Apparently there are some retirees out there who have discovered, as I have, that there is a formula to follow that will have you successfully surviving the current global crisis-of-living. What is it, you might ask? Well, watch this CBS Evening News video and listen very carefully to the second older woman, Chrissy Berker (?) the news correspondent (Skyler Henry) interviews. Chrissy casually says she and her husband are getting by. They are able to take a few trips/vacations, buy tires for their car...two things unheard of from the many struggling senior citizens. The first interview with Barbara Hawk, who strictly is living on her fixed income thinks the solution is to just cut down on expenses, do without and chase after sales and bargains. That frugality system may have worked in the past but we are into a whole new ballgame now. New rules apply and they're not pretty. Please watch the entire 4.46 minutes.
Did you hear what Chrissy sited as to why she and her husband are doing OK? In addition to their pension and social security checks both are WORKING. Chrissy and her husband both work part time. The extra money is making all the difference. The extra cash is coming in handy. Sort of a rainy day fund that is allowing them to live a bit better and take in a few extra benefits along their way.
Isn't it a coincidence that hubby and I just came back from a little road trip and before that we bought new tires for BOTH our cars? I had often wondered as to why hubby and I were doing fairly well in this current cost-of-living crisis while others are not. What was the difference? I realized my husband is working part time and that income combined with our own pension and social security checks, have us doing OK. We're getting by. BINGO! Having that extra side job, despite being in your 60s or 70s (we're really still young you know!) is how America's retired senior citizen are currently making their ends meet. (Also, being debt free doesn't hurt either).
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I'm thankful that we're doing well but I'm also a bit angry because of the inflated prices that started in 2021 and continue to get worse.
ReplyDeleteWe did everything we could to always live below our means, saving, carrying no debt. My husband has two state retirements, collects social security and has a small business. I have one state retirement and still work full time making a pretty good salary and carrying our insurance. We should be sticking a lot more money away every month than we get to because of the high cost of living.
I don't know how anyone living off of social security is doing it and it shouldn't be this way.
Hi Lori. You and your husband are surely blessed with your income streams. I don't know how people who are just dependent on their social security are making it. But I do notice that as the days pass more and more seniors are doing worse and worse and worse. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteIt’s a madhouse out there! The cost of living is hurting so many people. Someone needs to put the brakes on now.
ReplyDeleteHi Belinda. I agree with you. But it's a global cost-of-living crisis from what I can gather. It's going to take a while for prices to come back to affordability. Once the gas prices come down (which they have in my area) we'll start to see a decline. Eggs are still high where I live plus when I got to our fave grocery store there were none to be had!! Thank goodness we stocked up. I see my pantry and freezer volume going down more and more. I'm not as prepped as I used to be. I'm only replacing foods that I've taken out of stockpiling and it's already costing above $100 a week! Just for the same exact things. My husband and I have cut so many things out of our budget just to keep going. Today we went food shopping and we went to 4 stores just to buy the on-sale items. Period. Nothing extra!! On the ride back home my husband just kept saying 'things are so expensive'. There's really nothing much else we can do. Except wait and see. Hang in there.
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