What was your first expense after retirement?

[Life_is_Good]

And how did you feel?

I remember my first expense after the paychecks stopped was for a tank of gasoline. Even though the financial plan was solid..... the first expense was a little scary.... knowing there were no more paychecks coming.

 

[tangomonster]

I understand what you mean about the gas and am still want to say "ouch!" with gas prices being what they are, and even after nine months of retirement.

But to answer your question, not expense---EXPENSES. Within a couple months of retirement:

* cat became very ill with a urinary tract blockage---bill $1000
* husband lost weight without trying---led to a colonoscopy, endoscopy, barium study---
of course this happened right after he started his new insurance with a higher deductible, so $3000 to $4000 there
* toilets started leaking---a few hundred dollars to replace them (and then we moved shortly thereafter)
* we decided we could no longer stay in the condo we had lived in for 20 years and had planned to stay in indefinitely (too many renters and young people with their 3 a.m. partying, property not being kept up), so we had to spend several hundred dollars to move and then bit the bullet and realized that we could no longer remain in bargain-basement housing, and moved from a $125K condo to one double the price.

We've always had this little black cloud over us and weren't surprised that all hell broke lose right after retirement. It was unnerving but everything has worked out (kitty and DH okay) and we love our new place. It was a bumpy ride but we fastened our seatbelts so to speak and survived, even thrived!

 

[Nords]

Re: What was your first expense after retirement?
And how did you feel?

Surfing lessons.

Wonderful!

 

[Bikerdude]

10,000 mile, 40 day motorcycle trip. Oh, how sweet it is.

 

[farmerEd]

Mine was a 2 month trip to the Bahamas...about $25K (for a family of 6)

 

[audreyh1]

Well, this wasn't the first expense, but it was just a few months after retirement, and was kind of a watershed event for us and I remember it well.

We decided to sell our 2nd car - a 5 year old Honda Accord (on which we had only put 50 miles in almost a year), and spend all the proceeds on a 600mm F4 IS Canon camera lens!!! Yep - around $10K!

That's when I really knew we were really retired! Our hobbies became the most important things to spend money on.

In general, though, it took me at least a couple of years to get used to not having that regular paycheck coming in ad infinitum. It doesn't faze me now (it helps that the portfolio has really grown over the years), but it was kind of unsettling for a while - a less financially secure feeling.

Audrey

 

[Goonie]

A new chain saw.....wanted one for a long time, so after breakfast one morning at Cracker Barrel, I drove out the back way and went to the Sears store next door. BZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz!

 

[kumquat]

On June 1 it will be to buy a few beers for the suckers still at megacorp boys as that is my last working day.

 

[Jeb-NY]

Guess I never really thought about the small expenses one way or another. We ordered a new car a few days before I put in the papers and 2 weeks notice and picked it up a couple of weeks after I walked out the door. Seemed like a good start.

Jeb

 

[dex]

10,000 mile, 40 day motorcycle trip. Oh, how sweet it is.

That's about 250 miles/day - what is it about motorcycle riders that they don't stop and smell the roses?

 

[janer]

Golden Retriever, $350, plus oh, a few thousand in maintenance.

 

[haha]

Braces for #1 son.

ha

 

[Tiger]

Two tattoos. A tiger on my left shoulder and a band of fire on my right forearm.