One Size Fits All

Some people fly and/or ride the train to far off and exotic destinations. Others stay home and have a staycation. What other options are available for the tightwad who wants to experience new locations without spending money? I’ll call it googcation: or using google for a vacation.

When researching our next place to live, I emailed arduous, sfordinarygirl and m for a list of their favorite neighborhoods. And they gave me a HUGE list of neigborhoods to check out. And so it was time to go on my googcation.

One of google’s features is their "street view" and in order to get a vague idea of what a neighborhood was like, I would "walk" around and try to experience this new place as best as I could sitting thousands of miles away in front of a computer screen. So below are some pictures from my most recent googcation.

Gee…this is long. Brevity is not the word of the day. 

My new raise kicked in this month. I immediately increased my savings (from 5%) and my contribution to my defined contribution (401(k)) plan from 5% to 10% reducing my federal income tax by a few bucks every paycheck. I get 100% matching for the first 5%. Retirement also includes my IRA. Currently we’re not paying anything toward husband’s retirement (if I die and husband decided not to kill himself from grief, he’ll get life insurance proceeds). If I get my expected raise a year from now, I will start contributing toward his retirement account and possibly pay toward his student loan as well, since we’ll be flush with cash. This is the benefit of being extremely frugal. Any extra cash feels like we’ve won the lottery. This is how my income breaks out (numbers based on gross income)

Savings includes my health savings account. I am supporting myself and husband on this salary. Husband’s PT job wages goes toward his student loan payments which is not included in here. If you’re wondering what my salary is: its $39,086 gross.

I notice many people find my blog searching for information on living a tightwad lifestyle. I suppose I better dole out some advice.  So…listen up.

Neither of us feel deprived with our lifestyle or my income. There are days when I feel positively wealthy. Once in a while I feel a bit mopey over my small savings account and the fact that I spent a fortune eating crappy food for so many years…but I guess I had to go through that to arrive where I am today. 

We follow all the usual personal finance advice: brown bagging lunches every day, making from scratch, turning down heat, etc, etc. Basically all the boring stuff that a magazine like Kiplingers comes up with every few months. And I am a nickle and dime type of person, so I strongly believe that all the small actions contribute toward substantial savings in the long run. But at the same time, I will spend alot of money on a product if I believe its worth it…such as a Wüsthof Chef’s knife or a good quality cast iron pan.

So what are the unusual things we do to save money or live a thrifty life?

1. We are childfree. While I made up my mind only very recently over this issue, I think the fact that I used birth control and had an abortion fund for years has been a very significant source of saving money and being aware of the cost of being a parent.

2. We are pet free. This decision has often been made for us as most rental units discourage pet owners from renting in a variety of ways. And my husband and I are just plain lazy. Having to feed another being would take away time from us lounging around being lazy. I don’t think this is going to be a lifelong decision however. I have realized that there are some very practical reasons where I would need the following: dog, cat, hawk, goat, hen. So maybe when we finally get our own land, we might get some critters.

3. We are car free. This too was a decision made for me…or rather, owning a car was never a priority for me. My husband got rid of his car in the late 90s when he discovered that we was paying more in car insurance for his junker than the car was worth. And since we love living in urban environments, a car is often a nuisance. 

4. Our hobbies are free or cheap. So we don’t own a television (we watch DVDs on my computer) or play the latest computer games, anything that requires a steady payment (except for our naked dsl line). We love biking, reading, and talking. Additionally, I actively spend time limiting my exposure to advertisements whether on TV or online. I am weak in the head so I don’t see a need to expose my poor brain to wealthy marketing firms’ gimmicks.

5. We try out crazy experiments. And I use the word crazy only because other people say  its crazy. These experiements don’t save money as much as expose us to a new way of thinking. One of my first experiments was done when I was single and 18. I decided to quit watching television for a month. At the time, I thought that the single worst thing that could happen to me would be missing my favorite television show. I found that sentiment to be disturbing. Plus I was constantly arguing with my younger sibling over what to watch. I spent the entire month locked up in my room reading books and listening to music. And after that month was over, I never had the same interest in TV again.

Nowadays we try other experiments like going vegan or using grey water to flush the toilet or increasing the number of days between showering. Often the main question behind these experiments is how I would deal with my life if I had no: electricity or tomatoes or water or whatever.

But there must be a downside to living on 46.76% of my income right? Why, yes!

1. I live in a crappy neighborhood. However, when I lived in Center City paying the same amount for a small one bedroom apartment in a gorgeous neighbood I also had problems…but never heard gun shots. Although…I did have to deal with bums sleeping outside my building and annoying drunks staggering all over the sidewalk.

I originally moved to my current neighborhood because I was going to take out loans to finish up my degree and I wanted to limit my living expenses as much as possible (husband was also in school and we were working PT). However, the apartment water pipes froze in the middle of winter and our heating system broke, and I had exams and my period and I was going mad with stress. So I moved into the current place after breaking my lease because we needed a place asap. I decided to stay on for a few months past our lease this year because we’re planning a cross country move and moving to a new place would increase costs only to move again across the country. So I decided to deal with living next to abused kids, pets, annoying banshees and practicing bands.

That’s the only downside. This post will have an abrupt ending because its getting too long.

A month after I posted pictures of these flowers, I have bell peppers! I planted two seeds in a pot last fall. They were from the last bell peppers I purchased at the farmer’s market. I wanted to see if anything would come of it…

Now I have bell peppers! They are really small and I’m guessing its because its in a tiny pot, thus creating some sort of bonsai effect.  I learned that bell peppers were self polinating so it makes for even easier growing. I harvested the first pepper already. I will be using it as a topping on pizza.

We’ve been using baking soda (also called bicarbonate soda, a base) to brush our teeth for the past 2 months (I mix table salt with baking soda in equal parts and a bit of tea tree oil for flavor). We also floss daily and so far I’ve haven’t noticed any change in our teeth or gums (bleeding, sensitivity, or formation of cavities). I started using baking soda because I wanted to eliminate the plastic packaging that comes with tooth paste. My decision to use baking soda to brush my teeth has nothing to do with fluoride that is often found in toothpaste which is apparently a touchy subject for some people.

I decided to read more about the use of baking soda and its effects on oral care and whether it was actually a good idea to use it for oral care. I also wanted to see what flouride actually did to one’s teeth.  

Our teeth are constantly undergoing remineralization and demineralization based on what we eat.  Fluoride serves to protect our teeth enamel which can decay quickly if exposed to too many acidy foods (lemons, vinegar, tomatoes etc)[1]. Additionally, our mouth is naturally a bit acidic and saliva is a base that neutralizes it. Most people in the US drink water that contains fluoride whether they want it or not. You can check here to see how much fluoride is in your water supply. After reading about fluoride, I think the fear of fluoride comes from the fact that too much can be poisonous. Here is a paper stating some facts about fluoride, including how much is necessary at various ages. For adults the amount required is between 3.0 to 4.0 mg per day.

So essentially good oral care means ensuring that the teeth enamel is not exposed to too many acids because it would break down the enamel which will cause pain and expensive dental bills. So using baking soda to brush my teeth means that I’m using a base to neutralize the acidity in my mouth. Thus, baking soda does not harm one’s teeth. 

I know that the poor in my home country use wood ash to brush their teeth. I’ll bet that wood ash also serves to neutralize the acids in our mouth. So using wood ash is super eco-friendly for those with access to a wood stove.

Hmm…it just occured to me that we could use wood ash to decrease the acidity in our composter instead of buying garden lime.  

EDIT: Husband has a chem degree so he had this to add:

F₂ (Pure Flourine) is the most reactive gas known to man. It will corrode nearly all metals, etch glass, and cause paper to burn upon mere exposure at room temp.

Basing any opinion of an element based on what that element can do in a much different environment is not science. It makes no sense in anyway except for a dream like associative way.

But, you know, people would rather eat food with a small amount of toxins in it rather than hear a chemistry lecture…

[1] One method we use to check our food content’s acid level is by watching our worms. If our worms turn white we know we’re composting too much acid based foods. You can also just try the PH paper method to figure out acidity levels, but worms are so much more fun. 

Like many loners, I hate being the center of attention. Prior to being married I dreaded the idea of a wedding day because to me, it meant I would have to wear uncomfortable shoes, uncomfortable clothes, too much make up, be on my best behaviour for hours on end dealing with a bunch of people I probably didn’t want to be around (which would include both our families). However my husband is about as thrifty as me and suggested eloping. Which we did. I even got to wear my favorite clothing to my own wedding. Needless to say, it was a perfect day.

I don’t have financial records of that day, but here is a rough estimate.

We got a marriage license from City Hall. Currently it costs $80. We then asked if there was someone who could marry us. City Hall outsources marriage services to some non-denominational pastor who performs the service for about $120. We made an appointment with the pastor.

On our wedding day we took public transit to the venue by ourselves. We didn’t bother with rings and stuff because neither of us like wearing them. And they cost money. At the wedding venue, the pastor had an assistant who served as our witness. We scraped a majority of the vows (such as the wife being obedient to the husband) and basically swore to be faithful to each other for the rest of our lives. The assistant took a polaroid picture of us (the only picture of our wedding day) and gave us each a small piece of chocolate. After the ceremony (which lasted about 15 mins) we walked over to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant and had a cheap, delicious lunch for under $10. Then we took public transit home. The last memory I have of that day is that we came home and listened to a Pixies album, Doolittle.

What did we wear? Husband wore an old suit. I wore my favorite jeans and a white turtleneck top. It was the most perfect wedding for us and it makes for a good story at dinner parties.

My water bill did go down. By almost 50%!!

The average bill hovered around $60. The most current one is $29. The only change we made was to turn off the water to the water tank in the toilet and use grey water to flush the toilet.

I also didn’t shower as much. Not showering is also part of an experiment to see how long I can stand to be around my stinky self (ans: about 4 days in the winter - not counting my special days of the month because that would just be really gross. Note: I am also using "green" deodorants which usually don’t work. I am going to try baking soda once I finish up my deodorants). We will be doing many camping trips toward the end of the year and running water will be scarce, so I am preparing myself mentally and olfactorily for that little adventure.

One of my goals for 2008 was to "evaluate feasibility and cost of of tube tying". This year I am on a cafeteria health plan with Aetna. Its a high deductible insurance plan and I pay a certain sum of money, pre-tax, into a fund managed by Aetna that belongs to me. I get a debit card to pay for services before I hit the deductible. Debit cards money comes out of this fund.

Under this plan, this seems to mean I get to see the cost of procedures. In network, the cost for tube tying is $3,527. Out of network, the cost is $11,565. I have no intention of going out of network. Currently, I pay roughly $20 for birth control pills per month.If I pay for another 176 months or 14 years, the cost comes out to $3,520. In 14 years I will be 41 years old. According to wikipedia (my source for reliable medical information - and my source for quick and dirty information), the average age of menopause is 51 years old. If I continue to remain on birth control instead of getting my tubes tied this would be an additional $2,400. Obviously I am not including all the other amounts such as inflation (I don’t buy the 3% rate that is bandied about), nor am I accounting for the fact that birth control could become cheaper or more expensive. And if I get breast cancer because of the correlation with birth control…getting rid of the cancer or death costs associated with me (if I die) also starts to get a bit expensive.

After the tubal ligation, I may need to stay home for awhile…which means taking sick time which I won’t be able to cash in if and when I leave my job. That is one week’s pay. Also…this is a surgical procedure. I am not interested in the newer methods of tube tying…because its too new.  

Then there is the vasectomy. My husband is not on my insurance plan. But if he were…it costs $621 in network and $898 out of network. Recovery time is about 1 or 2 days.  

Then there is the condom. (cue the jingle: *Trojan Man!*) There are condoms that are filled with spermacide. They work. drugstore.com lists a package of 36 condoms at $17.99. This may be the cheapest option. Depending on how many times we have sex. And I suppose the types of sex that is possible. And I think I am getting a little too detailed here for my liking.

An observation: Aetna does not list the cost of a cesarean section delivery. I wonder why.  

I like reading articles about tightwads. I find it very inspiring. I found an article about a House Rep’s tightwaddiness. via a search on NYT. An excerpt:

In addition to the $103 he invested on a futon that he rolls out at the end of every day and stashes behind the sofa each morning, Sanford tries to limit his spending in the capital to the following: about $10 every two weeks on toiletries that he uses when he showers in the House gym, $1.90 every day on breakfast — orange juice and yogurt — in the House cafeteria and $7.50 on the members’ all-you-can-eat salad buffet. Sanford spends $1 per shirt for laundering back in Charleston, but he gets his money’s worth. ‘’If I go up to Washington on a Monday and stay through Thursday,'’ he says, ‘’one clean shirt will last me through the week.'’

 

Yesterday I made tofu and seitan. The seitan I make uses the recipe from the cookbook, Vegan with a Vengence which is probably my most frequently used cookbook. I like my seitan more than the store bought version because its not squeaky. The store bought version squeaks when chewing. And of course, my tofu also taste much better than the store bought version and I don’t have to deal with any packaging.

Become deliriously sick and possess a very vivid imagination.

I am going to write about various tightwaddy/frugal things that I do as I remember them and post them into the “tightwaddery” category, because it seems like many people find this blog looking for frugal/tightwad tips.

Magazine Subscriptions: Don’t have any.

Of course you can always read at the library, but magazines annoy me because of the numerous ads they have. I’ve had two subscriptions during my lifetime: PC World, and Real Simple. I had the PC World subscription when I was trying to learn about computers, and the internet wasn’t as big of a resource as it is today (late 90s). I stopped the subscription when I learned how to get information online and found various online computer websites/news sites. I subscribed to Real Simple because…I am not really sure. It was probably because the magazine looked pretty. I originally found the magazine to be useful: I used many of the recipes, tips, suggestions and enjoyed the articles and stories. But then I began to get annoyed with the various ads, booklets, product placements, product suggestions all pointing to: Buy! Buy! Buy! I hate being told what to do, so I didn’t bother renewing when the renewal notice came around the last time (about 2 years ago).

I’ve been making laundry detergent for almost a year now. I used almost the same recipe that was blogged about on the simple dollar except we use ivory soap. I also scent the final product with peppermint oil. I am not yet through with my box of borax and washing soda, I think I have a year’s worth left. Additionally, I use the borax for cleaning stubborn grease (like the stuff found on a stove). Its very effective.

I have three pairs of shoes: a pair of sneakers, a pair of moccasins and a shiny girly pair of loafers that I wear to interviews. I wear the sneakers for errands, when riding my bike and when I go to places where sneaker wearers are not frowned upon. I wear my moccasins to work (its black) and to places where sneakers aren’t allowed. I buy shoes only for comfort not for their looks. Apparently the gene that makes a woman go crazy over shoes isn’t present in me. I have zero interest in shoes. The only time I buy shoes is when my current pair is falling apart.

My current pair of sneakers is now 4 years old. And while I can still wear them in the summer and run errands while wearing them, they are not good to wear in wet and cold weather any more. There are too many holes and much of it has just been worn away. I originally purchased them from the discount store Ross Dress for Less for under $20. At the time my philosophy was to purchase shoes that cost less than $20. Most of the time I used to buy shoes from Payless, and they even last a few years. I have a pair of slippers (beach slippers) that I wear all the time indoors in the summer and they are almost nine years old. I originally purchased them at a dollar store.

Anyway, its time to buy new sneakers, and I just got a pair from LL Bean. They were made in Italy and cost over $100. But I expect them to last 10 years or more. The soles looked very thick and since they are made for hiking, I expect the sole to not wear away very quickly. There was another reason that hastened the purchase which I will discuss in a future post.

Now that I have my new soy milk maker and nigari (a coagulant), I have begun making tofu. Its easy to make, saves money and removes the plastic packaging that tofu comes in (which cannot be reused easily). Below is a howto on making tofu (with pictures!). 1. First make soy milk 2. Heat soy milk 3. Prepare the nigari solution (dissolve a tablespoon or so in warm water) 4. Prepare tofu mould 5. Pour nigari solution into heated soy milk and stir. 6. When soy milk curdles, pour into mould 7. Cover the mould and place heavy object on the mould to drain water. I used a bottle of honey 6. Tofu!

I purchased a Soy Milk maker and it arrived yesterday. The box containing the soy milk maker also contained the label - no box in a box packaging. So that pleased me. The main reason I purchased it was to eliminate the trash in the form of soy milk containers, but it will also wind up saving us money in the long run.

I first heard about this particular brand via Pat Meadows’ blog over the summer. I decided to think about it before buying it. I’ve made soy milk using a blender and a stainless steel strainer, but as Meadows says, “the process was a pain in the tail.”

I made my first batch of soy milk using the new device yesterday and had it with coffee today and it was very good. The soy beans I purchased were non GMO ones from Chambers Farms. There is one vendor at the Headhouse farmer’s market who does sell them. But since I am too nervous to talk to my food vendors, I don’t. I just hope he grew it using sustainable methods and organically. I think I will get them this weekend. That way I can make soy milk using local ingredients.

This post reads really terrible. Not sure why.