The average retired person already knows how to live on a fixed income, especially if they’ve been retired for a number of years. One of the most important things that need to be done is simply to lower regular living expenses and, while most people don’t want to give up on the things that they enjoy, in many cases it just means cutting back a little bit and being a little bit smarter with purchase decisions.
With that in mind we put together an excellent blog that will give you great tips for cutting your expenses during retirement so that you can be sure to extend your retirement funds as far as possible. Enjoy.
First let’s take a look at insurance. If you’ve ever joked that you’re “worth more dead than alive” then possibly you’d don’t need life insurance and, if your children are already adults, you probably don’t. Taking a look at your auto and home policies and checking their deductibles is also an excellent idea because, in most cases, you can increase them and lower your premiums by quite a bit. Also, if your children are driving your car and it’s over 5 years old, you can probably drop collision insurance as well. If commuting isn’t a necessity anymore (and if you’re tired, it shouldn’t be) you can probably get by with one car as well.
On to food. Did you know that nearly a quarter of the fresh food that Americans purchase goes to waste? That’s a whole lot of money down the drain and, if you find yourself scraping vegetables and other food into the garbage, you’re part of the problem as well. If you live close to a grocery store you can probably make a few more trips and buy smaller amounts of fresh food each trip so that you only use what you have and very little goes to waste. Leftovers should be put into the fridge or freezer as quickly as possible so that they don’t go bad and, rather than buying all sorts of small water bottles, get yourself a delivery service and 5 gallon bottle that will cost a lot less per gallon.
College tuition can really eat up your retirement funds quickly. If you have children in college you would do well to send them to a state college rather than a private college because it’s going to cost you a heck of a lot less. In most cases the education that they will receive will be just as good (and possibly better) for a lot less money.
Taking vacations when you’re retired might seem like a bit of a luxury but traveling is definitely a present that you want to be able to give yourself for working so hard all those years. Since you’re retired however your time very flexible and you can go on vacation when airfares are cheaper such as during the week or during the off-season. Staying close to home is also a good way to save money especially if you live somewhere that has lots of national parks and other perks. If your children have their own homes you can always visit them as well.
Entertainment can be quite costly but, if you have a library in your town, you can get music, DVD movies, excellent books, magazines, newspapers and other forms of entertainment absolutely free. You’re already paying taxes to support the library so you might as well use it. Since you’re retired, you get a senior discount at all sorts of places like the movies, state parks, national parks and so forth. Take advantage of them and you’ll save some big bucks.
Speaking of entertainment, now that you’re in control of the TV and remote you can cut that premium cable package down to the basics that you like to watch. The same thing with your cell phone service, gym memberships and so forth. Since the kids are out of the house it’s time to get rid of the things that you had for them and put more energy and focus into the things that you care about the most.
If you have a home security system they can be quite costly, and just like your cable company you should shop them around. Just go online and look for affordable home security system packages.
These are some excellent tips that should definitely help you to save money during your “golden years”. If you have any other questions about finances, retirement planning or financial questions in general, please let us know and we’ll get back to you ASAP