Living Expenses

Living expenses are hard to cut when you think you have cut about as far as you can.

Let's approach our goal to cut our expenses by taking a look at how they break down.  This data is taken from the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 data for a couple aged 57.6 years with no children living with them.  You can read more about the source of this data at Retirement Living Expenses.

The following table is sorted in descending order by percent of total expenses.

Let's approach cutting expenses by attacking the largest expenses first.  There is little return for our efforts by trying to reduce our "Reading" expenses since it is only 0.29% of the total.

First, you can compare your expenses to this data to see how you compare.  This data is based on approximately 27 million couples in the U.S. so it is a good sample.

For specific suggestions to reduce expenses, click on the expense category in the table above and you are on your way to becoming a thrifty senior (or a more thrifty senior).

(Note:  Since this website is under construction, not all the categories are active links.  We will add more information here in the near future.)

Please come back and visit soon.

Thanks.