Do Expenses Drop by 30% in Retirement?

The old rule of thumb was that you would spend 30% less in retirement than when working (1). This was called the "70% Rule".  Lately, financial planners started to doubt this rule.  What are our experiences so far?

Expense	Fixed or Variable	Change per Month	Comments
Eating Out	V	+ $200	More time to eat out with spouse.  No drop in lunch expense as I used to brown bag to work.
Work Clothing	V	- $200	Less dry cleaning, less to purchase
Communications	F	+ $65	Company used to pay for cellphone
Entertainment	V	+ $200	More time to see shows, concerts
Automobiles	F	- $700	Need one less car
Net Change		- $435

Fixed implies the expense cannot be easily changed month to month.

So the reduction in expenses is pretty small, single digit percentage points depending on your starting point.  The biggest change is driven by fixed auto expenses.  Your experience may vary.

I am planning on no change in our expenses in retirement, particularly for the first 10-15 years.

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(1) Setting a new retirement income target, Financial Post, July 23, 2013.