The video makes me realize Ive done a horrible job keeping up with the Joneses because Im not doing any of those things.
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You know what they say about The Joneses - theyāre all broke
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And of course itās unusual for couples to even get to millionaire status:
āā¦The median represents the middle number in a group of numbers. The Federal Reserve data shows that the median retirement savings of households led by someone between 65 and 74 years old was $200,000 and $130,000 for those 75 and olderā¦ā
from What Percentage of Retirees Have a Million Dollars?
It is hard to make generalizations for categories. Spending habits vary by person. And there is not always linkage between high savings and high retirement income (especially with pension cutbacks in recent decades).
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It depends how you define āunusualā. The 2023 DQYDJ calc (Net Worth by Age Percentile Calculator ā United States ) suggests among persons aged 65-69, 1 in ~4 had a NW of $1M+ in 2023, or 1 in 5 with home equity excluded. Among persons aged 70-74, it was closer to 1 in 3 with $1M+. Itās a minority, but not what Iād consider especially unusual.
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This is an important distinction. Having a good pension means itās easier to survive on less savings. But no pension means that saving a lot is really important.
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Thatās why Iām all about creating my own income stream or pension if you will.
I had two but one took a buy out. The other will be small.
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D1 took series 24 few years ago. She passed it, but no score was given to her. She thought she did pretty well because she knew most of the questions. But she generally over studied for her exams. I just remembered a lot of belly aching when she was studying for it.
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We are very frugal as a family. We like to get savings on stuff by using coupons, shopping sales at grocery stores, etc. However, we are also fairly brand loyal on certain stuff like shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, prepared foods, etc. My husband is quick to say that we only buy quality food (good meat, etc.) Even if we buy it on sale!
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I was thinking this weekend about how much I am comfortable spending on various things, for two reasons. First, because ds2 took us to a fancy place for our anniversary. We planned to go there and treat him, but he wanted to treat us for our anniversary. But there was no way that I would let him spend that kind of money on us so we Venmoād him some yesterday. Not the whole cost, but a few hundred dollars.
I also was thinking about this because of a podcast I listened to that asked if you could spend more money on something, what would it be? And my answer was meals out with friends and/or family. I truly love eating out and socializing and trying new things, but I just donāt see the value in a high-dollar meal because of the name.
I thought to myself that parts of the meal were delicious but that Iād had better meals that were less than half the price. CAN I spend hundreds of dollars on a meal? Yes. Is that a good value to me? No.
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A house cleaner. Maybe not every week. But good lord it would be nice not having to spend hours de-cat hairing the house everyā¦ singleā¦ week.. (can you tell what I just finished doing?)
And then an ultimate luxury I may never know - business class plane tickets.
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If you are retired and can go during the offseason, may be worth a splurge. Overseas business class is so much better than coach or economy plus.
- If you want a guaranteed business class seat you probably want to purchase it way in advance, months in advance.
- If you want to roll the dice, maybe find a empty-ish flight and hope they offer you an upgrade at a reasonable price.
Domestic first/business, IMO, not worth it unless the flight is longer than 5 hours.
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for sure.
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I havenāt found less expensive to mean lower quality.
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And I also shop the sales. I like Puffs Plus Lotionā¦and just wait for a coupon or a sale.
Some store brands actually are excellent. Trial and error.
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I describe that as wanting value for my money. I use expensive shampoo, for example, but buy it when itās on sale or I get free things with it. I buy 2 huge things of toilet paper when they are on sale at Costco, instead of buying it 4 rolls at a time at the grocery store.
My son buys 20 pints of expensive ice cream when itās on sale.
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Trying to get the best value for things you like makes sense to me. Trying to get the cheapest item out there does not unless one is really in need of every last penny.
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Impressed that he has a freezer that fits 20 pints of ice cream!
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I like to try a variety of brands and generics. Often there seems no need to pay more for most expensive option. For hair products though Iāll usually go with hairdresser recommendations (though she does not sell any hair products - I go to ulta).
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My Kerastase shampoo/conditioner and my very expensive face cream are non-negotiable. For Mr. B, it is Charmin TP. Everything else is whatever Costco or TJ carry. When I retire, I might have more time to drive around and shop regular grocery stores. For now, it is these two 95% of the time.
My cats say Fancy Feast and Fresh Step are non-negotiables. 
Speaking of expensive shampoo, I still use the shampoo in the 1 L bottle of Kerastase I bought a couple of years ago. This stuff is super concentrated!
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That sounds like a good brand. Is there a specific type of Keratase that you like? I have very fine, blondish hair, that Iām always looking to get shampoo that gives it body and maybe colors whatever stray white hair that comes my way.
If thereās something worth spending our retirement money on, itās good shampoo! But that can be hard to find.