![\"Retirement](\"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Retirement-Savings-On-Track.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAre you tracking with this?<\/em><\/p>\n The frugal lifestyle has been the best way for us to make it, reasonably.<\/p>\n Reuse, reduce, and recycle\u2026<\/p>\n Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Barter, make it yourself when possible, buying in bulk, and getting really creative\u2026<\/p>\n These are big reasons why we love sharing our kitchen self-sufficiency tips with you.\u00a0<\/strong> We know that they help you eat the way you need to eat for far less money.\u00a0 People who need to eat gluten-free save thousands of dollars a year by milling their own gluten-free flours instead of paying for stale gourmet bags with the fancy label.\u00a0 Making your own apple rings<\/a>, banana chips, and fruit leathers<\/a> mean less unnatural ingredients, better flavors, and serious savings!<\/p>\n One thing we\u2019ve also hit a time or two on our blog is the idea of retirement<\/a>\u00a0 When you barely make ends meet, you know you cannot put as much money aside out of every paycheck as you want.<\/p>\n MMM,hhhmm\u2026.I\u2019m preachin\u2019 to the choir.<\/p>\n I was asked to tell you about this retirement calculator thingy<\/a> through the AdCouncil (I\u2019m not paid for this blog\u2014I\u2019m \u201cdonating\u201d it to help provide a free app to you).\u00a0 Anyway, before I knew I could support it (I\u2019m not sure how I feel about AARP completely, and they\u2019re in on it), I decided to do it myself.<\/p>\n This might not be rocket science to you\u2014hopefully it doesn\u2019t fall into the useless<\/em> category the \u201ccancel cable t.v.\u201d lands\u2014but I learned some things I didn\u2019t know.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> I realized that it is not just about how much money I\u2019m setting aside, but that even the age I officially \u201cretire\u201d by taking out social security has a major impact.\u00a0 I did not know that they reward you for waiting until 70 years old.\u00a0 That means that I can adjust my life plan now and create a realistic picture of what my needs will be then.<\/p>\n That was just me.\u00a0 There were other action steps for me to take now that can improve my retirement situation that went beyond “save more money.”\u00a0<\/strong> In a culture where most people are not planning ahead, this is a very practical way that you can prepare for yourself and your family.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n