It can be hard to know what to cut from a retirement budget. Should a person say goodbye to cable or cut out a gym membership? Or both? Or neither?
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Jennifer S., a lifelong special education teacher who recently retired, spent her first year of retirement taking a hard look at her monthly expenses. Here’s what she cut — and why she wishes she’d done it sooner.
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Premium Cable Package
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Price: Around $200 per month
“I was paying nearly $200 a month for channels I never watched,” Jennifer said. “My kids kept telling me to try streaming, but I was stubborn.”
A premium cable package can indeed be a big expense. According to CNET, the average monthly cost of a premium cable TV and internet package is $217.
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Large Data Plan
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Price: $85 per month
“When I looked at my actual data usage, I was using maybe 2GB a month but paying for unlimited,” she explained. “Turns out I’m on Wi-Fi 90% of the time. Switching to a smaller plan was a no-brainer. Done and done!”
Fancy Gym Membership
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Price: $75 per month
Jennifer said that this one was tough to admit.
“I kept telling myself I’d use that fancy gym with the pool and yoga studio. But you know what? I’m just as happy walking with my neighbors every morning and doing YouTube yoga in my living room. That’s $900 a year back in my pocket,” she said.
Multiple Streaming Services
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Price: $65 per month
“I had Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Apple TV+,” she explained. “When I actually tracked what I watched, I realized I was really only using two of them regularly. The others were just auto-renewing and being ignored.”
This isn’t uncommon, either. According to a 2024 LendingTree survey, of those surveyed who pay for streaming, 25% have a subscription to a service they don’t use.
Landline Phone
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Price: $45 per month
“My kids thought it was hilarious that I still had a landline,” Jennifer said. “I kept it ‘for emergencies’ but realized my cellphone works just fine for that. The only calls I got on the landline were spam anyway.”
Storage Unit
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Price: $125 per month
This was a big one. “I’d been paying for a storage unit for five years after downsizing,” she explained. “When I finally went through everything, I realized I was paying $1,500 a year to store things I didn’t even remember I had. I spent a weekend sorting through it all, gave most of it to my kids or charity, and it felt like a weight lifted.”
Total Monthly Savings
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Total savings: $575 per month
“That’s almost $7,000 a year I was literally throwing away,” Jennifer said. “Now that money goes into my travel fund. I’m heading to Italy this spring — my first trip to Europe ever. Much better than paying for a storage unit full of stuff I never used!”
Her advice for other retirees? “Look at every automatic payment and ask yourself if it really adds value to your life. We get stuck in these patterns of paying for things just because we always have. Retirement is a great time to break those patterns.”
She also suggested reviewing bills quarterly. “Companies are sneaky with those rate increases. They count on us not paying attention. But when you’re on a fixed income, every dollar counts. So, I say, not me anymore! Don’t be embarrassed to call and negotiate — or to cancel things. Get rid of it! You probably don’t need it.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I’m a Retired Boomer: 6 Bills I Canceled This Year That Were a Waste of Money
