REPOST OF TIME TO RETIRE

TIME TO RETIRE, READY, SET GO!

We hear every day how much the Baby Boomers are going to cost, how they are going to bankrupt the government, well, to that I say phooey. The Baby Boomers are the only generation that has paid into the retirement system, set up by the U.S. government, all of their lives. For instance, I started paying Social Security when I was 15. My husband did, too.

When we crept towards retirement, we took a year to get ready. How did we do it? We cut all of our living expenses by 50% or more. We made a list of all our expenses, house, utilities, cell phone bill, etc. Then, we set out to find how we could cut those expenses by 50% or more.

Here are a few suggestions, there are hundreds listed on the WWW but these are few we came up with for us.

1 – Husband is a vet, signed up for their services. It has worked out great. Our area has a great VA program, including medical. Check it out.

2 – Joined the family plan with our son for the cell phone bill. This bill alone dropped from $86 per month to $35 for two lines, 400 minutes each and unlimited text. Ask a family member if you can join their plan.

3 - Redecorate with stuff we have, do it according to color. Walk thru the house and gather all green things, all red things, etc., move the one color to a different room, presto new decorations.

4- I spend only paper money and drop the change in my purse. When the purse is too heavy, empty, put the change in jar or bank. I recently filled up my bank, a jar and a second jar. When it was finally counted, we have over $104 in our pockets for fun money. (This is no longer fun money but vacation money. It mounts up over a full year.)

5 - Unplug everything electrical that is not being used. We sleep by a fan and unplug it when we get up. Electricity is running thru the wire even if it is off.

6 - Our Master bedroom is now our guest room. The comforter is washable. I was taking it to the laundry, paying $9 each time to wash it. Now, I take it off the bed, fold it and company sleeps under sheets and blanket only, both washable at the house and no dry cleaning bill.

7- Remake things and use again. My sweet Grandmother did this all her life, long before the word recycle was invented.

8 – Use mini-shaver to do your eyebrows. No pain and no expense.

9 - Love having a pet? Make it a small one. They eat less and have small poop to clean up.

10 - Do not smoke, drink, or eat too much. None of it is good for you and all of it costs money.

Of course, we all know that the best thing is to be debt free, no mortgage, no credit cards, debt free. So work towards that goal. Start today, don’t dilly dally, the clock is ticking.