Anyone live on £900 a month?

Maggie Tulliver
If you have a disability(mental health does count) and you are 65 or over you may be eligible for Attendance Allowance. PIP is a disability benefit for under 65s. This is assuming that you live in England, other countries may differ. Go to GOV.UK and search for attendance allowance. This benefit is not means tested. If you think you may qualify, your local Citizens Advice or Age UK will give you advice on completing the form. Hope this helps.

I would consider claiming Employment Support Allowance if you have mental health issues that are making it difficult to work. Do you have to pay rent/mortgage out of the £900? If not then it’s easily doable.

I have been reading all the really excellent posts on here. Posters have given very good advice and none of it has been negative just practical based on their own experiences and knowledge . This is where gransnet really comes into its own. Whatever you decide maggie I wish you the best of luck.

If you're going to get State Pension in a couple of years, then go for it. Life is too short, and 2 years of mental suffering is too long. There's a lot of great advice here. Just record every penny you spend (it can actually be quite satisfying), and budget for everything. Lidl and Aldi are brilliant for eating well and keeping costs down. Look out for free local activities. If it's possible to downsize, you can always have that as a last resort back up plan. Good luck!

It's a big decision, so very sensible to ask others what their experience has been.
With 8k savings for emergencies, repairs and maybe wee treats, you should be fine. Many people have no savings to speak of, so it gives you a buffer till you get your state pension.
I retired early (62) with a work pension of around £900 but my husband also has his pension, so it's much easier with two incomes.
Most people don't seem to regret retiring early and your mental health is very important. Maybe check out whether there would be any benefits available, especially if you officially retire on health grounds.
We had severe flooding at our house and it took a horrendous year and a half to get a payment which allowed us to move elsewhere, my DH's health isn't great and GC number 8 was on the way, so I decided retiring early was a better option than working long hours in a stressful job to earn a bigger pension. It will also get easier once I get my state pension this July - the time has passed very quickly!

I live on the State Pension and get less than £900 to live on. Life is a struggle and if I want/need anything, I have to save up because I won't get into debt. Be very cautious about giving up work just yet unless you really have to.

I could manage on that amount monthly, but I have savings just in case anything happens to house, car, etc. I don't have foreign holidays anymore, I Airbnb here in N.Ireland, which I love anyway. I find meters great, I put gas money on it through the summer too, so I've some gathered up for the winter, same with electricity. I pay my insurances in full and then I know I've only my rates( council tax), my mobile & TV licence direct debits going out each month.

I agree with Gwyneth, this has been a surprisingly interesting and helpful thread.
Casdon and Charley didn't say anything wrong; how silly to think so.

The state pension is sadly considerable lower than the 900 a month you have at the moment and many pensioners in this day and age still have to choose heating or food especially when they feel the cold so I am guessing your other pension is the 900 total then state pension when you receive it will be on top of that which will make a comfortable income to manage,
Wishing you a healthy peaceful retirement ?

Yes, you can live happily on that amount. Your mental health is so important so go for it. When I was living on very little, I regarded it as a challenge and as a way to simplify my life. I became very creative at living well on less and felt extremely virtuous at times! I was younger then, but also had a daughter who would derail my savings plan by outgrowing her shoes, uniform, etc! I am still a member of the library and now enjoy audio books free too. I retired three years ago and regret nothing! Time to take care of yourself.

Hi Good Morning I am nearly 65 live on my own have done for the past 11 years have lived on that amount, you can do anything when you change your mindset change how you do things swap expense for basic enjoyment, I also pay for a spa out of that money look at it this way you can go as much as you want (per covid) and have a small mortgage and run a car
Appreciate the free things in life, nature. look after your Health ?

We are a married couple living on just a very little more than that in Denmark, where prices are slightly higher in the UK.

It can be done, but you have to be careful with money and resist impulsive expenditure of any sort and be prepared to eat cheaply one or two days a week.

Home made soup, porridge for breakfast rather than yoghurt, make your own breadcrumbs by drying the heels of loaves cut into cubes then putting them through an old-fashioned hand-turned mincer (electric one break down if you put dried bread through them") bake your bread yourself and shop for new clothes in charity shops as a general rule.

If you are unwell you can claim Employment Support Allowance, Personal Independence Payment for Care & Mobility. Do NOT struggle

I currently have £1000 a month in state pension and two very small private pensions. The one private pension is paid into a savings account and is used only for emergencies/unexpected bills so that leaves £800. This in the SE, is absolutely not enough to live on so I work 1.5 days a week still in a job I really enjoy and intend to continue that as long as I am healthy. I run a car as well. To be honest I’m not sure how I will manage when I eventually give up work completely . My bills are high and without my salary I would not have enough to manage everything. However I too retired from full time work a year early as my previous job was so stressful it was affecting my mental health

If you have a spare room in your home and can find the right person - maybe through friends/family/neighbours etc. - you can earn up to £7, 500 per year tax free through the Rent a Room scheme. You won't be able to set repairs and maintenance costs against tax though, and you may have to increase your home insurance premiums.

Also, because the accommodation you would be offering is not self contained and is your home, the person would not have tenancy rights. He/she would be a licensee and if things did not work out, you would be able to get rid of them quickly and with little difficulty.

if you still have a mortgage, you may need to inform the mortgage provider.
If you rent your home, you can still do this with the permission of the owner of the property.

Not sure if this would apply to you - I've got power of attorney for a relative who has her state pension and a small work pension of £260. This took her up to about £910 a month. Until she went in to a care home last year she was getting a small pension credit top up as well. I can't remember how much. I'm assuming that £910 must have been considered below the amount required when her income was topped up.

Nannan2

To all of you who 'scrape by' on 900 a mth, many have much less to live on, and no way of improving that after one or two years-Many do- AND with children or other family to feed. its starting to sound on here like a band of 'one- up manship'-with your 'home ownerships,and 'private pensions '- i dislike this attitude.I may just stick to the lighter threads in future.

I get a little more, BUT my council are charging me £200 a WEEK for the basic necessity of having a wash, so with that and a mortgage which I am now struggling with and having to sell, I have no money to eat and heat or look after my constant companions who have been very important to me having been locked in for a year!

They require me to evidence I used extra water/heating/washing powder/drying costs in the winter etc - so next time my colostomy bag leaks I will be sending them the evidence in the post!! Ba****ds

Yes. I live on that. I’m very careful and I don’t buy new clothes often! I’m glad I retired young. My health is not good x

After reading this thread I have to wonder what i am missing out on.. I have never had £900 a month in my life and never thought of myself as poor! I earned only £80 a week before retiring and have lived in rented housing all my life. I now have a state pension which gives me just over £600 a month and other benefitsso I have never felt so well off before. I have never felt the need to pay for tv, or broadband, I still vidoes, DVDs, tapes and cds. Akso enjoy art and creative writing, reading, walking and gardening, . I love making things including soft furnishings and also knit and make my own jewellery and cards. I never find time to be bored or miserable>I have never been abroad and have had few holidays in the last 20years as I have two cats for company. I live in a lovely part of north Yorkshire and my son is close by and take sme shopping twice a week so I help him to keep his ancient car on the road. To be content with what you have.. is the key to a happy life. I have never thought much about money - after all in real terms it has no value-- exept what humanity decides to place upon it.

i appreciate there are 2 of us but my pension is less than £900 as I still have 3 years to go till my state pension. I think it depends a lot on your lifestyle . Do you smoke? do you drink? do you drive a car? or have expensive hobbies? Do you want holidays and if so what type? how often? I am very tight with money and find that I can still save money but I have friends that still work and spend too much money on what I would call unnecessary items. One spends over £100 on a face cream! others have over 50 pairs of shoes.

What a huge amount of helpful information - thank you so much everyone. I’m going to give this a lot of thought over the next 2 weeks (I’m signed off sick). I do like my job and that’s not what’s making me ill but I simply can’t function at work when my MH is bad ( which is very often now).

One of the things that’s making me so ill is my house. It’s a lovely Edwardian terrace which I’ve lived in for almost 20 years but it needs quite a lot of work and I’m literally terrified of anything going wrong. I currently have a problem with my central heating which might involve taking up floorboards to lay new pipes. This has made me literally sick with worry. If I could find a little new build not too far away, I’d snap it up.

I think tbh there’s only you that knows whether it’s doable or not really. We all lead different lives, ie: some have a car to maintain, some have pets, some have private health care to pay into, I think we are all so different, however I would say if you had no mortgage or rent to pay, and didn’t have a lavish lifestyle I would say it can de done. Good luck if you decide to retire. I retired a year ago at 67 and didn’t really want to at the time, I just wanted to reduce my hours, but they said no so retired. A year down the line and I’m so glad I did, you won’t regret it!

Just read your post, TwiceAsNice. Forgive me if you already know all this, but if you become unable to work through ill health and your housing and other costs become too much, your nearest housing advice centre, citizens' advice, and the welfare benefits section of your local council's social services department should all be able to provide useful information. There will probably be a number of ways they will be able to help you boost your income/find somewhere affordable to live to meet any changed circumstances/ advise you on support / getting aids adaptations made to your home. If your health breaks down, get a GP referral to help you access health/housing/social services support. These organisations are supposed to work together these days!

MaggieTulliver, do you have an organisation called Care and Repair (or similar title) in your area? They may be able to help you - like I said in my last post, contact your nearest housing advice centre - you should be able to find out online which one is nearest you.
The C &R organisation was set up with public funds as the thinking behind it is that a house is a resource for generations, not just the present owner, and keeping it in a fit condition benefits everybody, and the community too. It is well recognised that this issue is more of a problem for home owners as they get older.

Thank you for getting back to us Maggie.
I have found these replies interesting, and I am glad you find them helpful.
I have thought from previous posts that maybe you need to think about moving. If you do decide to retire, then you have a nice little hobby lined up, looking at places to live!