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My leaving work in a few weeks time is causing a such a rush of thoughts about our future , and how we see ourselves living it, that I thought it might be a good idea to transfer it all from brain to paper.
- Live near to the sea
- Live somewhere we can walk everywhere
- Shop local
- Live small and low maintenance
- Live on less than £1k per month
- Live easily on one salary, save or travel with any other
- Live frugally
- Be non consumers
- Cook from scratch
- Do it ourselves
- Live well on less
- Recycle and reduce
- Retire early
- Stay healthy
- Quality of life
- Live debt free including mortgage
- Live in the sun
The first things that came into my head, all a bit random but nearly all based on simple living in the sunshine.
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Thats a good list.
My aim is also for DH and I to live on £1k per month -(i take it you mean for everything inc. food and housing) it would be very tight if not impossible in the uk though I think? But I believe it would certainly be achievable in portugal or rural spain.
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Dreamer´s last blog ..Nova Scotia?
Thanks Dreamer.
Yes, £1k a month all inclusive, i agree, i think it’s achievable in spain and portugal.
In the UK it would be a struggle, although I am working on it!
great list. nice and simple too
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mo´s last blog ..from hoarder to order – what I have learnt
This sound like a dream, i wish I could speak Portuguese. In France, this budget seems really tight and frustrating.
A good list, except that instead of “live small and low maintenance,” I’d say, “live large on a small budget!”
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Philip Brewer´s last blog ..Dream Job or Day Job?
I can relate to wanting to reduce your monthly costs. It’s something that I am always working on!
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Your thoughts on the budget amount might be challenging depending on where (& how) in Portugal you are thinking of living (but certainly not impossible).
I especially like the ideas of skill-building. We have “forgotten” a lot of household skills that are very useful and that might reduce costs in the long run…
Cristina
OlivAmor´s last blog ..
You mean you want to miss out on all the lovely rain and gales we are having at the moment!
Good list, and very similar to my own. I had been planning on Asia, but have not decided for definite yet.
Wow, under 1000 pounds a month sounds great in the UK or elsewhere. I’m in the South of France and we’re still seeing how low we can go. We’ve only settled in a couple of months ago though. I’d love to hear about any price breakdowns in euros . . .Predicting the budget is not something I’m very good at–there’s always something I didn’t think of!
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Simple in France´s last blog ..How to live well with less–without the embarrassment?!?!
I love your list – hold it tight. You might enjoy Down to Earth’s 20 tips for living on one income post. Really worth reading.
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Money Funk´s last blog ..Buying a New Home
Hi Christine, thanks for the link
Hi and welcome!
I plan to do a break down of our basic living expenses in future posts and blog about what I’m doing to reduce them
I’ll miss this weather! NOT!!
When are you thinking of moving abroad, are you going to beat me to it?
hi cristina and thank you for visiting. I love the idea of being able to most things ourselves, far more satisfying (and cheaper!)
you know me mo, simple!
hi nicole, do you live in France?
hi Philip, you’re so right!
I’m French and living in France. In a few years I’ll get retired and I think about moving, living small and travel as much as possible.
Move to Portugal–I can’t wait to see the budget breakdown–although I suspect costs are different in Portugal . . .but it’s a starting point.
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Simple in France´s last blog ..How to live well with less–without the embarrassment?!?!
Yeah, I also won’t miss the weather! Disgusting! :p
Well, my target was 2012 (same as you) for a full relocation (sell up lock stock and barrel). My main issue right now is I haven’t finalized a location. However, because I can remote work, I might take a trial run by going to live in Singapore for a few months, as early as next year. I tried a similar thing a few years ago, moving to Bangkok and remote working from there. That was a very positive experience.
I think what I will most likely end up doing is rent out my place here in UK for a year, and then try out several locations, before finally permanently relocating by 2012.
Planning has been going well, I exceeded all my financial targets (mortgage payoff and savings targets) this year, and am currently setting next year’s targets (and doing a lot of number crunching).
Will be interested to see how your financial targets pan out for next year. Maybe I will beat you yet!
Is that a challenge Tony!?
I’m so pleased you’ve done well this year (it’s a shame you’re not still blogging!) – having the end goal in site and setting targets really helps to keep the motivation going. Obviously things will be a little different for us money wise next year, but the end goal remains the same – relocate in 2012.
Wanna do a guest post on your plans?
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Laura@movetoportugal´s last blog ..House Plans for 2010
Hehehe…no not a challenge, I’m not that clear on my final outcome yet, just the general direction I’m headed. I think one of your great strengths is you know exactly where and when you will be relocating – I can’t compete with that!
Yeah, still not blogging. I think about it from time to time, but not sure I could offer anything original or compelling. I’d like to pass on my thoughts on Madeira, Thailand, Malaysia and other locations I’ve checked out, but I’m not convinced I could do it justice. We will see.
Well, I wouldn’t want to risk boring your readership to death, but I’d be honoured and delighted to write something for this excellent site. I guess I could maybe write something on why and how I ended up on this path, and the little “wins” and “losses” along the way. That might help others. I’ll have a think and drop you an email with an idea as soon as I can.
That is a great list. Much of my dreams are the same. I’m trying hard to dream less though and live in the moment more, hence once of the reasons I stopped blogging for now. I felt like I was thinking too much and not doing and dreaming about what could be and not actually focusing on how great my life is right now (with my two little boys that are growing up far too quickly). That is really hard for me. I’ve always been a dreamer and less of a ‘right now’ type of person. It’s a struggle….but I’m working on it. I think dreams are SUPER important though, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t have a lot of balance. I look forward to reading about how you manage it all…it’s exciting.
@Mama Bird. Very good point! It is important to live in the moment. I like to think “Plan for tomorrow. Live for today.” You are so right about getting the balance right. What I’ve found helpful is setting myself various targets, financial and otherwise, and then chipping away at them. It’s good to record progress. Say for example you have a savings target – you can see what your target is, and current savings, and chip away bit by bit. It’s exciting to see savings and other practical areas gradually creeping towards their targets! Good luck!
oH YES THIS IS A LIST I THINK EVERYONE WOULD LOVE TO LIVE BY.
I REALLY THINK IT CAN BE DONE JUST TAKES STRONG WILL TO GET THERE AND YOU ARE CERTAINLY ON TRACK FOR EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND I HOPE YOU ACHIEVE EVERYTHING
ANDREA