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husband is retiring in the spring; i retired in 2004, get small retirement check/working part time, floating aong nicely with his health care. Now that I'll be paying for insurance (not Medicare eligible for 4 years), I need to cut back - but on what!! I'm already pretty fugual, big extravagence is taking dog to groomer (which will be eliminated). I hate giving up my Iphone--but I plan on that when current plan ends.
Give my some ideas I don't already do!!!!!
(I will be taking SS at 62 - but that ain't gunna help alot!)
Eat at less expensive restaurants. Join a less expensive country club. Drink cheaper scotch. Do not buy a new car when the urge strikes. All things I did....LOL
I have more time to cook now, so we eat out less, but not because we have to. It might be less expensive to eat out in some places, but I am tired of the rudeness of those who wait on us. I brought food home several days a week because I was too tired to cook when I worked.
I don't think we have had to cut back on anything. It is possible that we have more to spend now than we did when I worked. Our computer has a pie chart every month for our expenses. Two biggest pieces of the pie are taxes and charity. That changed a little in August because we bought a new car and now have a car payment for a few more months.
Some of our costs that have gone down are dry cleaning, maybe gas but we don't limit ourselves of any trips that we want to do.
Just how much is that Iphone? We have an emergency cell phone that we also use for long distance that costs us about $15 per month. Our car has a telephone that I haven't figured out how to use yet and we have a land phone. We spend a lot less on clothes since we both worked on public jobs where we had to look our best. The clothes we seem to wear the most now are gym clothes and casual.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Keep in mind that clothing for work and commute costs will be reduced, and less frequent haircuts. Packing or buying lunch also costs more than eating at home. All that will help a little.
When we get there in 8 years or so we hope to get enough selling this house to downsize to a much less expensive area, with little or no house payment. We can also get rid of the 3rd (backup) vehicle, and probably another which will net some cash and save on insurance.
Likely you have a non-negotiable list of things you simply won't give up, so your cutting back may differ from other posters.
But to consider, here are a few things we now do differently (though we're not completely retired as we both free-lance write):
--gave up one car and share the remaining car. Use our bicycles for many errands and recreation
--have the least expensive cable option
--turned in our cells phones because we weren't using them much at all
--cook more at home as we've more time to shop and prepare--and it's healthier
--do more frugal entertaining, potlucks are popular where we live, so that helps
--take more local vacations, rent cottages or places with kitchens, so we can do more cooking and less eating out. Often build a vacation around canoeing or bicycling
--buy used or swap books or patronize the library...don't buy new books much any more
--shop upscale consignment shops/thrift stores for some clothing and household items
--our old dog died, not sure we'll replace him, the vet bills were high and so was pet care when we traveled, though he often came with us
--swap services or usher for entrance to cultural events
I'm sure there are more things we do, but those are the major ones.
We love where we live and do not feel in any way deprived--in fact, we feel richer than when we lived in the pricey city with so many temptations.
It's nature and friendships that nurture us the most we've discovered!
Ill be the first to say being home everyday and free to do anything and go anywhere carry alot more expenses then commuting costs to work.
Unless your planning on doing nothing daily just going out of the house tends to end up up having costs associated with it.
We always hear about how we will save commuting costs and clothes but the fact is many of us wear nothing special to work . The endless free time we have can cost far more then commuting costs ever did.
Location: Prescott Valley,az summer/east valley Az winter
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Can't think of a thing that reduced my costs when I retired~ quite the contrary..However knew that while planning to retire.
Been fully retired since 2003 and now have spendable income a little over twice what I had just before I retired so am doing just fine.... biggest thing is to plan BEFORE you retire!
My biggest savings as I started retirement was not putting money into my retirement fund. That saved me about 20% compared to my old salary. The rest was trivial: not buying lunch everyday, going to the library instead of buying lots of paperbacks, actually asking for the forms when I donated goods to charity. I had already been spending within my means so I had no credit card debt or car payment (always paid cash for a used car if needed). Now that I have medicare, I am saving about $50/mo on health insurance.
husband is retiring in the spring; i retired in 2004, get small retirement check/working part time, floating aong nicely with his health care. Now that I'll be paying for insurance (not Medicare eligible for 4 years), I need to cut back - but on what!! I'm already pretty fugual, big extravagence is taking dog to groomer (which will be eliminated). I hate giving up my Iphone--but I plan on that when current plan ends.
Give my some ideas I don't already do!!!!!
(I will be taking SS at 62 - but that ain't gunna help alot!)
See the City Data Forum Retirement thread: Retiring on a Literal Shoestring
Ill be the first to say being home everyday and free to do anything and go anywhere carry alot more expenses then commuting costs to work.
Unless your planning on doing nothing daily just going out of the house tends to end up up having costs associated with it.
We always hear about how we will save commuting costs and clothes but the fact is many of us wear nothing special to work . The endless free time we have can cost far more then commuting costs ever did.
Agree. For the most part. We have decided to take half-day or day trips that include stops at many museums including some stellar private college museums (I have a double free pass to all), lunch out instead of dinner (today's lunch at a fine restaurant including dessert + tax/tip came to $22), free area recreation spots and parks, day trips around photography, free concerts, etc. To go out on a humdrum weekday I often take only cash (no cards or checkbook), say 10 bucks, determined not to spend more than that. Instant gratification can be cured.
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