Many seniors and retired adults who have worked hard during their younger years have done so in hopes of living a wonderful retired life. They had dreams of travelling abroad and relaxing beside their pools at home. The sad thing is because of the recession, for many seniors this will no longer be viable. There’s going to be a very big gap in the actual value of their financial assets today and the projected value of these assets years before.

It’s even harder for those who have already reached retirement age and yet for one reason or the other still have debts to pay. During these trying times, we all need to develop the skill of doing more with less. Even those already living on Social Security will have to start practicing frugal living.

You shouldn’t stop taking your medications. There are many ways of getting around the expenses. The first thing you can do is to ask your doctor to prescribe drugs with a generic. Then you can also ask for free samples. Many prescribtion drug sales reps leave several samples for the doctor to dispense of. You can also ask for coupons either from your doctor or the pharmacist. Practice shopping around for the best price. If your medicine is in tablet form, check if it comes in different dosages. You might be able to split a higher dosage in half. Some laboratories offer what is called a Hardship Program. You might be able to get your medication at a reduced price or even for free.

Grow Your Own Indoor Garden

Now that you’re retired, you can start on the vegetable garden you’ve been planning to have for years. Grow a vegetable garden in your own backyard; it’s a great way to stay healthy. One, you get to exercise and two you get to eat your veggies fresh. If you’re growing more than you can consume you can even sell some to your neighbors or swap them at a nearby convenience store for some other grocery item. Should the job get too taxing for you, you can hire a neighbor’s kid to do it for you and pay him a little something for his help.

Live Life to the Fullest

Join community clubs and if there’s none, you might even want to consider starting one yourself. Life is no fun if you live it alone so make friends and gather around activities like free entertainment or a book club. You can even travel together and get maximum mileage from coupons. Frugal living doesn’t have to be dull, it can be fun and exciting as well.