What do you spend money on during retirement

My son turned me onto you tube tv for 65/month. Then I share it with a friend so it really costs half of that. He also turned me onto a T-Mobile prepaid plan for 15/month.
My paid streaming services are Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Prime (a freebie since 2019 for upgrading my MetroPCS plan) and Discovery+. I also have a few free channels but don't watch them that much because I'm "allergic" to ads. LOL With the slight increases by Hulu and Netflix, I'm paying $41 a month, which I read is what the average cord cutter pays. I keep getting solicitations to try YouTube T.V. free for X amount of days, but I don't want to because it's not ad free and costs more. I do have to tolerate ads sparingly when I watch the three newer CW shows I like that I found out Netflix will not be getting.
 

Aside from the necessities of life,

TV streaming channels that I like, plus HBO
Gifts to grandkids (Just got a new great-grandson yesterday, and spent nearly $200 on baby clothes from Amazon!)
Eating out occasionally
Starting to go to live performances again
Clubs and activities where I live
Donations to my wonderful Congressman, every month a fixed amount
Manna and Feeding America
Gas and car maintenance, though I guess that's a "necessity"
Very occasionally, travel
Dental insurance, which I'm about to drop, as I have to go through too much aggravation to collect from them
Minor home improvements, such as new lighting fixtures I just had installed
A few years ago, I bought a roomba, which I love. Much cheaper than hiring a cleaning person.
Computer-related expenses
That part of my medical care which is not covered by insurance
Tax accountant

I guess everything else would come under "necessities."
 

Aside from the necessities of life,

TV streaming channels that I like, plus HBO
Gifts to grandkids (Just got a new great-grandson yesterday, and spent nearly $200 on baby clothes from Amazon!)
Eating out occasionally
Starting to go to live performances again
Clubs and activities where I live
Donations to my wonderful Congressman, every month a fixed amount
Manna and Feeding America
Gas and car maintenance, though I guess that's a "necessity"
Very occasionally, travel
Dental insurance, which I'm about to drop, as I have to go through too much aggravation to collect from them
Minor home improvements, such as new lighting fixtures I just had installed
A few years ago, I bought a roomba, which I love. Much cheaper than hiring a cleaning person.
Computer-related expenses
That part of my medical care which is not covered by insurance
Tax accountant

I guess everything else would come under "necessities."
I like how you're spending Sunny! Most are fun things.

OIP.jpg
 
What do I spend money on during retirement? (1) great-grandsons (2) great new canine bed-partner (3) my landscape helper that I can no-longer do without.

I'm trying hard to avoid medical bills, as dying is apparently cheaper.

I said when I purchased my last used car that it would definitely be the last car I own... Now, it's on its last leg before I'm on my last leg, so this is something that I have to consider.

Welcome to Senior Forums!
I love #2, canine bed partner, never heard it phrased that way!
 
15 grand on two new HVAC units...old ones lasted about 38 years - but no more old freon and old parts available. Decided to get the new ones before we absolutely HAD TO (which would probably be at an extremely inappropriate time.}
Last month, my primary care doctor said to me, "Do you have good air conditioning in your home?" I said, "Yes, it's just a couple of years old and we went high-end with the last we bought." He said, "Good, because I've got a feeling we're going to have an awful, terrible summer this year. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so." :oops:
 
Last month, my primary care doctor said to me, "Do you have good air conditioning in your home?" I said, "Yes, it's just a couple of years old and we went high-end with the last we bought." He said, "Good, because I've got a feeling we're going to have an awful, terrible summer this year. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so." :oops:
How nice of your doctor to show concern about the status of your AC and give you a heads up. Someone mentioned in another post that we are supposed to have a very stormy summer. If the weather lately is any sign of the coming trend, I think your doctor is right. :( Already we've had a few days in the 90s (real feesl 100 - 103). Then the temps dip down again by several degrees.
 
Last month, my primary care doctor said to me, "Do you have good air conditioning in your home?" I said, "Yes, it's just a couple of years old and we went high-end with the last we bought." He said, "Good, because I've got a feeling we're going to have an awful, terrible summer this year. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so." :oops:
Think your doc is also psychic!
 
  • Utilities
  • Groceries
  • Internet/Dish TV
  • One car lease payment
  • Car insurance
  • Travel (occasionally)
  • Concerts & Plays (occasionally)
  • Movies at the theater (usually weekly)
  • Haircuts
  • Massages
  • Gym membership
  • Gas
  • Occasional random purchases on Amazon
 
AlexGold009 - Welcome & Howdy from Texas 🤠

I just retired effective 1-Feb-21. Here is a snapshot of ms gamboolgal and I's Budget Line items that we keep track of.

Since this is the first year of retirement, we have/had quite afew One Off expenses that we did plan and budget for.

We're spending pretty well as planned and taking lots of Road Trips of a Long Weekend to 3 or 4 weeks.
We prefer to drive the back roads and enjoy small town America.

We will fly but try to avoid it - as the last 20 year of work we lived oversea's and the long haul flights with multiple connections ruined Airline Travel for ms gamboolgal and I.
Especially more so now with all the Virus stuff folks have to endure at airports now.

It will be interesting to see the second years expenses vs year 1.

Retirement is wonderful !

AnsuIyol.png
Wow Gamboolman, this is quite a detailed list. I'm assuming you've planned a pretty detailed budget covering these categories. I would be interested to see if life forces you to change your plans.
 
Actually .... not much. I have no debt , and my monthly bills are easily met. I used to travel a-bunch , and I had maintance on the motorcycle{s} i used ....... now they [and I] both just sit .

I have a 20 year old truck with only 60,000 miles so a new one seems pointless.

{I bought it in 2002 as a return from lease .... it already had 36,000 on it]. So I have only added approx 24000 in 20 years .......... needless to say i don't drive much.
 
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Wow Gamboolman, this is quite a detailed list. I'm assuming you've planned a pretty detailed budget covering these categories. I would be interested to see if life forces you to change your plans.
BB,
Ha ! Yes we did/do have a Detailed Budget.
Regarding Life Happening, hopefully the short answer is the 7 P's !
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance !

The Too Long Did Not Read Epistle follows.....

I retired effective 1-Feb-21, after working 43 year in the Oil Patch(s) around the world. ms gamboolgal had "retired" as a school teacher when I went to oversea's so she could come over and live with me full-time oversea's the last ~18 year as permanent Married Accompanied expats as I was working for megaoil corp.

We saw many other fellow folks we worked with retire and then come back as Contractors. I talked with a good many of them and in quite afew cases, they had not planned realistically for there retirement expenses and budget. Hell - alot of them had no budget. It became clear that alot of those folks did not really understand what they spent their monies on before retirement, and then going into retirement they just spent.

I always said that I would work until we was as confident as we could be that once I went to pasture that we would be able to live the planned / desired lifestyle that we wanted.

Regarding our List of Expenses for our Budget....

We had kept our home in Texas the whole time we were overseas and our son lived in it. So, we had a pretty good handle on a lot of the Non Discretionary Base Expenses.

Where it got abit fuzzy was the Variable - Almost Non-Discretionary and the pure Discretionary Expenses.

It was easy to identify the large ticket "One Offs" - we just had to be honest with ourselves about the things we would purchase.

As we began seriously planning for Retirement and the "Budget" - we tried to identify all expenses. We tried to be very honest with ourselves on the expenses. As I said, I had seen many folks who were unrealistic in identifying

The List as shown is still what we are using today. It has been accurate for us as to the Line Items listed. Our original estimates for the Line Item Spends has been pretty close also.
We erred on being Conservative on the amounts we Budget.

This resulted in quite afew "One More Year(s)" at work so we could be confident when did retire.

We have alot of room to reduce expenses if necessary. For instance this year has been ugly for our Portfolio as we are down Year to Date ~ <-8.7%>. We have not really cut back as we had/have ~3 years of Cash of Living Expenses to allow our portfolio and us to ride out the Valleys of the stock market.

We realize it's a personal choice and there is no right or wrong for a couple to manage their business. But for ms gamboolgal and I - we treat our personal affairs the same as I did planning, managing, and executing large Offshore Projects. I was responsible for Cost/Schedule and Budget estimates and for actually executing the work.
I was used to being used/abused and raked over the Coals on Busted Budgets and Schedules - accordingly I was/am very detailed and realistic in identifying Costs and Contingency(s).

I guess it was just natural for us to treat our personal business the same.

Time will tell but thus far our retirement is fantastic.

By far, my favorite thing in retirement is being able to full-time chase ms gamboolgal around the old new 4 Poster - Buck Neckid.🥰

gamboolman....

Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go...
 
My garden. Bedding plants. Perennials. Bulbs.

I figure if I had to pay rent for a place like my Hovel, it would cost around $1000/month or more. So that $1000 is available to fritter away on my garden, not that I really do spend that much.

Or heck, I could spend it in a bar🍹🍺🍸🍾🍷or maybe on a boy👦 toy.
 
BB,
Ha ! Yes we did/do have a Detailed Budget.
Regarding Life Happening, hopefully the short answer is the 7 P's !
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance !

The Too Long Did Not Read Epistle follows.....

I retired effective 1-Feb-21, after working 43 year in the Oil Patch(s) around the world. ms gamboolgal had "retired" as a school teacher when I went to oversea's so she could come over and live with me full-time oversea's the last ~18 year as permanent Married Accompanied expats as I was working for megaoil corp.

We saw many other fellow folks we worked with retire and then come back as Contractors. I talked with a good many of them and in quite afew cases, they had not planned realistically for there retirement expenses and budget. Hell - alot of them had no budget. It became clear that alot of those folks did not really understand what they spent their monies on before retirement, and then going into retirement they just spent.

I always said that I would work until we was as confident as we could be that once I went to pasture that we would be able to live the planned / desired lifestyle that we wanted.

Regarding our List of Expenses for our Budget....

We had kept our home in Texas the whole time we were overseas and our son lived in it. So, we had a pretty good handle on a lot of the Non Discretionary Base Expenses.

Where it got abit fuzzy was the Variable - Almost Non-Discretionary and the pure Discretionary Expenses.

It was easy to identify the large ticket "One Offs" - we just had to be honest with ourselves about the things we would purchase.

As we began seriously planning for Retirement and the "Budget" - we tried to identify all expenses. We tried to be very honest with ourselves on the expenses. As I said, I had seen many folks who were unrealistic in identifying

The List as shown is still what we are using today. It has been accurate for us as to the Line Items listed. Our original estimates for the Line Item Spends has been pretty close also.
We erred on being Conservative on the amounts we Budget.

This resulted in quite afew "One More Year(s)" at work so we could be confident when did retire.

We have alot of room to reduce expenses if necessary. For instance this year has been ugly for our Portfolio as we are down Year to Date ~ <-8.7%>. We have not really cut back as we had/have ~3 years of Cash of Living Expenses to allow our portfolio and us to ride out the Valleys of the stock market.

We realize it's a personal choice and there is no right or wrong for a couple to manage their business. But for ms gamboolgal and I - we treat our personal affairs the same as I did planning, managing, and executing large Offshore Projects. I was responsible for Cost/Schedule and Budget estimates and for actually executing the work.
I was used to being used/abused and raked over the Coals on Busted Budgets and Schedules - accordingly I was/am very detailed and realistic in identifying Costs and Contingency(s).

I guess it was just natural for us to treat our personal business the same.

Time will tell but thus far our retirement is fantastic.

By far, my favorite thing in retirement is being able to full-time chase ms gamboolgal around the old new 4 Poster - Buck Neckid.🥰

gamboolman....

Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go...
Glad to hear the chase is on...hopefully there's some catching somewhere in there. It is refreshing to hear about someone that can plan and in that plan include the contingencies. Life is full of change, and no matter how solid we believe our plan to be, things like pandemics come along and force us to modify. I think if we just stay focused on who we are as a retired individual or couple, our modifications will benefit our lifelong plan
 


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