Retirement at last

Thanks for all your good wishes.

I have a rail card and a bus pass but I will enquire about a National Express card, although I do live in the country so it may not be so easy to get to a collection point.

I do get Groupon and HDUK emails and I'm always looking at cheaper deals for Elect/Gas and insurances so all that is taken care off.

Must enquire at the hairdressers, I forget I can go during the day now instead of their late night evening.

Yes, increases in the gas/elect bills is a worry, hence the purchase of cashmere jumpers, but I can always go to the library for a read or go for a walk during the day, I guess.

I took early retirement aged 57 in 2008 (actually my job had disappeared but my employers offered early retirement instead of redundancy) and I'm enjoying every minute of it too. It's true that you have to adapt your lifestyle to your reduced income, but that is surprisingly easy.

Get your bus pass if you haven't already done so - and have a look at the U3A in your area. There are lots of things to do at little or no cost, all it takes is a bit of research.

Happy retirement!

I was PA to a director for 33 years and retirement couldn't come quick enough. I am enjoying every minute.

Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy one!

You seem to have prepared for it well.

Wow! Welcome to the club. You've obviously thought it all through. Its not the end of work but a mutation into another sort of life -in my case anyway a much better one. Its almost a year now and I can honestly say I've never missed work. Good luck and sincere best wishes!

I would agree 100% with not committing to anything for the first 6 months. I got sucked into "coffee mornings" with people I was not particularly friendly with before retiring. After forgetting once and cancelling a second time, I have been given up on!
It's a bit like your first maternity leave if you don't know anybody else with a baby, you can be lucky or you find that actually your friends are to be found elsewhere.
Keep an open mind, enjoy doing whatever you feel like doing, a National Express coach card and /or a Senior railcard make getting around the country a bit cheaper if you feel like an away-day and Sunday nights take on a whole new meaning without Monday looming over you!
Good luck and enjoy!

Congratulations mischief on your imminent retirement. You sound as if you have really thought about this big change in your life and prepared very well for it I too live alone and am not terribly flush with money so I can understand your apprehension.

Something that might be well worth researching is to see what discounts you can find - of course, the obvious ones like bus pass, train and coach cards if you like travelling - but one of the things I did when I first retired was to scrutinise all my regular bills and see where I could make savings. This was the sort of thing I never seemed to have the time for when I was working, as that sort of shopping around is quite time consuming, but I managed to save quite a bit and now I am quite brazen in ringing up and asking for a better deal.

My hairdresser offers a Wednesday 10% discount and I am also clued up on local pubs and restaurants that offer early doors deals or 2 for 1's. If you don't already subscribe, it's worth signing up for websites such as voucher codes that offer regular deals.

Just remember that you worked hard for your retirement so enjoy it

Do you have a vast collection of photos to put into some sort of order [that took up my first few months!]. What I have found is that my heating bills have gone up, as I'm at home more during the day. My list is/was pretty much the same as yours. I have joined the gym at my local leisure centre which is £19 a month if you're retired. Once the thought of retirement sneaks into your head there's no going back is there; I kept thinking 'work another year and put the money towards a holiday' etc but one day decided enough was enough. I still can't believe that I no longer have to get up at 7 each day and I'm two years in . You could also come to some of the gransnet meet ups .