Age old issue: the transition from saver to spender

[Walt34]

We are finally loosening the purse strings a bit too. DW wants some painting done (what for, I haven't the foggiest idea, there's nothing wrong with what's there) but I can't claim we don't have the money because we certainly do. So that's going to get done by someone else since my days of standing on ladders are over. She also wants the family room done in hardwood flooring to match what is in the adjacent area. That's getting done too.

I'm getting back into radio control model airplanes and while not inherently costly, like most other hobbies that hobby has no ceiling on what one can spend. During the last two months I've spent more than I ever did in one year but this should hold me for a while. Hey, this is fun!

Next month I have a follow-up doctor appointment two and an half hours away, and instead of getting up at o'dark thirty and driving that morning, we'll go the day before, have a nice dinner out, get a $180 hotel room across the street from the hospital and walk over after breakfast. Then maybe do some sightseeing before heading back.

Okay, none of this is exactly luxury living but it is a departure from our long practices, and the strange part is we're still saving money so I guess we're doing okay. Clearly, we have to loosen the strings some more.

 

[Music Lover]

Four days after I moved in I tripped and fell on the 1 and 1/2 steps leading into my side door. I didn't know/remember about the half step and couldn't see it because I was carrying a full laundry basket. It was a pretty bad fall! Anyway, I put bright yellow duct tape across the front edge of each of the steps, and now I always hang on to a sturdy rail when I go up and down them. I never carry anything while going up and down those steps either.

I doubt that steps of an uneven height would pass even the most lax building code. I don't know what they're made of and how much work it would be to fix them, but if it was my house, I would do the repair.

 

[imoldernu]

PS - I used the retirement calculator on that page, just for fun, and it informed me that my retirement age was too low, based on my birth year. Apparently, there is some "rule" thatt retirement is not allowed before the age of 55. Now they tell me!

Yeah... tells me I can't retire 'til age 81, and have to save the equivalent of my current total savings between now and then...
Would anyone care to help "crowdsource" imoldernu?

I'm getting back into radio control model airplanes and while not inherently costly, like most other hobbies that hobby has no ceiling on what one can spend. During the last two months I've spent more than I ever did in one year but this should hold me for a while. Hey, this is fun!

We have a large group of RC'ers in our town, that owns their own field, a large clubhouse and substantial acreage. I am so tempted! Problems with hand neuropathy would make me dangerous, so I'll have to stick with RC sailboats.

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Re: W2R's dreamhouse... Probably a good time to resurrect a thread on building/remodeling a home for the later years. Much going on in this in updated designs, and a lot of it hasn't hit the front pages yet. Even our CCRC newest award-winning Villa homes are lacking in some of the people friendly features. Surprisingly, many small inexpensive model changes are still missing.
This becomes much more important, the older we get. We begin to notice little things, like having electric plugs located 30 inches above the floor.

And spending? Old habits die hard even after 27 years of retirement. Though we could afford to shop at HyVee (think Whole Foods)... it's Aldi's for us. Just hate seeing my $.49 avacados being sold for $1.25... and still drive the extra half miie to get my gasoline for $.07 less per gallon at "Sapp Brothers".

 

[W2R]

I doubt that steps of an uneven height would pass even the most lax building code. I don't know what they're made of and how much work it would be to fix them, but if it was my house, I would do the repair.

It's perfectly within code, has been this way for 50+ years, and doesn't need repair. It's easier to perceive this in real life than from internet posts. Thanks for caring.

 

[pablo]

Even though I have a fully vested and COLA'd gov't pension (+ SS) that starts in a little more than a decade, and the pension (+SS), after taxes, is more than 2X my current spending rate (all amounts at present value), I am still counting every dollar spent. I try to remind myself that my stash could sit in a checking account and earn zero, slowly depleting over the next 10 years and I would still be OK because then the funds come back in from the pension and SS.

I'm finding that the savings and deferring impulse is difficult to change. Yes, I know, it's a good problem to have, but I DO want to enjoy life more while I still can.

 

[Meadbh]

It's perfectly within code, has been this way for 50+ years, and doesn't need repair. It's easier to perceive this in real life than from internet posts. Thanks for caring.

Building codes often "grandfather" legacy items that would not comply with current codes. In my jurisdiction, uneven risers do not meet the current code, but if they already exist, one is not obliged to remove them.

Nevertheless, they did contribute to your fall, because you were not expecting the step to be where it was. You can develop a higher sense of hazard awareness, but visitors unfamiliar with your steps may be at risk of falling, so it was a good idea to put bright yellow marking tape on the steps.

Recently I fell on an unmarked step down in the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, because I was looking up at the art. The security officer who helped me said that this happens on a daily basis. Obviously this 14th century building is not going to have its courtyard steps removed, but they need yellow tape!

 

[W2R]

Re: W2R's dreamhouse... Probably a good time to resurrect a thread on building/remodeling a home for the later years. Much going on in this in updated designs, and a lot of it hasn't hit the front pages yet. Even our CCRC newest award-winning Villa homes are lacking in some of the people friendly features. Surprisingly, many small inexpensive model changes are still missing.
This becomes much more important, the older we get. We begin to notice little things, like having electric plugs located 30 inches above the floor.

As I transition from saver to spender, I think this is a good use of my hard earned money. Luckily, my Dream House is already pretty well adapted to the elderly, since the former owner was around 80 or so and disabled. People say that we don't spend as much as we grow older, so I think money spent for the later years is a good move now, at age 68.

And spending? Old habits die hard even after 27 years of retirement. Though we could afford to shop at HyVee (think Whole Foods)... it's Aldi's for us. Just hate seeing my $.49 avacados being sold for $1.25... and still drive the extra half miie to get my gasoline for $.07 less per gallon at "Sapp Brothers".

I don't go to the more expensive grocery stores either, but I also don't try to get too frugal with food. Life has few pleasures, and delicious but also healthy food seems like a good way to spend money.

 

[W2R]

Building codes often "grandfather" legacy items that would not comply with current codes. In my jurisdiction, uneven risers do not meet the current code, but if they already exist, one is not obliged to remove them.

Nevertheless, they did contribute to your fall, because you were not expecting the step to be where it was. You can develop a higher sense of hazard awareness, but visitors unfamiliar with your steps may be at risk of falling, so it was a good idea to put bright yellow marking tape on the steps.

Recently I fell on an unmarked step down in the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, because I was looking up at the art. The security officer who helped me said that this happens on a daily basis. Obviously this 14th century building is not going to have its courtyard steps removed, but they need yellow tape!

I am so sorry that you fell! That happens to me too, all too often lately, and I am (slowly) learning to be more careful but it is not easy or automatic for me. Unfamiliar places with distractions such as the place where you fell are especially difficult for me. At home the yellow tape is really helping, but also being more slow and cautious and using a sturdy hand rail has helped too. Surprisingly, I have also fallen less frequently since my cataract surgery.

My sincere apologies for my first response to your post, which I have since deleted. I misunderstood your post and feel like a jerk.

 

[FreeBear]

We have enough savings and can start spending freely (within reason). My wife wanted to totally redo a room in our house and I told her to have at it. We visited many high end stores for window treatments and floor coverings. But in the end she just couldn't justify spending all that money when the inexpensive options we've always gravitated towards work just fine and look almost just as good. I chuckled at the whole thing because in the end she just couldn't change who she was. But on the other hand who we are when it comes to money allowed us to get to this point of FI

Yep, we've been free for over a year we've become very value conscious, in part because we have more time on our hands. Without the steady paychecks coming in, we are very defensive of our nest egg.

We still love to eat out, but the pricey "expense account" places are out and cheaper (and spicier!) ethnic food is in. I love the variety of ethnic dining, and it gives DW and I a welcome break from kitchen duty.

We also dropped cable and favor of internet streaming (Roku w/ Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc). Just didn't get the value from overpriced cable. Worse yet, I resented spending my retirement time trying to renegotiate the cable bill. Hint: they offer the best deal when you start new service and when you call to CANCEL. "Loyal" subscribers otherwise get screwed

 

[Meadbh]

My sincere apologies for my first response to your post, which I have since cdeleted. I misunderstood your post and feel like a jerk.

I didn't see your first response, so no worries!

 

[wmc1000]

I used that retirement calculator link in the article, it's "T. Rowe Price" version, and I always get a kick when they give a 99% chance of success at the level of expenses we have. - They don't want to be on the hook by "guanteeing" you won't outlive your investments