Retired

As a retiree, I sleep as long as I want to sleep and I go to bed anytime I want, and if I take a notion to have an afternoon nap, that is exactly what I do.

This has been my mode of operation since 2015, and I have not grown tired of it yet.

My wife and I go on vacation whenever we want to go on vacation...  that is to say, as long as our vacation plans do not interfere with doctor appointment and/or previously scheduled treatments.

My wife and I basically live off our Social Security alone; however, we did spend the last two decades of our working careers saving as much as we could for our retirement, since we both were well aware that we could not live totally off Social Security.

• Not having any debt for twenty years helped
• Not having an expensive lifestyle helped
• Not wanting a large home or yard helped

We both drive really nice vehicles, but we purchased them after they were a year old, saving a ton of money, and we also looked for leased vehicles as they would be better maintained, we assumed.

Not only did we save money, but we used a Delta/American Express credit for 80% of our purchases, leaving us with an accumulation of over 400,000 frequent flyer points, enough to fly to Honolulu and back FIRST CLASS.  This trip will be our last big vacation before I reach 80 years of age.

During the last ten years, instead of sitting around the house doing nothing or watching the BOOB TUBE, I have maintained two blogs daily and have written over twelve novels.  Each of my novels are over 100,000 words, so they are not quick and dirty but well thought through and researched.

We live with three cats that are fifteen years old and while we don't expect them to live much longer, it will be very sad for us to see them go.  They are like our children, and I suppose that we treat them as such, making sure each cat has a heating pad and a blanket to sleep on in the winter.

When my wife retired, she said she was no longer cooking except for herself which was fine by me as I understood why she felt that way.  So, I have been preparing and cooking my own meals for the last 10 years as well.  Needless to say, I very seldom eat TV Dinners cooked in the microwave.

I like soups and meals that I can cook in one pot and very seldom use a recipe but just toss food together that I think might taste good.  I am usually right six or seven times out of ten but eat whatever I cook regardless of the taste; however, I have tossed a couple of meals in the garbage.

Our retirement isn't anything special and we never wanted it to be.  Our lifestyle has changed somewhat but not much.  We basically have whatever we need and sometimes buy what we want but don't need.  That happens very seldom.