As we retire, many of us need fewer “things” to live our lives. We have already accumulated clothing, furniture, appliances, household goods, and certainly all the clutter we’ll ever need. We buy less food because our families are smaller. We consume less than we used to, and we become “tossers” instead of “gatherers.” But major expenses are still bound to come up. A cheap way to solve some of these is to share. What if your hedge trimmer dies and you need a new one? How often will you use it? Maybe you can share a trimmer with a relative or a neighbor. You can go halves and buy one together, or maybe you can work out a rental or barter agreement. The same is true for any large piece of equipment you will need only occasionally: a chainsaw, an extension ladder, a carpet-cleaning machine, maybe even a lawn mower.
Sharing rides and carpooling have long been common ways to save on gas. Sharing bulk food purchases is a way to save on groceries. Family packs are usually less expensive than smaller portions of meat, for example, but it would take one or two people months to use one up. How about splitting that with a good friend or relative? You both save. The same is true of local produce contracts. A local farmer agrees to supply you with fresh produce every week for several months of the growing season, charging the same flat price each week. If it’s more than you can eat, consider sharing the subscription with someone else.
Do you have a fireplace? I hope you don’t buy those little bundled armloads of wood at the local convenience store! A cord of wood requires a lot of storage space and strong dedication to burning, but you could split a cord or a pickup load with a fireplace-owning friend and save big bucks.
Think about services. How about painting, guttering, or roofing for your home? Houses in your neighborhood are probably around the same age. You might be able to get a discount from the company if you can guarantee two or three jobs in the same neighborhood. The same might even be possible with a plumber or electrician, who could fix all those little problems in two or three neighborhood homes with just one trip. At the very least, save up two or three jobs in your own home before calling a service professional. Save the slow-running drain until you have a dripping faucet or a clogged toilet to fix, as well.
If you have the space and the mindset, you might want to share living space. This could mean renting out a room in your home, sharing a home 50-50 with someone else, or even entering into a communal living arrangement with a group of people. Perhaps you and your best friends all moved to the same geographic location to retire, or even to the same retirement community. Or perhaps you would like to. This is the perfect opportunity to consider sharing living quarters with someone you already know and like. Economies of scale apply to many aspects of life and living, and sharing is a unique way to save money and live more economically.
