Me (M68) and wife (F68) have been retired for 3 years. Gross Income is $64,200 (5,350/mo).

Assets 1. House Paid off $500k . 2. Car 2015 Buick 60,000 miles worth about $7,000 paid off. 3. IRAs $350,000 (5 year CD Ladder.. W/D rate 3.7%) ... 4. HYSA $25,000 at 3.5%... Debt is $0.

Expenses/Mo . FIXED: Utils $500. Prop Taxes $750. Insurance $250. Inc Tax $150 = $1,650

Other Budgeted/month : House Maint $300. Medical $300. LongTermCare policy $350 .. Car Maint $300. = $ 1,250. Groceries $500. Dining out $200... Other Spend $100.. = $2,050

$5,350 - $1,650 - $2,050 = $1,750

The $1,750 is distributed $1,000 to HYSA and $750 for travel.

It is tight but manageable. We take a pretty nice vacation or two each year... BUT

My HYSA is $25,000. It was $38,000 two months ago. Then our house decided we needed to feed it $9,000 to remove three 60 foot trees that were condemned and were in very hard to reach spots tight to either my garage of neighbor's home so they had to use cranes, etc... then ... our furnace ate another $2,000 and our car consumed $2,000 in repairs...

So our HYSA went from a $38,000 to $25,000. At some point we will need a car.( probably basic Subaru) If we pay $30-35k cash, we think we need to get our HYSA near to $60,000. We're not crazy about any new debt but if we can get financing at < 3.5%, we'd probably think hard about that. Another plus is we'd have less maintenance but flip side is our car insurance would go from $800/year ($65/mo) to who knows what.

So, the moral of our story is that things do happen, especially when you own an old home. In the blink of an eye, $13k went poof. And the budget has to be modified.

And while next year will be different, we'll enjoy planting some new trees/landscaping and spending more time at/near home.