In retirement, what budget items did you underestimate or overestimate? (weather, friendly)
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$700? Crowns around here (all types) are about $1200. Where do you live? Or was that done at a dental school training program, where sometimes discounts are offered.
Cable TV! My neighbor has one of these flat antenna's on top of her TV, she showed me all the channels she gets for free, excellent reception, so I'm following suit! I don't watch TV anyway, it's for my roommate who like a couple of Spanish TV channels. Good-bye to Direct TV. Monthly bill now: $0.
Consumers Checkbook, among others, have analyzed dental plans and found that unless your employer subsidizes the plan, they don't make financial sense. Largely, this is because they cover the small expenses well, often at 100%, and the big expenses less generously, often 50% of an allowable charge, which is often less than the preveling charges. This is the opposite of most insurance we folks carry, where, through a deductible, we pay for the small stuff while the insurance covers the big stuff.
Other plans have networks limited to dentists "willing to work for less", since the plan reimbursement rates are not very generous. In some areas, it can be hard to find a dentist who takes the plan.
This is very true. I cannot remember the details (which I know are important lol) but we bought a very inexpensive plan where dentists in network charge US what the insurance company would agree to. In other words for example, if a cleaning is $100 but they settle to the insurance company for $29, the plan we have has the dentist accepting $29 from us for payment in full.
Depending on where you are located, there can be a decent assortment of dentists or not.
It's not great, but it is a help.
Yes and the other wildcard for budgeting is cable.cellphone plans.
I know I am always amazed at how much that costs monthly (and we pretty much have basic cable and internet. oh and we still keep our landline -Well, yes Verizon Fios) and our cellphones
One other factor I noticed, although this applied to a "frill"- we did a lot of traveling. As DH got older and had less stamina and developed a balance problem, our travel got more expensive. Instead of taking public transportation to and from the airport (which inevitably involved a change of train or bus and at least one flight of stairs, dragging our bags with us), we'd get a private car. We'd stay closer to the city center so that there wasn't a lot of walking to get where we were going, and get a room big enough that DH had space to relax at the end of a day of sightseeing while I went out for a run or maybe on an expedition too strenuous for him. And then he said he didn't think he wanted to fly Coach on long-hauls anymore. Well, he was over 70, 6'2" and had a creaky back. Between judicious use of FF miles and cutting back to one major trip a year from two, we made that change.
DH is gone now and I still fly Business Class on long-hauls. And I have none of his excuses.
I agree. Since I started to need a walker during traveling there are a lot more expenses than when I was healthier.
Yep! No cable for me. And I don't miss it as much as I thought I would.
I loved just a view channels: HGTV, Bravo, some Food Network, some Style! But I'm just not going to pay over $100 a month for TV. For me it's as simple as that. And I'm not into trying to figure out Hulu, Netflix, Amazon TV, Sling, Roku, etc. My antenna is a good one and gives me enough channels.
Sure I was mostly public TV, and nostalgia channels like Cozi, Antenna, Me TV, Grit, H&I Retro, Decades, etc. But there are plenty of other channels. I just don't choose to watch them. And I certainly don't miss 24 hour news channels and their doom and gloom, and political pundits and talk heads.
House mt: it is KILLING me. Tree service is averaging about $2,000 annually and it never stops. But why should I complain: 2+ acres, 3910 sq ft house, pool, 600 sq ft guest cottage and so forth. None the less, it is still killing me. And, I have 2 ancient dobermans from doberman rescue who cost me, on a good month, an average of $600 for meds and food. But hey, like I keep telling the 'save your money for old age" folks, you can't take it with you. So happily, it is much fun to spend everything on the things that make me supremely happy.
Cable TV! My neighbor has one of these flat antenna's on top of her TV, she showed me all the channels she gets for free, excellent reception, so I'm following suit! I don't watch TV anyway, it's for my roommate who like a couple of Spanish TV channels. Good-bye to Direct TV. Monthly bill now: $0.
I would love to get rid of my $175 directv bill. However, I live in CA and want to watch the NE Patriots, so I’m stuck. I bet I could buy a ticket to their games for less.
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Well, he was over 70, 6'2" and had a creaky back. Between judicious use of FF miles and cutting back to one major trip a year from two, we made that change.
