Early retirement costs & targets - November 2022
Spending a month with Mr & Mrs G who retired spending just €20,000 / £17,200 / $20,800 a year begs some questions such as:
Why can't I do that, instead of spending more than 3 times that much?
Clearly there are differences. They live in a low cost of living country, we don't. We have different interests and hobbies. But can these things really account for all of the difference?
I'm sure it doesn't matter if we spend more provided we're living a life we're happy with, can afford it and, important to me, aren't wasteful. Still, there will be things we can learn from Mr & Mrs G and their low cost early retirement, plus it's comforting to know that if our financial situation changed, a fun early retirement can be lived at a lower cost.
In November, we were travelling, and even Mr & Mrs G spend more when they're on holiday. We ate out every day, sometimes multiple times a day, had accommodation costs, including treating ourselves to 3 nights at a luxury resort (which unfortunately didn't quite live up to the price tag) and, while not exactly a vacation type activity, Sally and I had our grandly titled Executive Health Check. All in all, November was an expensive month, but also a fun one.
Early retirement targets
Normally I'm hopeless at keeping up with my targets while travelling. I like routines, and when they go out of the window, my targets typically fall by the wayside too. But I was determined to make an extra effort while in the Philippines and see if I could do better than usual. I focused on six items, and it went surprisingly well.
4 exercise days a week✔️(deliberately less were running).
Publish at least 3 blog posts a month✔️. I managed 4.
A few minutes of French on Duolingo each day✔️. I'm still hopeless at French, but at least I'm kind of trying, even if I could and should try a lot harder.
Make my monthly investment of surplus cash✔️
Start planning the Tour du Mont Blanc hike with my friends❌
Have our health check-up✔️
Five out of six isn't too bad.
Winding the clock back to October, in last month's post I forgot to say that I ran with some friends from Morzine to Chamonix - 57km (35.4 miles) with 3,154m (10,348 ft) ascent across 3 mountains. It was a tough, fun, and awesome day so, even if it's a month late, it deserves a mention and a few pictures.