The Cheapskates Guide to Retirement

[imoldernu]

Not sure you are saying no eye doc since 2000, or just didn't buy any glasses since then.

When people get old, I think they should have an eye exam every couple of years, just in case glaucoma/cataract/etc starts to develop.

Funny you picked up on that... that was back in 2013.. I went to the eye doctor this year... Could read the next to last chart line w/o glasses. 6 minutes... $140... , diagnosis? possible cataract starting. Come back in 6 months. That diagnosis qualifies me for insurance. Good business... I should have been an optometrist.

@age 83 not so much of a worry.

 

[Mdlerth]

Saving it up for piercings instead

STUFF WE DON'T SPEND MONEY ON

...Tattoos...

Already have the full sleeve, eh?

DW and I went to a Farmer's Market with son and DIL in downtown Portland last year. Two thousand people; we were the only ones with zero ink.

 

[HI Bill]

We've all heard the incessant advice about how skipping the daily Starbucks cappuccino will save you hundreds of dollars a year, etc.

My "little thing" was moving from the suburbs to town. Over a four-year period, I've saved 833 commute hours (these were 'stuck in traffic' hours), $11,000 on parking garage fees, and $8,000 on gas. I bike to work now, receive commuting benefits to pay for bike expenses, and am in better shape than before. Sometimes, 'small' habits that don't seem harmful are!

I spent 10 years doing that commute. I could have saved another 2,083 hours commuting time and $47K if I had just bought a condo in town originally!

 

[Midpack]

I doubt very much whether a light goes on and people start doing these things after retirement.

I suspect many of the people who follow all or part of this advice have done so most of their lives. They buy on value and they shop. For all goods and services.

We have no financial challenges. But we have always shopped on value and on utility. We did not change overnight when we retired early. Doing this was one of the reasons that we were able to retire early and travel.

I’ve always tried to be resourceful and I’ve been relatively frugal all my life. But every year I still find new ways to reduce spending on large and small expenses without reducing quality of life, and the little ones can add up. There will always be new ways to get more bang for the buck, e.g. dumping satellite/cable TV for live streaming has been a good mid level spending reduction for us (about $600/yr) - didn’t give up anything, in fact if anything we have more/better choices.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

If one is not careful one can lead a very boring life by cutting back too far. Just Sayin'

 

[Midpack]

If one is not careful one can lead a very boring life by cutting back too far. Just Sayin'

“Cutting back” is denying yourself, LBYM/frugal is reducing spending without reducing quality of life. Two different things. I know some very wealthy folks with everything who are incredibly boring (self absorbed), one does not necessarily follow the other.

 

[footenote]

In spite of nudging ourselves to "blow [more of] that dough" in general, we still get a kick out of cheapskates "finds," especially for non-perishables.

Ran the numbers on a Costco Ziplock bag coupon/promo last year. Bought the max number of boxes and saved $65. (Since we use our sous vide frequently, we go through a ton of Ziplocks.)

Found a recipe for making restaurant-style pan-sauces using unflavored gelatin and now I'm going through a lot of it. Compared per ounce price for gelatin from a restaurant supply company vs local grocery store and saved $20.

Once a cheapskate... always a cheapskate I guess.

 

[SecondCor521]

I've got a book with a similar theme, How to Retire the Cheapskate Way, by Jeff Yeager. It's pretty good, especially for a frugal, simple-living guy like me. It gets a little extreme sometimes, but that's okay; I like hearing about options, even if I don't implement them myself.

Jeff is a member of this board. Can't recall his handle offhand but it's something with Cheapskate in the name. He's written two books and both are pretty good I think. I met him once at a meetup in DC years ago. He's a good guy.

 

[RunningBum]

Pretty light. A guy is cruising around, burning gas, looking for the lowest prices rather than using the GasBuddy app? And I'll say no thanks to sharing a room with a stranger on a cruise, but I guess if you want to do that, it's good they show a way to do that. Are RoadScholar trips in general cheap?

 

[Amethyst]

In the 1970's, the same articles would cite a daily pack of cigarettes, versus a cappucino (which nobody had heard of).

We've all heard the incessant advice about how skipping the daily Starbucks cappuccino will save you hundreds of dollars a year, etc. .

 

[NW-Bound]

If one is not careful one can lead a very boring life by cutting back too far. Just Sayin'

We already have enough excitement. Can't handle more.

 

[NW-Bound]

I've got a book with a similar theme, How to Retire the Cheapskate Way, by Jeff Yeager. It's pretty good, especially for a frugal, simple-living guy like me. It gets a little extreme sometimes, but that's okay; I like hearing about options, even if I don't implement them myself.

Jeff is a member of this board. Can't recall his handle offhand but it's something with Cheapskate in the name. He's written two books and both are pretty good I think. I met him once at a meetup in DC years ago. He's a good guy.

His screenname is the "Ultimate Cheapskate".

He has not logged on since 2013.

 

[SnowBound]

I'm sorry but I'm never giving up buying our youngest (4 legged) family member toys. However, she is cheap like the rest of the family; her favorites are a tennis ball in an old sock and empty gallon milk jugs (I think it is the residual smell).

 

[Teacher Terry]

Maltese toys last forever because they are too small to ruin anything)

 

[Music Lover]

“Cutting back” is denying yourself, LBYM/frugal is reducing spending without reducing quality of life. Two different things. I know some very wealthy folks with everything who are incredibly boring (self absorbed), one does not necessarily follow the other.

I'm in the LBYM/frugal camp...I won't deny myself something, but if it's too expensive I'll try to find a way to make it less expensive. Even if it's not expensive I'll look for a deal.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Living below our means and getting good value for our money is a lifestyle for us. If I was a billionaire I'd probably still get gas at Costco because I don't like overpaying for goods and services. I'd rather give the money we save to our kids or charity than see it go to a $30 million a year CEO salary.

 

[RobbieB]

If I was a billionaire I'd have someone to drive me. And a maid and a cook.

 

[brucethebroker]

Imho, the language you use makes a difference. For example, the sub-heading on this article "Thrifty retirees are learning how to cut corners while still living comfortably.".
Are you "cutting corners" if you look for the best deal or do not waste your money?


I hear "deserve" & "must have" a lot when people justify spending money on stuff/experiences that they really can't afford if they were to look at their lifetime money needs. Marketers uses these phrases and people adopt them to their detriment.

1+. Add "I need it" to your list........

 

[brucethebroker]

I'm sorry but I'm never giving up buying our youngest (4 legged) family member toys. However, she is cheap like the rest of the family; her favorites are a tennis ball in an old sock and empty gallon milk jugs (I think it is the residual smell).

Try yard sale plush animals-usually well under a dollar. We found a monkey with long flappy arms/legs for 50 cents. Fav toy for about 6 months-pup would shake her head while chomping down on monkey. I think she liked being sofltly slapped with the long appendages! Not as well made as "kong" types at the pet store, but a heck of alot cheaper.

YS are also good for cheap, slightly deflated small basketballs/footballs.

 

[Gumby]

+1



When I seriously thought of retiring early, I stumbled on this forum and found out that people were a lot more aware of what they spent than I was of mine.

Surely, we were always LBYM, but when your means were going to shrink in retirement, you could have trouble with the same lifestyle. And that was when I started tracking expenses.

Prior to that, I had no idea how much we spent on each category, only that we had plenty of money left over each month. I needed to know more details than that.

At this point, we are already in a rut, but I still track expenses to make sure there are no mischarges, no accounts getting stolen, no undetected lifestyle creep. No budgeting, as our expenses actually get lower due to Bernicke's effect. Currently blowing dough on a DIY experimental solar energy storage system which will take more than 10 years to pay back, so it's more a hobby than anything.

We have always spent whatever we want, but we track it so we know precisely where and how much we spend. If you track, you don't need to budget; the opportunities to save money will reveal themselves.

 

[Badger]

I still purchase an occasional book for my almost 9 year old Kindle.

But the vast majority come from the Overdrive site of the Boston Public Library.

I can easily afford to buy the books. But I still prefer free.

+1
I only buy a Clive Cussler book in Costco when they come out about 3x a year. I have all but 1 of his books with most copies unread all in first edition. I get a used paperback to read instead. A cheap hobby/collection to fill my bookcase.
For any other book I use Overdrive from our public library. I didn't want to at first because I prefer turning paper pages but my wife finally convinced me of the convenience of having it on my phone. Now I have a book to read anywhere I go.
I don't really need a Cheapskate guide though.




Cheers!

 

[kgtest]

If I was a billionaire I'd have someone to drive me. And a maid and a cook.

Soon enough Robbie... wheel chairs and nurses. KIDDING. You make it too easy...and fun.

Don't poke the bear

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I enjoy a "good find" especially if it is something I chose not to buy a year or two ago and can enjoy as much today as I might have then and have it be in like new condition. Examples: Picked up some DVD's of movies I missed in past recently and a few that went missing over the years. We have two movie sources but I like owning and playing what I like when I like without new costs.
Recently built a new computer with an intel i7 cpu to play around with older and non windows operating systems. Was given a like new used case and power supply and added new case fans and drives.
Is even fun to find a pristine used newer car with more bells and whistles than what we have now and give away or trade in the old.
To me frugal is a game rather than a need, however the mindset protects us from frivolous major purchases that we would regret as there is usually some delay in product offering and purchase.

 

[athena53]

I hear "deserve" & "must have" a lot when people justify spending money on stuff/experiences that they really can't afford if they were to look at their lifetime money needs. Marketers uses these phrases and people adopt them to their detriment.

I know- I laugh when I see articles on clothing "must-haves" for the upcoming season. I sometimes click through them to see what's "in" and what's "out" but don't actually go out and buy anything.

Like many here, I also track expenses; I live and breathe Excel so I enjoy it, and I do like to see where the money is going. This year an unusually large amount will go to travel (including payments for a trip I'm taking next year) but as long as I keep my total withdrawal % within a safe range I don't worry about it. I've been downright cheap on clothing (one pack of socks at Costco YTD) and I do all my own lawn mowing and housecleaning, so I deserve this travel.

Oops.

 

[griffithee]

I’ve always tried to be resourceful and I’ve been relatively frugal all my life. But every year I still find new ways to reduce spending on large and small expenses without reducing quality of life, and the little ones can add up. There will always be new ways to get more bang for the buck, e.g. dumping satellite/cable TV for live streaming has been a good mid level spending reduction for us (about $600/yr) - didn’t give up anything, in fact if anything we have more/better choices.

I biked to work a couple of times from Waipahu (Waikele area next to Lowes) to the SUBASE several times. Obviously couldn't take the H1 or Kam highway and still survive. So I took a bike trail along the harbor (once I got across H1). But I was always super cautious as there was a couple of sketchy homeless tent cities I had to get through. Ultimately I stopped biking as I was coming up on retirement and had way too many out processing and medical appointments scattered across Oahu. Additionally, DW was deployed and I had to get the baby to daycare. I didn't want to take him in a bike carrier along that route. I can say the views and weather were pretty great. Along with not sitting on the H1 or Kam waiting to move. I was really looking forward to the monorail which wasn't to be completed until 2018. I have since heard it wont be ready until 2022 and pushing $9B. My money is on more cost overruns and nothing rolling until 2030.