How to Retire and Live Cheaply

How to retire without access to a million dollars.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A plan
• A plan to work your plan
• Information
• Network of supportive and like minded people
• Your health (or as much of it as you can keep)
• Your mind (or as much of it as you can keep)

1. You must prepare to retire ahead of retiring. (Duh, no duh?)

2. If you are going to stress do it for the highest pay the last 3 years before you retire, your Social Security will be based on your pay earnings. A good excuse to have a good paying job.

3. Above all else and anything else, protect your health with good eating habits and exercise. Search out natural health remedies for things and give them a try. The less prescription meds in your system the better (they have far too many side effects) some worse than the illness they address. Without your health you will be broke, busted and disgusted shortly.

4. Learn way before retiring that there are simple pleasures=inexpensive, in this life to be had. Find your happiness in doing something for others, in nature, in reading, visiting. An exciting retirement is adventure where you find it. Sometimes watching the birds in your yard, or the sand crabs at the beach is big entertainment for a person who values peace, quiet and tranquility above all else.

5. Make a study (learn at the free university of frugality) how to be frugal, recycle, reuse and repurpose. The internet is awash with such information. Start a frugal library, books you will want to keep and reference. If you have books you can do a book exchange.

6. Be different, eccentric and smart. Do not follow the social herd and try to keep up with anyone else, unless it is one of your more frugal friends :>) You have earned the right to be yourself after years of doing what was expected of you by others, to earn a living.

7. Research places to live that would offer lower taxes and have senior living benefits. Such places do exist, you just have to search and ask. When you don’t have money to spend you have to spend time.

8. Have a lot of friends and relatives in interesting places that will invite you for a visit. While with them make sure you do some cooking and cleaning up, so you are a welcome guest anytime.

9. Reduce your expenses to only the essentials. Boil your essentials down to the bone.

Tips & Warnings

• Do house sitting (you are older dependable and responsible). You could (if your nerves can handle it) pet sit, or small child care. You can go to their home to do this. Make sure if you child sit you have taken CPR and know basic emergency skills.
• Offer to cook meals on share for someone who works, and lives where they could drive by and pick up at your front door. Set up a mutual menu (they may have food allergies), time the food to be done, set in special stackable containers that can be warmed in microwave, set these in a Styrofoam cooler with a lid.
• Offer to put up, freeze or can for others for a share of their bounty. After all it will be your utilities and work (fair trade). They supply the containers and produce. If you really are into this, you could put the word out (network) or post a card note up in places that might be viewed. We have a local farmer’s market, that could be a good place.
• Make container gardens or raised bed gardens.
• If you know people who hunt deer, make sure to ask for any extra meat they may get more than they want or the processor of deer meat may know of guys who will give you the deer to pay for the processing. I have it mostly ground up and use just like beef. Add some beef bullion to it when cooking.
• Sell your home and buy an RV if your health will allow, you can work camp if need be. Even find places to boondock for awhile.
• Have a small lot already paid for, that after the sale of your house, you can put one of the small cottage homes on. Some are built by M.H. manufacturers and some are called Katrina cottages. You want it small, low to no maintenance, yard and house. Add as many rails, ramps and handicap friendly items as possible now, even though you may not need them now.
• Buy a duplex house, have it paid for by retirement and rent out the other half to a handyman type.
• Consider a reverse mortgage. As in, investigate the over all ramifications of a reverse mortgage.
• No credit debt of any sort- zip- nada- zero. Credit is the death rattle of a retirement fund.

[callmechris79]

on 5/1/2009 Great artice. Thanks for the help. 5*

[63miranda]

on 4/23/2009 It's good to know you can Retire and Live Cheaply without a million dollars! 5*

[kimarkent]

on 4/22/2009 great info on how to retire and live cheaply! Bird watching is way undervalued! Thanks for some cool ideas. 5*

[pinchy]

on 4/21/2009 great article on living cheap in retirement!

[lovesherboys]

on 4/21/2009 I think everyone would love to retire cheaply :)