When my wife was alive, she would have said we lived quite frugally. I thought we did OK, but saw many areas where we could spend less money.
I had no problem sharing my brilliant cost cutting ideas with her. She, in turn, had no problem saying,
“Don’t talk to to me about that. Quit being such a cheapskate.”
But we loved each other so we made compromises.
Now I’m on my own so I can cut any expense I want without hurting anyone else.
I consider this a challenge. I love spending less money.
My mission is to see if I can reduce my expenses so low that I don’t need to return to work.
That may not be possible.
I joked to a friend that I almost have enough to retire to a life of austerity. I could probably get there if I sold my home, relocated to an extremely low cost of living area and drastically cut expenses.
Before doing that, I am cutting back expenses to determine what I want, what I need, and what I can live without.
After that, I’ll know if I have to get a job or move or both.
I’ve already wrote about a number of expenses I’ve cut.
- Cancelled cable TV.
- Cancelled Netflix.
- Sold Ellen’s car.
- Switched car insurance.
- Cancelled my health share “insurance”.
- Fired the cleaning lady.
There are some expenses that I know have been reduced but I don’t have enough data to know by how much.
- Food. Grocery shopping for one is cheaper. I almost never get takeout anymore either. It’s easier, more satisfying and healthier to cook my own dinner.
- Medicines and Healthcare. Even before she was diagnosed with cancer my wife took a lot of medicines and saw a number of doctors regularly. We had significant monthly copays and deductibles.
- Utilities. I run the AC les, use less water and less electricity.
- Misc personal stuff. All of the expenses my wife had like haircuts, makeup, manicures, etc. (I’m not complaining about these. I’d gladly pay anything to have her back, but that’s not happening so these expenses are gone.)
With all of the above, I’m confident I can offset the loss of my wife’s social security income which stopped when she died.
My biggest “fixed” expenses are property related.
Homeowners insurance in South Florida is brutal because of hurricanes and fraud. It goes up and covers less every year. Currently I pay $3600 annually. Similar coverage for a similar home in Raleigh was $800 annually and in Pittsburgh was $600 annually.
Property taxes are $5000 annually. In Raleigh we paid half that. In Pittsburgh we paid double that.
Car Insurance is ridiculous. It’s double or triple the cost of anywhere else I’ve ever lived.
Maintenance. My house was big for two of us. Now with just me, it feels like a huge waste of space. It all needs to be maintained and that costs money.
There are great things about living here.
- The weather is fantastic, except for the occasional hurricane.
- I’m 30 minutes from Zack.
- I like my house and my neighborhood.
- There’s no local or state income taxes.
- I’ve been here three years and am getting settled.
At some point, I’ll investigate downsizing to a smaller home to see how that would impact my costs. If I could do this locally, that might be appealing.
As for moving somewhere far away, I’m purposely not making any decisions right now. I just lost my wife 6 weeks ago. Any decision I make today will be clouded by grief and emotion.
In time, I’ll be able to think more clearly.
I haven’t ramped up my job search yet either. If I do get another job, that could determine where I will be living.
Cutting back on expenses over the past 15 years gave us the freedom to relocate back near our son. It allowed me to start a business after I lost my job. It reduced our financial worries. It provided me with the ability to care for my wife full time after she was diagnosed with cancer.
It meant I could focus on life, love and family. I was able to invest my time and my energy to help the people in my life who meant the most to me.
Cutting expenses is far more than a game to me.