Do you live a Frugal Retirement on little money? (sell, sale, best)
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I am curious to hear stories of people 60+ living on little money but are overall happy.
Share if you are almost ready to retire too. Sorry I just noticed the re-vived sorta similar thread in finances
Married?
Both on Social Security, if ok, how much?
Pension?
401k/savings?
State? Rural or City?
Own/rent?
Still working? How many hrs per week?
Retirement account/savings?
How do you cover Medical?
Do you like your location?
Friends/Family nearby?
Attend Church/Clubs/Groups? Any friends/family?
Comfortably meeting basic needs?
Us:
Northern California
Ages:55/62. In 2 years, he'll take Social Security for $1425 per mo, thank God
Income- $2500 a month- I work p/t 24 hrs a week, he works much less
Living out in the boondocks in a tiny Tourist town
Our one son is mentally disabled (schizophrenia) + 3 best friends
Retirement Accounts/Real Estate-$150k
I'll quit working p/t at 70.
At 70, Take a yearly 401k withdraw equating to $500-$600 a month+my Social Security of 1K & his SS = almost 3k a mo.
Pay his Part B+ my retiree health insurance which only covers 80% of pretty much anything. Dental = 90% coverage.
Poised to qualify for Medicaid to cover any left, if needed
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Last edited by Pip-Squeak; 08-02-2023 at 11:18 AM..
I am probably considered retired and I live on not much. My income is more than "not much" but I don't spend it all. A lot of it just accrues.
I'd sure hate to live on my Social security, though. After they take out the charges for Medicare, I barely get over $500 a month. That would make for a pretty lean existence, probably in a blue tarp tent on the sidewalk.
A huge difference in retirement is owning your own home. No rent, no mortgage. Taxes, upkeep, maintenance all add up to a heck of lot less than paying rent. I'm a big advocate of owning your own home and getting it paid off before retirement.
I grow fruit and veggies, but quite honestly, that doesn't give much savings over the grocery store cost of the same. I cook at home and buy in bulk and that does make a huge difference in food costs over eating out or buying expensive groceries.
I have good health insurance as a retirement benefit and that is major major massively important for being retired and not needing a lot of money. If you have a job that offers lifetime medical insurance as a benefit, try to hang onto that job.
I'm not a "shopper". I won't buy anything that needs to be dusted or dry cleaned, and that really makes a difference in the budget. If you look at the stuff at a garage sale, your reaction should be "why did anyone ever buy this junk in the first place?" Well, I don't waste any money by buying that junk because I am not one of those people who love to shop and think shopping is their super power.
I've grown up being conservatives with power and water, and with gasoline for the car, so no change there, and that can make a difference if you are indulgent about those things.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pip-Squeak
Thank you I sorta wanted to hear from some frugal people. The retirement forum is pretty full of well to do individuals.
One can be both well-to-do and frugal, they are not mutually exclusive. I'll give you the example of my Mom,
age 93 who just went into assisted living. My wife and I are not really that frugal yet, but will be when I retire next spring.
Married? Widow
on Social Security, if ok, how much? Yes, about $1,500/month
Pension? No
401k/savings? No
State? Rural or City? Small city in Washington state
Own/rent? Rent
Still working? How many hrs per week? No
Retirement account/savings? Less than $2,000
How do you cover Medical? Medicare
Do you like your location? Yes
Friends/Family nearby? Yes, one son in same city, another 2.5 hours away, most friends deceased
Attend Church/Clubs/Groups? Any friends/family? No
Comfortably meeting basic needs? Yes
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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We assist a lot of rural seniors who are very happy living on very little $$$, most are in their 80's and 90's and have been retired (on very little) for 20+ yrs. No pensions, just SS and and little savings. While their kids could help them financially, none of them do, and parents don't desire that. They just 'get-by' and are very happy and not in want, because they don't expect much.
Average income is ~$1000/ month
Own their own homes and land
Drive older cars
Have very dated furniture and equipment. (70+ yr old tractors and trucks)
Grow gardens, preserve fruits and produce
Have their own cows (beef)
Have chickens.
have friends... LOTS of friends.
All are active in community, volunteering, and church.
All are quite creative.
A few do senior nutrition (meals in town 3 days / week). Mainly for the fellowship.
Hospital stays and spousal care can torpedo their success. (As can having a child with needs)
Ironically, these couples and singles love and adore their adult kids (Who do NOTHING for their parents).
Such is the loyalty of blood relatives. Very forgiving and gracious.
When in crisis (coming home from hospital needing 24x7 attendance.) We affirm to hospital that we will be attending them 24x7. (So they can get discharged). If we need a break, we contact their friends. We've do this for 40+ yrs. The seniors appreciate it. We'll soon enough be our own customers.
I am probably considered retired and I live on not much. My income is more than "not much" but I don't spend it all. A lot of it just accrues.
I'd sure hate to live on my Social security, though. After they take out the charges for Medicare, I barely get over $500 a month. That would make for a pretty lean existence, probably in a blue tarp tent on the sidewalk.
A huge difference in retirement is owning your own home. No rent, no mortgage. Taxes, upkeep, maintenance all add up to a heck of lot less than paying rent. I'm a big advocate of owning your own home and getting it paid off before retirement.
I grow fruit and veggies, but quite honestly, that doesn't give much savings over the grocery store cost of the same. I cook at home and buy in bulk and that does make a huge difference in food costs over eating out or buying expensive groceries.
I have good health insurance as a retirement benefit and that is major major massively important for being retired and not needing a lot of money. If you have a job that offers lifetime medical insurance as a benefit, try to hang onto that job.
I'm not a "shopper". I won't buy anything that needs to be dusted or dry cleaned, and that really makes a difference in the budget. If you look at the stuff at a garage sale, your reaction should be "why did anyone ever buy this junk in the first place?" Well, I don't waste any money by buying that junk because I am not one of those people who love to shop and think shopping is their super power.
I've grown up being conservatives with power and water, and with gasoline for the car, so no change there, and that can make a difference if you are indulgent about those things.
Thank you for your post! Sounds like you are doing quite well being frugal.
* I have retiree health insurance too, it's pretty good- Covers 80% of anything starting at age 65. Excellent drug plan, typical dental/vision. We'll pay our pay our Part B's like you do. Of course my husband has nothing else and we won't buy a Supplement. I have a Health Savings Account with a balance of 5K invested in the S&P.
We'll use that first, then if need be, retro-active Medicaid. Meaning as long as when the expense occurred you were 138% or under the poverty level for that month, Medicaid will pick up anything insurance doesn't and after you pay as much $ as you can. Medicaid will likely never pay a dime for me but my husband has a huge gap there.
* I quit my job at the grocery store last week but within our Union, I can transfer stores keeping my seniority so just had a job interview. Both stores provide a crappy Medical package which costs $35 a week for us both. It covers only about 60% of any expense, typical dental/vision and excellent drug plan. That's all we have right now and since he works very p/t and I work 24 hrs a week, we are over Medicaid. Hopefully we won't have an emergency until he turns 65 when we start paying for Part B for him. Then he's VERY covered.
At my age of 65, my retiree health insurance kicks in. I might be able to retire then but probably won't. A new change took affect that Courtesy Clerks can work just 18 hrs a week and qualify for exactly what we get- same price and everything. I'll try to get the Union involved and downgrade my classification and start pushing carts at age 65. Probably working three 6 hr shifts a week until age 70.
We tried to do what you are doing...but the home we have 3/4 built is now for sale. It's on 20 acres. It's off-grid. We'll only get maybe 90K from it. So we sit there with a massive $1500 Mortgage, $450 Utilities (even with Solar Panels kicking in a bit) which is only 1/3 paid off. I'll be 80 years old when it is paid off and he will likely be dead.
When it sells, we hope to have 90K at least, & take 10k from my IRA, to buy some land with acreage + a delapidated home we can fix up. Needs to get out from under this Mortgage. We want to grow our food like before, and raise chickens.
We've always been poor. My former job that provides the Retiree Health Pkg was a subsidiary of the State who started requiring COVID vaccinations. And the Company closed down an office asking people to transfer 3 hrs away. So then I started working in a Grocery store a few yrs later
One can be both well-to-do and frugal, they are not mutually exclusive. I'll give you the example of my Mom,
age 93 who just went into assisted living. My wife and I are not really that frugal yet, but will be when I retire next spring.
Married? Widow
on Social Security, if ok, how much? Yes, about $1,500/month
Pension? No
401k/savings? No
State? Rural or City? Small city in Washington state
Own/rent? Rent
Still working? How many hrs per week? No
Retirement account/savings? Less than $2,000
How do you cover Medical? Medicare
Do you like your location? Yes
Friends/Family nearby? Yes, one son in same city, another 2.5 hours away, most friends deceased
Attend Church/Clubs/Groups? Any friends/family? No
Comfortably meeting basic needs? Yes
Your Mom seems poor to me. $1500 a month is very little to live on, it's poverty level, not well to do.
he's probably on Medicaid which is fine too. Both Medicare and Medicaid can work together. I am glad she is doing so good but it's too bad she's in Assisted living. Mom sounds like she taught you well, congrats on your retirement this spring
We assist a lot of rural seniors who are very happy living on very little $$$, most are in their 80's and 90's and have been retired (on very little) for 20+ yrs. No pensions, just SS and and little savings. While their kids could help them financially, none of them do, and parents don't desire that. They just 'get-by' and are very happy and not in want, because they don't expect much.
Average income is ~$1000/ month
Own their own homes and land
Drive older cars
Have very dated furniture and equipment. (70+ yr old tractors and trucks)
Grow gardens, preserve fruits and produce
Have their own cows (beef)
Have chickens.
have friends... LOTS of friends.
All are active in community, volunteering, and church.
All are quite creative.
A few do senior nutrition (meals in town 3 days / week). Mainly for the fellowship.
Hospital stays and spousal care can torpedo their success. (As can having a child with needs)
Ironically, these couples and singles love and adore their adult kids (Who do NOTHING for their parents).
Such is the loyalty of blood relatives. Very forgiving and gracious.
When in crisis (coming home from hospital needing 24x7 attendance.) We affirm to hospital that we will be attending them 24x7. (So they can get discharged). If we need a break, we contact their friends. We've do this for 40+ yrs. The seniors appreciate it. We'll soon enough be our own customers.
Wow, that sounds like a wonderful program/ministry, whatever it is you both are involved in. Bless you. Glad to hear the Seniors living on little are happy, overall. Gardening is so natural and therapeutic, even if you don't save any $, it's worth it. Studies show the digging in the dirt is a natural anti-depressant
I applaud folks like StealthRabbit, who can offer services to those in need. Frankly, after working in a state hospital, and working with the public for a number of years, and being reclusive IRL, I burned out long ago. Thank you, StealthRabbit, for doing what you do.
I've had financial reversals throughout life, and have lived successfully very frugally for a number of years.
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I sorta wanted to hear from some frugal people. The retirement forum is pretty full of well to do individuals.
