Could you live on 1K a month if you were alone and house was paid off? (long-term, community)

[lily4]

We live in Florida and own our home. No mortgage. Our bills are...

Electricity: $125
Water 15.00
Trash 19.43
Phone/Internet 72.00
House Insurance 48.88
Property Tax 71.00
Auto Insurance 45.17
Auto registration 3.87 (92.95 every 2 years)
Auto club 4.58 (55.00/year)

All that comes to $404.93. There are two of us, so if it were just me then the utilities would be slightly less. Then there is food and gasoline. Food for just me, $250 and with minimal driving, which we do now, $20 for gasoline. I'm up to $674.93. Then there's lawn maintenance, which averages $42 (we have 1/3 acre which is mowed twice a month in the growing season and once per month in the colder months). Finally, there is health insurance. We pay $908 for the two of us, but I'll be 65 next year, so with medicare, a supplement, and part D it will be between $300 and $400 for just me. Let's say $350 and I'm up to $1,067 per month. The house and car will need maintenance, so some amount would have to be figured in for that, as well. I couldn't quite get by on $1,000 per month. Maybe $1,400.

For the two of us we have $2,414 per month social security. We have between $300 and $400 leftover per month for what we call misc. That's for hobbies, flowers for the garden, cat food, etc. So, we can live on our social security. If anything big comes up like a new roof, or new appliance we have an IRA.

I'm sure if I had to I could cut the food budget a bit, eliminate the internet, be more of a watt watcher, and survive on $1,000 per month. But, at some point without money for house and auto maintenance I would be without a car and living in a rundown house.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by ReachTheBeach

Insurance will kill you. I think you have to be above 15K to get ACA subsidies instead of medicaid. The ACA subsidies are actually a better deal.

I'm covered under the ACA. I'm below 15k. I looked ahead for the looming budget crisis the state was facing, and how they weren't, and decided that as inevitably they were going to have to and would be looking at anything they could cut, medicade including, it was a better chance. They are warning that if this is done half the hospitals will close but this may not stop it. So I'm hoping I don't need anything but some boxes of supplies.

When I was under medicade here it was being sliced off bit by bit already, so there was a handwriting on the wall.

[High_Plains_Retired]

If your house is paid off, your utilities and taxes are very low, you have a landline telephone with minimal services and you have very few social involvements, you may be able to make it on a $1000 a month income in some places. However at a retirement age, it's that stroke, cardiac arrest or car accident that puts you into the hospital for a short period that will require you to have a Mexican tunnel into Fort Knox if your health insurance coverage isn't extraordinarily exceptional. Of course that type of health insurance becomes another cost of living problem.

[in_newengland]

If you ditched the house and hid the profit somewhere or spent it. Because home maintenance would cost too much. You'd need subsidized housing and it's adjusted to 1/3 of your income. You'd get $17 in food stamps and you'd be going to food pantries.

Second hand clothing, second hand everything. Craigs list would be your friend. Never eating out, never going anywhere, living in a low COL area and finding free things to do. It would be kind of boring but if you were willing to live like this, it could be done. Don't know about a car though, they require maintenance and insurance. If you could walk or take public transportation to everything that would help.

If your income is low enough you'd qualify for Medicaid along with your Medicare I think. Your part A & B would be free and you could choose a free Advantage plan. But you could still get hit with the co-payments and big payments when you needed surgery or got very sick. Some of the states are very generous with such things as free care so that you wouldn't have to worry about hospitalization or surgery but those states are usually the high COL states.

But it would be better to be very frugal now and make your own meals, have a garden and freeze the vegetables, rarely eat out, shop for nice clothes in thrift stores or on sites like ebay. Don't spend if you don't really need it. Stash the money away and then you'll have enough left.

[Avalon08]

My Mom did it in FL on not much more than that. Her SS was $800-something and pension was like $239. She paid nothing for insurance or co-pays; she had employer-paid supplemental coverage as part of an early-retirement package. (The company later tried to renege on that deal and lost in a lawsuit.)

I know she had a small mortgage, car payment at times and condo fees of maybe $275 or so. Cable was included, landline was $29, AOL was $10, electric is around $60, water $40. I don't know what she spent in food but she ate like a bird so probably not much, and she didn't travel or spend on clothes and frills. I guess she had to take RMDs but I don't think they were much. Property taxes were low due to homesteading and low-income.

I can't tell you exactly how she did it but I know when I took over her bills, I realized just how frugally she lived and why she was always searching around for a gas station with a penny-cheaper gas.

[SunGrins]

Plan now on finding a part-time job. It might only be pocket money but it will help out. Also will provide a little social contact that you won't have sitting at home.

[josie13]

I could do it when I've downsized and moved to town:

Condo paid for
Property taxes exempted or deferred (King County, WA)
Water/sewer/garbage/property insurance included in condo fee
No car expenses (transit $1 per trip under King County for seniors)
Low income means Medicare subsidized by Medicaid
Minimal food and clothing costs because I don't use much of either
No pets or other hobby expenses
Free Internet at library
Free entertainment at library
Mild climate means I barely turn on the heat during the winter, don't touch it at all in other seasons

[Nightengale212]

Originally Posted by Eeko156

If your SS was 1K a month and you lived alone, never had kids, and kind of a homebody, could you make it? House would be paid for, but of course, there is HOI and maintenance (or a condo fee if you have a condo).

Let's say house for the sake of argument, so there is no HOA fee.

I do have cats, but they are pretty healthy and go to the vet yearly.

My husband's ex wife just retired and her monthly income is not much higher than $1,000 and recently sold her paid for home because despite no mortgage she could not afford the taxes and upkeep. After paying off a home equity loan the little profit left she purchased a newer used car, and bought some new furniture for her very nice HUD apartment she was able to get in a complex that allowed her to keep her cat. With her low rent and low utilities she has enough left that pays for her health insurance and other necessities, and a few bucks left for coffee and occasional lunches with the new friends she has made in the complex. Like you, she too is a homebody and seems to be very happy in her new living situation since she no longer has her money pit house to worry about.

If your concern is the ability to find a place to keep your cats, many senior housing complexes allow pets, and with your income finding a place such as this may be a better affordable option for you.

[ladyalicemore]

I live in Florida, where my insurance costs are far higher than my mortgage. It's an expensive part of FL, though.

If I were in that situation, depending on the state I lived in (whether there are housing programs I'd qualify for), I would go on a wait-list for a subsidized rental, sell the house (if it is salable), and put away a little nest egg from the sale of the house for emergencies.

The short answer is that I couldn't live on that, in a house, where I live now, and where a car is absolutely essential. I suppose if mortgages were paid off, one could just drop insurance, but that leaves you a hostage to fortune, esp. bad fortune, in the era of global climate change and unexpected weather events.

[matt fe2o3]

Some States /Counties have property tax postponement programs for seniors. These programs change by region and political winds. Of course the County ends up with a tax lien on the property and gets paid first when it sells, however for some folks it could be the difference between eating and/or having medicine - or not.