Carefully planning for a future retirement brings about many thoughts and idea’s moving forward. One of the most important questions I constantly ask myself during the course of the day is, “Do I really need to make this purchase”. Whether it’s on Amazon or just out and about.
A minimalist lifestyle is one where the only purchases that need to be made are made through the desire of obtaining true needs and not so much wants. Usually the lunch I bring to work is the leftovers of a homemade dinner from the night before. On occasions I don’t have those leftovers and I am left with choices to purchase lunch. I am quickly learning that the average cost of a decent meal in the “eating out” world can cost upwards of $10.00. I have even spent close to $14.00 for two eggs, a piece of sausage and some hash browns and they will throw in two pieces of toast. Ridiculous! I have found that just making a few PB&J sandwiches brings out the same level of joy at lunchtime and it is far less costly.
One of the best ways to plan for the future is taking a good look at the past. It’s funny how quickly we learn our mistakes by gathering items for a yard sale. Yes, there are so many purchases that I have made that I thought would bring me value or joy, only to throw it into a box to sell for 10% of what was spent on it. I do like purchasing items on Amazon so it was easy to view my past orders. I was actually shocked when I considered what I could have gained in my savings account by not purchasing those things at all.
Planning for retirement is not just an adventure to reaching a goal, but is also a method of creating a new lifestyle. With an obvious reduction of monthly income there will also be the need for simple reduction. This needs to be put into perspective as I redefine my needs and wants. My needs will be obvious like food, clean water, shelter, healthcare and clothing. The wants will be the furniture for the retirement home, the ability to travel. The quality of life will be built around a social life and spending time with family.
As these next 44 months pass I am sure that there will be many lessons learned that will be fuel for developing that new lifestyle in retirement.
Simple Living Over 50 
Human beings are spectacularly well-designed. I’ve noticed in my own life, and among my friends, that as we head toward retirement, there’s a natural instinct to purge our closets and homes and get rid of things we no longer (and maybe never did) need.
Yea, I know what you mean. I wish that I could teach these lessons to the younger generation, but I used to be the younger generation and never listened. LOL
We have always had to live frugally and all decisions were based on:-
Do we need it, can we afford it, and will our life end if we don’t have it?
Thus we never bought a lot and saved loads.
Then, way later, as our life changed, it was amended to:-
Do we need it, can we afford it, and where the hell are we going to put it?
As by then we were living on our canal boat.
Guess what? We saved even more our saving ended up with us being able to buy our “Duntravling” home.
That is wonderful! The act of mindfulness has its rewards.
That and being skint for most of our lives, by choice, when planning for the future over 30 years.
Are you sure you have enough time to do the same?
I am sure. I owe nothing, house is paid off, two pensions, 400,000 in 401k and two social security checks. We spend very little.
Good for you.
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Good Reminder, though I am a bit nervous about going back and looking at my Amazon orders!! Being single I have found that I buy just random stuff when I am feeling down. Not a good way to save towards retirement. Thanks for your thought provoking posts.
It shocked me when I counted up the cost of the stuff I purchased. I wish I had all of that money in my bank account right now.