Simple Hacks For Retirees. Financial Or Otherwise. "On Topic"

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
credit to Soberups for giving me this idea.

after retiring and seeing our income reduced by quite a bit , i thought this may be a good thread to help us retirees and seniors get by on less money.

the hacks can be financial in nature or anything that can make life easier or fun for us retirees.

We recently found out that we can order our prescriptions in 90 day increments rather than 30 days. this will save us $360 a year in co-pays.

also. we called our auto insurance carrier and reduced our annual mileage from 25,000 miles down to 5000 miles, thus saving about $350 a year in premiums thru Ameriprise.

that is for starters.
 

cheryl

I started this.
Staff member
Switched my mobile phone carrier from tmobile to google's project fi. There's a lot of wifi around here so I don't use much of their data. Cut my bill by about 40%.
 

oldngray

nowhere special
Switched my mobile phone carrier from tmobile to google's project fi. There's a lot of wifi around here so I don't use much of their data. Cut my bill by about 40%.

Google sounds good if you have a lot of wifi nearby. It still sounds OK if it defaults back to cell as long as the reliability is there. I wonder how well their business model will work if they get forced to build their own towers though.
 

cheryl

I started this.
Staff member
Google sounds good if you have a lot of wifi nearby. It still sounds OK if it defaults back to cell as long as the reliability is there. I wonder how well their business model will work if they get forced to build their own towers though.
Good question. Fi doesn't work everywhere either. My sister lives in Idaho and she was thinking about signing up but there isn't good tmobile or sprint coverage near her and not much public wifi. She decided the coverage there wasn't going to be good enough.
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
seniors can get free help filling out their tax returns. mostly from retired tax people. they may find hidden deductions or give you advice on saving on your taxes.
 

brownmonster

Man of Great Wisdom
seniors can get free help filling out their tax returns. mostly from retired tax people. they may find hidden deductions or give you advice on saving on your taxes.
My Dad chases around town trying to find paper tax forms. Next year he is coming by me and we can file his return inside of 2 beers. Probably for free.
 

Jackburton

Gone Fish'n
Speaking of switching cell phone carriers, if you like ATT, give Cricket wireless non contract service a shot. It rides on the Att network, you get 5 lines for 100.00 (that's it, tax and fees all included) 2.5 gigs of LTE data per line, throttled after that, unlimited talk and text. You can go to their website and check out how adding lines works but it's super simple and great if you have a large family or want to supply a couple lines to your extended family.

We switched a couple months ago and I'd never go back to the big carriers again. You do have to bring your own device, we buy unlocked used iPhones off eBay from resellers who get them from the carriers when people upgrade to the newest latest and greatest for half the price of new.
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
we use a trac fone. $8 a month. ( $100 for year service ) 800 minutes for the year. we are dinosaurs when it comes to this cell phone business.
 

brownmonster

Man of Great Wisdom
Speaking of switching cell phone carriers, if you like ATT, give Cricket wireless non contract service a shot. It rides on the Att network, you get 5 lines for 100.00 (that's it, tax and fees all included) 2.5 gigs of LTE data per line, throttled after that, unlimited talk and text. You can go to their website and check out how adding lines works but it's super simple and great if you have a large family or want to supply a couple lines to your extended family.

We switched a couple months ago and I'd never go back to the big carriers again. You do have to bring your own device, we buy unlocked used iPhones off eBay from resellers who get them from the carriers when people upgrade to the newest latest and greatest for half the price of new.
Work more hours.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I met a couple of times with my financial adviser during my time off after surgery. He told me something that those of you who are also divorced may benefit from. I'll have to admit that I was pretty skeptical when he first told me but I went home and did some research and it turns out that he was 100% correct.

If you were married for 10 years or more and your ex worked for at least 10 years (40 quarters), you may be eligible to claim up to 1/2 of his/her Social Security benefit without reducing the amount of that benefit.

You can read more about it here:

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/divspouse.html
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
good tip. my commute was over 40 miles each way but i did do it when my car was broke down just once and stayed at motel all week.

is that dedication ?
image.gif
 
Top