Does anyone here live on a Shoestring?

Cyclist

Cyclist

New Member
We are happy living on a shoestring. No penny pinching here at all, don't even think about the budget.
DH retired this year at age 63 due to back issues. We are off-grid on 7 acres of land. No debt, homeowners so that is key of course. Spend $1700 a month. usually less, to live comfortably. Monthly Income: $2400 ($1400 SS+ $1000 my p/t job)
Monthly Expense Breakdown
Wifi Cellular Hotspot- $25
Two I-phones w/limited Wifi- $50
Utilities $50. Propane. DIY Solar for car/home.1800's stove heats home & cooktop in winter. Firewood via our land
Property Tax- $250/$3k a year
Trash- $25
Transportation: $150 4 methods
2022 E-Car usually driven just 3 miles a week-to church & health food store+1hr round trip about once a month to visit family
E-bike most places
Wednesday Fun- $250 Take the public bus for $10 ea. round trip. 8-10 of us ride together. Pick up is 10, back at 5pm.Toot around at the next larger town. Mtn Bike together on trails. Separate to see family friends. Attend a 1 hr NAMI support group, visit Farmers Mkt,,maybe shop a bike shop/thrift store/Nursery. Combo of these
Entertainment- $50. Youtube. Library free streaming (Kanopy) Amazon Prime Free Movies. Buy 1-2 movies to stream off Amazon per mo.
Personal Care $150. Natural hair dye/haircuts/toiletries/bath tissue/paper towels/soaps/supplements
Health Care- $50. Use the Free Indian Clinic. Pay for an Air Ambulance Membership. Since he's over 60, his retiree health plan kicked in for $25 a month. Covers about 65% of medical. Vision= free exam/glasses per yr. Dental to $4k a year but it's already free thru the Indian clinic to a degree stretching that 4k out.. Drugs sold at cost but his plan provides up to $400 a month. I'll have the same plan when I turn 60, we worked together. So it pairs well with the Indian Clinic+ Part A when we hit 65.
Pets $50
Food $200. Grow our fruits/veges. Raise 25 free range hens. Sell 75% of eggs to the Feed store in swap for hen scratch
*Unexpected* $200 A buffer, hardly needed
$175 Giving
A pond surrounds the house.House is comprised of mostly corrugated steel for the roof and much of the siding. We also added our own custom brick work that turned out beautiful. Our home is valued at $125-$175k less than other homes in this area due to being off-grid but we have plenty of acreage.

The main challenge in California is the food is costly. Everything else we've dodged paying toomuch for.
Yet...funny... we feel like we live like kings. Too bad we listened to all that junk about how much you need to retire.
Everything we want to do, we do. I long to visit the ocean more than one weekend a year. Need to convince him.

The Unexpected $200 buffer is hardly ever used. Put back into savings. Property taxes won't increase due to our DIY remodel. It only increases at the sale. Bowed out of being heavy consumers so inflation won't affect us as much. 100k savings. $5k HSA. When I take my SS, I'll continue working p/t for 1k a month well into my Senior years, why not. Grow food. He works at home gathering the hens eggs, growing our fruit/veges/sprouts & doing repairs around the place, etc. I do the canning, we make homemade dog food together. He's very handy. Church is our life, bible study, volunteering, pets, exercising. I guess we're an anomaly to think we can actually be happy this way :) I had no clue the simple life would be so freeing.
Do you live on a shoestring? Are you stressed over it or are your needs fully met otherwise...with some extras?

I forgot. We spend a sizable amount of dollars on new cycling clothes not factored in. Maybe add $35 a month for that. I honestly did not believe we had retiree health plans at 60 yrs old, not sure why but it was a bugger trying to get it going for him.
 

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Pretty much and I don't mind. I live off $1321 (no government subsides) a month and still able to save a little each month. Very low credit card debt. Roku with just two cheap streaming subscriptions ($20 for both). Decent sized personal library. I buy refurbished electronics. I can make a 20 dollar bill last for weeks. I walk everywhere under 5 miles, then it's Uber time. Plenty of exercise. Actually I'm happier now than I've been in decades. Frugal lifestyle suits me fine.
 
Oldeagle66 said:
Pretty much and I don't mind. I live off $1321 (no government subsides) a month and still able to save a little each month. Very low credit card debt. Roku with just two cheap streaming subscriptions ($20 for both). Decent sized personal library. I buy refurbished electronics. I can make a 20 dollar bill last for weeks. I walk everywhere under 5 miles, then it's Uber time. Plenty of exercise. Actually I'm happier now than I've been in decades. Frugal lifestyle suits me fine.
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That's wonderful! Roku I hear, can be rented from a library. I wanted to get one to see if we like it first. You're doing well, and getting good exercise by walking.
 
Cyclist, just one question: If one of you died, have you worked out a budget for that scenario? It's important to do so.

Sorry, one more thing: How are you covering Medicare premiums when you turn 65? Most insurers require that at age 65, a private healthcare policy becomes the secondary payor, with Medicare the primary payor. Your carrier may not have this requirement; our carrier did so there was no choice.
 
chic said:
This may not be a popular opinion but I'd enjoy having more. :giggle:
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I'm with you. I live on a shoestring budget. I make decent money, but I have a lot of credit card debt from cataract surgery I had in 2023, plus an extremely stupid and very expensive tax mistake I made that year, so I am barely scraping by. I'd love to have a little extra so I could do some debt-free traveling or afford, say, a new car or a larger apartment.
 
I was doing well until about two years ago. Then a series of unexpected expenses hit me. Mostly medical but also more than $8000 for tree trimming to satisfy homeowners' insurance. My former zero balance credit cards have taken a hit. Now the roof is threatening me. I may have to sell but where to go?
 
PeppermintPatty said:
We don’t live on a shoestring budget but we DO budget to save money. We are putting money away for possible emergencies. We enjoy budgeting. We watch for sales items when shopping and make most meals from scratch. We even make our own bread.
We do our own vehicle repairs.
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Mmmm homemade bread is so awesome! I miss my grandmother's homemade bread.

My mennonite neighbors gave us some of their homemade bread a while back, as a "thank you" for something. It was very good, close to gram's but not quite there. Certainly good though!
 
papa tiger said:
Sounds good Cyclist, conservative, don't gamble, wise lifestyle.
Property taxes going up is a bugger here.
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Yes, I'm glad they have Prop 13 here. It limits the Property tax from increasing more than 1%. Local fees added on to our property tax that can skyrocket though
 
Lethe200 said:
Cyclist, just one question: If one of you died, have you worked out a budget for that scenario? It's important to do so.

Sorry, one more thing: How are you covering Medicare premiums when you turn 65? Most insurers require that at age 65, a private healthcare policy becomes the secondary payor, with Medicare the primary payor. Your carrier may not have this requirement; our carrier did so there was no choice.
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Yes, I worked out a budget for when he passes away since he's older. I will need $700 more per month to live a lower standard of living in a Trailer in an RV Park. We have an RV I can live in, maybe they'll let me stay there, until one comes up for sale. I have no plans to stay there much longer if he's not with me. I want to be downtown where everything is walkable and closer to church, where we volunteer, and the health food store.
Regarding Part B, it's up to him to pay for that. Then there is re-imbursement once a year for what is paid. That's how I understand it
 
Tom52 said:
Congratulations on successfully living on $1,700/month = $20,400/yr. Our Medicare insurance plus supplement for both of us is $837/month, or nearly 50% of your total monthly spending. Then if I add our federal tax obligations we are already over your yearly spending.
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I'm glad you are doing so well, nothing bad about that. That's some pricey healthcare though.
 
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