Just curious who else is living super frugal

[perchie.girl]

With retirement from a major Aerospace company in Silicon Valley, moving to a less expensive area in the Sierra Nevada's made sense. Bigger, newer home, less property tax, more acreage with a small orchard, less stress. I used to suffer heart episodes (atrial flutter) at least once a week...not any more. It's not so much how frugal you are with cash...you can't take it with you...but how you choose to spend your remaining time with those you love....hustle and bustle...or watching the deer run about the yard, enjoying the cleaner air and seeing the stars at night...even with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck...sitting out on your deck on a warm September night with your spouse and listening to the quiet...beats the big city any day. Having chickens to care for, watching them acting out, is a simple pleasure. Volunteering with the local community...that's real living. Before I retired, I bought a book called "How to Retire, Happy, Wild and Free". Nothing about compiling wealth...just how to spend the rest of your life LIVING....I have learned quite a bit about the folks posting here and their efforts to make do with what they have...congrats to all. I will take their recommendations and stories to heart and try to make our community a better place. The best thing I've learned about having chickens is that our garbage disposal unit is unemployed....the little buzzards will eat anything! Cheers to all who have experienced hardship in their lives and have persevered.

a big fat BRAVO

... I think hardship is a matter of perspective... FWIW...

It may seem so at first but look at what is learned and its not just in how to pinch a penny. Its about dusting off that value system and really considering what is necessary to live a happy life.

I am kind of similar to you in some ways... I have that retirement home waiting for me... all paid for. But with me its a smaller older house than I wanted... At first I wanted to tear it down and put in a NEW house... but My paradigm shifted while living there. I grew to love it with all its "challenges". realizing I can make it more comfortable even IF I cant change the floor plan.

I will probably be in my seventies before I can fully move back there. But I can GRAB part time big time... and soon.

deb

 

[Oliver Douglas]

a big fat BRAVO

... I think hardship is a matter of perspective... FWIW...

It may seem so at first but look at what is learned and its not just in how to pinch a penny. Its about dusting off that value system and really considering what is necessary to live a happy life.

I am kind of similar to you in some ways... I have that retirement home waiting for me... all paid for. But with me its a smaller older house than I wanted... At first I wanted to tear it down and put in a NEW house... but My paradigm shifted while living there. I grew to love it with all its "challenges". realizing I can make it more comfortable even IF I cant change the floor plan.

I will probably be in my seventies before I can fully move back there. But I can GRAB part time big time... and soon.

deb

I got out at 58, and never regretted that decision. Even with the newer home, there are always more "honey-do's" involved, but I consider them a challenge. You may find part time a better fit, because you can choose your own destiny...being stuck in a 40 a week job isn't all it's cracked up to be...my brother is 65, moved to South Carolina, and is currently delivering mail in the area part time. Says he needs the money....for goodness sake's....you never know when the Big One will find you....my step-father chose to take his Social Security at 66...and passed three years later. Fell for the bigger payout...never got to enjoy it....A good man. Miss him greatly. If you have family and friends who will always be there for you, you are rich. Of course, never let the kids have access to your safe until after you have left this mortal coil....and are singing the choir invisible...just a bit of Monty Python humor there.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I was a manufacturing engineer before that last Revolving door hit. I had a nervous break down and went to work for ARCO as a gas station/convenience store cashier.... My most favorite job to date. I went back to school to get my degree and found I could have taught all the classes except Physics and economics... A validation of sorts. I tried going back in another industry... Rather than Electromechanical packaging I gave the Building trades a try... found I was too old to pay my dues all over again. Found Biomed and worked there doing Iso 9001 work and engineering change orders. That revolving door hit me in 2011. I am done.

But during that time my granmother started needing me more and more and now I get a small income from her to be her caretaker. Its just enough to keep my house up and feed my horse and pay what few bills I incurr. shes 99 now.

I have begun the small things toward moving home for when she doesnt need me any more... Loosing weight, is the first step. But getting some things done at the house as I can afford it. Slowly packing stuff and taking a few things up there "to store". Settling on the idea that I will have to do it part time for a while as well. Its a compromise.

I am a good designer my software skills are stale though. my area of expertise is streamlining an existing product without changing the integral function but making it less expensive to manufacture... sometimes exponentially less expensive to make. I hope to freelance working by bidding a job and completing it and moving on. We will see. I am sixty now... At sixty two I am told I can begin collecting Social Security without quitting working... of course there are guidelines for that. I need to read up though.

Oh yeah and I started out in aerospace... General Dynamics Space systems... Worked on the Commercial retrifit of the Atlas Centaur rocket. Tooling for the aft one third of the C-17, as well as Work platforms for the 777. After the 777 Aerospace left San Diego pretty much with the exception of SAIC... but I never was able to time the application right to get in there.

I am tired of revolving doors tired of working "on contract" but I am euqually relieved that I am not locked into a cube farm any more tied to three different operating systems to get my job done.

I just want to raise Chickens learn how to can and Putter.

deb

 

[lazy gardener]

We were graciously given some acreage by my FIL years ago and finally decided to get out of the rat race about ten years ago. We purchased an army tent and set it up on the land that we had been given. We decided to build as we could to avoid a mortgage and started out with just that tent and a movable storage unit to store the few things we did keep.

We had no electricity, no well, basically just raw, undefiled land. We drilled a well after the first year and eventually had electricity brought in by APS after 2 years. We lived in that tent for the first three years until we could get a roof on the house we are building. Those were the three best years of my life, I still miss that tent. Lol!

We're still building the house, but it's livable and paid for. Makes a huge difference in my state of mind.

You make me smile. My family owned an army tent when I was growing up. How I loved that tent. Such fond memories of family camping trips. When I was 14, I moved into that tent in the back yard for the summer. Loved the cool crisp air, the sounds of the night. My 17# cat considered it his mission to keep me well fed every night. He'd come yowling at the tent flap several times every night with a protein snack.

Fast forward: Hubby and I bought our land, cleared it ourselves, built our house with a lot of family help. It was a huge blessing that my dad was a building contractor, and my FIL was an electrician. We moved into the house at the end of January. Ceiling was sheet rock. Walls were insulated, not sheet rocked. Minimal electrical done. Plywood floors. No running water. Our toilet was a spackle bucket with a styrofoam seat. Our bathroom door was a piece of cardboard. Our kitchen was a sheet of plywood over saw horses for a table. We had a crock pot, electric fry pan, and a toaster oven. Showers were an extravagant treat. We'd heat water in the frying pan, transfer it to a CLEAN spackle bucket, and one of us would stand on the tail gate of the truck and dump water while the other showered on the front steps! Luckily, we had no neighbors and lived on a dead end road at the time! Heat was wood stove, and we had several cords of wet green frozen wood in the basement, neither one of us had any experience using wood heat! But... it was HOME! and our monthly mortgage payment (15 year mortgage) was $88.66/mo. Those were happy, care free years! Things... who needs them???

I just want to raise Chickens learn how to can and Putter.

deb

Admirable goal. Medical issues are what will keep hubby and I slaves to the employer way past the time when we would like to retire. If it wasn't for medical needs, we could be retired in 2 years.

 

[DawnPatrol]

I am sixty now... At sixty two I am told I can begin collecting Social Security without quitting working... of course there are guidelines for that. I need to read up though.

While you can start collecting social security at 62, you won't get as much. If you wait until 65, you get the full amount, or if you wait even longer, you get a bit more. Of course if you start at 62, you get the amount from 62 to 65. I think the break even point is something like 75, where you may wish you had delayed collecting.
Anyway, SS wants you to start collecting early (62) so they don't have to pay as much. If you can delay, you should.

 

[chicksurreal]

You make me smile. My family owned an army tent when I was growing up. How I loved that tent. Such fond memories of family camping trips. When I was 14, I moved into that tent in the back yard for the summer. Loved the cool crisp air, the sounds of the night. My 17# cat considered it his mission to keep me well fed every night. He'd come yowling at the tent flap several times every night with a protein snack.

Fast forward: Hubby and I bought our land, cleared it ourselves, built our house with a lot of family help. It was a huge blessing that my dad was a building contractor, and my FIL was an electrician. We moved into the house at the end of January. Ceiling was sheet rock. Walls were insulated, not sheet rocked. Minimal electrical done. Plywood floors. No running water. Our toilet was a spackle bucket with a styrofoam seat. Our bathroom door was a piece of cardboard. Our kitchen was a sheet of plywood over saw horses for a table. We had a crock pot, electric fry pan, and a toaster oven. Showers were an extravagant treat. We'd heat water in the frying pan, transfer it to a CLEAN spackle bucket, and one of us would stand on the tail gate of the truck and dump water while the other showered on the front steps! Luckily, we had no neighbors and lived on a dead end road at the time! Heat was wood stove, and we had several cords of wet green frozen wood in the basement, neither one of us had any experience using wood heat! But... it was HOME! and our monthly mortgage payment (15 year mortgage) was $88.66/mo. Those were happy, care free years! Things... who needs them???

Admirable goal. Medical issues are what will keep hubby and I slaves to the employer way past the time when we would like to retire. If it wasn't for medical needs, we could be retired in 2 years.

That tent taught me a very valuable lesson about life. Lol!

It sounds silly, but moving into a tent and allowing ourselves to live very simply, without all the stuff we thought we "needed" really gave me a clear insight into what is important in life and what is just filler.

Allowing ourselves to become debt free and not have credit cards or loans also taught me an important lesson about what it is to live within your means and to save for a rainy day. I don't think I could go back to what we were before we did this.

We had a family of raccoons that would sneak into the tent at night, looking for food. It used to drive our Queensland Heeler crazy. Lol! We actually did build an old style outhouse that is still here and useable if needed. We bought a solar shower bag and hung it in a tree that allowed us to have hot showers, I loved that thing.

 

[chicksurreal]

I bet when you tell that to folks they just can't comprehend it and they will assert they "could nevah" live without this or that and be happy, but I've been there and done that and I agree wholeheartedly. Best years of my life were the most simply lived with little or nothing of the world's "comforts".

I applaud you for the wisdom to build slowly and stay out of debt! So many folks want stuff and they want it NOW, regardless of the debt incurred.

Lol! We've been called crazy more than once, my own parents thought we would never make it and just shook their heads. Lots of people who lost their houses during the last crash are looking at us a little bit differently, though. They still say they could never do it, but they see why we live the way we do.

It was the best decision we ever made.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

While you can start collecting social security at 62, you won't get as much. If you wait until 65, you get the full amount, or if you wait even longer, you get a bit more. Of course if you start at 62, you get the amount from 62 to 65. I think the break even point is something like 75, where you may wish you had delayed collecting.
Anyway, SS wants you to start collecting early (62) so they don't have to pay as much. If you can delay, you should.

What you posted is true, however, there are other factors to consider. When you take into account inflation (which is real, check out the price of groceries these days), the dollar you collect at 62 will have more purchasing power than the dollar you receive at 65 or 70. I did the math, and the "break-even" point for me will be at age 78. Before then my wife and I will qualify for Medicare, which should subsidize our medical costs. Also, health plays a factor in making that decision. I know that I will be able to do things physically at 62 that will be more difficult at 65, let alone 70. If you don't "need" the money, you can put it to good use through smart investing, taking a European vacation while you are still able to amble about, or helping out your children or grandchildren financially. Went on a cruise to Alaska two years back, met many folks who were in their "golden years" who were taking their first sea-going voyage....many of whom stayed on the ship while in port because they weren't physically capable of long walks. We took our 401K assets and put them into an annuity fund. We sold our house in San Jose, CA and purchased a less expensive one in the mountains. Paid off all of our debts and made sure that our grown kids would have something after we are gone. Invested our spare time into helping out in the community. Don't need the newest car or gadgets. Still use a five year old cell phone...still haven't figured out how to take a picture with it. NETFLIX saves us a lot on entertainment costs. Pretty much basic cable service (antenna reception up here sucks). Purchased used refrigerator and upright freezer for the garage to keep a handy supply of sale items. It all works out.

 

[DawnPatrol]

What you posted is true, however, there are other factors to consider. When you take into account inflation (which is real, check out the price of groceries these days), the dollar you collect at 62 will have more purchasing power than the dollar you receive at 65 or 70. I did the math, and the "break-even" point for me will be at age 78. Before then my wife and I will qualify for Medicare, which should subsidize our medical costs. Also, health plays a factor in making that decision. I know that I will be able to do things physically at 62 that will be more difficult at 65, let alone 70. If you don't "need" the money, you can put it to good use through smart investing, taking a European vacation while you are still able to amble about, or helping out your children or grandchildren financially. Went on a cruise to Alaska two years back, met many folks who were in their "golden years" who were taking their first sea-going voyage....many of whom stayed on the ship while in port because they weren't physically capable of long walks. We took our 401K assets and put them into an annuity fund. We sold our house in San Jose, CA and purchased a less expensive one in the mountains. Paid off all of our debts and made sure that our grown kids would have something after we are gone. Invested our spare time into helping out in the community. Don't need the newest car or gadgets. Still use a five year old cell phone...still haven't figured out how to take a picture with it. NETFLIX saves us a lot on entertainment costs. Pretty much basic cable service (antenna reception up here sucks). Purchased used refrigerator and upright freezer for the garage to keep a handy supply of sale items. It all works out.

I can't disagree with you. It really depends on your situation. It sounds like for you, you are doing everything right, and one thing is just to live more frugally so your money goes farther. Also, you are right, you will be able to do things in your 60's that you probably can't in your 70's or 80's, if you're even still around.
As for inflation, the payments do go up (a little) for inflation, but not enough to account for the "real" inflation rate.
I'm looking at social security as insurance if I make it into my 80's or 90's and my own money runs out, so that's why I'll delay (if I can) so I have more when I may really need it. If one doesn't need it at 62, and you think you might really need the help in your 80's, I still think it's best to wait. But then, I'm not looking to make sure I get as much as I can, I want the security if I'm lucky enough to live forever!
And just to say again, everything you said is right and it really depend on the person.

 

[DawnPatrol]

You make me smile. My family owned an army tent when I was growing up. How I loved that tent. Such fond memories of family camping trips. When I was 14, I moved into that tent in the back yard for the summer. Loved the cool crisp air, the sounds of the night. My 17# cat considered it his mission to keep me well fed every night. He'd come yowling at the tent flap several times every night with a protein snack.

Fast forward: Hubby and I bought our land, cleared it ourselves, built our house with a lot of family help. It was a huge blessing that my dad was a building contractor, and my FIL was an electrician. We moved into the house at the end of January. Ceiling was sheet rock. Walls were insulated, not sheet rocked. Minimal electrical done. Plywood floors. No running water. Our toilet was a spackle bucket with a styrofoam seat. Our bathroom door was a piece of cardboard. Our kitchen was a sheet of plywood over saw horses for a table. We had a crock pot, electric fry pan, and a toaster oven. Showers were an extravagant treat. We'd heat water in the frying pan, transfer it to a CLEAN spackle bucket, and one of us would stand on the tail gate of the truck and dump water while the other showered on the front steps! Luckily, we had no neighbors and lived on a dead end road at the time! Heat was wood stove, and we had several cords of wet green frozen wood in the basement, neither one of us had any experience using wood heat! But... it was HOME! and our monthly mortgage payment (15 year mortgage) was $88.66/mo. Those were happy, care free years! Things... who needs them???

Admirable goal. Medical issues are what will keep hubby and I slaves to the employer way past the time when we would like to retire. If it wasn't for medical needs, we could be retired in 2 years.

Wow! One of the best personal stories I've read in a long time.