How To Cut Costs In Retirement - Part One

If you are like most Americans who are nearing retirement you are ready to rid yourself of the burden of work. Let's face it, even if you have a very exciting job there just comes a point where 40 plus years is enough. One of the ways you can make those more leisurely years affordable is to learn how to cut costs in retirement.

This past year I decided to find another expense to reduce or eliminate as a part of my retirement preparation. I found a good target that yielded big returns - cable TV. Now before you click off of this site just let me say that I have found a free and very satisfying alternative. That alternative was a digital tv antenna.

Before I go any further let me say that by cutting my cable TV I reduced my internet/TV bill from $177.00 a month to just $39.00. That is a savings of nearly $140.00 a month or nearly $1700.00 a year. That is a nice piece of the retirement puzzle for me.

Once I decided to cut the cord I did some research to see what TV channels were available to me in my area. I live about 35 miles from Kansas City so I felt that I had a good shot at a wide array of choices. You can check the availability of channels in your area by visiting this site.

Once I did my research I purchased a cheap antenna on Amazon. The fact that I only spent about $19.00 was a big mistake. This antenna was one of those flimsy squares that you can stick to the window or the wall. These types of antennas work well if you live in a metropolitan area but if you are a good distance from the broadcast towers you need to invest $50 - $60 in an attic mounted antenna.

My new antenna gets about 65 channels. I was able to install the antenna myself (very easy). I get a lot of the Kansas Jayhawk games and of course your major sporting events on the big four, NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. This attic antenna gives clear reception and it pays for itself after only one month of cable billing!

I have been very happy with this decision but I did spend another $10 a month on Netflix and between these two avenues of entertainment I have more viewing choices then I could ever want. I really enjoy Netflix and have become a real binge watcher!

If you learn anything in this blog it is this...retirement is made possible, even for low wage earners , by putting together several pieces of the puzzle. My switch from cable to digital tv was a nice sized piece!