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CHAPTER 7- IN YOUR OWN  HOME  TOWN

We make a big point in this book of not only the need to retire while still young enough to enjoy it, but also of seeking out the better places in the world in which to appreciate the very tops in climatic and scenic offerings. However, it is obvious that many of us are, for various reasons, in no position to leave our present homes.
For one thing, perhaps you are already living in one of the land's bargain paradises. Perhaps your home is already in Florida, Southern California, Arizona, or the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Why leave? Why not retire where you are already?
In fact, there are often advantages in simply retiring in your own home town. Possibly you have a house already paid for, and undoubtedly you have a good many connections, not to speak of friends and relatives. Very possibly your credit is good at the bank, to start a retirement project.
And, of course, there may be many reasons why you cannot just get up and go—as I did—leaving the old world behind you. Possibly you have aged parents depending upon your presence. Perhaps you have children in the local schools, and hesitate to take them from their friends and classes.
But whatever the reason, this chapter is devoted to the reader who wishes to retire but is in no position to leave the home in which he now resides.
Books on retirement are a dime a dozen, and you can go to the local library and find an armload of them to study. They'll give you a multitude of ideas on how to cut prices, to live cheaply, to make a hobby of bringing prices down. I could give you a good many of these too, everything from suggesting that your wife start canning her own fruits and vegetables in season, to you learning to repair the family shoes and cutting your own hair. Such items can save a mint of money if you're trying to live economically. How-