Why 40kin4years?

In 2012, I set myself the challenge of raising £40k in 4 years so I could remain living in the family house until my youngest reached 18.  Sadly that wasn't to be and I had to downsize and move back into town.  I changed the title of my blog to 'Less equals more' as it was more appropriate to the life I was striving to live. 

At the end of 2021, I reassessed my life and took the serious decision to retire in a few years despite having a very small teaching pension (thanks to years of working part time.)  My state pension doesn't get paid until I'm 67 so how can I ever afford to retire on just one income?

In 2022 I started a 4 year challenge to save £40k so I could retire in 2026 when I was 60. I planned to live on my tiny teaching pension and savings until I reached 67.  But this changed in early 2023 when I became ill and decided to retire even earlier in June 2023 at age 57.

The current plan is to downsize again in 2024 and buy 2 smaller properties.  One for me to live in and one for my son and DIL to rent from me.