Crankin,
No choice to tough it up until retirement. My job pays very well. I'm not that far from work but Montreal is a mega road repair road construction thing. And I live too far to cycle there due to bike paths not well planned for the area I live and where I work. And we are not allowed on main bridges. If I opted to change job and get closer to home (no bridge to cross), that means a drop of over 10,000-15,000$ a year. That is a lot. I think the worst is not the commute but being awake at 4:15am because hubby has no choice due to his job. They don't have flex schedule like I do. My job itself is ok. Lots of pressure lately due to job cuts - so those who stay end up doing more, for same pay. But we are very well taken care of and part of the top 100 employers. So "suffering" for the next 2-4 years could be a whole lot worst.

If I could downsize right now I would. But with 3 very active dogs, 2 are getting pretty old but have energy for 10, I need to keep my yard. I just could not think to move in a condo, nor a town house with little yard. By the time we retire, I will only have one (sad sad) probably. I had 6 pets (3 dogs and 3 cats). A cat was euthanized 3 weeks ago due to old age and no longer able to walk (liver failure). So I'm down to 5. Can't see myself in a tiny space for now. Things will be very different down the road. I want to get there quickly, but not so because that means some of my pets will have crossed the rainbow bridge due to age. It will be a rough start to retirement for sure.

Retiring younger than the norm I may decide also to work at my vet clinic during the summer months. That is something I would love to do. I have a good background in that area as well (studied 3 years in the dog world to understand behaviors, grooming, obedience, infectious diseases, parasites, name it). So I would a good helper there! Not just in the euthanized part of the job. Or I could even mow grass or work at the front desk a day or 2 a week if I stayed at a campground for the summer (in Canada). That would help me keep busy, mentally and physically. We'll see when we get there. But definitively no getting up early anymore. haha

Emily,
I belong to a french RV forum and a few go to Mexico every winter for the past xx years. They say the lifestyle is way different "poorer" than what you find in sunshine states but also much cheaper. It all depends at one is looking for as for services. And I don't speak Spanish either (yet anyway...could become useful to take classes at retirement though - a goal what! hihi). I have enough of my French and trying to improve my English. but who knows what the future is for us. We did go to Cancun so many years ago and it was not a resort. We had the "chance" to see the real lives of Mexicans...not the all-glittery one of resorts. So not the same! I don't know if I'd love Mexico enough and feel safe. Maybe if I stayed a winter with someone who has been going there for ages it would help me. Some things are cheaper but I read that insuring a motorhome is expensive and we need to use the Mexican insurance. I have not really read on that.

NY,
I do put money into RRSPs, etc. Hubby has a city pension plan which is much better than what I have. My company puts a max of 7% into retirement funds (they equals what I put in). Of course that means I have to put a whole lot more if I want to retire before 65 as I will depend on my own reserve until 65 when (and if as now we never know with things changing at rapid pace) I should be allowed a pension from gov't. But interest and compound alone are not enough. It is never like the "good old days" where money was maximized quickly when invested. Not the case for so many years.

Well...gotta get back to work if I want to keep paying my toys and mortgage.