Impact of retirement in our financial status

Retirement is blocked by the amount we have. Every word about being able to replace 80% of our pre-retirement income to a comfortable retirement is a long process and I think I have proven that view wrong. For many families, including ours, it is very difficult to save a million dollars or more to retire. So all I had seen in my career in technology that needed to be relocated, endless cycles of retrenchment, restructuring, etc., that I survived work into my 60s or later was something I would never recommend as acceptable or workable. In 1998 at the age of 40 I decided that I wanted to explore ways to retire early and started my 10-year retirement plan early.

We did not allow a million dollar portfolio to prevent us from retiring early. That’s when frugality became the solution. But it had to be done right or not. If it were an absurdity of austerity it would not be worth it. While some prefer over-saving habits, ours was specially designed to fit us.

Fun Things -

I want to clear the air beforehand and get past the idea of ​​a permanent retirement like living in a small apartment or an RV with a TV as the only entertainment. While some may call it the weather, that is not at all close to our retirement lifestyle. We live in our 2-story home next door to our daughter's families and we have what we call a budget-saving budget. Not only does it cover all of our living expenses, but it also includes our hobbies, entertainment, and more.

Visit-

We travel as much as we want. Aside from the Hawaiian holiday that was bought by Costco Travel a few years ago, we usually like to travel on a budget route. We have destinations in the Black Hills SD and in southern California where we hunt and indulge in good night's sleep deals. We also travel every year to places where we enjoy visiting and living with extended families. All in an annual travel budget of $ 3,500. If we go beyond doing one thing and go from one season to the next, make some budget changes, or accept any minor omissions for a year.

Holidays-

We enjoy making the holidays as enjoyable as anyone else. With grandma there is always something going on from Halloween to New Years. We have a $ 1,500 holiday budget that includes family outings, celebrations, and gifts.

Eating out

We eat from time to time but we are not connected to going out we will eat too much. In fact, when we come back from vacation, we are just tired of the restaurant food. We eat occasionally and usually try to apply a promotional discount or coupon of some kind. I gladly accept that we are using our growing years to benefit and I get high discounts when they are available. Eating out comes from my misc budget which deals with other domestic, automotive, unplanned but unplanned monthly expenses.

Jobs-

If you look you get all kinds of free activities and events. It only costs to get there and what you use once you are there. Food trucks and beer vendors are always around. We go with a $ 40 budget in mind at events and it comes out of my misc budget. It is always easy to stick to it. We often go to parties to enjoy the place, not to load expensive food or drinks. We have a habit of taking a drink by hand to start things and we are already eating. I love a good unprocessed beer and that is always a budget challenge when I go to parties.

Coffee Shop-

Everyone who saves money keeps throwing away the lattes. I enjoy a nice cup of drip coffee or American and often buy a private store in my hometown. It also serves as my daily social network. I know a lot of people in my hometown there and I have been able to greatly expand my social space beyond what my peers only included before retiring. I have $ 40 a week a small amount of money, a pocket money in a budget that includes this and everything else that is a small random purchase during the week.

Movies & TV Entertainment-

We cut the strings years ago and not sending that money every month still scares my face. I installed an attic-type antenna and used existing coax cables that run into the house to connect our TVs to all flats that had previously had a cable. Between air and online streaming via Roku or Chromecast dongle we get all the system we want. For movies we watch free DVDs from our local library or spend $ 13 a month on Netflix.

Recreation-

We have things we love when you retire. The biggest hobby is car entertainment. While that may be expensive if you buy cars, my oldie has been with me since 1993. The cost of entertainment comes from the events I attend. Like other events, I set a budget. Any out-of-town events are in line with scheduled tours. Car maintenance comes out of my monthly misc budget. I am 21 years old Corvette who left me this year to have fun but to be more modest in all seasons of the weather or the changing road conditions of Wrangler. The difference between the two is in the purchase price outside our 2020 budget and will be included in the billing list once. I had just survived a major health accident and was ready to change. It was about 45 of the bucket list I wanted to scratch and it only happened because we had extra money to make it. Our economical retirement allows for occasional explosions.

Cell Service

I see people spending a lot of money on their cellular systems. I still use the old $ 100 bill when paying for a phone app that I never use all of my prepaid account balance. Which brings laughter to the people around me every time I pick up the phone. My wife is using an iPhone with a $ 10 low cell phone and data plan. We can live by saving money and staying connected to the world as we want.