Is the state of the current economy where you live effecting your retirement? In what way?

Youngster

Youngster

Member
For me, because of the price of gas and airline tickets, travel has taken the biggest hit. I'm spending more on food as well but I won't compromise on the quality. I still buy organic whole food and try to stay away from the processed stuff.
 

The state of the economy has been beneficial to the area where I live in some ways, not so good in others. We had many come here in the last few years due to the lower home prices than in the bigger surrounding cities, pushing up real estate values. The bad news, harder now to find a reasonable priced home for some.
 
NorthernLight said:
Where I live? It's a "dying town," so I get to live in a nice apartment for very little money!
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The town I live in is actually thriving at the moment but I have a great landlord who increased our rent by only twenty-five dollars during the past three years! This means I can put up with food inflation for a bit longer before it starts hurting!
 
The economy is fine with me. I have no debts and I need very little. Some folks around here complain and complain. Trouble is that most of them have cottages in the bush and drive big trucks carrying all sorts of "toys."

The media is full of grumpy news people so I don't read a lot of the stuff that many people do. Less media for me = more happiness!
 
Have no debt other than the normal utilities, insurance, food. I am also one of those that don't shop unless there is a need, like the recent purchase of a new lawnmower. A tank of gas lasts for about 3 months. I do not feel the pinch but I know it exists. I spend more now than I did before the pandemic for just the normal stuff. I don't like that, it makes me stay focused to get the best deals I can on items I do use.
 
Don't need much but groceries go up and up every week. If I want a tenderloin filet, it's $29.99 a lb.
I just bought a loaf of bread for $8.00.
Alone, so I don't need to fix a great meal every day to feed a husband.
I'm very discriminating as to what I buy now. Eating much less but healthier.
 
Groceries are still more expensive. Even our landscaper, who just replaced our potted plants, said prices have gone up.

The area where we have been hit really hard is in real estate taxes because property values have skyrocketed in our area. This only benefits us if we are selling and we plan on staying for many more years, so I am hoping to see some sense of normalcy return to the real estate market.
 
Not really, I'm happy to say. This is an excerpt from the post I made recently about me beating inflation. The methods listed have saved me a lot of money in addition to the extra bonus of cash back rewards.
I’m fighting inflation by:
~Comparison shopping for who has the better prices on each item.
~Buying store brands I actually love (this initially involved trial and error).
~Buying wholesale when it’s beneficial.
~Monitoring sale cycles (works particularly well with Costco and our local supermarket) and shopping the sales.
~Making optimum use of my credit card cash back rewards. About 9 months out of the year, I get 5% back on groceries.

In 2022, my grocery bill averaged $12.50 more a month than in 2021. Since my son moved in, our average monthly electric bill has been $84 up from $71. The rise in those two monthly expenses equals $25.50 or $306 a year. My 2022 cash back rewards for buying everyday, normal stuff I need far exceeded that increase and came to $1,100. Exact figures courtesy of Vertex Family Budget Planner self tallying spreadsheet.

Here's the link to the entire thread.
https://www.seniorforums.com/thread...run-for-its-money-how-are-you-doing-it.79488/
 

Is the state of the current economy where you live effecting your retirement? In what way?​

Not seeing anything of impact
We are putting away more untouchable money of late
Hasn't changed our way of living
We are raising a bigger garden this year

I'm working on (enclosing) our back deck
Not noticing much of an increase in wood related building materials
Stain/paint is thru the roof, however
 
oldaunt said:
I buy bakery italian loaves for less than $2 each, and its more like my home made. Beats the heck out of the supermarket "balloon loaves". For that $30. I can buy an entire pork tenderloin and cut it myself for the freezer.
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Buying a whole pork loin that can weigh about 15 lbs. on sale @ $1.29 a lb. might seem a bit much but the reality is, it isn't.

One end is usually a bit raggedy looking, that part I grind for use in making home made sweet italian sausage, for taco salad, to combine with beef for meatloaf or seasoned for meat sauce for use with pasta.

As it gets thicker cubed for a variety of meals.

Thickest part, double thick slices for stuffed pork chops. Then regular slices for boneless pork chops.

Last part for dry rub herb encrusted pork roast. Any left over roast is for use with ham to make media noche sandwiches.

Done portioning the meals are vacuumed sealed & frozen for future meals. For two people that works out to be very economical & provides the basis for a variety of really great meals.
 
Gaer said:
Don't need much but groceries go up and up every week. If I want a tenderloin filet, it's $29.99 a lb.
I just bought a loaf of bread for $8.00.
Alone, so I don't need to fix a great meal every day to feed a husband.
I'm very discriminating as to what I buy now. Eating much less but healthier.
Click to expand...
A loaf of bread for $8? Wow! Whether Canadian or American, it sure is got to be some special loaf. I should talk. Recently, I paid almost $1,500 for a pair of glasses here in Canada. All my friends say the bugger "ripped" me off and I agree. I will never go back to that crook. In the future, I'm going to Costco.
 
I'm not as affected by price increases as I was last year, because now that I've got a home (instead of full-time traveling), I don't have hotel bills, or crazy insanely increasing pet fees (one of biggest motivations to buy a condo was to not have to pay pet fees), and I've been able to set up subscribe&save on Amazon for my favorite items.

This thread motivated me to check the costs for going to Africa (I'm still struggling to decide whether to go), and although the tour price has gone up significantly (approx +20% from pre-covid price), the airline ticket is just a few hundred more (if I'm remembering the old price and reading the new prices correctly), and the travel health insurance is more but I'm older so not sure whether the increase is due to inflation or my age. But not bad, looks like good medical coverage for a two week trip for $136
 
Fortunately, the state of the current economy is not affecting my retirement. What has affected my retirement, though, is living in a university town and a terrible wildfire that happened near here 5 years ago. Being a university town has meant that rental prices have always been high and the wildfire really drove up the prices of buying real estate, prices of houses and even condo's at least doubled and in some cases even tripled. So there went my foolish hope of getting my huzz to downsize out of this too-big for us place and into something even just slightly smaller and within walking distance of stores, etc.; the few places that become available are usually shacks but still cost an arm and a leg.
 
Yes, due to property prices. Condo's are out of my price range now. I sold the house I owned, I could have paid it off by now but I really couldn't stay there either.

I don't want to retire until I can find a decent mobile in a park. I will still pay space rent and upkeep of course but staying in an apartment is a bigger worry.

I don't need much. A place to live, my cats and their care. Books. Thrifting money.
 
Can't say the state of the economy has affected my personal economic situation, but I sure do notice inflation. A curse of having a good memory for prices.

Although we pared down our small business by about 60% six or seven years ago, DH & I still work part-time/seasonally with a few favored customers. Still having earned income and my SS meant we didn't need to dip into retirement savings.

Now that DH is 70 and filed for his SS, we plan to reduce our business by another 80% this year. That will leave only a couple of small accounts active.
 

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