Spotlight on Inge

I was working as a senior lecturer, teaching computing degrees. Employer was short staffed and all staff burnt out. I have care responsibilities too, so working five full days and three evenings until 9pm, marking and prep at weekends and any spare moment. I was so tired.

Pretty sure menopause was kicking in, over work, ADHD deciding to really kick in where I had masked it before. All of work pressure on top of care responsibilities, my patience was diminishing.

I joined some groups online for retiring to see if retiring early was an option. If I had listened to them, no, I could not afford it. They were all £400k this, and £200k that. I am not quite yet 60, so no state pension, just a measly work pension. I would be retiring on £11k a year.

Less than a thousand pounds a month. It didn’t seem feasible. To these sites I was a laughing stock. With my figures, I wasn’t taken seriously. But one day, one work request too many, I was too stretched. I snapped and handed in my notice.

I had several months of ‘OMG what have I done’.

I decided to start my own Facebook group in the hope of gaining a few hints and tips on retiring with less money. The ‘Retiring on a Shoestring UK’ was born. Almost a year later, ….39,000k members later, I was a little overwhelmed at how many people were in the same boat as me.

I had to enrol some helpers and we now have a wonderful team of admins and moderators who I can’t thank enough for keeping the site free of spammers and junk.

Members have been great and I feel the group has been a success, helping not only me, but 39,000 of us! Off to wrap and store my supermarket 4p veg, thanks to someone’s post on my site. I can do this!

Instead of worrying about what I haven’t got, I now appreciate everything I have got. I love having time to play in my garden, time to do all the hobbies I have wanted to do for decades, just time to live. Living frugally has now become a fun challenge rather than a worry! Happy retirement doesn’t have to be about money!

Here is a link to Inge’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/714818594515656/

Rentasenior thanks Inge for her contribution to this blog and encourage you all to visit her Facebook Group.

Rentasenior is a UK online portal for seniors aged 50 years or over to offer their skills and expertise to their local community.