Saving Money is Fun...and Other Fallacies!

Living on a budget is important to retirement success...to date...I am a miserable failure! I am addicted to Chicos and any place that sells children's clothes. I do try to check sales and stores like TJMaxx, but I still spend too much for an old retired girlfriend. There are a few tips...Chicos has a passport club that automatically gives you 5% off all your purchases and some days even more. You also get coupons that apply to purchases.  When you shop their sales and use the coupons and the passport discount, you can get cool stuff cheap! Plus their clothes are designed by real people so even if you're a bit square (physically not emotionally!) you can still wear things that don't look like your grandmother gave them to you! Coupons for department stores are a source of free money...keep your eyes open in the Sunday papers for deals! Another tip is to cash in your American Express or other credit card points for generic gift cards that can be used to buy things! AMX points can get you $50 gift cards that will go a long way to buying things that aren't on your budget! You can also give them as gifts.

Now for the grandchildren!  Each year I set a budget for birthdays and Christmas for the kiddos...and do pretty well for those two holidays.  It's the spontaneous purchases when I gravitate first to the children's department in any store I enter and the other holidays like Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Ground Hog Day and 50 other major and minor occasions for which I am compelled to purchase presents! I can't give you any tips other than never enter a store again or at least shop the sales racks first. I do try to stay away from toys as I never know what they already have unless I get their Toys R Us Christmas list...that worked great!  I could pick things they wanted and didn't already have.

I'm also trying to write a closet plan...a closet plan lists the things that I have and the things that I need to make the things I have work.  Like more pants.  Last year it was tops and jackets.  I can't seem to get organized.  I also need to move the things I can't wear because I still haven't lost that 10 or 20 pounds.  By moving, it needs to be to eBay but it may just be to my storage closet in the attic.  A girl can dream! You can sell high end stuff on eBay without too much trouble.  I had several Brahmin purses that went really high.  A closet plan should be a realistic plan based on what you really wear in retirement...not what looks really cute.  An Ellen Tracy suit does not really fit in at WalMart, regardless of how great it looks. Let's face it...when you are retired you don't need as much...and if you have a closet plan you may actually only buy things you need and would wear.

I think shopping for clothes, shoes and grandchildren stuff has been the hardest thing for me to control. So...if you have any tips besides just say NO, let me know.

Reward Cards and Free Stuff!

We went to see a great movie today...No Strings Attached....and yes, it's a silly little romantic comedy but it was Woody's day to pick! I really enjoyed it too...we got in free and with our Regal Reward card (http://www.regmovies.com/), we got a free soft drink. Periodically we get a free ticket on our Regal Rewards card but we have a more reliable way to score free movies. Now, you ask...how did we get in free? We use our American Express to pay bills and buy any big ticket items and use the points to get free movie tickets and gift cards for dinners at our favorite restaurants. The AMX for bill pay came for convenience when we were always on the road and bills still needed to be paid...those that would take AMX earn us points and the rest come directly out of our checking account. We use AMX but almost all the cards have a points option. We've bought carpet, cruises and, in Woody's case, a pickup truck on our AMX cards!

We started the points thing when I had a corporate card and spent even more money than we do now. In fact, years ago we used Diner's Club points, our then corporate card, to buy Savings Bonds! Which come to think of it have probably gotten really close to maturity....hmmm....wonder if we have enough for a cruise? But back to freebies...who wouldn't want free stuff. Many of our favorite "survival" restaurants offer coupons. By survival, I mean those restaurants like Shane's Rib Shack, Sam's Sports Bar, China Buffet and lots of others where you eat when you don't want to cook. If you watch the local paper, coupons through the mail, and magazines, you'd be surprised at how many buy one get one coupons or 10% off or "two for one" deals are out there. By using coupons and watching for special offers, we haven't had to quit eating out in retirement. One of our favorite places is Red Lobster and we just scored two $25 gift cards for a mere 5,000 AMX points! Can't wait to use them.

We also have reward cards for my favorite vice...casinos! For years we didn't get those lovely cards that fit into the slot machines and passed up tons of free offers. Since I'm going to gamble and even occasionally win, we signed up for the cards and now we get free offers all the time. We saw Miranda Lambert in concert with free hotel...and we just got back from our trip to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl and stopped off for two nights at the Harrah's casino in Biloxi free! Now Woody says our hotel rooms were about $130 for the two nights which is what I lost, but the rooms were still worth more than that so it's still a cost savings!!

And of course, my personal favorite, 5% off at Publix (http://www.publix.com/) on Wednesday for Senior Citizens! That discount, coupled with coupons (when I remember to take them) lowers our food bill...we do love to cook now and saving here and there always helps so I can tackle exotic recipes like beer butt chicken and omelets. Remember I traveled for years and forgot how to cook!

So...my tip for today is look for rewards cards, coupons, special offers and discount days and you'll be surprised at how much you can still do or get, even when the stock market tanks in your retirement!

A New Focus!

Are you ready for retirement? I've been sort of retired now for 4 years and have learned more about retirement than I ever thought possible. When I started this blog, my focus was getting ready for retirement and then progressing through retirement. I have to admit, it's been a blast! But now it's time to share with you what I've learned. The most important thing is don't retire at the same time the stock market is tanking! If you do choose to retire in a down market, plan on working at least part time...I've edited medical papers for non-English speaking authors, written and re-written web sites, written articles, sold a few photos and, of course, did a little healthcare consulting for the big bucks! Woody and I also worked in a gallery and high end gift store in Montana for 6 months when we thought we wanted a gallery of our own. Trust me, after two weeks we decided we didn't like retail and weren't too sure we liked people, especially tourists! We also tried the workamping life in our RV and spent a miserable six weeks checking people into an RV park in Florida! If you have an RV, there are tons of jobs that are fun...just be selective. We'll talk more about this in a later post!

So...while I'll still update you on our fun things, I'm going to sprinkle in some good advice too. The first piece of advice is related to financial planning...save all the money you can and be prepared to use principal since earning interest is not in your future and don't even think that the stock market is your friend. Or work part time! You'll be bored anyway if you don't have lots of hobbies or you're comfortable being a couch potato. You can only travel so much which is what everyone says they want to do when they retire! Just try to find jobs that are flexible and can travel with you. And sell all the stuff you've collected over the years on eBay since your kids are probably like our daughter who told us to quit bringing our crap to her! Oh well...one woman's treasures are another woman's crap!

Here's Why I Don't Post As Often!

Here's why I never post! This is baby Savannah all bundled up for her first snow on her way to WalMart! Our life has really changed since she was born in April. We are so thankful that she's healthy, happy and fun! Her mommy and daddy let us keep her once a week or so for an overnight. I can just sit and watch her and be perfectly happy. She may be number 5, but we're still enamored with our babies! She is the first one that we've had when neither of us are working and she's only 45 miles away! If our house ever sells, we'll move even closer. While I

would love to have our other grandkids closer, they live where state income taxes are too high!

Now where to start? We went to Florida for a while in early November since Libby was determined that we would stay here for Christmas this year! We're also planning a Bowl trip to see Mississippi State play...even though Notre Dame is also playing in a Bowl this year (will wonders ever cease!) it's Woody's turn since we've been to more ND bowls and only one MSU bowl game. Wouldn't it be great if they would play each other and save us some money? TOG has some jobs where they may use me in January so now I'm not sure what we're going to do about heading south! We bought new tires for the RV and still have to get some new batteries as we're having starting issues! It will be ready to roll fairly quickly if we can ever figure out when and where! Our house is still for sale by owner as the real estate agents just wanted to drop the price way down to try to unload it! We don't have to sell as long as we're healthy enough to drive back and forth to Lib and Led's to get the kiddo. I love H'ville and love my "retirement" house, but I want somewhere I don't have as much to clean and a smaller yard preferably with someone else doing the yard work! I plan to eventually get lazy in retirement! Not sure when that will happen but I've heard it's fun!

Oh and most exciting! I get to sign up for Social Security this coming week!!! I will be 62 in March...we plan to save the money but are afraid not to take it with all the changes being discussed. As I understand, I can pay it back when I reach full retirement age of 66 and then refile to get my full benefits. Certainly hope the Stock Market continues it's little mini rebound. It's nice to look at my 401K going back up. I don't plan on touching it for a long time, but I like it better fat! Otherwise we become a burden on the kiddos.

So now that I've primed the pump, maybe I'll keep the blog more up to date!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!! May you and your families have lots of blessings in the coming years. Be sure you do at least one nice thing over the holidays. We made a little donation to the Nashville Rescue Mission in honor of our blessings! They do such good work for the homeless...we forget that there are so many children facing homelessness as our economy continues to decline. For those of us with many blessings, we need to figure out how to pay them forward! To whom many blessings are given.....

Back from Alaska and Canada!

We had a wonderful time in Alaska and Canada on our cruise of the inside passage on Norweigan Cruise Line...there were a few glitches that detracted from our experience but all in all it was a wonderful trip for our 26th anniversary. Woody went on the longest zip line in North America, I took so many pictures of eagles, we ate tons of salmon, and then the whale watching excursion in Prince Rupert, Canada was the best. Pictures are on facebook!

We're trying to get the yard "laid by" for the winter and for our possible trip to Hawaii...we're waiting to hear if I'll be working in Hawaii for a while this fall and winter...tough job but someone has to do it. This part time, occasional work is wonderful. I could never go back to full time!!

We're still trying to sell the house by owner but so far no luck. We talked to three real estate agents but all wanted us to drop the price way below what we wanted to do...we don't have to sell it but we really want to move closer to Savannah! On the 18th, Miss Savannah Elizabeth Ledwell was baptized at St. Edward's Catholic Church...it was a wonderful time with Father Breen. She is the love of our life and we are having a blast especially when she spends the night.

Not sure what to share with you other than life is good.

End of the Summer!

I can not believe it is already the end of the summer!!! We leave on Thursday for a trip to Seattle and then hop the Norweigan Star for our Alaska Cruise. We just love Noweigan Cruise Line! Casual, casual, casual...jeans all the way. I dressed up too many years while working...jeans are my new uniform. Thank heaven for wonderful house and pet sitters! I'm so ready for cooler climes! Even if they are rainy.

We're leaving in just a bit to pick up Savannah for an overnight with Mimi and Grandad. She is such a treat. Libby did say they she slept all night the last few nights so it will be fun to see what she does for us. It has been such a blessing to be able to see her so much this summer. Now that Lib is back to work, we still are averaging once or twice a week. If this dratted house would sell we could be closer and then it wouldn't be so hard.

I am thinking about changing the scope of my blog as Ready for Retirement www.readyretirement.net has about lived it's life...I'm full blown in retirement. So I'm thinking about how to provide tips for survival within retirement. What do you think? All these other people are making tons of money on blogs...not me! I'm going to "study" on that for a while as my granny would say!

Woody is still under the weather but not contagious so hopefully we'll head off to Alaska healthy. We'll send pictures!!

Wonderful fun times with granddaughter!

I just love having one of my grandchildren close enough I can see her every week! It would be fabulous if all of my grands were so close. The best part of retirement may be playing with the grands...but I am starting to get a bit discombobulated again! That seems to be my favorite word the last few months.

My friend Jane and I were talking last week about our lives...we both decided that we missed the work world but weren't sure if we wanted to go back or were just at another crossroads in our retirement journey. Not sure what all this means...for me, it may just be that our consulting this summer has been slow...if it picks up again, I'll probably be fine! I am still writing and editing, but that's really not the same. I miss the challenge of work, but not work if that makes any sense.

Saturday night Lou and Cindy and Woody and I went to Roller Derby...yes...drag out your old memories...that Roller Derby!! Apparently Nashville has a Roller Girls All Star team that competes flat track! Last night we played Ft. Wayne and won! As we were leaving the game (?), we drove by the weekend art gallery crawl downtown...hmmm...art gallery vs. roller derby...no contest for the crazy retired ones.

Can you believe our daughter turns 34 on the 16th? Let's see, my sister is 29 which makes me 43 since I'm 14 years older than Dana. How can a 43 year old have a 34 year old...the math is beginning to get complicated and it's all Dana's fault!

Still hot...house still on market with plans to move to Del Webb...although it is cooler in Destin this summer than here....if it weren't for Miss S, I might be moving to Destin instead of Mt. Juliet! But there is hope...football started today which must mean that cool weather is coming soon! and we're going to Alaska since I can't stand the heat anymore! Talk to you soon!

July is too darn hot!!

In case you haven't noticed, I've not been good about keeping things up to date on our blog. With a little work, a lot of play, facebook, and other stuff...I've just been so busy.

This month we've celebrated Eddie's 50th birthday in Jackson with a surprise funeral for his youth hosted by the drama queen, Dana! We had a blast seeing lots of old friends and my guidance counselor from high school who started my healthcare career...Miss Frances Crossen. When I was a senior at Jackson High School, my mom and dad wanted me to stay home, go to Union and marry a nice boy from Jackson...this was 1967 you know. I went in to Miss C's office and asked her where could I go without any money in case my parents wouldn't pay? While I had a tennis scholarship, it didn't cover everything and it was at a frou frou private school...couldn't even afford the clothes! So Miss C came up with Baptist School of Nursing, now Baptist College for the Health Sciences. That started me down the road to where I am today! So thanks Miss C and it was great to see you. On the way home from Jackson we took a 150 mile detour to Harrah's in Metropolis, IL for lunch...well and to gamble a bit!

Then off to NC to see the grands. We had an absolute ball this trip! Seeing Riley and Will was divine. We did split up the kids a bit with the boys going to the NASCAR museum and go kart racing and the girls going shopping and then spending extra time at the barn doing a photo shoot for Miss Riley and Jennifer! Then the grands took their old grandparents to see our first REAL 3-D movie, Despicable Me. It was fabulous. The fun really started when we got sort of lost on the way home! I-40 west from Asheville is finally open but down to one lane resulting in hours of delays...so we scooted off I-40 and took a short cut through Cherokee, NC. Oh, did I say we had lunch at Harrah's...and did a little gambling of course. Still lost but it took longer! On the way out of Cherokee, we bypassed Gatlinburg and then went to Pigeon Forge where the adventure begins. Following maps, no we don't have a GPS, we meandered around for a while until eventually getting home about 9:30PM after leaving NC at 8:30A Eastern time! Told you it took a while longer to lose in the casino!

Tonight it's off to Donna's for our July birthday dinner! Our dinner club celebrates 4 birthdays a year at least! Sometimes we even celebrate the boys. As I sit here watching the Food Network, I'm planning my appetizer to take tonight...Cajun Crab dip from Publix with wheat thins...by request! Why do I watch the Food Network?

So July has been fun...hot, but fun! From yesterday it sounds like I'll be working more in August.