Lifestyle

Ron and His Wife Have Lived on Social Security Only for 13 Months. At 68, He Took Stock: “Just Fine”

By Erica Coleman · November 8, 2026

Every month, Ron sits down with a spreadsheet and shows strangers on the internet exactly where his household’s money went. He started doing it to keep himself honest. It has turned into a running answer to a question a lot of retirees ask.

“My name is Ron,” he says near the start of a March video on his YouTube channel, All Things Ron (@AllThingsRon). He explains that he is “retired and living on social security only,” and he gives his age plainly: “I am 68 years old going for 69.” He and his wife both collect Social Security.

He walks through the numbers line by line in his video on YouTube.

The video is his February 2026 update. He says their gross Social Security for the two of them was $4,501 a month, and that Medicare premiums and other insurance come out of that. Groceries for two came to about $671 that month, lower than the roughly $800 to $900 of the previous months, and he does not expect that to last. Their total spending for February came to $3,979, leaving them $522 ahead. He is open that December and January ran a little negative.

He is clear about what he thinks makes it work. He and his wife have no mortgage, no credit card debt and, since their last truck payment in December, no car payment. He calls that the key to living on Social Security only today. He also mentions living in a rural county in Tennessee, where he says property taxes are low.

He does not hide the hard parts. January brought what he calls a shock, when the new year’s deductibles came due. He says his out-of-pocket prescription costs alone were $1,109 in February. He tells viewers to check on their deductibles toward the end of the year and be prepared.

He is also careful about what the budget leaves out. Income from his YouTube channels is not counted. A tax refund went into savings, which he keeps outside the monthly numbers. He says he plans to take some money from his IRA this year, probably for a big trip while he is still young enough to enjoy it.

Near the end, he sums up. “I am 13 months retired,” he says. “We have totally lived on our social security for that 13 months,” and everything, he adds, has been “just fine.”

For context, the Social Security Administration’s Monthly Statistical Snapshot for September 2026 lists an average monthly benefit of $2,088.79 for retired workers and $986.68 for spouses of retired workers. Every household’s benefit is different, and so are rent, taxes, health costs and debts.

If you want to check where your own budget stands, Ron’s approach suggests a few questions:

Do you know your monthly number? He tracks every category, down to the cat food.

What debts are still running? Paying off the truck freed up $450 a month for him.

What will January cost? Deductibles and premiums can arrive all at once.

What sits outside the budget? He keeps savings, side income and an IRA separate.

His household is one example, with a paid-off home, no debt, and some savings behind it. Many retirees face higher costs or smaller checks, and their results may look very different. Still, for Ron, 13 months in, the answer so far is just fine.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.