Oh, we still can go on vacations and the like. Being frugal is helpful but we are not pinching every last penny and I perhaps should have been more clear about that.
We have money in our budget for vacations. But they're longish weekends in new places or maybe 2-3 consecutive weeks visiting friends and relatives. A 12-day cruise from a port halfway around the world would require a different arrangement. It just is not in the budget we've agreed to.
And I will note that though I may be retired from a career-type job, I am working. I do the housework. All of it. Inside, outside, DIY repairs, our finances, .. DW does the laundry because she enjoys doing it, but if she didn't, I would be doing the laundry as well. I think every woman on this forum would agree that housework has a value. It's not like I'm spending afternoons at the casino or golfing. DW still is happy to go to a job she still loves and then come home to "play". I'm still happy to not be filling out four-blockers and warding off Pointy Haired Bosses.
With the closing of my photography business last year (another job but, admittedly, not much of a time sink), I offered to get a McJob this year. DW and I discussed it and agreed that it likely would wreak havoc on our weekly schedule, which would make it more difficult to get errands done, to watch the grandkids as needed (I'm first call in case one of them gets sick at day care), etc. We also figured we would not net as much income as we'd hoped because the job likely would require more use/fuel/maintenance on my car, a work-suitable wardrobe, etc.
Not at all ruling out a change in this arrangement. It's just that right now it suits both of us but big changes in expenses will -- as it will for most of us -- require some changes in income.