retirees too nervous to blow that dough

RobbieB said:
Yeah Baby!

All those years of self denial are over. Done. Gone with the wind like my job!

Now it's time for a little self indulgence - :)

Lobster Fettuccine Alfredo (with fresh Maine lobster) for supper tonight!
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I had the "still working" version of this tonight... chicken fetteccine alfredo. It was good, but I bet your lobster was better!
 
I like chicken, have it all the time. Chicken is chicken and lobster is lobster. I like 'em both.

Another round of lobster rolls tomorrow and we'll wait another 4 months to order some more!
 
Gumby said:
Precisely. A million bucks in the portfolio will generate $40k per year pre-tax. Add in another $40k for two social security checks and you're talking $80k per year pre-tax, so maybe $65-70k per year after tax. That's a very middle class life, at least around here. If the house is paid for, you probably can take one cruise or foreign vacation per year and buy a new, sensible car every 5 years or so. But that's about it.
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We are in this boat but being 81 we spend but will be careful, it has served us well and and big concern is we do not have LT care insurance.
 
DAYDREAMER said:
DW and I are fortunate enough to be able to give ourselves a monthly allowance beyond bills. The allowance is $2000/month each. This is a "no questions asked" spend as you like allowance. It has really freed up any Fear/guilt of "Blow That Dough'.

The allowance was based off a monthly budget we calculated from a withdrawal rate that we feel safe and comfortable with. Lol, my conservative nature still likes to save that monthly allowance. Have it built to $18k right now!
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My wife and I have been doing this for the last 30+ years (even the "no questions asked") ever since we were married only not quite so much each month. It makes giving gifts to each other more meaningful if we have to use our allowance for spending on the other instead of dipping into a joint account.

Worked well for us too.


Cheers!
 
Badger said:
My wife and I have been doing this for the last 30+ years (even the "no questions asked") ever since we were married only not quite so much each month. It makes giving gifts to each other more meaningful if we have to use our allowance for spending on the other instead of dipping into a joint account.

Worked well for us too.


Cheers!
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+Another. All our income, regardless of source, comes into a joint checking account, from which all joint bills are auto-paid, and in which we have about one month’s buffer of cash. DW and I also each have our own checking accounts, which auto-receive equal allocations of unaccountable blow-it money each month. Simple, fair, comfortable and effective.
 
I like that idea of monthly "no questions asked" cash bonus per spouse. Might have to bring that up with the DW. We probably could do $1K each no problem.
 
Rianne said:
We struggle with the idea "is it worth it?

Is a $250/night room better than a $200/night room? Then again, we spent $50K+ for a remodel in our house and didn't think twice about it.
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$200+ a night is worth it to us to stay inside a national park instead of 30 min away. Less traffic and more time to enjoy.
 
Hotels are one area I will never have trouble.

I'm a big fan of "cheapest room at the best hotel" - wherever I'm going. Or close too it...recently was very tempted by the Amangani for our trip to the Tetons, but even that's out of my range. (or....out of my "i can convince DH that it's worth it" range).

With the better hotels comes better location, which can easily mean an hour a day saved on sightseeing. Other things are better service, dining, grounds, bathrooms, amenities, etc. Of course these things vary by place, and everyone has their own priorities. But I kinda have a thing about wanting somewhere nicer than my own home if I'm traveling.
 
We don't skimp on hotels either. We're going out to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone later this week. We're staying at Jackson Lake Lodge, Old Faithful Inn and Yellowstone Lake Hotel. Expensive, but well worth it to be right there in the park. For the same reason, when we went to Machu Picchu, we stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge right outside the gate, instead of down in the valley.
 
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Gumby said:
We don't skimp on hotels either. We're going out to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone later this week. We're staying at Jackson Lake Lodge, Old Faithful Inn and Yellowstone Lake Hotel. Expensive, but well worth it to be right there in the park. For the same reason, when we went to Machu Picchu, we stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge right outside the gate, instead of down in the valley.
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Don't you have to call like the first day they open for taking reservations to get those rooms? I tried 8 months prior to going to Glacier and everything inside the park was gone.
 
I made the reservations for Old Faithful Inn and Yellowstone Lake Hotel on May 1, 2018 and for Jackson Lake Lodge on October 1, 2018, which were the first days you could make 2019 reservations for each.
 
Gumby said:
I made the reservations for Old Faithful Inn and Yellowstone Lake Hotel on May 1, 2018 and for Jackson Lake Lodge on October 1, 2018, which were the first days you could make 2019 reservations for each.
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Great information! Thanks!!!
 
This is a funny subject, we have always just had joint accounts and joint credit cards, Everything is joint. We just spend on what we need/want, but we are both of the same mindset and do find it difficult to justify things now that we would not have thought twice about when w$rking. More from the standpoint now though of accumulating to much stuff. We typically do not buy things on a whim, never have done really. We do discuss a lot of purchases between us before getting things, but it is more from having stuff around that we do not use or will only use once (Air Fryer LOL, we sold it after 3 uses). We are still trying to downsize.

Like Robbie, we do not even think about economizing on food, although we still look at the flyers and DW does like to use the occasional coupon, but we do not go out of our way to do so. We do not have a "spend" amount at all, never really needed one.

Some things we Research the hell out of, like appliances, package holidays, certain services etc., but that may be just because we like doing it.

Other things we simply do not research in such detail, cars are an example, we just get what we want at what we consider to be a reasonable price.

Our definition of a good deal has always been: "Getting something you want at a price you are comfortable paying or are prepared to pay"
 
^^^^ Similar story here.... though we try to shop for value and probably economize more on food than we should... certainly more than we need to. We spend a lot.... six-figures... but still only about 70% of what we could spend with 95% success. Hard to change old habits.
 
I like looking for bargains. We try not to buy a lot of consumer goods so for me that means focusing on consumables like food and entertainment. I try to make Blue Zone type healthy meals on a food stamp budget. Yesterday we had stir fry with a spicy peanut sauce, Moroccan rice, organic ginger pumpkin soup, organic blueberries and blackberries and a green salad with artichokes and cranberries and a home made dressing. We can eat like that for most meals for $5 a day per person which is 83 cents over a food stamp budget but we've decided to really live it up and spend the extra 83 cents these days. :)

On the weekend we went to a garden for free admission because of membership in another garden with reciprocal benefits, and saw a play on seat filler tickets for $8 instead of $90. The only entertainment we paid regular price for was going out to eat with friends because we went to one of their favorite restaurants and it is one I don't have any coupons for.
 
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I just got one myself. The color laser all in one for my new office was on sale for $50 bucks off and another $25 for ordering online. With free shipping.

So I got my $400 dollar (before tax) printer delivered for $350 (including tax), sweet!
 
LarryMelman said:
A lot of people view that only as being miserly, but to me the "looking" process is educational. I learn about things to do or cook or etc. that I simply would never have learned about otherwise.
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Miserly usually means saving money even to the point of forgoing basic comforts, as in Scrooge eating gruel for dinner. I think that is different than trying to live a champagne life on a beer budget. But I agree with you on the looking part. I like just buying what is interesting and on sale and worry about the recipe part later.
 
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