Planning for the future while living one day at a time.

As you can tell from the title my thoughts lately have been on the future and how the best way Reba and I can live comfortably and live within our means.

I am a believe in  the old saying paraphrased  "The best revenge is a life well lived" .For me this means to not buy into the corporate ad-man ideal of a good life with the latest gizmo, car or even home ownership. rather it is living your life as you want without regrets or feeling of sacrifice. Doing that is a lot harder than you would think.

We are all too easily influenced by our surroundings. by the opinion  of others and simply peer pressure.

The first thing is to realize as you grow older your doctors phone numbers will most likely out number your friends phone numbers. Just a fact of getting older. If you live in a for profit health provider country like I do this can be a catastrophic event of getting sick and no one to call on for help. In short plan for a minimal health budget of what you need to get by. For Reba and I this beside the health insurance that Reba has on her means an average of $500 a month cash for generic meds and basic health care followup. This time next year I will qualify for Medi-care and I plan on taking advantage of it's various manifestations. Until then I will cross my fingers and try not cross under any ladders.

Second facing finical realities of a society that is entering into a meltdown that most likely never recover to it's previous level which means living on significantly less income whether working on retired.

Unless you live in a place that has excellent public transportation or least passable public transportation you are stuck with maintain a vehicle and buying fuel for it. The good news if you are retired you might think you don't go out that much. The reality is that people think since you are retired you are readily available to run errands. I miss working because I wasn't as busy as I am now. So Reba and I are trying to work out our transportation needs before she retires.

Where you live is another issue you have to think out. If you are like me and believe you never ever really own a house then you rent. I say that because I believe that if a home owners association or a government agency can take you home at will for not following their rules or finding yourself unable to pay the property tax well then I would ask who owns your home?  Combined that with I have never put a lot of emphasis on ownership means we rent.  Right now Reba and I our planning our next and what we believe will be our last move in this lifetime. Finding that right house or duplex with the what we need for a  "life lived well." takes time and planning taking in the cost, location, safety and future needs. It is not something we are doing on a whim.

While we do this planning life happens. As the old saying goes "God smiles as man plans.". You make your plans but write then in pencil on paper to modify as life happens by. Understanding that makes it easier to accept the enviable changes in those plans.

I hope to post some of our plans and how well it works out for us and hopefully give ideals to others who find their self in the same situation.