| Stretching
your retiree income (and
there are more)
We call it "Nudging
the Budget". The goal is to maintain your current
lifestyle for less and make every retirement dollar go further. All you need to do is nudge your budget a little
bit here and there--without totally eliminating things you
enjoy. The resulting savings, which can amount to hundreds
of dollars each month, can help pay for your monthly Medigap insurance --
or perhaps some little luxuries. Here are some ideas for you.
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1. Call the Cable
Company. If you have cable TV or satellite, call your
current provider and tell them you are considering changing to a
competing service. Then ask if they have a lower cost
plan. Trust us--they do. When we
called and told our cable company we were thinking about
satellite, they reduced our monthly fee by over 30%. We
continued to get all the same channels plus
free HBO and Showtime, too. And this was not an
introductory rate. Our savings went to more
tickets at
the local foreign movie theater. |
2. Talk About
More Savings. You can take the same approach with your
phone company as you do with your cable or satellite
company. No doubt they will come up with a lower cost
package that gives you the same services you already have.
Be sure to confirm that it is not a short term introductory
rate.
| 3. By Land or By Cell?
Ask yourself: do you really
need a landline
and cell phones? According to the New York Times,
close to 20% of American households have abandoned the old
landline phones in their homes and only use cell phones.
You can do the math quickly to see how much you would save if
you only used a cell. And if you really do not use
the phone much, there are cell phone services that are dirt
cheap --about $10 a month. We cannot vouch for their
reliability, however.
More
Budget Nudges here.
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A
Real Life Retirement:
Jane, a semi-retiree in Southern Arizona,
realized she was traveling far less often so she took a different route. She cancelled her unreliable
cell phone
service in favor of a landline and reduced her monthly
cost by $25. Over the course of a year that one
change saved
her $300. |
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Your feedback and
comments are welcome. If you have experiences or
ideas to share, please send
feedback now.
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NOTE: All names
on this site have been changed to protect individual
privacy. The stories are real, the names are not. |
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