Retirement Blog

It’s the end of week 2, of how to retire in San Francisco with less than a million dollars, let’s take a look at the budget and see how we are doing:

Uh Oh!

Still a thousand dollars left in our budget, with our two major expenses (housing and health-care), out of the way. It’s looking good…but wait a minute, there’s a warning signal in the budget software. We’ve gone over our budget for beauty. We budgeted $50 per month for beauty, and so far this month we’ve spent $128, what happened?

Beauty ain’t cheap!

It’s my wife’s fault - of course. She got a hair-cut and coloring. She claims that the $110 she spent on her hair, would normally cost $200-$300, at most salons. She has received many compliments from her friends, tells me that she doesn’t need a haircut and coloring every month, and refuses to feel guilty. I’m not a woman, I have no idea how much it costs, and since her hair does look beautiful - she’s forgiven.

What About Me?

Yeah, what about me? Don’t I have a right to be beautiful too! Of course I do. But since my wife, went over budget with her hair, it’s my responsibility to save money. Fortunately, I’m balding, so a clipper job is all I need. And, in the heart of North Beach, you can find budget beauty. So, for $10, Mrs. Chong buzzed my head.

What Have We Learned?

Well, besides my wife deserving to feel beautiful, and my sacrificing to find budget beauty? The importance of a retirement budget. Planning your retirement, by keeping a budget before you retire, will point out expenses you may not have considered. Or at least the true cost of expenses. And will lead to a more accurate retirement plan.

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