More of The Mad Retiree’s
Rules and Regulations
of (Early) Retirement
I’ve added some
of my own, personal (early) retirement rules to the “Top Five” I blogged about
the last time.
Mainly because I’ve
always known that I do not do well in un-scheduled time.
And since
retiring, there are some days when I have amazed myself at just how
undisciplined and unfocused I can be.
So in my case, adding
a few rules to the rules is a good thing!
1.) Walk – if it’s within “walking” distance of home, I do just
that.
Walk.
And walking
distance? If I can walk there in 30 – 40
minutes, it’s within walking distance. Hello
Square One!
And quite
frankly, I could use the exercise. I
try to look on the whole walking thing as my contribution to cutting carbon
emissions … and saving money on bus fare.
And the next
time my GP asks if I’m getting any exercise, I can look her directly in
the eye and say “yes”.
2.) No more using
Google for general interest searches – put on your hat and
coat and head out to your local library branch.
No more internet searches for the recipe you just saw on the Food
Network. Go to the library and check out
the entire cookbook. Can’t remember the
date of Canadian confederation – go to the library and look it up. A trip to the library to look something up
serves three purposes – 1) it gets you out of the house 2) it affords you the opportunity to converse
and socialize with other adults 3) you
also get the opportunity to learn something new (and if you walked to your
local library branch – bonus points.)
3.) Spending
money
– if a
friend calls and invites you to lunch and you’ve spend all of this month’s
allowance, tell the friend you’re short of cash right now and can’t lunch out,
but could we do something else. Don’t be
tempted to take “an advance” on next month’s pension cheque or to use your
credit card to pay for lunch. A good
friend will understand that now you are retired, you’re watching every penny,
especially if they too, are retired.
And if they don’t understand, they’re probably not that good of a friend
and lunch would have been boring anyway!
Same goes with
those shoes or book or CD you saw at the sidewalk sale. If you don’t have the cash - you can’t have
them!
No matter how
good the shoes would have made your legs look!
4.) Credit cards – and speaking of not using your credit card to pay for lunch or
sidewalk sale splurges - no using credit card(s) to pay for day-to-day
expenses.
I know and I am
sorry!
But you will
find yourself developing a much closer relationship with your money if you actually
handle it every day. You will begin to
see exactly how much and how quickly your money is dripping through your
fingers.
Like water, I
tells ya!
5.) Computer
games, electronic devices and binge streaming – if you can correctly name more than one of the Kardashians or can
spell Daenerys Targargen I’m
thinking it’s time to shut down the electronic playground and stumble your way
out into the sunshine and perhaps seek professional help! When you have nothing but time on your hands,
sometimes the temptation to amuse yourself with just one game of computer
solitaire is over whelming. (Quite
frankly, given the number of games I’ve played, you’d think I’d have a better
winning percentage.)
6.) Afternoon Television – I was never a soap opera junkie or cared very much about just
what Martha Stewart considered a “good thing”.
But – my name
is Vi – and I think I’m becoming addicted to afternoon TV. (I comparison, maybe computer games and binge streaming are
good things after all.)
I may not be
able to name more than one Kardashian and I certainly can’t spell Daenerys Targargen, but I am beginning to believe
that painting that accent wall a pastel sage will indeed usher in the Zen-like
spring brightness my living room so sorely needs.
So, my new rule
about afternoon TV, for myself at least – just don’t!!!!!
