Remarkably consistent spending

[Koolau]

Rather much larger spending these days compared to 20 years ago when we first started this FIRE journey. HCOL now vs MCOL area then. More charity stuff. Recognition that we won't be around all that much longer - realization that it's (pretty much) now or never on some things. YMMV

 

[audreyh1]

11-night cruise (World owner's suite - largest stateroom), cost is only $24+K, golf package added to it is another $7+K, 2 business class tickets expected to cost about $10K for 2 of us. We are extending the trip in Scotland for 2 weeks to golf (cost not included yet, will probably cost us another $5K, but accommodations will be "free" as I intend to use my hotel points) and my Scottish friend is arranging for us to golf at some of the iconic golf courses as well as private ones.

Wow, that sounds exciting for you! Since golf originated in Scotland that should be very interesting. I noticed lots and lots of large golf courses in the satellite views of various places we will be visiting soon.

 

[Dtail]

My friend has recommended many courses, but I don't recall Dornoch. I will know when he lines us up. We did tell him that we would strongly prefer courses with buggies.

It would be fun to play on some of the courses used for the Open Championships.

 

[RetiredHappy]

It would be fun to play on some of the courses used for the Open Championships.

Those are definitely on the list! He has been bugging me to go over to Scotland since the day I met him in person. I met him through one of the online forums and he has played at our course here in the US. We are planning a meet up in Scotsdale later this year to golf.

 

[Dtail]

Those are definitely on the list! He has been bugging me to go over to Scotland since the day I met him in person. I met him through one of the online forums and he has played at our course here in the US. We are planning a meet up in Scotsdale later this year to golf.

Nice. Have you played on some of the famous courses in the USA? Such as Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Pinehurst #2, etc?

 

[HI Bill]

Here's how my spending changed from the year before FIRE to today:

2020: 100% (pre-FIRE)
2021: 380% of pre-FIRE amount
2022: 318% of pre-FIRE amount
2023: 549% of pre-FIRE amount
2024: 584% of pre-FIRE amount
2025: 582% of pre-FIRE amount
2026: 439% of pre-FIRE amount

This was precipitated by moving from a condo to a house, buying all new house furniture, a sports car, a mid-end home theater, and travel up to 4 months a year. A friend dying in his mid-60s just after retirement was part of my motivation to live more and spend more in the earlier, healthier, GO-GO years of ER. Also, dropping the 49% savings rate to 0% helped!

 

[anothercog]

Here's how my spending changed from the year before FIRE to today:

2020: 100% (pre-FIRE)
2021: 380% of pre-FIRE amount
2022: 318% of pre-FIRE amount
2023: 549% of pre-FIRE amount
2024: 584% of pre-FIRE amount
2025: 582% of pre-FIRE amount
2026: 439% of pre-FIRE amount

This was precipitated by moving from a condo to a house, buying all new house furniture, a sports car, a mid-end home theater, and travel up to 4 months a year. A friend dying in his mid-60s just after retirement was part of my motivation to live more and spend more in the earlier, healthier, GO-GO years of ER. Also, dropping the 49% savings rate to 0% helped!

Wow! What was your pre fire spend as your WR? 300% for me would probably put me in 6% territory so probably not sustainable.

 

[HI Bill]

Wow! What was your pre fire spend as your WR? 300% for me would probably put me in 6% territory so probably not sustainable.

1.5%. I'm using VPW, and my WR's have ranged from 4.3-7.6%. They'll go down when the markets tank, but VPW generally is saying mine should be about 6.36% based on my ages, assets, and future SS.

 

[marko]

We had a $30k drop on annual boat maintenance when we sold the old girl 3 years ago, but aside from that, our spending has been remarkably consistent over 20 years of retirement.

Oddly, core expenses aside, the balance is on different things year to year, but most often within a few $k.