Retire on the cheap. Save your money. Don’t buy anything. Hunt for bargains. All of these are phrases we think of when we ponder how to make whatever dollars we have last longer. We want to retire cheaply, but we still want to enjoy our senior years. I believe we can do both.
I have been thrifty most of my life. I’m sure some people would use other words, like frugal, cheap, tight, or less flattering terms. Raised by parents who believed in saving and making do, the lifestyle I learned became so common to me that I was amazed as I grew older that more people didn’t live the same way. Over the years, I’ve learned that you can be thrifty without being stingy, and you can be frugal without giving up everything good in life. Thrifty is an attitude.
Like all attitudes, becoming thrifty requires a change of heart and mind. It might take awhile to adopt this way of thinking, particularly if you have lived an expansive lifestyle for most of your years. First, you must get over the idea that thrifty means doing without. You should concentrate instead on building from what you have, not what you don’t have or don’t buy. You can find richness and fulfillment in current possessions and modest activities, as well as in grander ventures.
One place you can start is to think about eliminating waste from your life. Build your meals around leftovers rather than buying a host of ingredients for a new dish. Check your pantry and frig for interesting sauces and spices that are languishing in the back corners. Pad Thai sauce makes a marvelous stir-fry of leftover chicken and fresh or leftover vegetables. We look forward to the big pot of simmering soup that will emerge from the leftover bones of the roast turkey breast.
Look around your home. Do you have shelves and closets full of items you no longer use? Too many serving dishes or pots and pans in the kitchen? Too many tools and gadgets in the garage or workshop? At some time, I’m sure you thought every single piece was critically necessary to your existence. If you have changed your mind about some of those items, now is the time to do something about it.
Rather than buying something new, consider how you might repurpose some of the things that clutter up your home and life. If you have clothes that no longer fit, the answer is no, they are not salvageable. Give them to charity or sell them at a yard or garage sale. They can do someone else some good rather than waste away in your closet. Vow not to purchase another trash bag until you have used up every plastic grocery bag in your house.
If you are thinking about a new purchase, think about what you already own that might work instead. Dig back through your mind (and your storage shelves) to see if you already have a substitute. Maybe you have an end table you could paint or refinish, or a footstool you could reupholster as an ottoman. Try rotating household accessories with the season, rather than buying a new artificial flower arrangement or decorative item every time a new style rolls around. Ask yourself if you really need new golf clubs or a new bag. Maybe you can use some elbow grease to spruce up what you already own. Luggage shops and shoe shops can repair small tears or loose stitching.
An overall attitude of thrifty retirement can allow you to revel in the freedom of fewer possessions and a more relaxed lifestyle. Less stuff in your house lets you clear your mind of wanting more, more, more–and then wondering where to put it. You can look for simpler pleasures and take joy in each thing you do during retirement, rather than running from here to there, on the go constantly. You can’t enjoy anything if your mind is already thinking about where you have to be tomorrow before you have left this event, or what you want to look for next as soon as you get these latest purchases home. Relax: truly, less is more.
Enjoy the sunsets, a favorite TV show, or a nostalgic CD by a favorite musician. Eat some popcorn. Make a cup of steaming hot chocolate. Lie in the sun; play in the snow, walk through the woods. Live more simply. Enjoy your life. Develop thrifty as an attitude.
