5 Expenses Retirees Should Cut This Winter

[@ChristopherEvans-650]

1. I live alone and rarely turn on the furnace as I live in a moderate climate area. Gas and electric ran $605 for the year. 2. I always shop the sales and buy in bulk when deals pop up. My food bill for 2024 was $1500. 3. Have never carried a credit card balance in my life. 4. If you have a free schedule and can travel light, finding great deals on airfare is rather easy. Going from San Francisco to Minneapolis to visit family, next Monday. Only $182 round trip on Sun Country Airlines. The article suggests things that I have pretty much been doing my entire life, hence I was able to retire at 56 years old. Expenses will always be a bigger determinate than the size of your portfolio.

[@ez2beme00]

Closing registers in a high-efficiency furnace (or any furnace for that matter) is generally not recommended and can lead to various problems, including reduced efficiency, potential damage to the system, and uneven temperature distribution.

[@clnelson321]

And....black mold, especially if anything is touching an outer wall.

[@prairiemark4084]

I thought that uneven temperature distribution. Keep less heat in unused bedrooms is the goal I guess.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

@@ez2beme00 interesting

[@andrewulrich6612]

Utilize your humidifier if you have one on your system. Humid air holds heat better. It feels warmer set cooler if you have the humidity set correcty for the outside temperature.

[@RetNavyChiefBTC]

Not carrying a balance on a credit card is sound advice. Applicable all year round!

[@MikeS-7]

My home heating (electric bill) averages $50 per month. I keep the thermostat at 65 degrees and my wood stove keeps my house toasty 75-80 degrees. Those temps are NOT stifling with wood heat they are comfortable and cozy.

[@user-roadwander]

Josh, I must be especially blessed. 16 seer heat pump, 1600 square foot, 35 year old brick ranch. I heat, cool, heat water, electric dryer and stove for less than $120/months. Food, health insurance, house and car insurance. Eating out is a luxury I seldom enjoy.

[@sued115]

When you are not in a room, turn the lights and TV off.

[@clnelson321]

Smart lights are awesome. They use very little and can put out any color you want. My Echo is controlling 12 lights all over the house. They can be set down to 1% illumination as perfect walk thru/nighlights.

[@vincentdesalvo1464]

I can't remember the last time I bought meat from a grocery store, usually a butcher shop and normally when on sale I buy extra and vacuum pack for the freezer.

[@Ellis1127]

I live in Michigan and prepay for propane at $1.99 per gallon, will probably use about 900 gallons before spring. We use a pellet burner as well and bought a 2k pallet this year for about $250 dollars. Great show Josh! 👏👏👏

[@timjones8295]

M-Go Blue!

[@cutehumor]

I turned my furnace down. I got a portable electric heater in my office with the door closed

[@todddunn945]

Ten years ago I redid my heating system to make every room a separate zone. We just turn the temperature down in the rooms we don't use in winter, but not so far down that we might get mold. Part of that heating system redo was to install a high efficiency (>95%) propane combi boiler that does both heat and on demand hot water. I have enough tankage for the entire winter and fill up in summer when propane is cheap. I also use my Jotul wood stove on really cold days. I only burn wood cut on my property, so except for some chain saw gas, that wood is free. For summer, every room has its own independent AC (windows). I do live on an island on the Maine coast. It went over 80 three times last summer with a high for the summer of 83F. I thought I was going to die. As far as food goes, I buy pretty much exclusively store brands with the exception of mayonnaise because I don't like the store mayonnaise. My wife buys coffee at a natural foods store that roasts their own. Yeah, it is pricey, but it makes her happy and it makes great espresso. Yes I have a high end espresso machine, but I bought it in 1987 for about 10% of what it would cost now. It still works great. We tend to stock on meats when they are on sale and have a big chest freezer. It has too much lobster in it this winter. I use credit cards for almost all purchases because I get at least 2% back. I never run a balance.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

@@todddunn945 what island do you live on?

[@todddunn945]

@@HeritageWealthPlanning Mount Desert Island on the ocean side which is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the land side.

[@penelope5500]

Is the bandaid off now Josh? Are you all perfect now?

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

Hope so!

[@elibennett6168]

LOl - our heating bill can be as high as $1000 in a month in the coldest months when oil gets up high. But that's NE.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

Yikes

[@andrewulrich6612]

Don't close off heat and doors in rooms. Closing registers cause back pressure in your HVAC and that isn't good. You also aren't circulating humidity when you close the doors and the registers.

[@JayDee-w4n]

Call AXP, confess your error- forgot to pay, make sure you paid in-full, first, ask for an indulgence, and promise to set-up the account on auto-pay. High probability AXP will waive.

[@Veganisbadhunter-wx5nt]

As a retiree my local McDonald's raised the price today on a senior coffee from $1.79 to $1.99. This really frosts my ass. How can a retiree survive on these crazy price increases?

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

Make your own?

[@KatsDad]

There is no reason to buy anything on the menu at McDonald’s. Maybe a breakfast burrito. That’s about it. They don’t have salads anymore and I’m not a coffee person.

[@RetNavyChiefBTC]

Unless your oven is vented to the outside, the heat from your oven dissipates to the interior of the house. Admittedly more slowly. You shouldn’t have to adjust your thermostat, if it is working properly the thermostat will compensate for the heat leaving the oven.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

Good point

[@patclark6032]

Some puppies don't seem to be smart enough to avoid hot open oven doors. Although after a couple of squealing occurrences we can leave the doors open to let out the heat again. They learn pretty quickly.

[@Gilboa1985]

hey i do the same when i am done baking something in the oven after..nice

[@kennethwers]

Aldi's for food. Quarter for your buggy but super-fast checkout.

[@judybee6698]

Around here, a lot of people pay it forward and leave the quarter in for the next guy. I haven't had to put a quarter in for a few months.

[@jeffraines414]

I was sitting here with my son when you said you like New York strip better than ribeye because you're smart. I looked over at him and did the grinch smile because he likes ribeye better and I like the New York strip better😂

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

🤣

[@michaellewis3660]

$6.99 for choice is pretty good. Select is the one on sale here and I am usually disappointed when I do one.

[@da1shark]

Josh, Entergy has a program to lower your electric usage. I did not believe it but they do. They will replace your light bulbs with LED ones, give you a smart thermostat and power strips. Also they will add insulation in your attic. All for free. I paid the insulation company to remove my old dusty insulation and put it all new. I only paid for the removal of the old insulation.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

What’s entergy?

[@da1shark]

@@HeritageWealthPlanningEntergy is our electric provider. I live in Arkansas so I don’t know if the program is available in all states. Entergy is in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It made a difference in this summer’s utility bills - I think about our bills were about 25% lower and that was mainly due to the attic insulation. Also they sealed around the ceiling ducts since they removed all the old attic insulation. I would hope other utility companies would have a similar program. They can add to existing insulation for no cost, but I wanted the old insulation removed which was about $2500 (house is 30+ years old and insulation was dusty and tamped down). Just search for “entergy covering the insulation” and it should give the details - Entergy Solutions.

[@da1shark]

@@HeritageWealthPlanning Entergy is our electric provider. People should be able to search for Entergy solutions and find the details. Entergy is in Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. I live in Arkansas and thru the program I had my attic insulation replaced (along with power strips, LED bulbs, etc). They normally will add to the insulation for no cost, but I paid to have my old insulation removed and all new insulation installed. My old insulation was dusty and compressed (compressed as it settled over the 30+ years it was in place). They did a blower door test and sealed the ducts and around pipes under the sinks. (Posting this again as I don’t see my original reply - maybe it takes time to update). My total cost was about 2500 to have the old insulation removed. My electric bills are about 25% lower so it has helped.

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

@ wow!

[@frankt1720]

After Christmas, Starbucks puts its Christmas Blend on sale for around $8 a pound. Great buy

[@jeremy8715]

C'mon Josh, don't be scared. We believe you can win that fight.... :) 4:02

[@jeffeasterday6805]

If you want to do some content about living well for little money, you may want to consider doing an interview or covering some blog articles of Justin who blogs under the site Root of Good. World travel, family of five, and yet spends under $40,000 per year.

[@johnfallon6906]

Remember When You Close The Doors The Mass Closed Off Will Be Exposed To Outside Temp. Set It & Forget It. Set @ 67 Degrees , Mass Absorbs & Then Radiates Inward 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@jayholiday256]

Must be rough shopping at Publix, that’s for rich people. We get their keylime pie, awesome.

[@hollywoodlegends7905]

I used to find NY strip bone here in California for $3.99 LB at Luckys on sale and stock up just a few years ago. Now, a sale means getting it at $6.99 LB. (After Sniffy Joe's inflation).

[@timjones8295]

Glad he gave $1B to Angola…what a chump

[@BradMangas]

Do Not buy cheap food just for the sake of cheap food. Always remember, your food is your medicine. Put bad food in your body and try to stay healthy on drugs. Bad decision.

[@JoeMama-gx5gw]

The best thing we did to cut expenses is we voted for Trump.

[@Csharpflat5]

Yay go MAGA

[@LanceSoFast1]

That’s a DUMB statement. 😂

[@JoeMama-gx5gw]

@LanceSoFast1 I bet you are so proud of Biden's over 20% inflation over the last 4 years. Now that is DUMB!!!

[@johngarceau541]

Trump2024

[@penelope5500]

@@LanceSoFast1 Wait til he figures out he actually voted for Elon Musk.😂

[@jeremy8715]

Decaf coffee...... Ewwwww!!!!! 6:19

[@penelope5500]

I know...what's even the point, right?😟

[@HeritageWealthPlanning]

You want me caffeinated?

[@bikerTR]

I’m a NY strip man as well

[@Csharpflat5]

Use a heavy comforter and stay in bed❤❤❤❤

[@markreid7]

Blaming Biden for hesting bills. 😂😂😂