Affordability Be Darned: How to Live in Style on a Budget
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 11, 2025 — The hottest political button right now seems to be affordability. Everything costs so much since Covid, and no COLA from Social Security is going to make up for it. A long time ago we wrote an article, “How to Be a Cheapskate and Retire in Style“. It generated an amazing number of great tips and suggestions from our Members. Today’s situation seems like an ideal time to replay them. Here is a sampling from the many great ideas the article generated. (Note: This seems like a good followup to our recent article “MId-Life Guide to Surviving Retirement“, which generated even more suggestions.)
Live Like a Cheapskate and Retire in Style
1. A number of generic drugs are free at places such as Walmart, Publix, or Meijer. You will still need a prescription from your doc, though. If you are a veteran, you can probably qualify for greatly discounted drugs.
2. If you’re 62 or over, purchase a $80 Lifetime Senior Pass that gets you into more than 2,000 federal recreations sites, including National Parks, This is a perk a lot of people don’t know about. The pass covers the car passengers, too. (http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm)
3. Do what my kids have done re phones – dump the landline and only use your cell phone. Before you cancel, be sure its cost isn’t bundled in a discounted package with TV or Internet service.
Jan Cullinane, Author of AARP’s The Single Woman’s Guide to Retirement
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One of the biggest money savers we have is couponing. My wife is like one of those people (almost) you see on TV on extreme couponing. She will usually save us 50 to 60 percent per trip to the grocery store. Most of the time she matches coupons with items on sale, often getting the items for FREE. We have also built up a significant amount of stores because we take advantage of good deals and stock up on low cost items. Johnny Jacobs
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I agree that couponing is great but I find unless I exercize restraint, it’s like being at an auction and I wind up buying items that I don’t regularly use because it’s on sale and I have a coupon! I guess I get caught up in the challenge. We do not drink bottled water and that saves a ton of money. We shop on days when there’s a senior discount offered at our groceries, department stores and movie theaters. We take advantage of restaurant deals such as Groupon and Restaurant.com when we eat out which isn’t more than twice a month unless it’s a special occasion. And contrary to the suggestion of paying with cash, we use one credit card for everything, pay it off monthly and use the points we accumulate for yearly travel. It works great if you have some ability to control your spending. I can understand the issue of not thinking of plastic as real money!
Cherie
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I can add many other ways to save money. Nonetheless, the one from the list of 15 that resonates with me is Number 15: “Make more money.”
Ernie
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I always use credit cards for purchases when I can and have one for gasoline, one for meals (and wine) out, one for travel and one for everything else. The reason? I get 2% cash back on the one for everything else and 3% to 5% with the other cards in cash back.
High Yield Consultant
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Entertain at home! People have gotten into the habit of eating out, often because they were too busy while managing a career to cook more than a simple meal. Now that you are retired and have more time,invite friends over for dinner and a game of Bananagrams, or another fun game. Most of your guests will ask, “What can I bring?” Take them upon the offer to share both the time it takes to prepare a meal and the costs. You’ll find that eating at home costs less, is fun to do, usually means tasty-left-overs, and generates return invitations.
Patricia
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Since I retired I have cut my expenses by 50 % with out much change in my life-style.
1. I watch every penny….now I don’t spend mindlessly.
2. I shop for food and anything else once a month.
3. I look for alternatives. For example, I take out ebooks from the library.
4. I am in the process of creating a pet-care co-op so that I don’t have to spend money for
my cats when I travel short-term.
It is a rewarding challenge!
LuluM
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We love to bike and walk/hike together. Our comfort bikes (after years of trying to strain our necks on cheap mountain bikes) was one of the best investments we ever made … made bike riding a real joy (we ride flat rails-to-trails). Life can be so wonderful from just the simple pleasures.
MadMonk
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I’m surprised no one has suggested thrift shops. You can find most anything at a PTA Thrift Shop or other such resource. Clothes especially are insanely expensive and thrift shops are filled with clean, lightly used, even new clothes for everyone at dramatically lower prices.
Richpb
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Yes, thrift stores are a good place to buy used clothes and other household things. It is also a good place to pick up items for resale on Ebay. One thing I used to do when I sold on Ebay was cannibalize appliances. If I had a broken, well-known brand appliance, like a coffee maker, I would sell the parts. You would be surprised how many people need replacement parts. I sold every part I advertised in just days. I had a dryer that I took the control panel off and sold it on Ebay. Sometimes selling parts will produce more money than if you had sold the appliance as is.
Louise
More Cost Cutting Suggestions
See more “Cost Cutting Suggestions” from out Members in this article
What Do You Do to Live Well on A Small Budget?
Please share your tips for surviving in a cost crazy world in the Comments section below.
Comments on "Affordability Be Darned: How to Live in Style on a Budget"
Clyde says:
Although the Social Security COLA increase helps a bit, it’s not much in the face of inflation, as the article indicates. The average increase for 2026 is about $56 per month. But when you figure in the $21.50 Medicare Part B premium increase for 2026 (which is automatically deducted from your monthly SS payment), the COLA is in effect considerably smaller. In fact, the Medicare premium increase is 11.6% higher than 2025. The 2.8% SS COLA looks paltry compared to that.
Scott R L says:
My wife and I have never paid for TV. We watch free, over-the-air broadcasts.
Since we live in a major metro area, we get dozens of channels.
(An amplified antenna, price about $10, helps a lot.)
We're not big TV junkies, but we do love movies. Those we buy on DVD and are pretty cheap these days.
We figure that over the years we've saved tens of thousands of dollars.
We're pretty frugal, but not miserly. We can easily afford anything we really want. E
JCarol says:
I purged my rather extensive library down to a single shelf of mostly cookbooks about 20 years ago, vowed to stop buying them - including ebooks, and never looked back. Most public libraries allow patrons to put books on hold and send notifications when they're ready to be checked out. I hit my library while doing errands. Quick in-and-out. Drop some off, pick some up.
Before whipping out my CC, I calculate whether it's worth it to me to use a CC or cash for gasoline. My CC gives 2% back. If the CC price is more than 2% higher, I pay with cash. Same with other places that now charge an "upcharge" for CC use.
I'm also more than a little put off by the dramatically increased numbers and types of places requesting. Not to be a cheapskate, but I consider how much service I'm being given before clicking that 18% (or higher!) suggested tip.
If we place our order at a fast food counter (or do so from a table using our cell phones), are pouring our own drinks and busing our table, are the staff (who at most are delivering the food to our table, and are by law, are paid a minimum of $17.87/hour, before tips) really entitled to a tip?
Fast food work was long performed by students because of flexible scheduling, but it was clear to us that these were jobs, not careers. We knew that if we wanted to earn more, we needed to improve our skills through education, experience and/or both. Asking for tips, or presuming we were entitled to them, was unthinkable.
Louise says:
There is a small restaurant about 10 miles from me, and they have outdoor seating under a tent. There is no outdoor seating after summer is over, just take out. I have never eaten there but have done take out. Two summers ago, I called in an order and gave my CC number over the phone. Just as I was ready to hang up, they asked me if I wanted to leave a tip. I was totally floored and kind of embarrassed to say no! To me, this was no more than going to McDonalds and picking up an order. People don't pay a 15% tip for McDonalds! So, fast forward to this summer. My hub was in the area and drove over there and placed an order to go. Same thing, he was asked for a tip. He also felt cornered and said ok to the tip. Now, we have decided we will not go there again. The food is just okay and we don't feel that they should have asked for tips for take out. I would gladly leave a tip if I received some 'service' at a table but to pick the order up in bags, I think that it is outrageous!
RichPB says:
Definite agreement on the tipping thing. I also waited tables for tips and quickly learned what people liked so I could provide it and hopefully get a good tip. I'm generally a good tipper myself, but it depends on the service. Taking an order or giving me a carry out bag isn't "service" to me. That person is simply doing a minimum job (not always with a smile either). Special handling is a different thing.
Louise says:
It also makes you wonder WHO is getting the tip! The person handing me the bag? The chef, the people who wash dishes, the owner? Are they splitting it among themselves?
Louise says:
I live in CT, and businesses except for government agencies, cannot add any kind of an addition charge for using a credit card. Two years ago, my awning company sent me my yearly bill for awning take down, put up and winter storage by email. I normally get a bill in the mail and they never offer pay by CC on the hard copy bill. The email bill allowed paying by CC and it showed a fee for using the CC. I am like what is THIS! I mulled it over in my head and then looked up fees for using CC in CT. It is a law that fees cannot be added. So, I contacted the CT Dept. of Consumer Protection. They quickly contacted this vendor and the vendor immediately stopped trying to collect these fees. They didn't change the form to pay the bill online though. I called them and paid over the phone. Got my hard copy bill again this year, and once again, they never say you can pay with a CC. They are hoping you'll pay with check. Not me! I pay with my CC.
Admin says:
AOL (remember them?) just put out an article on the "Surprising Reasons" why so many people run out of money in retirement. Not really so surprising, but certainly unfortunate. See "Surprising Reasons for Running Out of Money in Retirement".
Pa Kettle says:
I've saved thousands of dollars using a credit card that gives me points to redeem for hotel rooms. During an upcoming 2 week trip all my hotel rooms will be paid by using points.
I've run into places that charge a 15% tip even though I ordered at the counter and the only service I got was having it delivered to my table. On top of the tip the food was already overpriced. Never went back.
It may not give an instant return but freezing my credit report and using bank and credit card alerts has saved me money over the years.
Louise says:
I have a Costco Visa that I get rewards money at the end of the year and can go to Costco and get the cash. It certainly is not thousands of dollars, but I have racked up hundreds of dollars each year just for paying for purchases with my CC. Last year was $643 and this year might be around $600. I pay for groceries, other purchases and any bill I can pay with the CC. Some companies or small businesses do not accept CC payments. Like the guy who cleans our gutters, the guy who pumps our septic, the ac company that installed our whole house unit and the town I live in when I pay my taxes. I can pay my taxes with a CC but the fees associated with doing so, are high so it makes no sense to pay with CC. The higher rewards are with travel and we don't travel anymore but I do appreciate my rewards money at the end of the year! Just for using the card to pay for everyday things I would buy anyway. Oh, and one trick is when you get your Costco money at Costco, do not use that cash money to purchase Costco items, use your CC to accrue more points! I made that mistake the first year I got my cash rewards and kicked myself in the butt after I thought about it! Use your cash for things you cannot accrue points with!