What's your approach to money?

Yes, Marelli sorry I didn't explain it very well gilly

Thanks for your responses, I agree with the 6 month idea and having enough to help out children and grandchildren. I was just worried that I havent added anything to my 6 month/ rainy day fund since I retired early Last year and was thinking that maybe I've come to the end of adding and now moving into taking away! It really is amazing though as some of you have said, how it is possible to adjust to living on far less but still enjoy life.

storynanny, I think that's because we've never had all that much, actually! Starting off in 'married life' with very little and doing lots of struggling along the way. We have simple tastes and really have all we need.

You are absolutely right! And growing up with parents who were children during the war with even less. My dad still saves bits of string and old wrapping paper even though he could afford to buy every ball of string in the shop. I'm always amazed when I read "credit crunch" tips like take your own packed lunch to work!!!!!
On the subject of being "poor", my dad, a wonderful 85 year old, has no truck with modern idea of poverty. He says being poor is when boys stood around you in the playground watching you eat an apple and asking you if they have your core to eat.
I like to think I've instilled some ideas of money management into my children, but was shocked to hear that eldest son in London, good job, takes 5 work shirts to the dry cleaners every week to be laundered and ironed, can't believe I brought up someone who can waste money like that!!!! However, everyone is different ( another of my mantras)

I still keep bits of string and wrapping paper as well, storynanny! My grandma used to keep paper bags....the thing is, she used to keep them in the oven for some reason....so you can imagine the problems that caused!

I went to move some ISA's around today and realised I hadn't been getting any interest for a couple of months because they were for a fixed time. And can only get 2% interest. Can't face moving them around and probably won't get much more with any other Building Society anyway. It's so disheartening trying to save for a rainy day and getting hardly any interest .

I find the Leeds building Society and the Newcastle BS quite helpful at the moment. But not about Isas money is losing its worth in savings spend spend spend.

Oh I see thank you Marelli chance would be a fine thing for me I'm afraid. I honestly couldn't set 1 months salary aside never mind 6.

What's mine is mine, what's his is mine too... swear that's the best economic policy I know

When our children were young we were quite hard up. DH was in the furniture trade and regularly went on short time. I made the childrens and my clothes and DH did all the maintenance and decorating around the place.

This did have its benefits though, it made you very careful with your cash. Before this even we were both careful with our money and never wasted it.

Holidays were camping and our cars were bangers.

Things did improve grately though as time went by. We got a endownment mortgage before it all went pearshaped so when payout time came we paid off the mortgage and had quite a few thousand to spare. Being an only child I inherited my parents flat and got the money from that.

Anyway hubby paid extra into the state pension with serps and gets a reasonable amount plus 2 other small pensions. I worked for the NHS for 12 years and have that plus full state pension so we do manage quite nicely. We have our savings to.

We have a carvan (towing) and go away lots in the summer and generally have a week abroad in September. We are off to Warner for 3 days on Friday and do this every year around this time.

Living in London we make full use of our Freedom Passes and travel to town usually at least once a week to all the free museums and parks.

We consider ourselves blessed.

My late wife, myself, her parents and my parents are of the view that we live well but any remaining wealth belongs to the next generation.
We do make arrangemente where the children get half the house when the husband or wife passes away as we do not want the money to be taken for care fees or by a possible future husband or wife.
Sadly I am widowed and I will not get married again as I do not want complications for my family.

Frank