I plan on retiring at the end of the year when I turn 62. I have had my spreadsheet for several years, looking forward to retirement. A few years ago I was talking to a coworker who was getting ready to retire, and he gave me the best advice ever. He said when I get within a year or two of retirement, don't use any cash. Use only your credit card, or a check if you can't use the card, so you have a record of EVERYTHING you spend. What he found, as I did, you really don't realize how much is spent by throwing a $10 bill out to rhe McDonald's drive through, or buying a cold Pepsi at the gas station. These little expenses really do add up, but they rarely hit your spreadsheet.
That's a good strategy (using as little cash as possible so you can track expenses better). For any cash spending, you can use a category like "Cash Withdrawals" and assume there are always going to be miscellaneous expenses. But the more details you have, the more you know about where the money goes.
I plan on retiring at the end of the year when I turn 62. I have had my spreadsheet for several years, looking forward to retirement. A few years ago I was talking to a coworker who was getting ready to retire, and he gave me the best advice ever. He said when I get within a year or two of retirement, don't use any cash. Use only your credit card, or a check if you can't use the card, so you have a record of EVERYTHING you spend. What he found, as I did, you really don't realize how much is spent by throwing a $10 bill out to rhe McDonald's drive through, or buying a cold Pepsi at the gas station. These little expenses really do add up, but they rarely hit your spreadsheet.
That's a good strategy (using as little cash as possible so you can track expenses better). For any cash spending, you can use a category like "Cash Withdrawals" and assume there are always going to be miscellaneous expenses. But the more details you have, the more you know about where the money goes.
Thanks for the great content, Justin!
You need to add in new expenses too, like insurance whereas your company could have provided it before.
I retired almost 3 years ago and a monthly budget along with an emergency fund is a big help