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I think it's smart to live as if you're on social security before you retire. We didn't do that as that didn't occur to us. But for the last 4 years before retirement my husband tracked our spending and figured out what we would need to live on. So far we are doing ok and not spending over what we planned for. My husband was hoping we'd go under budget but he's really not to good at that. I did suggest he'd try to find cheaper things for the phone & internet, etc. He insists we need DirecTV.  I would've gotten rid of it years ago. I'm hoping he'll eventually realize there are good alternatives (I did bring that up a few years ago but he wasn't convinced).

I don’t really do seasonal cleaning  now since I try to clean the outsides of the windows a couple times a year when I find time and turn or flip my mattress every other month or so, that sort of thing. I clean out closets and cabinets when I find time but I will get more regular at that once I retire.  I feel more energized to clean when the weather is cool, I admit that!

I am glad you mentioned getting SS a month later - I had forgotten that!  I will retire early next year so I need to have that money set aside  My husband retired early due to health so I should have remembered that extra month wait l for SS. He passed away last year so I get survivor benefits but at age 70, which is when I will retire, I will have to choose my SS or his.  I will choose whichever is higher of course.  I am already dealing with bills for one so I feel prepared for that.  Right now I  have his SS and my paycheck but I am streamlining my expenses to get ready for retirement.  I also want to avoid touching my retirement savings but as I understand it, I will have to start withdrawing at 74 or about then, per law.  I believe I can reinvest it but not in another retirement account.

I’ve paid all but a little bit of debt off and that should be gone in a couple of months.  We had no debt until his health issues got serious.  We never know how old age will hit us!

Gr.Donna,

You are very smart to think about the timing of receiving your SS. I had to take early retirement and only had 2 months to "work the numbers".  Thankfully because I have always stockpiled and budgeted the gap month didn't affect me very much.

I spend more in the summer on utilities and food because of stockpiling and canning/processing but those bills are lower thru the other months because we are eating what has been stockpiled and processed.

Thankfully we grow big gardens and get a lot of things like grapes, pears and apples from people that have them but don't want to do anything with them.

Our gardens this year were slow to take off but are producing well now.  I will confess to not weeding these last few weeks, for me the heat and humidity were just unbearable.  My yard work has suffered too but at least it is mown and I will run the weed eater in bits as I can in the cooler weather.  We can't winter garden here, too cold. But, my beets will stay in the garden until much cooler weather and they will be fine, the cabbages also.  

I think you are going to really love being home together in retirement.

When my husband retired, we were aware we needed to be ahead in or money, and we had money to cover it...What we weren't prepared for exactly was that he couldn't draw from his retirement account until age 73 without our having to sacrifice a substantial amount in penalties and fees.  He was retired for nearly 2 years before I could start to draw early social security.  

At this point we live off social security and have talked in length about how and when we plan to spend any retirement funds, God willing and creeks not rising!  I think that is also an important discussion to have.

What I didn't realize is that since we are paid once a month now (we are paid social security in the same week), there are occasionally months where five weeks pass before we get paid.  It's that fifth week that threw my entire budget off when it occurred.

Because we were being paid a week later than the previous month, I had to make sure that I had set money aside to make payments that came due PRIOR to that next pay period which for us was quite a few!  I had to have electric, house insurance, phone bill, gasoline credit card (paid off in full each month and written out as a debit each time we use that card) and sometimes we fell short of basic foods because I had failed to plan ahead!  It took me almost a year to catch that rhythm and figure out where we were going to fall short and in which month that fifth pay period fell.   For example, we'll be fine for September and October, but I need to plan ahead for November which is when my next five week pay period occurs and we begin 2026 with a fifth week pay period.  

I found it was best to keep a written record in front of my eyes when I was paying bills each month, and I automatically could glance ahead and note where and when I needed to put extra aside.  I also wrote it on my monthly calendar of the month preceding so I'd be sure to make note of the need for extra milk, eggs, and produce to carry us through that fifth week.

I find it is also good to be mindful of seasonal bills one might have.  I set money aside monthly for annual fees, but I consider our propane bill to be seasonal since we only get fill ups in September through February or March at the latest.  Fortunately, only our propane season starts just as the weather is (usually) starting to cool down and so I can easily decrease the electric bill amount and switch that portion over to the propane category.

What I think we should all keep in mind as we near retirement is that a pantry is a big part of our retirement.  Gardens can't always be counted on to produce but we need that pantry and our freezer to see us through those seasons when costs rise more than social security (that's about always) and through those seasons where we have expenses we couldn't have possibly planned.  That pantry may well be the real emergency fund!  Keep that in mind.

And I think it pays to always refresh our skills or to learn new ones just so we can have assurance that we can make do just a bit longer.   Also remember that not all expenses are actually going to be expenses forever and always.  Things generally have a way of balancing out just when we think we won't have enough.  From someone who has a fairly small Social Security income.

I am learning so much about planning for retirement and planning for financial bumps in the road! I'm glad to have my budget done too, though I'm still finding the occasional item I forgot to list. 

The heat wave finally broke here. We're supposed to have mid-80s and 70s now. I'm considering this fall and today ordered my paint samples for the interior painting we're going to do this fall. Right now we're back outside doing a few gardening tasks it was too hot to do before, like pulling out the gooseberry bush. For some reason, it died this year. I've always wanted a rosebush, and I think I'll plant a rose where the gooseberry was, next spring. Today we got some green beans, a large bowlful of cream pea pods and an orange pepper to go with the tomatoes already on the counter. There's a zucchini that will be the right size tomorrow. The heat really slowed down production, but we get enough each day to always have fresh vegetables. We have seven cantaloupes we are eagerly awaiting. :) I can't grow in winter, so I see no reason why Grandma Donna shouldn't have her off season in summer. 

Tasks really are getting more seasonal! This is the first year I fed the birds, and it's been quite the experience! My hummies will be taking off for the winter next month, and I'll be putting away my hummy feeder. I'm going to order some suet for the birds who stay for the winter. My pear tree bore for the first time this year, and we've had to support the branches because there are so many pears. Those will get picked in September too. And we wash the windows seasonally, so window washing is also in September. We're painting in fall because that is when we can open the windows again. 

And tomatillos! We got some of those today. The tomatillos planted themselves this year. I planted a couple of different kinds of open-pollinated varieties two years ago, and these seem to be a cross of those. My new favorite sauce is putting cut-up tomatillos, onions, and garlic cloves with their skin on in a pan to char a little, then peeling the garlic and putting those veggies and one of my roasted green chilies from the freezer (defrosted) in the blender with some chicken broth and salt and pepper. I let that cook for a few minutes and then stir in some sour cream. It's my version of encremadas. It was nice of the tomatillos to volunteer to grow for me. :)

hello all

just Arrived in Chicago. We had a miscommunication with our dog sitter so she was unable to cover our start time. So Winston (who despises the car) and I came to town today. My husband will fly in tomorrow. We’ve made 2 trips out into the busy night scene to potty and nope. Not yet. He liked all the mini doddle compliments he received.  Mommy was not thrilled with the big city rat she saw out by the dumpster.  Sweet husband is having a major back surgery repair on Tuesday so we will be here for 4-5 weeks.  

I spent the last 10 days cooking ahead. Lots of stocks, dishes with ground meat like tacos and spaghetti and shepherds pie and a meat loaf.  Strawberry compote. Sautéed 20 ears of corn and packaged them. Made a big pot of mashed potatoes and froze them. Satisfying to do and helped keep my mind busy

Donna, do you have a PO Box or a church address that you could share?  I have a little doo-dad (granddaughter says dab-doos) that I’d love to send your way

You’ve accomplished a huge project and must feel both relieved and proud. 
Regards to Charles. 

Lissa

I think Terri C makes a good point about the pantry. A garden might not always produce or be a feasible project but the pantry can be crucial. Being able to feed ourselves well inspite of a crisis goes a long way towards calming anxiety.

I'm in the process of reassessing my pantry. I'm using up some things that I will not be replacing. These are things we just don't enjoy any more or don't eat as often. So that is space that will be used to store items we do use more. Additional space means I can have a larger quantity on hand (bulk buys).

I gave away most of my lovely cookbooks. Most of my recipes I use regularly are stored in a big, big binder. Having regular recipes I know we like means I don't have to worry that I might not have the ingredients in the pantry for a recipe. I will.

Oddly, now that my husband is retired I'm cooking & baking almost a much as when the kids were growing up. Lol  I realized my husband when he was working was used to buying lunch out or snacks when ever he wanted because he felt like he could. So to replace that habit I've been cooking ahead and freezing meals (to save me time & give him variety). I'm doing the same with snacks/treats.  I'll make flavored popcorn or some cookies and he won't be tempted to stop in the gas station for a treat. He's getting into it now. If he's going to be out for awhile he'll ask me to wrap up an apple and some other snack to take along.

GDonna,

It is very interesting hearing about how retirement budgeting works. I admire how frugally you are going about your plan.

I recently was feeling like we were spending too much on groceries, and had to do a reality check. We spend $600 a month, as a family of 4. The kids are very little, both under 4 years old, but when I looked it up the "thrifty" spending for a family of our size/age was $895! (according to the USDA). We also eat out quite a bit, up to $300 a month, but that was still below the average for even just a couple without children. I think that is too much, and I am working on cutting it down, but frankly cooking is one of my major weak points.

Interestingly, the USDA thinks that a "thrifty" couple spends $614 a month on food, and a "moderate" couple spends $774. So you are 250% more thrifty than the average thrifty couple. :-)

If anyone else wants to read some trivia on food costs, this article collated them well: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/average-...

Thank you for the lovely article!

When my dh passed, I got his SS amount since it was more than mine.  

The budget was greatly reduced without his medical insurance, multiple RX and I got rid of DISH all of which helped.  I realized that my life insurance dividends were sufficient to pay my annual premiums so that was another bill gone.  His last year was a marathon of doctors, hospitals, nursing home, therapy, EMT's which left me mentally and physically exhausted.  

Since I'd always managed our finances that was one thing in my favor as I didn't have to face learning everything from scratch.  He had life insurance which was enough to pay for all burial expenses with plenty left for me to take a burial trust for myself.  The attorney I worked for before retirement took care of all legal matters without charging me.  We had everything set to immediately transfer to me upon his passing so did not have to go through probate proceedings.

I've had major expenses including a new furnace, new water heater, new washer and new to me used dryer and the Generac generator had to be replaced.  I managed all of that without going into my savings. 

Frugality is essential and I watch every bill closely.  For instance, I recently ordered two items from a catalog half-price sale.  One item was delivered and the other back ordered.  The billing statement showed full prices for each item.  I called the contact number today and have been assured the prices will be adjusted correctly.   One reason this sort of thing upsets me is I wonder how many people, especially older people, would notice the overcharge and do something about it.  It is always a hassle, but I wasn't about to let a double charge pass.  

I have a special spot to put all receipts from credit card charges and when I receive the bill, I check to make sure everything is correct.  I have three major credit cards and use one for a couple months then switch to another throughout the year.   I pay the entire balance when the bill arrives, so I have an excellent credit rating 817 the last I checked.  While I have no plans to use credit for loans, I found that a higher credit rating means lower insurance premiums for auto and home policies.