Finding out Where Your Money Goes during Retirement

One way to find out how much money you spend each month and what you spend it for is to keep a record of all expenditures during the next month. For this purpose some people find a small five cent notebook handy because they can carry it with them. What¬ever system you use, be sure and write down everything and es¬pecially what you spend for the “little” things such as magazines, a pack of cigarettes, toothpaste and hairpins.

At the end of the month you will be able to add each of the daily expenditures and find out how much your food cost, how much you spent for a place to live, and what you spent for clothing, medical expenses, income tax, recreation and so forth.
This is a job for both the husband and the wife even though one or the other does most of the spending for the family. A 30-day record of expenditures will serve the following useful purposes:

1. You will learn what you spend for each type of expenditure.
2. You will get a better idea of what it is going to cost you to live after you retire.
3. You can decide about the things for which you can plan to spend less after retirement.
4. You will have a better idea of the amount of money you may need in addition to your regular retirement income in order to live satisfactorily.

Of course, these purposes would be served even better were you to keep a record for several months before you retire in order to reflect seasonal differences in how your family spends its money.