Frugal Retirement Living
Retire Early and Frugally
Here is an interesting perspective on frugal living that goes along with our mission to live frugally but still enjoy life and live well.
One author of a frugal living blog describes frugal living as “to look at optimizing efficiency and utility – one will become frugal, rather than just do frugal things.”
This blogger claims he spend about 75% less than the average person, and yet gains an equivalent level of satisfaction.
One of things he mentions that helps you cut expenses during retirement is to live in a smaller dwelling and be within walking (or cycling) distance from work, libraries, and shopping areas.
If you don’t have children living with you, you will not have to worry about what school district you are in.
Large homes have high maintenance costs. You have to pay higher taxes, heating, cooling, lighting and water bills. Plus you have a large outside area to maintain. A smaller home will scale down many of your monthly expenses.
If live close to where you shop, play and work you will probably not need a car or be able to get away with one if you previously had two. You decrease your bills tremendously if you are only insuring and maintaining one car instead of two. Plus you get more exercise if walk to do some of your errands.
The frugal blogger I checked out said “If you take the money you’ll spend on your car and invest it in your retirement, you will add one million dollars extra to your early retirement account.”
Another tip is to stay healthy and exercise regularly. Health insurance is expensive and you probably will be paying for a portion of it yourself. So preventing future health problems is one of the best things you can do to prepare for early retirement.
Eat a good healthy diet and take care of your teeth. Dental procedures are really expensive so make sure you floss and get regular dental checkups.
Reducing clutter can also help you on your way to early retirement. Anything that you own has to be maintained. Furniture has to be cleaned, electronics need to be repaired, knick knacks take up space etc.
Before you make a purchase of a non-consumable item, think about if you really need it. If for instance it is a tool to make a repair, ask a neighbor if you could borrow theirs.
The less stuff you have, the more financial freedom you will have.
Try to avoid fixed costs for things you do not use all the time. For many people this could be cable tv or magazine subscriptions. You might want to consider Netflix instead of cable and going to the library occasionally to read your favorite magazine. You get the idea how your mind needs to orient itself to live frugally but comfortably.
Notice I have not mentioned anything about eating macaroni and cheese three times a week or keeping hens to save on buying eggs. Actually macaroni cheese is not very healthy and the hens might be fun but you see the point.
There are plenty of ways to cut expenses so that you can retire early without feeling like you are living a sub-standard lifestyle.
So keep riding with me on our journey into frugal living made easy. Knowledge is power so if you want to learn more ways to cut expenses see our post Understand Credit Card Grace Period Due Dates
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