More frugal now that you are retired?

[W2R]

I am not more frugal at all in retirement so far! I spend more and I think less about LBYM. I don't have to save for retirement any more. Imagine how that would feel! It frees up a lot of money.

Happiness seems to be the default condition in retirement (at least for me), so there is no longer any motivation to buy things in order to cheer oneself up. On the other hand, I ended up with more money to spend in retirement than planned, unexpectedly. So, it is there, and can be spent.

I try to think of ways to LBYM and save money, for the next market crash. I am pretty sure I will go to OTA television, drop my landline, go to a cheaper cell phone service, and more. But all of this is pretty theoretical for me this year.

 

[NW-Bound]

I just remember why our expenses went down the last few years: the children were done with college, and even flew the coop.

PS. Just the other day, looking at Quicken annual expense summaries, I saw that we spent significantly less for food in 2013 than earlier years. I asked my wife if she knew of any change in our diet or eating habits. We could not come up with any theory until we remembered that our youngest started working full-time last year.

 

[TallTim]

Oh my gosh....that's our story too.

When I see he's looking for a better deal or decides not to buy something, I say, 'Who are you...what have you done with my husband?!'

+1 to this .. I showed this link to DW and she spit out her iced tea laughing. She's always been *very* frugal and has been waiting for the day when I would join her on the dark side. I of course hope to have enough $$ to not care, but that would require too many OMYs.

 

[shortstop14]

In my second year of retirement now, and base expenses have stayed pretty constant. The last couple years before retirement had some high one-time infrastructure expenses that I wanted to get done before I pulled the plug on income - heat pump, furnace, sewer connection. But travel expenses are up since retirement - we're taking longer trips because we can. All planned, so no stress.

However, the first year coinciding with great investment returns has made it a lot easier to ignore the lack of earned income - 'earning' four to five years of expenses in investment paper profits can do that. I'm curious if I'll feel the need to go into financial lockdown mode when I have the first down investment year - that will be the real mental test. I know it's dialed in, but that doesn't mean I'll handle it quite as well emotionally.

 

[JacqJolie]

I'm not retired but I work about half a year every year and have done that for the last 4+ years. Definitely spend more when I'm not working (about 20% more/month) but always felt like I didn't have the time to spend money how I like to spend money when working (long lunches, non-rushed traveling, non-rushed shopping, renovating...)
When I'm working, I could care less about going out for lunch more than once every couple of weeks, very little I wear needs drycleaning and commuting costs on public transit get offset by driving more etc. when not working just as an excuse to get out and see the world every once in awhile - well, frequently.

 

[obgyn65]

Not retired yet but I expect I will spend about the same as I am frugal by nature.

 

[Walt34]

We're pretty much staying the same. When I stumbled into the post-retirement job we did loosen the purse strings a bit but the bulk of the unplanned-for income went into savings. Now that the job is gone we're dipping into those assets until I start SS in a year or three. Not decided on exactly when to do that yet.

 

[brett]

No, but our spending and our lifestyle has changed. Downsized from a large house to a 1400 ft rental. Spending less on housing, clothing, and much more on travel. Second car is about to go to my son. The other one, 2006 Accord, will be good for another 10 years by which time the technology should be just right for hybrids.

 

[haha]

Yes, much more. When you have a good income, and likely also have kids, there are legitimate calls on your income, and usually adequate income to fund them easily enough.

I also felt good about spending money on a young pretty wife Not all wives are pretty, but all will eventually be no longer young- so I felt that while I have one I am not going to be an idiot.

In retirement things change. Kids are gone, wife if you still have one is no longer as pretty, and you no longer have such a handsome income to take care of it all.

Ha

 

[bradaz2488]

I'm still a newbie to ER (only 8 months in). I'm still paranoid about running out of money since my plan is to live another 45 years w/o any pension and I'm assuming no SS benefits. So I believe I'm being more frugal now then I was when I was w*rking. Not having that steady paycheck makes it more difficult to justify spending more money then you have to. Based on other posts I have seen on this forum I will probably become more comfortable spending more as I see my ER plan in action and proves to actually work. But for now I'll stay on the frugal side until the data is in.... One thing I have notice after retiring I do not feel the need to get out of town (vacation). I assume this is because of not having the j*b stress and feeling the need to just get away from everything. I have allocated funds for vacations, but do not feel the same pull for taking them. The freedom I have everyday is kind of a vacation ...

 

[Mulligan]

Yes, much more. When you have a good income, and likely also have kids, there are legitimate calls on your income, and usually adequate income to fund them easily enough. I also felt good about spending money on a young pretty wife Not all wives are pretty, but all will eventually be no longer young- so I felt that while I have one I am not going to be an idiot. In retirement things change. Kids are gone, wife if you still have one is no longer as pretty, and you no longer have such a handsome income to take care of it all. Ha

I occasionally tell my long time GF I can't wait until she is old and ugly so I don't have to spend as much money on her. She doesn't appreciate my humor for some reason.

 

[haha]

I occasionally tell my long time GF I can't wait until she is old and ugly so I don't have to spend as much money on her. She doesn't appreciate my humor for some reason.

No idea why! I guess women are just inscrutable.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We make it a point to lower our recurring costs and increase our recurring income as much as possible on an ongoing basis. That is pretty much my hobby these days - to try to have more fun, live better and eat healthier for less money than we spend now and to improve our passive and semi-passive income.

I liked the quote from an article someone posted recently: freedom is low overhead.

Every $100 a month we cut means needing $60K less in the retirement plan, or it frees up $60K long term for something more meaningful to us like travel or charity, instead of seeing it slip away by not shopping at Costco and ethnic markets or paying too much for car insurance.

 

[Hermit]

How about tipping? Do you tip less now? (This may be a strange question, but when I was in college in AZ (This was in the 80's and the average dinner plate at this restaurant cost about $10 then, so in today's dollars around $21) , I waitressed, and many of the snow birds (in their 70's I think) were very poor tippers.

I think that had more to do with the era those folks came from. They were in their formative years during the Depression. My Dad was one of them and I don't think he was a very good tipper although he thought he was.

 

[Hermit]

My spending has gone up. I have a lot more time to drink beer and work on old cars. Both are quite expensive.

 

[haha]

How about tipping? Do you tip less now? (This may be a strange question, but when I was in college in AZ (This was in the 80's and the average dinner plate at this restaurant cost about $10 then, so in today's dollars around $21) , I waitressed, and many of the snow birds (in their 70's I think) were very poor tippers.

I have always tipped well, but now likely better. I tend to go to quality places, and/or the same places over and over, so the staff knows me and is attentive. I look upon the tip not as way to be generous, but as a way to reward someone for helping me enjoy my life. Who want some friendly waitress complaining to her coworkers, "that old guy Ha is a real pita!"

Ha

 

[annienz]

I might be wrong, but it would seem careful and considered spending while working is possibly the reason many of us have actually been able to retire early. We've had money to invest as a result.

 

[Independent]

We had a LBYM lifestyle before retirement, and we didn't change our attitudes after retirement.

We no longer have some work-related expenses (commuting, clothes, eating frozen entrees because nobody has time to cook).
We paid off the mortgage long before retirement.
We spend more on travel and entertainment.
We spend a lot more on medical, but that's not being less frugal, just more medical problems.

 

[NW-Bound]

We have always been frugal, meaning we rarely buy the best of anything, nor shop for apparel just to load up our wardrobe. We do not drive fancy luxury cars. Still, the expenses add up to more than one would think.

We constantly remind our children to watch their expenses, and not live a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle if they want to ever retire, let alone early. Just recently, in order to show our children how much it would take to retire early like we do, I asked them to estimate what our annual expenses were. I wanted them to understand that it took a lot of savings over our working life to get to where we are.

I did not want to pose this kind of question until they were mature enough to understand typical houseshold expenses (they are 28 and 24). They knew our lifestyle, which was comfortable but not extravagant, that we do not go shopping nor eating out at fancy restaurants every weekend. We also have no expensive toys other than the used motorhome which was paid with cash.

While my son did not venture a guess, my daughter gave a number which was less than 1/2 of our actual expenses. I sent them the summary list taken of Quicken to show them that our not-so-luxurious retirement lifestyle took more than the gross income they were making. And they were reasonably well-paid for their age, being employed in the professions that their college education prepared them for.

We did not travel much in 2013, but if we did what I wanted to do if my health permitted, our expenses would be in the 6-figure. But I cannot take it with me, right? Here hoping that I will be able to get back in my saddle later this year.

 

[AnIntentionalRoad]

We're definitely more considered in our spending decisions. Like everyone here we've been LBYM for a long time but having 2 school aged kids and a possible 50 year retirement ahead of us causes us to be more intentional about our spending.

We live a nice lifestyle but it is definitely dialed back from 18 months ago, when we made the jump.

 

[Rustic23]

In the first couple of years, yes, however, as we settled in and got a better idea of where our money was going and coming from, we have loosened up.

 

[H2ODude]

We're actually spending a good bit more. Always LBYM, still driving a 10 yo car and 3 yo pickup, same paid off house we paid cash for 18 years ago. Between a DB pension I never really thought I'd realize, always saving 20-40%, we clearly went past what was necessary. BUT, until last year or two enjoyed the job and there was a really big penalty to not wait until 60. So now by FIDO or Firecalc we can spend $60-80k more for the next 30 years than we used to. We haven't gotten even close to that but eating out, travel when we can pawn elder care on BIL, buying more high quality foods (and BEER), and recently completely revamping my woodworking tools are examples of how we're trying to not leave as much to the kids. However, we're still only pulling 2.5% out of investments.

So no, we're not spending less. But it's all very discretionary and motivated by the assumed need to enjoy it while we can. It's taken time, but I am getting to letting loose of bucks is way easier than it used to be. But, we still save when we can on stuff. Hard to break old habits. And yes, I know we're very fortunate.

 

[freebird5825]

I've been a lot more frugal since FIRE in 2007. I knew I was exiting very early at age 48, and had to make it on 2 sources of income (1 fixed, 1 COLA'd) to age 56 when I would be eligible for my own deferred FERS pension.
Being single, it was all on me, myself and I as far as reliable income goes.

I did have a steady committed relationship going when I FIREd, but deep down I had to account for the possibility that would not be permanent over the full duration of my retirement. Call it hindsight being 20/20, I freely admit that.

These days, I am happily awaiting the month of September 2014, when I will collect my pension. It won't be a lot, but it will allow me to break out of my strict budget and GO WILD a bit. Domestic travel is at the top of my list.

I may even look at buying (not preferred) or being a frequent flier renter of a small lakeside cottage in the Adirondacks or Lake Ontario. Both are accessible within a 2 hour drive.
Nothing fancy, just a small place that will serve as a getaway in good weather. I love nature and being close to any body of water. I grew up on the Hudson River, and now want to have an option to be able to do lakeside getaways. Resorts and crowds no longer interest me.

Mr B does not share my love of water or boating, so this will be my own little adventure spot while he builds his tax practice and does his Legion/VFW stuff.
I have several lady friends who are thrilled with the idea, and will gladly split the rental fees. I also know a few older veterans who would welcome an invitation to get out of their cramped apartments and enjoy a few days on a lake in fabulous fresh air.
Build a campfire, go out in a kayak, fish, whatever comes to mind.

Lots of ideas are running through my head...

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I have several lady friends who are thrilled with the idea, and will gladly split the rental fees. I also know a few older veterans who would welcome an invitation to get out of their cramped apartments and enjoy a few days on a lake in fabulous fresh air.
Build a campfire, go out in a kayak, fish, whatever comes to mind.

Lots of ideas are running through my head...

It sounds wonderful. I hope you find a way to make it all come true.

 

[gcgang]

Are you more frugal than when you were wo*king? Or since you have a budget, you look at yhour withdrawn money like a paycheck and spend it the same way as before (although you don't need to save anything from it anymore..)?.

I've only been retired since April. Spending is much higher as we retired to Maui and my daughter is now in a private school. But that's why I saved and scrimped my whole life.

Being FI, to me, means I can now do things I never dreamed I'd be doing.

Turning 60 this year. Feel like I'm in the 4th quarter of the game of life. Time to use all the plays in the play book before I can no longer make the plays.