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We have never counted on social security because we really don't think it will be there by the time we qualify so my husband planned very carefully.
It greatly depends on where you live and how easily entertained you are. If you are high maintenance or you love to go out to eat and shop all the time you need a lot of money to live on.
We are very simple. We love the outdoors, love to build, and basically just love being together. We live within our means and shop by "value". Life is very good and it's not because of things.
We have no mortgage.
Property taxes $128.00 per year.
No electric bill- we are off grid.
No water or sewer bill.
Propane- @$1000.00 per year.
Phone- pre paid cell that we hardly use- $15-$20 per month.
Free books and videos from the library.
Medical Ins. and prescriptions- $2200.00 per year.
Car paid
Insurances- $1000.00 per year.
Gifts- $400.00 per year.
Clothing- $100.00 per year.
Gas-under $1000.00 per year
Satellite TV and Internet(our biggies)- $1800.00 per year.
Food-$400.00 per month and we eat really well. This year I will be growing a lot of our own veggies.(We eat out maybe twice a year)
All in all we can live very inexpensively if we had to. We do spend money on our property and sometimes travel. We are not cheap by any means as we have everything we could ever want but we don't spend much on everyday things. This year was a whopper though because we built our house but it is a great future investment. Like I said "value".
The system won't let me rep you! So I'll give you a big here instead.
We live in a single-wide mobile home that was manufactured in 1989, it is a little over 700 square feet in size (14X56).
One of our cars is 16 years old the other one is 8 years old. They are, however, well maintained. Last week we spent $450 to get a new water pump and flush the fluids). The Explorer is due for a new set of ball joints soon too!
20yrsinBranson
I absolutely agree with you. Home and car are the two biggest expenses and they're also where most people can make changes to save big bucks but choose differently.
I, too, live in a manufactured home, a double-wide (1340 square feet) on its own land. It's quite new (manufactured in 2000) and I bought it for what most people spend on a car! (It was a Fannie Mae foreclosure.) I LOVE this home! It's comfortable, attractive and affordable. I am meticulous about maintaining it and it will likely outlast me.
Manufactured homes are very affordable and nice places to live. However, many folks see their homes as ways to impress and as cash cows so they won't even consider a manufactured home. Foolish, IMO. They're built with SO much better standards than when they were introduced. Those who live in very tornado- or hurricane-prone areas shouldn't consider one but that's a relatively small segment of the country. Mine routinely handles 60 mph Texas windstorms without a problem.
Cars are the second biggest expense. And people trade them in as quickly as they were buying new homes! I inherited some money several years ago and, since my car was old and dying, I paid cash for a quality new car with the money. I intend to keep it as long as I can keep it running.
Perhaps this current recession will serve as a wakeup call and change people's thinking. I hope so! We've become such a greedy, wasteful, superficial society.
20yrsinBranson;6947815]That is not correct. The life expectancy means the *average* NUMBER OF YEARS from your time of birth that you are expected to live. If a large number of babies are born and die very young that lowers the life expectancy. The reason that life expectancy has increased is because the infant mortality rate has dropped significantly from this time period.
So, you concede that life expectancy has increased. And you concede that this is due to the lower infant mortality rate (IMR). Good that you are beginning to be enlightened. As I said before, the lower IMR means more babies are surviving into their reproductive adult years. Better nutrition, sanitation, prenatal, natal, and postnatal care, and vaccinations are responsible for this, i.e. better health care at the young end of the spectrum.
At the older end of the spectrum, people are also no longer dying at 47 yrs....instead, they are dying at age 77. This is due to improved health care also (prevention and treatment of heart disease, cancer, lung disease.....better technologies to prolong life).
The combination of lower IMR at the young end and lower mortality rates from degenerative diseases at the older end has pushed the median age upwards and produced an increase in life expectancy. The statistical data supporting this is undeniable. It is not a myth.
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If you READ anything about history, you will find that even in the eras when life expectancy was very very very low, there were still SCADS of old people around. Look at our founding fathers - MOST of them lived to be in their 70s,80s and even 90s. Look at our presidents List of United States Presidents by age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia from George Washington in 1799 through Woodrow Wilson in 1913, (28 presidents) there were only five presidents who did not make it to 60. And four of those (Abe Lincoln and James Garfield, Chester B Arthur and William McKinley) were asassinated.
Think about Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Ben Franklin, etc., etc., the list is endless. There have always been lots of old people regardless of the year. The reason that we have more old people now is because we HAVE MORE PEOPLE.
I read history alright, but I also understand statistics. Nobody is saying that there were no old people 200 years ago. What I am saying is, there were less old people 200 years ago as a percentage of the total population compared to today. Sure the founding fathers were old, but does that mean they were typical of the people who lived back then? The founding fathers were not representative of the whole population. They were survivors by definition. You hear about George Washington. But you did not hear about George Smith who did not get to be US president because he died when he was 3 months old. This phenomenon is called survivorship bias Survivorship bias - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are more people today, but there are also more old people as a percentage of the total population. There are more old people in absolute terms, and in relative terms.
I would like to give you what the costs were for my Mom living alone........
However she was in a home that was paid for. Her taxes were slowly climbing to 1600 per year.
She liked to have a car to get out and about so the costs involved with that. She liked to get gardening things, to shop for gifts, to do her own shopping for foods.
Home and Car insurance.......Some extra medical insurance.
She insisted on Cable TV, as she was living alone and wanted that entertainment. I could understand that. You wouldn't want to isolate yourself from the World.
Sometimes there was the extras, new stove, new roof, new refridgerator...etc. So all those home expenses.
She did fine on 2000 per month. For all the home costs, and she paid for her new home needs quickly.
I do know someone in Missouri. There is some housing for about 500 per month or so. Quite large apartments... Beautiful inside. Some there get assistance.
She has a Walmart close by etc., as she has no car.
I do think it is important to have some TV and the internet. Being isolated is just not good for someones soul.
There are some inexpensive manufactured homes, but many are on leased land. One has to be careful with that due to the increases.
I really think it would be hard, in this economy, to live on less then 2000 per month IMHO......
My wife and I do OK on $3000 a month. We live a simple, frugal existence. As seniors, much of that is health care/insurance related. Maybe Obama will improve that situation.
I had a conversation a while back with a friend. The subject got around to cost of living , for some reason , and , he stated ......." well , you know , you just gota figure 1,000 a day , to meet your needs and wants , now don't you ?"........ Now , keep in mind , this Guy is very penny pinching , complains about the price of everything , but , does have the rep. of being wealthy. You wouldn't know it by the way he dresses , or the car he drives on a daily basis. ( is a collector of some fine cars ).......just a frugal Guy...........Point is , all this got me thinking , what about the folks that wake up every morning and , know , they GOT to make this much , to survive !. The people in wealth burbs , where the mortgage is 9,000 a month ( common ) , and , the kids are in College @ 60,000 a year , Country club membership is 2,000 a month for starters. I wonder , whats going to happen to a lot of them , when , the big job goes away , when the investments tank , when the industry that provided them this life style is no more..........it will be tough , and , its coming for a lot of upper class folks. Will be very interesting to watch.......especially my brother in law.........
Satellite TV and Internet(our biggies)- $1800.00 per year.
You can get rid of that. I never watch TV anymore. Cancel all cable services and watch everything online. Hulu.com has hundreds of tv shows and probably 150-200 full movies all ad supported. They are also constantly updating it. Not to mention all the other free video content you can get from other services. 30$/month for your internet is all you need really and you can use the internet for so much other things.
Cable is obsolete these days.
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I analyzed my expenses recently and it truly does stink how much goes for insurances -- car, home, and medical. In almost 30 years of driving, I've never had an accident/car insurance claim. Sheesh, I've given them a lot in premiums over the years!
No kidding but things like home insurance is well worth the money. It helps shift risk for you. Car insurance isn't really necessary and if you get a motorcycle there is no insurance but higher risk if you live in city (jerk drivers). Medical insurance is high because the medical costs are high. The medical system is basically robbing the American public blindly. So much red tape and government intervention drives up costs. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the US is from medical bills.
Last edited by killer2021; 01-15-2009 at 12:41 AM..
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So I'll give you a big 
here instead.
