5 Lifestyle Trades That Save Retirees $1,000+ a Month Without Feeling Like Sacrifice
Written by
John Csiszar
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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Inflation has risen sharply since the pandemic, and Americans are feeling the pinch. Across the board, from food and entertainment to prescriptions and transportation, prices have gone up significantly. Retirees, many of whom live off a fixed income, are feeling as if they are spending more and getting less.
But the good news is there is a way to counter this. By making a few simple lifestyle swaps, many retirees could actually save $1,000 or more each month, all without feeling like they are “going without.” Here are five suggestions that could realistically help you stretch your budget.
Trim Your Restaurant Spending
This is one of the most obvious lifestyle changes you can make, but it’s also one of the most effective. While you shouldn’t deny yourself the occasional restaurant meal, if it’s becoming a habit, you’ve found a great way to burn through your retirement nest egg.
According to CBS News, even a fast-food meal now averages $11.56, with those in San Francisco reaching $13.88. Having dinner at a sit-down restaurant now costs closer to $25 or $30, and that’s before extras like drinks, tax and tip. Meanwhile, the average home-cooked meal costs about $4.31, according to food blog JourneyFoods. Even if you don’t want to cook, there are plenty of cook-at-home or pre-packaged meals that cost between $5 and $10.
- How much you could save: $300 to $400 per month
- Why it works: Meals at home often taste better than those at restaurants, and they’re almost certainly healthier. A pre-cooked meal, such as a rotisserie chicken, may even give you the feeling of eating out without having to do any actual cooking.
Swap Impulse Spending at Grocery Stores for Planned, Bulk Outings
How many times have you gone to the store to get one thing and ended up with a cartful of extras? Grocery stores do an excellent job at squeezing high-margin, last-minute sales out of shoppers. To stretch your retirement dollars, it’s best to have a written plan of the things you really need to buy and stick to it. No matter how tempting something might appear in the store, unless it’s written down and you really need it, don’t give it a second thought.
If you have the discipline, you can save big money through buying in bulk at a big-box store like Costco, particularly for basics like toilet paper. You can also load up on food items that you can freeze and use over the course of weeks or months. Just be sure to only pick up things that you really need.
- How much you could save: $100 to $200 per month
- Why it works: You’re still buying the things you want to buy — you’re just shopping smarter and cutting out wasteful spending.
Drop the Gym Membership
Fitness is important for retirees, but paying a lot of money for a fancy gym membership isn’t the best way to keep your budget balanced. Investing in some minor home equipment like dumbbells or resistance bands or signing up for Medicare-approved programs like SilverSneakers or Renew Active can be a great way to knock your fitness bill down.
- How much you could save: $50 to $150 per month
- Why it works: You’re still getting fit, you’re just not paying an expensive gym to do it.
Move From Branded Products to Generics
Whether you’re talking about store brands like Kirkland (at Costco) or generic drugs like atorvastatin instead of Lipitor, you can often save 20% to 40% or even more off your expenses. In the case of generic drugs, you’ll be getting the exact same active ingredients for a greatly reduced price. At the grocery store, name brands may have some variation from private store labels, but most consumers find generic store labels that feel like no sacrifice at all.
- How much you could save: $100-$200 per month
- Why it works: In many or even most cases, generic brands are either the same or just as good as name brands. You likely won’t even notice the difference — except in your pocketbook.
Alter Your Transportation Habits
In most cases, you’ll still need to get around after you retire, and depending on where you live, that might mean you still need a car instead of public transportation. But even if this is the case, you can make smart choices like downsizing from two cars to one or swapping to a more reliable and/or fuel-efficient model.
- How much you could save: $100 to $300 per month
- Why it works: Many retirees don’t drive as much, making multiple cars unnecessary.
How Much Can You Realistically Save?
Most of these lifestyle swaps don’t require a lot of heavy lifting. In fact, in many cases, retirees will enjoy themselves even more after making the changes. With these five suggestions alone, here is what an average retiree might save:
- $300 to $400 per month from dining at home more often
- $100 to $300 per month for optimizing your transportation situation
- $100 to $200 per month switching from brand names to generics
- $100 to $200 per month through planned grocery outings and stocking up
- $50 to $150 per month dropping gym membership
Total possible savings: $650 to $1,250 per month
That could add up to more than $12,000 per year, all without having to give up creature comforts like a vehicle, entertainment, travel or comfort.
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