Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Mahonri]

Yeah, I spent some retirement money this year to take DW on a trip of a lifetime for our 25th anniversary. We went to Israel. But with a son's wedding, buying a car for another son and fixing up two wrecked cars we are in arears $25,000 this year. (spent more than we've made)... good thing we had savings, but sad that I'll be working til I drop dead on someone.

 

[mickey328]

and the skys are not cloudy all day. yes, i truly hope that you can find that property of your dreams ( so as we can move in wit cha ) but ya know, there are people in Paradise that ain't happy and we kinda like the challenge

Well, heck, if yer gonna dream, you might as well dream BIG, right? LOL I figger if ya start with a "perfect" list, there's lots of room for negotiation...just gotta narrow down the "must haves" from the "wouldn't it be great to haves"

 

[mickey328]

Yeah, I spent some retirement money this year to take DW on a trip of a lifetime for our 25th anniversary. We went to Israel. But with a son's wedding, buying a car for another son and fixing up two wrecked cars we are in arears $25,000 this year. (spent more than we've made)... good thing we had savings, but sad that I'll be working til I drop dead on someone.

I hear you on that. I keep saying "when we retire" and DH just laughs..

 

[jbirds2012]

Well, heck, if yer gonna dream, you might as well dream BIG, right? LOL I figger if ya start with a "perfect" list, there's lots of room for negotiation...just gotta narrow down the "must haves" from the "wouldn't it be great to haves"

i hear ya, thats a good positive attatude. i like to dream big and then get out there and start doin somethin about it

 

[HeatherLynn]

Ok so curious, who here plans on full retirement? And at what age? What plans have you made if you are planning already.

So we have a multi step process going here. We are still fairly young sorta, so I guess it should work out. Not depending on social security or anything because that will be bankrupt way before we hit that age. Pay off everything including mortgage before 50. THEN we save a large chunk each month because our bills are wicked low toward retirement. I am working on a business start up now so hopefully that will play into the plan.

So hoping to retire from working for others around 55. The idea is that I will have a business going before then and then we can work for ourselves until we are about 70. Otherwise we will probably be working for someone else till we hit 70. Thank God we come from long lived stock because otherwise we would have no time to enjoy being old farts.

So whats your plans?

 

[jbirds2012]

Excellent advice! Go into everything with caution! The last time I raised pigs I had a bountiful supply of free food for them. Lydia has been after me to get some more but I have been hesitant since I no longer have that supply, and I can't afford to buy feed.

What I was trying to express was my feelings towards sustainability. Our chickens not only produce eggs, they produce our meat birds when we need them, as well as their replacements when the time comes. Our turkeys produce a crop of turkeys each year. Our sheep give us, on average, a %600 return every 2 years with an average of twins born three times in 2 years. In our area, at least, weener pigs sell very quickly indeed for $75 to $95. I only wish the market for lambs was as steady! But like Mickey said, research you OWN market.

Absolutely the best way to lose money is to take livestock to the auction! It's fast, true, and in your situation you did what you had to do. When you are not in so much of a hurry, though, Craigslist ads work very well. Again, at least they do around here.

I can't help but feel a little sorry for Annabanana, she asked for some suggestions, BOY is she getting suggestions!

~S

thats what i like about this fourm, everybody gets ta kick ideas around. yea, we probally got annabanana's head spinnin, but thats alright, they got lots ta chew on now

 

[jbirds2012]

yesterday was a productive and fun day. i canned 5 more quarts of tomatoes and 4 pints of corn, also harvested some broccoli, peppers and sunflower seeds. yay !!!

 

[mickey328]

Ok so curious, who here plans on full retirement? And at what age? What plans have you made if you are planning already.

So we have a multi step process going here. We are still fairly young sorta, so I guess it should work out. Not depending on social security or anything because that will be bankrupt way before we hit that age. Pay off everything including mortgage before 50. THEN we save a large chunk each month because our bills are wicked low toward retirement. I am working on a business start up now so hopefully that will play into the plan.

So hoping to retire from working for others around 55. The idea is that I will have a business going before then and then we can work for ourselves until we are about 70. Otherwise we will probably be working for someone else till we hit 70. Thank God we come from long lived stock because otherwise we would have no time to enjoy being old farts.

So whats your plans?

We're in a sort of "different" position. My folks were...um...comfortable...not wealthy but reasonably well off. Their will was set so that I have the proceeds of the investments until I'm 65 at which point I have control of it all. At present, we're sort of maintaining...DH is 55, I'm 57..so we're looking at 8 years till I feel we can actually retire. Our house and vehicle are paid for so we just have regular monthly living expenses. We both work part time and make enough for those monthly bills...but not enough to really save anything. When the time comes, we hope to sell the house and find our little patch of paradise; hoping it'll be an "even trade" so that we won't have to dip into the $$ from the folks except for living expenses and any improvement, but...time will tell. The SS is all but bankrupt now so I don't hold a drop of hope for anything but "our own".

I wish you luck with your plan! If I had it to do over again, I'd do a lot of things differently...you're very wise to be prepping now.

 

[Chick N Haus]

Mickey,
Have you considered Montana? We lived in the Denver area for years and the winter climate where we are is within a few degrees all the time. It is a well kept secret. Everybody thinks Montana is all the same and is the temperature on the national news (which is east of the divide). Our kids, grandkids etc. come visit us and wish they could find jobs and move back. We did avoid the blistering heat of Denver this year. We are just far enough north. We have lower population, great chunks of land are still available at really reasonable prices. People are good neighbors, no big city attitudes. We are a little older than you. We retired in 2010 at 65 and moved for good in 2011 from Denver. We have 8+ acres on a little lake, no animal limits. Dh just built us a beautiful coop and pens this year. Working on the best chicken math, we got 50+ straight run birds of varying breeds.( Just enough for our personal use lol.) We are just about to go through our first rooster thinning and our new girls are about to lay, exciting times.



Note to Heather:
When we were younger and planning for retirement, we worked on all of the things you are doing. Living frugally, separating needs from wants, paying cash for our cars, shopping at thrift stores, maximizing retirement savings, paying off and improving our retirement home before retirement. BUT, the defining deal breaker for us and all of our friends turned out to be something that we had no control over, HEALTH INSURANCE.

 

[mickey328]

I hadn't Chick...I've driven thru parts of Montana and quite liked it;it has its own windswept sort of beauty Glad you let me in on the "secret"...I was among the folks who pictured cold, windy winters and hot, hot summers. The Fort collins area used to be a secret as well, but now it seems everyone knows, which is why it's all but impossible to find any land here for a reasonable price. We're sort of in "the banana belt" here...what gets televised is either Denver or the high country. They'll get a foot of snow and we get half an inch, LOL.

We could conceivably do it sooner...Dave and I both work for an airport shuttle here in FC...he drives and I'm a reservation agent. I work from home, so location wouldn't be a real big deal for me. He could probably move to doing much the same thing; it's certainly worth thinking about. I think I gotta check it out...if we could get a place for the same we could sell our place for, I'd jump at the chance to make the move tomorrow! LOL Thanks so much for that info!

You're right...the dang health insurance is a MAJOR concern...especially as we get older. I took the COBRA when I was downsized from my last job, but it's long gone now. It's troubling that we're totally without now. We have found a good clinic that is very reasonably priced, but they don't provide more than routine stuff and prescriptions. I broke my hip a couple years back and thank God I still had the insurance...the total bill for it all was over $28,000! If that happened today, I reckon I'd just have to have someone shoot me.