It is the common vice of all, in old age, to be too intent upon our interests.

Holding on tighter is a natural response to having less time to recover. As the years pass, a person becomes more careful with money, more attached to their arrangements, and less willing to be inconvenienced, and each individual instance is perfectly reasonable. Together they can narrow a life down to the defence of what is already held.

Whatever your age, watch for the first signs of the grip. Notice when you say no to something purely because it disturbs the routine, and take one of those this month simply to prove the routine survives it. Give something away that you could keep, and see how little it turns out to cost.