Retirement thoughts

 

Do you sometimes wonder how you to to this exact point in your life? I always wondered if  I would be here when I was 50ish years old.  Am amazed with my life, it’s much better than I could have ever dreamed.  No it’s not perfect and it’s a lot messy, but wouldn’t trade it for anything else. 

As I look toward retirement I know I am not prepared. I have just started my 401k and Roth plans. So not very much money in them.  Looking back on my past life is I was just trying to survive. Neither one of my parents really spoke about saving money for the future. They did the best they could with what knowledge they had.  I just wish I had someone who could have taught me the importance of saving money. Now I am struggling with when I can retire on just social security. I don’t want to work forever, but realistically I may have to work till I am 65 years old. I haven’t exactly put budget to paper to see what I may be looking at going forward. 

What my mom did teach me was how to be thrifty so I do have that knowledge.  I love thrift stores and watching how people repurpose stuff.  Comparing prices from a few different grocery stores is next on my list to start doing. I do pay for Amazon Prime annually and do feel like it saves me money on shipping. Although I know if I order a certain amount that I will still receive free shipping. We do watch Amazon prime frequently. I already watch for sales on birthday gifts and Christmas gifts. I keep a tote of gifts I pick up thru the year.  For instance I bought a grill utensil set 1/2 off.  When Victoria Secret and Bath and Body have sales I will buy and put up. My love language is gifting others, so I need to save money when I can. 

We live out in the country on 2 acres on a dead end road. Our bills are very reasonable compared to so many others. So we are very fortunate in that area. We don’t have a water bill as we have a water well. The maintenance on it could be expensive but overall it’s been good to us.  We also have a septic system and that has also been a low maintenance system to us.  So as we get older at least our household expenses are lower than others.  

So here I am thinking about my overall life and what budget cuts I can do to make my money stretch. I think I will up the percentage to my Roth plan.  Like seeing the numbers add up each pay period. I won’t miss that money since it will be such a low percent every 2 weeks.  

I am blessed with my life no regrets just wish I had been more wiser with money.  If you have any tips on saving money as I move toward retirement, please drop them below.