good luck with all your plans - when do you retire?

[@TravelwithTanyaandSimon]

@ we are a bit off yet (54 and 55 this year) but we are thinking about early retirement. I watched your travels through Thailand recently and we are in Australia so are going to try 3 months in Thailand and Vietnam this year to see what the realities of the budget are. We are going to KZbin our experiences to share with others who are contemplating the same. Simon is actually English from Merseyside. Anyway thanks for the videos. I do enjoy watching others approach to long term travel and retirement.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Have a great time - we loved Thailand and can't wait to go back at some point

[@TheWalkingThomasGuide]

Thanks for the rundown! I think you really hit the nail on the head when you talked about skipping the tea out in town. Sometimes we want things but don't really need them, at least not enough to pay such a premium for them, and your method of having cash definitely makes you more aware of what you are spending. Of course, you may decide to splurge, but you are still aware, which I feel is the important part!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

What I do like is that it does feel like a treat when we splurge out a little whereas when we were working we enjoyed going out regularly but it was just the normal thing we did - now it is a real luxury!

[@TheWalkingThomasGuide]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust It's amazing what a little bit of perspective will do!

[@mikelyford]

Thanks again for another great video. As I approach early retirement myself (at 55, in a few months time) there’s always some good advice or ideas I pick up from your videos. I have very recently imparted the same budgeting advice to my adult daughter, who is living on her own and managing household expenses for the first time. Whilst I agree with the “Cash is King!” statement, it can become a little difficult when also spending on a card (online purchases). I think the underlying strength of this strategy is knowing what you can spend on a weekly basis and the transparency of what you have. For my daughter, her bank account offers the ability to segregate money into “pots”. (I believe there many accounts out there with this ability). When she now gets paid, she sets aside her weekly pots for the month ahead and focuses on making those last for the allocated weeks. Very easy to track online and allows for both cash withdrawals and online spends. Maybe worth considering for yourselves, if you’ve sometimes found the cash points have run dry!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have done the same with our 2 children who have both bought houses in the last 12 months. They both have starling bank accounts and that they make use of all the different pots to save and budget from. When we came back from Thailand the first thing we did was open a starling account as they don't make huge charges when using you card abroad - we might look into making a spending pot 😊

[@beckypaullongwayhome]

We always enjoy hearing how other people budge and control their spending. We really shy away from cash and much prefer using the record keeping of our online banks to monitor and track against our budget. Carry on with the great content

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Becky...I guess that we are not as comfortable with our online banking as others. Our kids are amazing and rarely carry cash...much to our bemusement! Thanks for your support👍

[@bellomotorcycleslimited5011]

Brilliant, my wife is retiring from teaching early @ 55…. Your videos are helping her to understand that we need to budget lol… 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad they are of some help 😊

[@RosemaryOltarzewski]

Living the dream 🎉 well done guys we're also retired and having the best time of our lives. 😊🎉 thank you for sharing your top tips. Rosie O 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are quite welcome Rosie🙏

[@BlackDogOrangeKettle]

Another great video. So appreciate your candour with real sums. It’s reassured me I am on track 😊 I’m also really pleased you are getting money out of Google they can afford it! Respect for maintaining your values sponsorship/patreons. Excited to see how the year unfolds, enjoy your travels. 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this- we are glad that you recognise what we are trying to do. We are also exited for the year ahead, as we genuinely have hardly any plans compared to this time last year. Who knows where it will take us? Thanks as always for the support👍

[@pankajthakrar1679]

Thank you both. Great to see what’s actually possible . You are very lucky to be on the same page re finances and what brings joy without breaking the bank 🙏🏽

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this- we absolutly agree. If we were on different pages it would be much more challenging! Thanks for the comment👍

[@BrianOGorman-g2e]

Well done you too for been so candid. We run a spread sheet every 3 months. Microsoft office now charge to use excel so moved to Google sheets , free and just as good. Our cottage only has electricity and a multi fuel . £12 coal lasts us 4 days . We also have a dual electric tarrif which is great. Very keen on DIY which helps. Learn most tips on KZbin. Locally we share tools, which may involve buying someone a pint! Keep up the good work. Thanks

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Brian- yep gutted about the Excel subscription. We are staying with it for the moment as we use PP so much in our YT stuff. Seems that a lot of companies are jumping on the bandwagon with subscriptions- we had to let Adobe Lightroom go as it was getting outrageous. Adobe are terrible for this. Love the idea of sharing tools...what a great community project, no matter how informal...and it involves pints- BONUS! Thanks for the support👍

[@johnhuntley8365]

Just come across this channel right up my street fair play to the 2 of you

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - glad you found it interesting 😊

[@DebbieHorner-rz4ko]

Many thanks for sharing your real numbers. Makes me realise that you can have an amazing time without spending a huge amount. Please keep up your great work.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Debbie for such kind words- glad that it resonated with you. 👍

[@Dodi-b7d]

Thanks for being so open about your finances. I appreciate it a lot.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is strange talking about finances but budgets but it is something so many people worry about x

[@SharonMcMillan]

What an excellent video! I feel like I say this all the time but I incorporate many of your savings, cooking and well-being strategies into our family life and it has been really good for us! Thanks Jackie and Richard! ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are so welcome Sharon - it feels strange talking about our finances but it a question we get asked so much!

[@suzannerogers-pt1xx]

Found your videos today. Very inspiring and you’re both great in front of the camera. Look forward to watching more 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks so much! 😊 Glad you have found them interesting. It has taken some getting used to talking in front of a camera but we are getting there!

[@nevertoolate8589]

Thanks for sharing your real numbers. Many aren’t willing to do that. You’ve had an amazing year and the channel is growing nicely.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are quite welcome- we decided that we weren't giving away state secrets, so we were ok with that. Hope it helped? 👍

[@nevertoolate8589]

@ definitely! It’s nice to see you have a realistic budget and costs. Many early retirement groups mention pots worth millions and expensive lifestyles. It’s good to see it can be done. My numbers are close to yours.

[@stephensinnhuber8401]

Thank you for sharing so openly. Very interesting and informative.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful 😊

[@flyingshutters3438]

Thanks for sharing your numbers. This sort of real world data is incredibly useful

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you found it useful - it is something we have been asked about by lots of people 😊

[@LaurenceRutherford]

Very interesting watch… thank you for sharing what for many are personal details. Some very good points and advice here.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have been asked quite frequently what our budget is like - I think it is a stumbling block for many people knowing if you will have enough to live off.

[@nevenmcanea584]

I studied finance and investments just after we were married 33 years ago. Compound interest is the 8th Wonder of the World. We run a similar budget and have travel 8 times a year. Avoid mindless and unnecessary spending. We don't smoke or drink and that makes a huge difference, plus a lot healthier

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is amazing how well you can live on a reasonable budget and like you say still get away travelling lots. 🚐😊

[@gillgreene1322]

Thanks so much. Fantastic info, so good to be able to measure our theoretical retirement pot against all that you guys do and feel confident that we are on the right track.🎉

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It’s a strange one talking about budgets as everyone has very different views and expectations on what you can live on comfortably- having an extra stream of income that still allows us to travel and do what we love is a real life saver

[@pmac6584]

Good to hear from others retiring early. I swapped one car to electric (i3rex) and bought a house battery, this reduced my electric bills to almost zero and no petrol/diesel bill to speak of. I already had solar and shares in ripple energy wind farm. It makes sense to reduce your outgoing for essentials .

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

As solar becomes more main stream and sophisticated it is something we may look into and hopefully there may be some grants available to help get things set up in the future - but at the moment our electric bill is only about £50 a month and there is no gas so we are quite energy efficient 😊

[@pmac6584]

Hi, when you do the calculations remember to include petrol savings, electricity drops from 26p to 7p per kwh, you get paid 15p per kwh that you don’t use and export to the grid. Ripple is returning about 10% at the moment. So it isn’t just the one bill, plus EVs typically need less maintenance so budget halving of that bill too. It is actually way more difficult to predict than I thought but so far I am glad I secured a low cost future free of inflation and energy shocks. The ability to run the house in a power cut is a soft benefit that I haven’t needed so far.

[@janl7552]

A great timely video to remind me to grip those ‘budgetary reigns’ for 2025! 😊👍 Many thanks for sharing.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Jan - we are back on it 😊

[@Bobtowncreative]

Another wonderful video, the full disclosure and transparency is so refreshing. Thank you, happy travels.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you enjoyed it! It is something we get asked about an awful lot as I think it is the biggest concern people have - will I have enough money to live on?

[@SnowyAspenHills]

Those coffee stops soon add up, it’s frightening how much money you can spend on days out. When one is working it’s not so bad but without income for any period of time those treats will have to be further between. That’s the great thing about the van is being able to make a brew and a snack even on days out. Best money one can spend is on a KZbin subscription and not have to watch advertisements. I couldn’t watch any channel regardless of how good or interesting it is with advertisements interrupting the video, why I don’t watch mainstream TV anymore. This has been an interesting and informative video.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The coffee stops do soon add up- especially if you pay by just tapping a card! We have got pretty good at getting great value on our days out with a picnic and cooking in the van which is no hardship at all to spend so long in beautiful places. I bet the subscription is a game changer if you watch a lot of KZbin 😊

[@rebeccagreen692]

That is very interesting to see a proper breakdown of what you spend😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is strange talking about budgets but it is something so many people worry about x

[@godsont]

Absolutely brilliant that you are happy to share actual numbers. There are loads of early retirement youtubers - but you never know the actual numbers. I think there is room in the market for people to share actual numbers. We are currently in the pre-retirement testing phase and working on £550 Bills (includes heating) and £1200 per month for Living (food, going out etc). Like you "big holidays" come from outside that budget. One observation - I assume your teachers pension is £2000 per month for life plus inflation. So when you are 66/67 you will then get state pension which will be a massive payrise :-)

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - it is something we have been asked about many times and I know we struggled to find much out there to help us when we were trying to work out budgets to retire early. Obviously everyone will have a different budget they have to stick to and some people would not want to scrimp and save but for us it is plenty to do what we want. We have also clocked that at 67 it will be happy days!! We are hoping if we get our new van next year when we can access our teachers pension and lump sum, then we won't need to replace cars or vans until we get our state pension, same for doing any big jobs on the house if needed 😊

[@smithric]

Congrats. A very enjoyable 20 min watch ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@letschatfamilyfinances]

Wow! Impressive what you accomplished and the high quality of life you’ve had on what seems to me to still be a very small income! Thank you for sharing!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we certainly try and make every penny count and still be able to get away travelling as much as possible 🚐

[@nzmoneykarma]

I'm with you- cash is king :-) I laughed at R getting to hold the money. When we travel we do a daily allocation- I hold the wad of cash but my husband holds the "daily" amount and will buy the things we need as we go- neither of us will ever give up the role we hold- I love the allocation- he likes holding the $$$. We always think- we can do anything BUT just not all at once! Great vid!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this- we love your arrangements😂 When we were in work, I never had any responsibility for anything when we were on holiday, Jackie looked after all the cash and I wandered round blissfully unaware of anything. I think that it has transitioned across into our retirement😂 Occasionaly she does allow me to look after the weekly allocation and I love it...but quite happy to hand responsibility over at the end of the week👍 Thanks for the support🙏

[@andrewmorgan3765]

Stumbled across your you tube channel …. Very refreshing 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@PeterKirton-nu9iv]

I know how much effort a KZbinr has to put in for us the viewer to watch a 20 - 50 min video as I know a couple of the car KZbin people . ( a five day shoot because of bad weather many many hours of editing for a sub one hour film). You deserve every penny you can make

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - Richard has honed his editing skills and can now turn a video round in a couple of days depending what the subject is - we still enjoy what we do which is the main thing 😊

[@M-yk9bi]

That was really helpful. I am retiring early soon and have a gap to finance. I enjoy travelling too. I was hoping around £40 K per year as a singleton would be reasonably comfortable, and I was glad to hear your year cost £34 K, so it looks in the right ballpark. Thanks for being so clear and transparent. By the way, your food looks wonderful!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for your kind words. We are really glad that the content resonated and was of use to you. We are really happy with the budget we have and the compromises we have made to get there- it has led to a really fulfilling early retirement so far. We are no chefs, but we love our home cooked food- and it means we can keep things on budget😂 Thanks for the support👍

[@AM-dw5xr]

Great little watch , you both inspire us to live life to the full .

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@lenafietst8237]

Really well done. Practical and with good principles. Have a good time skiing!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - just driven an hour through snow blizzards in Northern France - good job we have the all season tyres for the mountains!

[@lynnmcfadden3164]

Great video. I love the fact you guys are very honest in what you spend. The cash is king principle is a great idea. Have a great trip 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you! cash is king definitely works for us x

[@symeonides1]

Very insightful - can't believe how much you have travelled in 2024!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We definitely embraced our wanderlust last year! 🚐✈️⛰️🏝️⛷️

[@Kiwitripn]

Thank you so much for sharing your journey! As a teacher myself this is inspirational.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are quite welcome. We are loving what we do...as you can probably tell😉 In our humble opinion, you are in the best profession in the world👍

[@keithstockdale9633]

Hi Richard and Jackie. Myself and my partner have really enjoyed watching your channel for over a year now. Thankyou for being so open in general and about your budget. Its really helpful to know what will work. Its amazing that you've packed in so much travel and I cant believe that you are off again so quickly after Thailand! The new intro is fine as was the old one, but please, please, please dont ever change the outro music! Its so perfect for your videos! I actually went and looked up what it was - its become our little in joke that we hum it to each other sometimes when discussing the future together 😃🚐

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Keith- we both LOL at your comment about the outro music😂 We are so glad that you are enjoying what we do and it is proving some worth. Thanks for the comment👍

[@mattg4101]

Great video - gave out real relatable examples.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you liked it!

[@magsadams20]

Thank you for sharing your budget, it certainly gives us food for thought. Happy travels

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad it was helpful!

[@michelleconlon6237]

Thanks so much for sharing. The transparency is really refreshing and appreciated. We are not quite there yet, but it feels very doable in the near future. Thank you and looking forward to your 2025 content 😊❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for your ongoing support of the channel and all that we do Michelle. It is very much appreciated👍 Have a good one too🙏

[@TeamGavlar]

Thank you for this. It’s really helpful to have some actual real life numbers. Especially as we are now planning for our retirement which is almost a decade away. I think someone else has mentioned it but I can highly recommend a bank account that allows you to have different pots. We use Starling and you can even get a virtual card so you could easily replace cash with a pot to keep tracks of everything. We also use it to pay a fixed amount into individual pots each month to cover this annual costs and car servicing, it helps make them become fixed costs. And the adverts are annoying but it’s worth it to hear your real life experiences! Thank you.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have literally just opened a starling account after our Thailand trip where NatWest were diabolical with their charges using a card abroad and we are in the process of swapping things over. Our kids are going to show us how they set up all their pots this while we are all away skiing 😊 thanks for watching

[@TeamGavlar]

@ it’s a shame Starling don’t pay interest unless it’s a saving space (which you can’t have from a joint account). The spaces are great and the virtual card you can have is a fantastic idea. When we go away we just add a virtual card to our Apple Pay and then use that. So easy.

[@adammawdesley7913]

Great candid and insightful video, really helping us get ready for our own retirement. I am really pleased to hear you are making some money on KZbin…to get a return on something like your videos that all of us get for free is brilliant, well done and keep ‘em coming ! ❤️

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Adam👍 Glad that you are enjoying what we are doing. Thanks for the support🙏

[@GravelGrandma]

a very practical outlook and refreshing viewpoint. Thought provoking! thanks

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Suzanne- glad that you found it of use👍

[@aarondawkins8668]

I really liked this video and got a lot of value from it. Thanks

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DaveH-t9s]

great insight guys and we try and do the weekly thing you talked about in another video. Living in the van saves us a lot of money for the normal utilities. However we took the cottage for the winter and have realised a return to the van in April to run the campsite is a must! We have a small contingency fund for emergencies which we never touch if possible. Thanks Dave

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Sounds great Dave. We love our time in our campervan, but we also love returning to our "base" when we are not travelling. It still feels like returning to a cozy little holiday home👍 Thanks for the comment🙏

[@ollie1317]

Love this,i am not there but can't believe how much of this is inline with my thinking,sadly i cant do the travel as wife disabled but lots of watersport stuff i can do to keep myself busy living near south coast. I have effectively been testing my retirement budget for a few years as what i think i need is based on the current money i spend after saving huge chunk to works pension and cash to retire asap. All very interesting especially the last bit with your overall spending including 30 weeks traveling coming in for both of you at just a few grand more than the "expert" opinion on a "moderate" retirement for a single person.Can see you are pretty sensible with the budget but struggle to see how 30 weeks traveling a year can be considered closer to a minimum than moderate standard of living and really shows how important it is for people to ignore some of the nonsense guides and do their own calculations based on individual circumstances and expectations and go for it before its too late!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Ollie- we think that you are spot on in your assesment of this. There is so much advice out their, you could almost get into a state of decision paralysis if you thought about it all. The thing we have always done is take the advice at face value and then spend time thinking about how it applies to us. There is no one size fits all in retirement, it is an entirely individual situation. We just try to lead as a fulfilled life as possible and work with what we have got. We absolutly agree that life is short, and that is the main driving force behind everything that we do as a couple and as individuals. Thanks for the support👍

[@simondavies9315]

We set a budget then remembered we hadn't got a pot for incidentals like coffee, bus fares, clothes shopping, going to gigs, books, online shopping, hobbies etc. We set aside £7k but in reality this is less than £10 each per day. It's amazing how the little things add up.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It's the incidentals that really do add up, and also the unpredictable expenses- that's why we really do need a contingency pot...other wise we are living in la-la land with a budget that is unrealistic. 👍

[@MrCotto777]

Very insightful, I am retiring early this year and I am very nervous about if I have enough pension and savings, luckily my wife has agreed to work another year so this will allow me to get use to a reduced income over 12months. Thanks for the video. I am also thinking of finding a part time job if I have to as a last resort. Lee.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is quite a daunting feeling when you make the final decision to retire and I remember feeling quite panicky after handing in our notice as it feels so final. We quickly realised nothing actually has to be permanent - retiring early is reversible if the worst came to the worst but like you say, the more likely outcome is maybe doing some part time work in a less stressful job to top up your income. All the best with both of your plans - we have not got any regrets after over 2.5 years 😊

[@jasonthomas5925]

Always a great video ;) Loving the numbers 👍. So simple really 🤔 ❤🇬🇧👍

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks! 😃

[@stevenbulmer6424]

Booths! Not cheap, but very nice food. My wife’s favourite shopping experience 😂.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Definitely not cheap apart from their meat deals at 3 For £12 🤣

[@stevenbulmer6424]

@ , we’ve just had a weekend in Barbon (lovely place), finished with a trip to Kirby Lonsdale’s Booths, 3 chickens for £12, absolutel bargain!

[@pedrozatravel]

It is hard to budget, but it is super important.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Agreed👍

[@kungfooslap2983]

Good thing is you can always do some light seasonal work if needed in the future.sometimes budgets slip and rightly so…thanks for your openness.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Agreed. We have friends that have done some campsite hosting work and they absolutly love it👍 Thanks for the support🙏

[@nobrainwashing6485]

Hi guys. I just found this channel and love it! Especially this budgeting advice, really helpful 🎉

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Welcome to the channel, glad you are enjoying some of our content 😊

[@gillgoode7470]

Love watching you both. Useful and informative budgeting. While I very much see where you are coming from with your KZbin funding, I think everyone is different and particularly some younger people may be unable to make the same principled choices as you for financial reasons. Sadly I have also seen some limit audiences because of hateful comments.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Gill- very much appreciated. We have noticed that retirement is quite an emotive subject on the web with some people having some pretty strong views on it. We do not ATM. We absolutely agree with the point you raised about the younger generation- it is so true. 👍

[@timbrown1521]

Love these videos. Thanks and have a great trip in France. Bon voyage!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we are in a lovely little town below Dijon tonight

[@AnneRogersPhoto]

I've used cash for years, for the exact reason that it's easy to see what is actually in my purse. All those £3/£5 'taps' add up scarily quickly.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is amazing how quickly you can forget how many times you have tapped your card and then look back at your account in shock!

[@alegna4132]

So true re coffee and cake expense. I made a boiled fruit cake and a date and pecan loaf recently after seeing slices in a cafe at £4.50 per portion! My bakes portioned out at those prices would be £36 per cake. Unbelievable.

[@magsadams20]

So true! Can’t believe how expensive a piece cake can be.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The maths of it is quite scary...but we don't begrudge cafe owners making a profit as it must be so difficult these days. For us, we now treat our cake as a real event- rather than something that we do on a regular basis. There is nothing better than a piece of cake and a big pot of tea after a cold winter walk in the hills. BTW- your cake options sound fab❤️

[@alegna4132]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust yes I am not saying we don't buy a cake and coffee occasoionally but when you cost it out its a surprisie. Cheers

[@SteveMoore1969]

Wow £36! .at least I have Lidl carrot cake at £3 a box kept telling myself "You can't buy happiness but you can buy cake"

[@paulstanley880]

Common sense approach, were one year away and doing the living on a budget trial so far so good , keep enjoying your retirement.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Paul- glad that the budget is working out. We actually love what we do at the moment and look back on our spending in our previous life with some regret. We actually need very little to be happy and healthy. Thanks for the comment👍

[@annajeram9251]

Really good advice, thank you for sharing 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are welcome! 😊

[@dominic8218]

Some great insights here both. Love the way you set out your budget. We are similar, however still tap and go! Like the cash idea 💡

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️ I find it harder to keep track when we tap and go especially if you are away for a weekend and you get back and check your transactions and go 😳 what did we buy. The run up to Christmas was a good example of that 🤣 but we are back on it now

[@grahamclarke2319]

This is a really useful video. It’s full of handy tips. Thanks.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you Graham - it is something that we get asked about all the time - hopefully it helps people considering early retirement or just retirement in general 😊

[@ProjectFrugal]

A budget is a must and the dinners looked nice - Getting hungry now - Greetings from NZ :)

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks- we love our home cooking❤️

[@fionaridley5011]

Excellent video, so much of your advice we're already incorporating into our less work more adventuring future we've been planning the last couple of years.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Fiona- glad that it has been of some use to you. Good luck with your plans👍

[@philbull818]

I like your new intro music. Good advice. Set a budget and control expenditure. I am a great fan of spreadsheets and monitored all our costs so if we overspent one month we could cut back the next. December was always an expensive month, but January was a cheap month using up left overs. I used to add car servicing and insurance costs into my fixed costs so that I have enough saved up for that regular time of year. Also I would save some money for travel each month, but big adventures came out of savings. We downsized our house, which did not produce a huge amount of capital after legal and agents costs, but is has given us a smaller more economical house to run. We can also walk to Booths to do our shopping, so we hardly use our car. Now we are 66 we get free bus passes, which opens up all sort of travel options ( there are some great KZbin channels on this). Hope you enjoy the alps, although we have plenty of snow on the Dales. Phil

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Phil- after 2 years with the old intro, we figured we needed a refresh. We find it really useful to have our monthly review where we go through all our spends. Agreed that you have to take a more holistic approach than simply bottom line figures. We have found that our use of contingency funds monthly and annually really help with the inevitable surprises. We know a lot of people who are shifting to public transport around their hiking trails- we are quite impressed with how the Dales have it set up...although we have quite a time to wait for our bus passes. You might be interested in our observations on our downsizing in an upcoming video we have in the pipeline.👍

[@cornwallandbeyondwithsmith8119]

Another fantastic and honest vlog with some great advice. Certainly something to take on board. Just need some of your willpower 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The will power comes from being determined to be able to fit in as much travel as we can on our budget - whenever we think about having a treat meal out we think about that money paying for another campsite instead!!

[@Footyballer69]

Thanks. Success!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You're welcome!

[@MichaelBell-m6g4m]

As a recently retired Financial Adviser (at 60) the biggest frustration for me was that the majority of clients cannot stick to a budget, with clients not lucky enough to have a final salary pension ( like Teachers!) they will be relying on funds built up over a long time. Your coffee and cake, meal deal lunch example is exactly the sort of thing I used for example, when you are paying this , usually by card let's say £5 a day each not really that much but it = £70 per week = £3640 per year = £109200 over 30 years and with some growth from investment over that time could easy be about £150,000 for a very simple thing to do. If you want early retirement plan early and save/invest. Thankfully it's behind me now and I'M enjoying my first few months retirement

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Michael- it is exactly what our son says. He is very early into his investment advising career, but he says it is the hardest thing for people to take on board. I guess it depends on where your priorities lie? If you want to retire early, you have to maximise your "pot", and to do that you need to make compromises in some way. The simple maths of a daily coffee is astonishing! Glad that you are enjoying the other side of working life now. Thanks for the comment- really useful for us and the community👍

[@tony_fleming]

I retired early at 54 from the fire service, my wife was made redundant, so we went travelling, after 6 months in Thailand we returned, refurbished our property sold bought an investment flat and rented it out and bought a brand new 42 foot catamaran. We sailed for four years visiting 21 countries including crossing the Atlantic, total of 11000 nautical miles. We sold the boat last year and returned to the UK to deal in property. Now we are building our wealth to do the same again in a few years, the intention is to travel without worrying about following a budget.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Wow Tony...what an adventure! The sailing adventure must have been truly amazing- stuff like that blows our mind! Good luck with your plans and your future adventures...how do you top that? Have a good one👍

[@paguk2000]

Hi very enjoyable channel. The adds help you create more content for us to enjoy so watching a few adds is my contribution towards that.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks - that is a great way of looking at it!!

[@allisonbennett641]

Thank you Jackie & Richard. Very informative and inspiring vlog once again. Love your channel and look forward to seeing where 2025 will take you ! Happy New Year to you both x

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Allison for your continued support of the channel and what we do. It is very much appreciated🙏 Happy New Year to you too. 👍

[@BoninBrighton]

I got involved in leading walking history tours in my home City for 3 years. I did this via MeetUp and people gave me ‘tips’ or bought me a coffee via an app. I didn’t want to make a profit so mostly the income simply covered all my costs which included paying for MeetUp and public liability insurance etc, so in effect I had a great hobby that paid for itself.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

A great way to meet people and make it a 'free' activity for yourself 😊

[@jillchew-tetlaw3388]

Once again very informative, thank you. We shop at Booths for the ‘meat deals’ when we are at our caravan but find it very expensive for run of the mill stuff. 12 months ago we swapped to Aldi from Morrisons (both at home and at the caravan) and are saving on average £15 per week.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Jill- when we moved to the Dales we were gobsmacked by the Booths meat deal...we use that deal a lot, but like you, would not shop there for our staples. Funnily enough, our kids and any visitors to the house love a little visit to Booths😂 We are also avid Aldi shoppers for our main shopping- and we always have been. We just need to be more organised as our closest Aldi is now 20 miles away😬

[@jillchew-tetlaw3388]

@ totally understand your visitors liking a visit to Booths. For me it’s the ‘Waitrose’ of the north.

[@mrmobsi527]

Thanks, that was inspirational. If we ever meet, I'll buy you both a pint (I'll pay for it in cash, obviously!).

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Pay by cash...I nearly spat my tea out when I read this😂😂😂 Thanks Mr Mobsi- love your YT photo👍😻

[@markgutter8443]

Good talk. Thanks for sharing.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You are welcome. We are glad that you enjoyed it👍

[@Cherryfieldoffgrid]

Love you guys ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@mikesymike]

Good, helpful video thanks. 👍👏👏👏

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@ColinGuest-i8l]

Saw Nelson 5am this morning in Dover. Off to the Alps. Hopefully see you there. 👍🏻

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

🤣🚐🏔️⛷️staying in Dole tonight

[@GaryJDavies]

Great video Richard and Jackie - I always enjoy your vlogs but found this one particularly inspiring. Will be popping it in my favourites and showing it to my wife ☺️ We’re a similar age to you and I’ve been working out how we can “escape” early and trying to get our outgoings down. I enjoy cutting back on everyday expenses, but was worried about ensuring we included enough for fun stuff like travelling (we have a campervan too!) You have shown that it’s possible to have a great life with plenty of travel but still not spend silly money, it’s very encouraging. More of this type of vlog please 🙏 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you found it helpful - we love the fact that in the uk we can pack up the van with our normal weekly shop, wild camp a couple of nights a few nights on a campsite and we are still in our weekly budget if we are careful. It is a really scary big leap of faith to actually early retire and as we said we did need to find an income stream in order to be able to travel - Airbnb was going to be our go to option with a few hrs of tutoring that we could do remotely. We were surprised at how many options there are actually available with some creative thinking to gain a small income. Something a couple of our subscribers have mentioned they do is house and pet sitting which helps them travel to different locations for free or a small income.

[@GaryJDavies]

Yes that’s the beauty of the campervan - it’s not for everyone, but we enjoy the simple life. That’s interesting - I have factored in a bit of side hustle income in my plans - partly for financial reasons, but also to retain some sense of purpose after retirement, in place of work. Many thanks again 👍🏻

[@AngelaMiller-g5c]

This is fab and helpful. Thank you.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Angela- we thought that you might like this one. (There is a good spreadsheet behind it all😉) Hope you guys are keeping well and having a fab time👍

[@susanadams4964]

Thank you for this excellent video. My husband will be retiring later this year and we are becoming much more focused on cutting out things that don't add value. For example, a sandwich and drink at a service station because we didn't pack sandwiches is a no, however, tea and cake on an otherwise inexpensive day out might be worth it and we appreciate it all the more. We have a daughter who's in Australia at the moment and one of our sons is about to move to Canada so we potentially have some big trips to save up for!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

2 exciting potential big trips - both on our bucket list 😊 we have just had our home made butties in a french service station using up the cheese from our fridge 🤣

[@susanadams4964]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Bon voyage!

[@SimonEllwood]

I rarely use cash. You can do similar things just with how you organise your money in bank accounts.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Agreed Simon- our kids laugh at our use of cash as they have various "pots" set up with their online bank- Starling. It is very sophisticated in what the app can do. 👍

[@Markylenn87]

Brilliant Video! First time to this channel. Congratulations to you both on the life you live! 👏 Living the dream by working hard and thoroughly planning it out, very inspirational. You both look very happy and that you are enjoying the life you have created. Fair play to you!! I will be watching back some of your previous videos. I like the look of the mixture of travel videos and a few book reviews in there too. You have a new subscriber in me. Mark, 37 Lincoln.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Mark and welcome to the channel. It's great to hear that you like the eclectic mixture of videos that we put out - it is all about our early retired lifestyle - both travel and how we live a retired life. I guess we are still a little in teacher mode 😂

[@Motorhoming_Dinks]

Another excellent video. We're just starting our "budget year" to see how much our house/lifestyle costs over 12 months. From that figure we can then finalise a date in the future as to when tell the boss to ........😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you! Always best to have your ducks in a row before telling the boss the good news (for you😂) We quite liked the time testing out the budget- it helped us realise how wasteful we had been in the past and how much we could really save in that test period. Good luck and enjoy👍

[@michellejames7650]

I would recommend starting your own log pile, wood needs to be cut and left for a min of 6 - 9 months. That way you can burn has much has you like. I would collect fallen branches when younger.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

When we get back from skiing - our first proper job in the garden is to make a proper log store and start stockpiling wood 🪵😊 It also cheaper to buy it in bulk - our neighbours have given us a couple of great suppliers so we will go to it with a will and be ahead of the game for next winter! Thanks for watching 😊

[@alanbenham4139]

Well done guys. Good discipline.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Alan - the discipline does get tested sometimes but it keeps us on the right path so we don't have to do any proper work 😊

[@chrismac303]

Like the new intro!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We wondered if people would notice 😊

[@katywinfield1192]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust we did it’s fab

[@ClareC-o7y]

I liked everything you said about using cash. Tapping a card is too easy. I might give cash a go.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

I do lose track of what I’ve spent if I just tap for everything 🤣