Category — Living Frugally

This was one of the first things Larry said to me, coffee-stained teeth showing, eyes a little wide. Larry had disheveled white hair, white beard, and work clothes that were worn and faded from the Costa-Rican sun – but well-cared for. I thought he was a bit crazy, at the time. Of course you need to live next to food – my twenty-something mind thought – why would you live where there was no food?

“When the economy goes bad, they will no longer ship food to many places… you need to live where you can grow your own food!”

This was a decade ago. I spent three months in Costa Rica surfing – a little bit of adventure before starting a graduate program.

Larry lived with his Tica wife, Lupe. Lupe and Marisol (sisters), ran a little posada in the village of Domincal on the Pacific coast. Larry looked like he could be in his early sixties – he was literally getting long in the tooth – but he was fit and wiry. I occasionally spoke with Larry, he seemed to spend his time gardening, repairing the posada, and working on various projects. I thought he had that slightly-crazed ex-pat vibe, but he didn’t share the beer-gut and perma-sunburn that most older gringo-men seemed to carry around.
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It’s over?

An entire year has gone by?

I haven’t written here for seven months?!?

The big news: I paid off the last of my credit card debt on October 1. Even though I became distracted – and pulled in several directions – I managed to keep somewhat of a budget.

I’m not quite ready to drive to South America yet (well, I am – but my finances still need more work…) – so the frugal living continues.

I suppose it’s time for a budget update? A plan for dealing with the new economy we find ourselves in the last few months? Maybe a surf trip or three?

Soon enough… just need to stop my messing around…

These unhappy [outer space] agents found what had already been found in abundance on Earth – a nightmare of meaninglessness without end. The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy and pointless death.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – The Sirens of Titan

In honor of empty heroics, low comedy and pointless death – it’s time to revisit the employment situation.

I last presented my employment plan while at a conference in Monterey.

Toward the end of that conference – my supervisor found me before we were each going to different workshops.

He told me, “You need to carry my things back with you.” – motioning to all of the free corporate-giveaway schwag and work-materials. He was renting a car, and leaving the conference early, to take a few personal days to drive and visit someone.

I was so surprised, all I could do was laugh.
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Second-Month Budget Checkup

First full month of living in the new location…

Not bad – good company, getting my space figured out and not missing television at all anymore. The no-heat, drafty-house took a little getting used to – but it’s a chance to use my outdoor gear (and keep the down parka out of storage).

The biggest challenge of the last month was work-related. As in the overtime necessity and stress-level demands have been off the charts. I backslid a bit on making lunches for work – sometimes the greasy cafeteria food can be comforting.
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Employment Planning

The caffeine, carbs and sugars have finally begun to kick in. Arriving at the airport at 5am (Sunday), I am almost tempted to stay asleep. Do I need to be fully present for this portion of the work-day? My supervisor doesn’t look all that aware anyways.

The destination: Monterey Bay. Four days and three nights of a dual-geek-type conference (IT geeks and Research geeks). As usual for geek conferences – especially geek conferences where cross-species communication is necessary – all meals and social activities are pre-arranged. We will be locked into the conference area starting with the 8am breakfasts until the last call at 10pm for the late-night hospitalities.

No sight-seeing on this trip. At least none that is officially sanctioned by our corporate multi-billion dollar hardware and software sponsors.

Monday is St. Patrick’s Day – and alternative plans for the evening quite possibly need to be created.
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Savings Goal for the Year

This morning when I woke up – I was out of beans (of the coffee variety). For those of us addicted to this country’s version of corporate-endorsed legal speed – that presents a problem. Before I had a chance to really wake up, I put on my house-slippers, threw my backpack over my shoulder and started walking to the local grocery store.

As I was walking, I momentarily had the feeling as if I were in Mexico heading to the mercado. The sun was shining, there was a light offshore breeze that smelled of dry inland air (versus the usual damp briny-smelling air), and I felt particularly buoyant.

Why the change? Was it a lack of stuff surrounding me in my new home? The absence of a television (no longer hypnotized by the great unblinking eye…)? Maybe it was the presence of a long-term plan in my life now?

The closest I could figure was that since I had made changes – and created a plan, I was much more aware of the present – and had been spending much more time there.

This is a feeling I usually do not experience when walking to the grocery store (at least not in the last few years) – unless I’m on vacation. Vacations are all about practicing “presentness”.

This may seem counter-intuitive – the long-term plan leading to more awareness of the present.
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One Month Budget Checkup

Two years ago, I was living in a 4-bedroom 3-bath 2600 square-foot home in the midwest. The last year and a half, my home was down-sized to a 850 square-foot cottage in far northern coastal California (strangely enough, the rent on the cottage was the same as the mortgage on the Minnesota house). Now, I’ve downsized again – into a 8′x9′ bedroom with a 8′x5′ storage unit (~150 square feet).

I hate moving.

Not all aspects of moving… moving can represent fresh starts, new places, new living situations.

I hate the fact that moving the first 90% of your stuff takes 10% of the total time needed – while that last 10% (and cleaning) seems to take forever.
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Simplify. Downsize. Get Rid of Stuff.

This weekend I had to prepare to move from an expensive house to a much cheaper room. I needed to downsize and sell off some of my stuff. Over the last couple weeks, I had made progress and sold off much of my furniture. However, with the end of the month occurring this Friday, I need to be nearly finished this weekend! I emptied almost all the remaining contents of the house into my living room to take inventory.

It was a practical idea. Two years ago when I drove here from Minnesota – I was able to downsize enough to fit all my possessions into a 6′x12′ covered U-Haul trailer (which almost killed me several times on downhill sections – but that is a different story). I eventually rented a 2-bedroom house here in California – and at the same time, my supervisor at work moved away and they sold me lots of stuff to fill up the house (because they didn’t want to have to drive a moving van across the country a second time within a year).

Anyways, I no longer have the V6 SUV to tow the 6′x12′ – I downsized to the 4-cylinder pickup – so I need to be able to fit my life into a 5′x8′ trailer. I have had people comment on my soon-to-be monk-like existence – but do monks have 5′x8′ storage units?
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The Year of Living Frugally – Week 2

I have no doubt the average citizen of this country is traveling through a jungle of debt. During the last decade, the average saving rate has turned negative. Credit became easier to obtain, and we were all encouraged to spend and buy and consume. Not because it would make us a healthier country – but because we needed to keep the Gross Domestic Product growing, and we no longer produce any real goods to sell on the global market. Our major export from this country is our debt. Our largest product is our debt-spending and consumption.

Even though we are traveling through a jungle of debt, there is a well-worn path for us to follow. The companies and politicians who need us to spend ourselves deeper into debt (keep the GDP growing!), continue to clear their preferred path through the jungle for us.

When one tries to get off of this path and escape the jungle, is when one really finds out how difficult and dense this jungle really is.
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Year of Living Frugally – Week-One Adjustments

I’m actually surprised at the amount of work it took to get a budget together and figure out monthly costs over 2007. I also appreciate all of the suggestions, the critical eyes and the encouragement at the Frugal Village and the About: Frugal Living forums. There were some definite common themes running through your feedback – some of it was expected, others were a poke in the brain about something I haven’t thought of. Since it is always easiest to start with the low-hanging fruit (to work towards the frugal goals), I’ll start with:

Food
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