Bon Voyage!

After 36 action packed hours in Miami, we are off to the Caribbean for the next week and a half. It’s a lovely 78 degrees here portside currently, and we are already unpacked and enjoying our first cruise libation. After the last year and a half of remodeling, we are ready for this trip!

Our 36 hours in Miami included dinner at a lovely Italian cafe, a Bay view boat tour, five miles of scenic walking, and a guided food and cultural tour in Little Havana.

I brought along my trusty cruise shorts, my fail safe way of maintaining my weight. As long as they fit, I know my weight remains stable. As often as we’ve cruised, we’ve learned lots of tricks to avoid weight gain - try on those da@n shorts every morning, always use the stairs, walk several miles around the deck in the AM, have normal-sized breakfasts and lunches, and save the cruise food splurges for dinner only. So far, so good!

Lots Of Fun For Little Cost . . . A List Of Retirement Ideas

I do a lot of what I call 'big rock' planning over the course of any given year, whereby I plan out our travel trips, and plan out and purchase tickets for events that are significant to us, both far out in advance, often at an also-significant cost.  But in between, I also do a lot of what I call 'small rocks' planning - fun, easy to plan, and inexpensive fill-in activities.

Here is a list of some of my favorite small rock activities currently, most of which I think are accessible to all, regardless of whether or not you reside near the ocean. Swap out your local geography feature of choice (lake, river, hill, mountain, desert, etc.) for the ocean I reference below, and it think it remains an apples to apples list of ideas-

• #1 on the list, and the one we enjoy most frequently by far: Coastal walks of between five and ten miles that include a food or coffee stop, either at the end (for 5-7 milers), or midway (our 8-10 milers). Shared iced coffee runs about $5, shared pick-up burger, burrito, or sandwich runs about $12. Hours of enjoyment generally between three and five.
• Canyon hikes of similar mileage, with the difference being that we we sometimes pack lunches for the longer hikes if we know we'll be able to eat it while enjoying views. Otherwise, we'll do similar post-hike stops for coffee or a shared pick-up lunch for same costs and overall hours of enjoyment.
• Picnic dinners at the harbor, where we enjoy the watching the active marine critters come and go (Great and Snowy White egrets, pelicans, Great Blue and Night herons, sea lions, crows, and the rare, regal osprey) and the active human critters aboard sail boats, power boats, SUP's, kayaks, and the occasional electric surfboard. Cost runs $0, and hours of enjoyment anywhere from one to three, warmness of weather depending. 
• Sunset viewing from either our balcony, or one of the nearby coastal viewing spots where parking is either free, or we have an annual parking pass we can use. We'll drink/pack our own beverage, sparkling water midweek days, wine on weekend days, so cost is $0. Time frame for activity generally between 45 minutes to an hour.
• Yoga at the beach, which I try to do once a week, and which currently runs $10 a session. I'll generally go for a walk once the yoga session is over, so gone about two hours in all.
• Kayaking at the next harbor up the coast, where there are over 15 miles of protected paddling. We generally kayak between six and seven miles, and pack our own lunch to be enjoyed at one of the harbors many small beaches. (We tried eating while floating in our kayaks once - it wasn't fun! Even in a harbor there is a constant current, and we had to course correct continual to avoid bumping into a parked boat.) Sometimes we'll beach our kayaks and pick up an iced coffee midway, which we'll then enjoy back at our kayaks. Hours of enjoyment, and minimal (one iced coffee) or zero cost.
• Attend every reasonably close summer Concert In The Park. We pack dinner and bring our own libations, so many hours of fun at zero cost.
• Visit several nearby museums at zero cost, either by using the free museum day benefit one of our credit cards affords, or by having rooted out which museums are always free. We generally do a shared iced coffee or shared lunch afterward, so a $5 to $15 dollar activity, depending.
• Monitor the Facebook pages of all of my surrounding communities to watch for advertised free activities - there were so many once I started paying attention! Free Shakespeare in the park, free car shows, free art shows, free yoga classes, free lectures, free open houses, and free concerts, both on land and on the water - the later of which are the best! We launch our kayaks, and float and eat and listen. 😄
• Attend lectures at on a variety of topics - everything from AI to social causes to local owl habitation and behaviors- ranging from free to $10 a ticket. I've attended lectures at colleges, at community centers, city parks, county and state beaches, marine life centers, senior centers, and libraries.

That's probably enough for now, but I would love to read about any additional 'small rock' ideas you all might care to share. 

As my almost-90-year-old father often says when we finish chatting about his amazing and ongoing activities, "You can rest when you're dead, Tamara!"

About Those Grocery Store Prices. And Restaurant Prices As Well!

 

Those Grocery Store Prices, and my workarounds

I've had a number of spontaneous, casual conversations in grocery stores recently, centered around how out of control prices have suddenly become - it felt like we had a bit of a backing off occurring, and then, bamm, up, up, up they went again.

Over here, however, our grocery spend remains unchanged in spite of this most recent round of retailer shenanigans. I continue to menu plan, I continue to shop supermarket loss leaders, and I continue to purchase in season produce as much as I can. I also shop for some items at specialty ethnic markets, where prices continue to remain nicely reasonable.

I do the bulk of my repetitive items shopping (Apples, oranges, bananas, spinach, eggs, nuts, condiments, dairy, deli meats, cheeses, and bread) at Aldi's and Trader Joes's, neither of which varies their pricing much. I peruse supermarket fliers for whatever protein is on sale that week, then portion and freeze in recipe-sized quantities. I have a regular list of items in my freezer at pretty much all times - salmon, shrimp, ground turkey, ground round, Italian sausage, bacon, pork chops, chicken breast, chicken thighs, and the occasional steak.

And I'm still averaging $100 a week, the same as I spent in 2012 when I first retired! We do now allocate $125, but that appears to be more than our ongoing spend, nicely. Because we donate the unused portion each month to a nearby food bank, we're good leaving it there at this point.

Most of the recipes I make combine a protein, lots of vegetables, fresh herbs (which I cut from my backyard herb garden) and a small amount of starch. We eat really well, with pretty much everything arriving at our table full of flavor and low of cost. My standard is to cook once, eat twice. I prepare our side dish produce fresh for each meal, and often add a seasoned piece of toast for my carb-loving husband. So whether a first or second time serving, the meal feels more freshly made than not.

This cookbook, in particular, is a go-to favorite for incorporating all the above.

Those Restaurant Prices, and my workarounds

We primarily eat away from home on the weekends, given that I put a lot of time and energy into maintaining our social calendar. If dining at a restaurant-type venue, we generally come in at about $60, usually comprised of one alcoholic beverage each, and two small plates we share, plus tax and tip. We have scads of great eateries in our area, with our preference being to eat small and frequent, rather than the opposite, really more to manage our calories and weight than our pocketbooks.

Happy Hours, wineries that serve food, breweries that serve food, and upscale fast casual (which I define as having really flavorful food we order at a counter, plus a full bar for ordering adult beverages) are our venues of choice when not attending dinner-included events. I admit I would feel a little cheap if we went into a traditional full service restaurant and attempted to order & eat small, so we generally don't do this type of dining out any more, other than for the occasional celebration.

One of the benefits of the alternative dining we now frequently enjoy, is that people seem more relaxed in general, and quite apt to start spontaneous conversations, as are the wait staff. It's been really fun, actually quite a bit more fun than when we 'do' traditional dining, plus our weight scale doesn't yell at us the next morning, lol.

Retirement Blogging Re-Entry

 

Greetings!

Exactly four years after signing off from this blog, I find myself with a few new thoughts percolating in my head. I'm now fourteen years into retirement, crossing into my 60's at this point.

Do I still have anything of value to share to the wider blogging community?' I'm not sure, but I'm comfortable putting my toe back in the water, and seeing where it all goes.

Some updates from when I was last here:

• We moved. We are now in a slightly larger home (by about 50 sq ft), and just 1 & 1/4 miles from ocean, compared to the three miles distance we were at previously. It's a small change, but it is also significant, both weather and walkability wise. Though we have a brand new HVAC, thanks to a whole house remodel we did during our first year here, we pretty much have just used the H (heat) portion, not the AC portion. I am amazed at the constant onshore breeze we now experience, and how other than one week last summer, when a heat dome descended, we simply did/do not need the AC. And being even closer to the ocean, and no longer atop a hill, has resulted in our walking to the beach and back almost daily from our house, because it's now such a relatively small effort to do so.
• We have done another complete remodel here at our new home, likely, the very last one, because it is way more exhausting to do in my 60's than it was in my 50's, LOL!  But, I will share that we received way, way, way over asking when we sold our first coastal remodel in 2023, primarily due to the extent to which we'd remodeled both inside and outside. So I take pride in that - I overheard one realtor in 2023 call our prior abode 'The Perfect House' when it hit the market, where it didn't remain for long - we received over a dozen offers within the first 48 hours, all for well, well above ask. 
• I have managed to lose and keep off ten pounds. I'm working on the last ten, which will put me back at my high school weight, and where I feel my best, appearance wise. I got there (115) briefly in 2023, due to the stress of moving and going through another remodel, but it returned and now I'm working to get it back off the 'old fashioned' way. 😊
• I'm still hiking, biking, kayaking, and SUP'ing, and dipping my toe back into running. 
• I still adore my two precious (not perfect, mind you!) granddaughters, and they now come out regularly for a week of summer fun at Nana and Baba's, without Mom and Dad (though an adult does accompany them each way for now, generally the Baba as he's a better flyer!)
• Lots of new hobbies have been taken up since we last spoke - Bridge, Sailing, Guitar, Women's Philanthropy Club, and Golf, and our social circle has also continued to grow. It is the sad and awful reality of being this age that some of our friends have succumbed to disease, and thus we realize we need to continue to make new friends to offset the inevitable contraction.
• We have created a life where we pursue our joint hobbies and separate interests during the week, and enjoy lots and lots of social, dining, and entertainment engagements over each weekend. Life feels full, but boy, do I see the difference in my energy now vs when I first retired. 

More to come as I settle back in. I hope you all are likewise doing well out there!

I stopped coloring my hair, and let it grow long during COVID.
I'm still having fun with both changes!
See the concrete floor? This was smack dab in the midst of the stress
of our recent remodel, hence my pretty thin 115 frame.
I'm on my way back there, though!

Time To Say Goodbye . . .

Even though I'm not yet vaccinated***, life is picking up speed because most of our friends now are, as is my husband. As a result, I'm once again feeling the pull to turn my attentions elsewhere as our world begins to expand. So it's feeling like the right time to say goodbye to blogging for now.

***I'm getting vaccinated! I just learned that I qualify via my food pantry volunteering postion,  and will be getting my first shot this weekend. 

I will of course continue to visit those of you bloggers that I've come to consider friends over the years, and I'll continue to post on Instagram via WestCoastTamara. (As an FYI, I don't believe you need an account to view my photo posts, just if you wish to leave a comment.)

I'm also closing Comments down as I don't want anyone to feel obligated to leave a closing remark. 

I am ever so appreciative that this blog was available to share my thoughts and to reconnect with fellow bloggers as we all did our best to navigate this most difficult of times.

Here's to brighter days ahead for us all!

Five Happy Things: SGOTUS!

  

Here are five things that have recently made me smile, laugh, or sigh in contentment. The hope is that by keeping track of and sharing them here, I will continue to focus on the good things in life, of which there are so, so many, even if its metaphorically storming elsewhere..

1.  Doug Emhoff Sighting in DC.  I was in Metro DC last week visiting my youngest daughter and two granddaughters, and on Wednesday we headed to the Distract Wharf for lunch and to walk around. While we were chilling along one of the docks watching the girls play, a detail of very serious people walked by, along with a handsome masked man wearing dark denim jeans, a white shirt and a jacket. After staring hard for a few moments, my daughter and I realized it was none other than our first SGOTUS.

2.  'I Love You Nana.'  I get (and give!) lots of "I love you's" from my oldest granddaughter, but this past week is the first time my 2 year & 9 month old youngest granddaughter told me same. Heart. Melted.

3.  Best Whale/Dolphin Sightings Ever.  I have done lots of whale and dolphin boat excursions over the years, including in Hawaii and Alaska, but the one I did with my granddaughter during her recent visit was literally the best one in my lifetime. Firstly, it was, yeah, a gorgeous blue sky day. Second we saw not one, not two, but four whale breachings. It was breathtaking to watch the young adult whale (per onboard naturalists) leap out of the water again and again right in front of us.

But that wasn't all. After our thrilling gray whale sighting, we spent time being surrounded by hundreds of bottle nose dolphins (the Flipper dolphin if you will) that leapt alongside and under out boat for a good 30 minutes. There were lots of babies alongside their mother's, and my granddaughter was absolutely spellbound, excitedly telling me at one point that  This is better than both popcorn and TV!  😄

We then went on to find a similarly large pod of common dolphin, who added to the excitement of our day by speeding alongside and under our catamaran within easy viewing sight for at least 20 minutes.

What a day! My only regret is that my granddaughter may have just experienced the peak of her whale and dolphin watching experiences at six years of age!

And, happily, we now know for sure that she does not get seasick. The swells were significant enough to require constant hanging on to guard rails, but the bigger the ups and downs of the boat, the more she loved it.

If it's pink and ruffled, my granddaughter is there for it.
The pink leggings underneath were a compromise. 😀💖 

4.  Bloody Mary's.  Yesterday, Sunday, my husband and I went for a long walk along the beach in San Clemente, stopping in at Cafe Mimosa along Del Mar Avenue on the way back, because I had spotted Bloody Mary's on their menu. I came to the Bloody Mary scene somewhat late, discovering them in 2016 at the famous Darling Oyster Bar in Charleston, SC, and have loved them ever since. 

The Bloody Mary served at Cafe Mimosa did not disappoint. And I loved that it came with a pickled green bean, pepperoncini, and thick slice of bacon.

Yum!

5.  The Return Of Happy Hour.  Happy Hour pricing pretty much went by the wayside when the pandemic hit last March due to restaurants having to move to first take out only, then take out and outdoor seating only, thus limiting significantly any of their special event 'slow time' pricing such as Happy Hour. As time-flexible retirees, we had gotten used to enjoying great food and cocktails at discounted Happy Hour pricing, so we've missed it for sure. However, now that our county has moved into a less restrictive tier, meaning restaurants can expand capacity by reopening some of their indoor seating, Happy Hours are beginning to resume operations, and we'll be partaking for the first time in a year this coming Friday. The restaurant we're going to seats their Happy Hour customers outside, which continues to be a non-negotiable priority for both of us.

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That's it for me at the moment. What's making you happy this week?

New Retirement Budget Category

After a full decade of living on fixed withdrawal rate on our Day 1 retirement portfolio (meaning no budget increase year over year, even as our investments have continued to grow), we are moving into a new era of money streams that includes Medicare, pensions, and social security. I'll break these down a bit more below,  but the overall result of these new money flows is the creation of a new budget category we're labeling simply Miscellaneous, and today's post is about how we've elected to allocate that money this year.

Prior to the onset of Medicare for my husband upon his reaching age 65, we were spending $12,000 a year on just his medical premiums alone. This has now dropped to under $2,000 a year, leaving us with $10,000 in 'new' money to reallocate.

Also new are two modest pensions that add up to an additional $15,000 a year.

Still to come is Social Security for him upon reaching age 70, Social Security for me upon reaching age 62, and Medicare for me. We've gone back and forth about whether to keep our retirement budget as is and just lower our withdrawal rate, or keep our withdrawal rate as is and increase our annual budget to include these new revenue streams. My argument was why in the world would we pull less than our already modest pull, particularly in that it doesn't include the value of our home? My husband's argument was that we were already enjoying a nice retirement lifestyle, and it would leave a larger legacy for our daughters. 

It took some time, but I finally convinced him that the girls would be left with plenty of money regardless, so why not enjoy the opportunity to live it up just a bit more while we are still alive? Plus, I pointed out that we could always elect to pass along gifts of money to our daughters while still alive, rather than waiting until we both died, should we so choose.

So instead of throwing the additional $25,000 back into savings, we created a new budget category. I wanted to make a deliberate effort to spend the money both thoughtfully, and throughout the year, rather than all at once, because I believe there is value to contemplating our decisions, and then building in wait time. Otherwise, my concern is we will focus too much on 'what's next' rather than enjoying what already is.

So after much thought, here is how and when we've elected to spend this year's Miscellaneous allocations:

January

• Two Advanced Frame inflatable kayaks (upgrades to our current Intex inflatables)
• Sliding Coastal Door in upstairs Guest Bedroom to replace old and unsightly pocket door
• Repainting of all bathrooms after recent remodel
• Removal of Spanish style arches in our downstairs Primary Bedroom

February

• New family room furniture

March

• Two carbon fiber bicycles to replace our 16 year old aluminum frame bicycles

April - July

• Nothing in that we'll be taking delivery of our new family room furniture, plus be away on an extended RV trip

August

• Reupholster a small chair sofa in our living room, and our six dining room chair cushions.

September

• New washer, dryer, and dishwasher

October - November

• Nothing . . . money now all spent or allocated other than December below

December

• Holiday checks of $1,000 to each of our daughters

I haven't given any thought to 2022 at this point, because I really do want to enjoy and appreciate the above 2021 items, other than that I would imagine our year end giving to our daughters, plus some preferred charities, will continue to increase. Otherwise, what I'm really left with is a good deal of appreciation for the impact that having a well under 3% withdrawal rate has had on our portfolio in retirement, similar to how living below our means for 30 years got us to retirement well ahead of schedule. 

And not to be too simplistic, but I do think it's also a testament to how being iron-fisted in keeping expenses like groceries, utilities, and insurance in line, works together to leave additional funds for spending elsewhere.