Is our attitude toward work different than general population?

[W2R]

• I am not planning to take social security for 4-9 years after I retire, nor do I plan to rely on it since in my case it will be pretty small (and possibly non-existent at some point). I have saved more than will be required to "pay myself social security" during these years just since December.

• At 62 I will be getting exactly the same small pension (a whole $535/mo or less after taxes) as a 50 to 55-year-old "early out" retiree from my job

I'm curious why are you delaying SS since your pension is so small . Wouldn't it be better to let your savings grow rather than depend so heavily on them ?

Only if the market is on the upswing. My plan is to have enough fixed income to survive. Then, especially during those crucial first ten years, I will only have to withdraw from my main nestegg when the market has done pretty well. During those good years, or I think even at an SWR of 4%, it will provide the majority of my income whether I spend it or not.

Like most people, I have customized my retirement plan for me. When it comes to spending, I have a lot in common with Khan (though he is definitely the King of Frugality in my opinion). I don't think I could spend $2K/mo (in 2007 $) if my life depended on it. I don't ever want to have to worry about where the first $1K/mo to $1.5K/mo is coming from, though.

 

[kcowan]

I don't think I could spend $2K/mo (in 2007 $) if my life depended on it. I don't ever want to have to worry about where the first $1K/mo to $1.5K/mo is coming from, though.

Wow and happy with a coffemaker as a gift too! The perfect woman.

Seriously, have you and Frank had any serious budget discussions about ER together in Springfield?

 

[W2R]

Wow and happy with a coffemaker as a gift too! The perfect woman.

LOL!!! Well, simple things do make me happy sometimes. Now I wouldn't turn down diamonds and roses, but at least the coffee maker showed me that he was thinking about me and trying to be kind and considerate. That's pretty terrific.

Seriously, have you and Frank had any serious budget discussions about ER together in Springfield?

One of the reasons Frank and I get along so well together, is that we don't live together or mix our money (or plan to do so). We talk about how we are going to manage our retirement budgets in Springfield, all the time. He is younger (52 to my 59) and although he is not quite the LBYM'er that I am, he figures that he can always take a short term job or do something if he falls short. He is one of those guys who always has an iron in the fire (or three). I, on the other hand, would not work for all the tea in China after I retire.

We have no desire to travel, or to keep up with the Jones and such. Cost of living in Springfield is very low. In Springfield, there will be expenses for heating the house in the winter. That's taken into account. My health insurance will cost about $150/mo plus the usual increases, since health insurance for life is one of the benefits of being a federal retiree.

My pre-retirement budget is in the range I indicated ($1000-$1500/mo) on average, and that includes the broken A/C, the root canals, the TV that blew up, the new circuit breaker box, and unusual things like that, plus buying furniture and artwork for the house that I bought in 2002 (though not the P&I on the house, which I have since paid off).

This year my budget has been $700/mo, because I haven't had any of those unusual expenses (knock on wood!).

I love to get exercise by walking around big box stores and gawking at the stuff, but I don't feel like I have to actually BUY everything I like. Does that make sense? For example, I can see a beautiful $5000 entertainment center, and appreciate the craftmanship and elegance, and then happily leave it in the store. To be honest, I really haven't bought into all this Madison Avenue cr*pola and I don't intend to change at this age.

Frank knows all this and his usual comment is, "Well, whatever makes you happy!"

 

[Moemg]

Okay I'm a LBYM but $700 a month with property taxes ,utilities ,food ,clothes and an occasional gift . That's unbelievable Khan will be asking you for suggestions.

 

[W2R]

Okay I'm a LBYM but $700 a month with property taxes ,utilities ,food ,clothes and an occasional gift . That's unbelievable Khan will be asking you for suggestions.

Oh no, I am not THAT good at LBYM. I was probably misleading. Khan is still the King of LBYM. The $700 figure was from December through July and doesn't include the homeowners' insurance and flood insurance which I just paid, or property taxes, which are due at the end of November. This coming year my property taxes will be going back up to what they were, but last year and the year before they temporarily cut everyone's taxes due to Katrina. Homeowners plus flood plus taxes for the past year, divided by 12, would add $163/mo to my expenses (but next year it will be $230, oof!). My overall expenditures for the past five years including everything but P&I on my (now paid off) house, come to $1405/mo. That was computed as take-home pay minus P&I minus money saved and put into Roth IRA etc. The $700/mo is just for regular, usual monthly expenses.

Utilities are around $150-$200/mo, including phones, cable TV, water, gas, electric, sewerage, and cable internet. I am doing weight watchers so I don't eat much, and Frank takes me out to eat on the weekends. I spent about $200 on clothes this year (that includes my New Balance 992's which were $105, and the rest of my clothes which was less). I almost never give gifts, though I sent my daughter $200 for her birthday. I pay $77/mo for weight watchers and the gym. It all adds up to $700/mo since last December.

gifts...........................$0
utilities......................$150-$200
WW & gym.................$77
clothes......................$17
daughter's birthday......$17

These total $261-$311/mo, and food and any other incidental expenses take up the rest (egad, where does it all go? ). Since Katrina I have been budgeting $800/mo for my regular expenses, but the elevated cost of living here due to the storm is falling back down towards the $600/mo that these cost me before Katrina.

 

[Khan]

Okay I'm a LBYM but $700 a month with property taxes ,utilities ,food ,clothes and an occasional gift . That's unbelievable Khan will be asking you for suggestions.

That is inspiring.

I have had a few $700 months

Most months are $1200 - $1500

I spent very little for many years, especially the 2.5 years after retiring.

Now things are starting to wear out and will have to be replaced.
Sheets, towels, clothes, shoes, TV(1989), washing machine(1993)...

This year I've replaced an car(1989) and a window A/C(at least 20 years, it was a hand-me-down).

 

[W2R]

That is inspiring.

I have had a few $700 months

Most months are $1200 - $1500

I spent very little for many years, especially the 2.5 years after retiring.

Now things are starting to wear out and will have to be replaced.
Sheets, towels, clothes, shoes, TV(1989), washing machine(1993)...

This year I've replaced an car(1989) and a window A/C(at least 20 years, it was a hand-me-down).

Aaaagh!!! no no no !!! - - see above. You still have me beat, though we are in the same ballpark, I think. The $700 was just for recurring costs. My average over four years was $1330-$1405/mo, depending on how I compute it (that doesn't include saving for a new car, which would add another $200/mo, but it does include 4 root canals, a new 42" plasma TV, two new computers, a new central A/C and heating system and circuit breaker box for my house, furnishing and buying appliances for my house when it was new, and so on). This year it will be less, though, since I have not had any unusual expenses. I would guess maybe $1100/mo for the year for everything, $700/mo for recurring expenses.

I plan to retire with a new car, and will keep it for 10 years. By that time, my nestegg investments should be doing pretty well so I don't anticipate a problem in coming up with a lump sum for replacing it.

I have never spent more money than this, actually. I live very nicely and I buy everything I want. Somebody (Thoreau?) said that the secret was to want but little, or something to that effect. I don't buy things I don't want.

 

[unclemick]

I knew if I kept posting my 'all time personal low(12k/yr aka 1000/mo)' over time some of the real class act LBYM'ers would surface and post.

Yea!

heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh - INTJ, left handed, en-ga-neer and perfessional(sick) cheap bastard(semi retired) .

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Uh oh, its an ER forum cheapskate smackdown!

 

[unclemick]

Yup

Been a long time since we walked barefoot to school over hot gravel - uphill both ways!

Makes me misty eyed for my old webtv classic and slo mo dial up internet connection back in 03.

heh heh heh - 100 degree's on the front porch. I'm retired from tooo cheap - running the A/C baby!

 

[Moemg]

Utilities at $150 -$200 how can this be with air conditioning ? I'm moving to New Orleans the cost of living seems really cheap .

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Been a long time since we walked barefoot to school over hot gravel - uphill both ways!

After a fine nights sleep spent clinging to the window sills because we couldnt afford floors, and eating a hearty breakfast of rocks and sticks we collected at dawn while the windchill whistled by at 50 below zero.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Utilities at $150 -$200 how can this be with air conditioning ? I'm moving to New Orleans the cost of living seems really cheap .

I'm impressed. My electric bill last month was $459. I cant get it under $130-140 even when we're not using the a/c at all.

 

[W2R]

LOL!!! I am not cheap enough for this bunch! I bow to the LBYM masters of the forum....

 

[REWahoo]

After a fine nights sleep spent clinging to the window sills because we couldnt afford floors, and eating a hearty breakfast of rocks and sticks we collected at dawn while the windchill whistled by at 50 below zero.

Yeah, well we lived in a shoe box in the middle of the road...

 

[W2R]

Utilities at $150 -$200 how can this be with air conditioning ? I'm moving to New Orleans the cost of living seems really cheap .

I have the A/C on but it is in the mid 80's inside my house (100+ outside). I am not that sensitive to temperature changes, so I tend to use no heat in the winter and less A/C in the summer than some folks. After all, I do plan to ER, y'know? I live alone, and I am accustomed to some lifelong frugal habits when it comes to energy consumption and other repetitively billed services.

Don't let me mislead you - - New Orleans is not especially cheap, especially since Katrina!!! It can be frightfully expensive, especially compared with how things were before the storm. I don't want to mislead you on that. I am lucky in that my area does not have the collapsed water main problems that some people have, so my water bill has never been above the minimum.

 

[Khan]

I'm impressed. My electric bill last month was $459. I cant get it under $130-140 even when we're not using the a/c at all.

Gas and electric: $94/month level billing.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, well we lived in a shoe box in the middle of the road...

SHEER LUXURY!

Especially if it still had the little crumpled bits of paper in it.

 

[W2R]

I'm impressed. My electric bill last month was $459. I cant get it under $130-140 even when we're not using the a/c at all.

My most recent electric bill was $99.58 for 1016 kWh. My most recent gas bill was $23.05. So with phones, cable TV & cable internet, water, sewage, trash, my monthly bills this month will be $251. Bad off the cuff estimate! But my electric bills in August in New Orleans are much, much higher than they are during the rest of the year, so I probably erred enough on the low side in winter to make up for it.

At least that helps explain where SOME of that money went. I still wonder how I could have spent that much.

 

[unclemick]

1085 kwh = $95.80 BUT I'm only 1100 SF and it's actually been cooler this year - about $160 and change same period last year. This summer also setting 2-4 degrees higher or 78-80 when I can during the day.

Ballpark hmmm - say $100 electric, 40 gas, 30 water, 19 garbage plus 134 for VOIP phone, cable version of high speed internet, basic cable with light sport package, 47 T-Mobile, 521 house mort/ins/taxes, 138 medical - I'm up to over 1k/mo without the food and the cars and the parties/travel/entertainment.

Heh heh heh - gonna hafta get my el cheapo game book out and get into training.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

My most recent gas bill was $23.05.

Cool! My gas bill was only nine bucks last month!

So with phones, cable TV & cable internet, water, sewage, trash, my monthly bills this month will be $251.

Ruh Roh. My bill for the same stuff is about $425. But I have full directv, cable internet, unlimited long distance phone with all the features, and I live in a very expensive area for water and sewage...

 

[Nords]

We used 303 KWHr in July but we produced 300 KWHr of it from the solar array.

Total (minimum) monthly charge for remaining connected to the grid: $16.99.

 

[Khan]

We used 303 KWHr in July but we produced 300 KWHr of it from the solar array.

Total (minimum) monthly charge for remaining connected to the grid: $16.99.

I go back and forth concerning solar/wind in Ohio.

 

[W2R]

Cool! My gas bill was only nine bucks last month!



Ruh Roh. My bill for the same stuff is about $425. But I have full directv, cable internet, unlimited long distance phone with all the features, and I live in a very expensive area for water and sewage...

Well, that would explain why you pay more - - you get more TV channels! And with Gabe in the household, you probably need them more than I do right now. I get about 60 channels for $16 on bare bones basic cable, plus my cable internet which adds $40 for a total cable bill of $56/mo.

cable TV.......................................................$16/mo
cable internet................................................$40/mo
water, trash, & sewage....................................$15/mo
land line phone, no long distance........................$22/mo
cell phone, free long distance from the South........$33/mo
gas & electric..................................................$50-$125/mo, seasonal
TOTAL..........................................................$176-$251/mo

When I am ER'd, I plan to ditch my cell phone. If the market tanks, I might even go back to dial-up internet for a while.

And congratulations on that $9 gas bill!! That is phenomenal.

 

[unclemick]

that dang Nords!

repeat to self ten times and meditate - I'm not an engineer, I'm retired!

So what if you're in a 'good' part of MO solar map wise and the long direction of the roof faces south.

Time to go fishing.

heh heh heh - And bring the ice tea - maybe 100 degree's in Kansas City today.