AARP's top 5 cities for retiring on the cheap

• AARP determines where to retire on %2430%2C000 a year
• Many Baby Boomers haven%27t saved enough for retirement
• Greenville%2C S.C.%2C Grand Rapids%2C Mich.%2C among affordable cities

Given how many Baby Boomers are entering retirement with little to no savings, the Golden Years have become the Frugal Years for an entire generation of retirees.

With that in mind, AARP The Magazine published a list this month of the best places to retire on $30,000 a year. Surveys show Boomers have not saved enough for retirement, and many rely solely on Social Security payments.

Boomers are nearly half a million dollars short when it comes to how much they've saved for retirement compared with how much they think they need, according to a TD Ameritrade survey from last year.

And nearly a third say they wouldn't be able to live comfortably in retirement without Social Security benefits. The average couple receives $2,048 a month in benefits, according to the Social Security Administration. That's about $24,500 a year.

Working on the premise that on average, people spend one-third of their income on housing, AARP asked a demographer to help identify cities where that would be both possible on $30,000 a year and enjoyable, says Gabrielle Redford, editorial project manager.

To compile the list, editors considered financial factors such as median home prices and property taxes, as well as lifestyle factors such as inexpensive entertainment and restaurants.

• Daytona/Deltona/Ormond Beach. Retire on the beach on a budget. Here, the median home price is $108,900; you can grab tacos on Daytona's North Beach, and go fishing on the Atlantic.

• Pocatello, Idaho. Outdoors enthusiasts may want to consider Idaho's Pocatello metro area, population 88,500, for retirement. Median home price is $127,500 in an area with access to skiing, hiking, biking, horseback riding and water sports like white-water rafting.

• Bangor, Maine. Another draw for the outdoorsy type with access to hiking trails and water activities. The median home price in Bangor is $110,400, and it has a "lively" arts scene.

• Greenville, S.C. You don't have to give up the city to live cheaply. A lower cost of living attracts retirees to this Southern city, where the median home price is $127,600.

• Grand Rapids, Mich. The largest city on AARP's top five list, the median home price is lower than in smaller cities like Greenville and Pocatello, at $114,200. Catch a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game, the blues fest at Rosa Parks Circle, or browse art at the international ArtPrize competition downtown.