After a lifetime of helping people budget, I would be remiss if I didn’t write something about the unexpected costs of retirement.

I’ve already written about the importance of working with a financial advisor. Budgeting for retirement is key. Let me share a few expenses that I don’t think your financial advisor will remember to include in the spreadsheet.

Like coffee.

That cup on the way out the door becomes a whole pot when you’re home all day. They don’t give that stuff away anymore, particularly if you require creamer and flavoring to make it taste less like coffee.

Then there’s toilet paper. I’ll let you do the math. Being home all day definitely increases the household paper-product budget.

Retirement also seems to require three meals a day. When you’ve been awake since 4 a.m. for absolutely no good reason, breakfast by 10 becomes essential. Three meals a day means more groceries, more dishes, more dish soap or, without a dishwasher, more paper plates.

I never fully appreciated the occasional lunch the boss bought or those meetings where someone else provided the food. Now Thurston and I meet other retirees for lunch, dinner or drinks. “Socializing” is something else we seem to have underbudgeted.

Then there’s gas. Retirement gives you plenty of time to run the roads and provide Grandma’s Taxi Service. Once the grandkids start activities, there will be games and performances to attend—usually followed by more eating on the run.

If you’re fortunate enough that your grown children still have time for an occasional meal out with you, you’ll soon discover that even though they’re adults making more money than you are, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll be picking up the tab.

Which brings me to another retirement expense I hadn’t anticipated: calories.

A disturbing number of my hobbies involve sitting; writing, reading, diamond art, traveling and the casino. Nothing that might accidentally burn calories. At least our remodeling projects occasionally force me out of a chair.

Thurston walks all over town, but he goes early in the morning. I’m retired. I see no reason to get dressed that early.

I did join him on a walk the other afternoon. I felt pretty good about myself, too—right up until my exercise route somehow ended at Dollar General.

Apparently, even free exercise costs money.

We’re all aging. Let’s do it out loud.

— Nora

*As published in The County Journal on September 26, 2026.