http://beancounter.blogsome.com Writings on sustainable, conscious and thrifty living Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:13:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Because my last post on here was so long winded, you may haven’t noticed that I have moved: The Middle Way - Still crazy, but in measured doses.  http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2009/01/11/ive-moved/ We quit. In case you didn’t already know. I’m still too exhausted to write about it much, but it stopped being fun after a while and I just was not mentally prepared to ride and deal with not having any services for 50-100 miles at a stretch. This began to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/11/13/the-middle-way/ Probably an inappropriate post. In which case you may want to avert your delicate eyes.  And I’m free-associating here. For the past week, I’ve been stressing out about the fact that my period has been late. I always have the fear that I might be pregnant but this time I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/27/not-very-glad/ This is the book I mentioned previously and I’m almost 3/4 of the way done. The title of the book comes from George Puttenham who in 1589 said, "Peace makes plentie, plentie makes pride, pride breeds quarrel, and quarrel breeds warre: Warre brings spoile, and spoile povertie, povertie pacience, and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/26/excerpt-from-war-and-peace-and-war/ Good thing I didn’t go through all the trouble of figuring out why one ought to quit caffeine. Chile has already done the job much better than I could have. I am now coffee and caffeine free. Yay me. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/25/breaking-free-of-caffeine/ I logged into to my credit card account today and noticed three "interest rate adjustment" debits to my account totalling: $45.69. The transaction dates were from August, September and October of 2007. I was curious so I investigated what these payments were for, and discovered that they were the last ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/25/credit-cards/ Deodorant: So I still wasn’t happy with my non-deo self. I was happy for about 2-3 weeks but then when I was in NY recently, I smelled terrible with all that walking I was doing. So regardless of whether anyone was going to complain about my smell or not, I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/24/deo-and-shampoo/ I took the picture below on April 6th, the day after Philly Cleanup. I wanted to send a message to the mayor saying something like, you forgot this place. The location is across from a bunch of chain strip-mall stores (Home Depot, Walmart, etc). The amount trash was/is unbelievable. Its ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/22/two-pictures-of-philly/ Taking Ruchi’s lists…and making it my own. Things I have done 1. Got a mailing address  2. Given notice at my job 3. Sold some furniture/yarn/bicycle/misc items 4. Updated all businesses with new address or closed accounts 5.  Given away some clothes. Packed away the rest for donation. Put up free ads. The compost bin has ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/20/wednesday-things/ A few months back I purchased Organic Needle’s Organic Cotton Reusable Coffee Filter Cone 4. I think I bought it shortly after Beth posted her review. We had just finished using up the last of our paper filters (we used brown paper filters) and I didn’t want to buy more ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/19/organic-needles-coffee-filter/ My husband and I stopped drinking coffee last Friday (its been 5 days so far). There were several reasons why we quit, but the main one was that we didn’t want to bother with the hassle of seeking out happy* (or unhappy) coffee sources while we’re in the middle of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/19/quitting-coffee/ EDIT: Post reads poorly because I’ve quit coffee and am very sleepy.  I’ve purchased pretty much all the stuff on our list that we need for the trip. I’ve accounted for it all in Quicken, but I have not been able to get it together to post how it tallies ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/18/bike-trip-gear/ In NYC. Hope to stuff myself with some Bombay Chaat because I won’t be having it for a long while. Hope its available in California in places that are accessible by public transit. What is chaat? For one it rhymes with smart, and: Chaats are jumbles of flavor and texture: sweet, sour, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/15/on-vacation/ I’ve decided to be flexible with our diet on our upcoming bicycle trip. This past weekend we biked 130 miles (round trip) to the state park in Delaware and back. Although I thought I was eating alot, I wound up losing 5 lbs. I suppose eventually my body will learn ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/14/eating-when-bicycling-long-distance/ I started this post several months ago and forget whose post or comment inspired me to write this.  I’ve read a few posts on going green and its effects on marriage (or other romantic union) . Often one person in the union is spearheading the effort with the partner going ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/12/treehugging-and-love/ Yesterday before we got lost (on our way home from Delaware), our route took us through some industrial sections of Delaware. We were trying to get to a small town so we could get some shelter from the storm, but it kept playing games with us. One minute the storm ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/11/progress-and-the-storm/ Although I didn’t finish reading Radical Simplicity (I am not ready for that level of detailed analyzation and calculation yet…maybe in a few months), one of the points that was mentioned early in the book really stuck with me: the metaphor chosen was a food buffet with me being the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/11/what-does-sustainable-mean-to-me/ The winner of my clothesline giveaway is Heather@Simple-Green-Frugal! Congratulations Heather. Please email your address to bokuper65 at gmail’s email service. I’ll mail it out within two weeks. Sorry about the delay in announcing the winner. I was hoping to be home and catch up on my blog reading but…we did a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/10/clothesline-winner/   So…how many among you would be interested in receiving postcards from me when I’m on my cross country bicycle trip ? I am not exactly a social butterfly, but I do love receiving and sending mail. So if you are interested, leave me a comment and let me know whether ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/07/postcards/ I planted ciltantro, tomatoes, bell pepper and cucumber and got everything but the cilantro. Now with the recent heat wave (and my neglect), my plants have died. But I have a memory of what they gave me two weeks ago.   Before they died my tomato plant was quite productive as was ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/06/what-ive-grown-this-year/ My husband read this book and strongly urged me to read it. I began reading this on my commute this morning. An excerpt: The very stability and internal peace that strong empires impose contain within them the seeds of future chaos. Stability and internal peace bring prosperity, and prosperity causes population ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/05/war-and-peace-and-war/ From Ohio’s transportation map: State Rock Song: Hang On Sloopy (youtube). Edit: OSU’s marching band has a version. (mp3) State Fossil: Isotelus Trilobite State Motto: With God All Things Are Possible State Stone: Flint http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/04/ohio/ Last time I wrote about my itchy pits, Cyn admitted that she didn’t use anything. And until that point, it had not occurred to me that I could go without deodorant. Well that’s precisely what I did. I have gone deo free and thus my pits are now itch-free too. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/04/going-without-deo/ I have a retractable clothesline to give away. I bought it from Gaiam and haven’t retracted it since I began using it last year, but it works and its very strong.   Does anyone want it? If more than one person shows interest, I’ll randomly pick someone by next Sunday, August ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/08/03/clothes-line-giveaway/ My first award! I’d like to thank the Chile Chews committee for giving me this award which did make me blush ("brilliant? me?awww"). Not sure why its Brilliante though. I’m a language dud…hence the confusion. Per the rules: 1. The winner can put the logo on her blog. 2. Link the person ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/31/i-am-brilliant/ Well with both me and my husband having years of experience in a variety of fields that indicate our brilliance and flexibility, not to mention degrees in fields that are supposedly desperate for employees - we’re both still unemployable. Or at least, no one want to bother hiring people 3000 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/31/so-many-choices/ I’ve been having a hard time lately in trying to read some of the blogs I read regularly. They are filled with such happy, positive information about reaching out and forming communities. About doing good, about being a happy, shiny, person that I’d like to be. And I’m reading meditation ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/28/running-away-orbeanys-rant/ While doing some research, I came across The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) website. From their about page: The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) is a national clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement, access, and mobility for pedestrians (including transit users) and bicyclists. The ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/28/the-pedestrian-and-bicycle-information-center/ After napping for 5 hours yesterday in addition to an 8 hour night’s sleep, I finally feel well rested. Well rested enough to try out new foods. After reading Organic Needle’s post on zucchinis, I decided to buy this new vegetable (?) last weekend at the farmers’ market. I don’t think ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/26/zucchini-bread-and-potato-fries/ I made fried rice last night. Ingredients include Lundberg’s brown rice, purple cabbage, carrots, string beans, leeks and seitan. The seitan was made using this recipe which is soo delicious and crunchy.  Below are pictures of the fried rice and the seitan being fried.   http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/25/fried-rice-with-seitan/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/24/vacationing-for-cheap/ I’ve been thinking about God for a very long time. And since its one of my many favorite topics I’m going to jot down some of my thoughts for future reference. —  If you want a label, I consider myself to be an atheist. I believe that when I die I will ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/23/god/ Last night I made a fava bean dip first seen on Green Bean’s blog. I was too lazy to make it into a finely ground paste. I mashed it and quickly stuffed myself with it. I made pita chips to go with it. Also called pizza crust chips because the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/20/weekend-cooking-2/ Delaware’s bicycle maps have tips on how one can live car free or car-lite in Delaware. The tips can be used for any place. Its easy to live a car-lite, or even car-free, lifestyle in Delaware! Use your bicycle and these tips to start down the path to a healthier, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/17/car-free-or-car-lite-in-delaware/ I’m just inventing a term here because I don’t know if someone else has already come up with these thoughts and given it a name. Over the past several years, I’ve been educating myself on some very useful matters: where my food comes from, peak oil, American history, monetary policies of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/17/the-not-world/   The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) recognizes bicycling as a legitimate mode of transportation and recreation and addresses the needs of cyclists on all roadway improvement projects where appropriate and feasible to do so. In 2003 the SHA developed a statewide network of bicycle routes using on-road and off-road facilities. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/16/from-marylands-bicycle-map/ Over two months ago, I complained that using baking soda on my armpits as a deodorant made my pits very, very itchy. Organic Needle suggested mixing baking soda with corn startch. I started using that mixture immediately. So how did it work? It worked somewhat well. I don’t have itchiness every ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/16/itch-and-scratch/ I’ve been doing nothing but reading and planning for our bike trip for the last several weeks now. I’m still leaning toward putting together my own route, but if for whatever reason that’s not feasible I’l use the Adventure Cycling (ACA) Routes for the entire trip. This is my (our) ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/15/planning-planning/ We bought our bikes (Surly LHT) over the weekend. So I guess there is no turning back now.I also have sold our chest of drawers our futon (which was our bed) and other miscellaneous items. For now we’re sleeping on a foam pad until I buy us sleeping bags. I also ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/14/i-guess-were-really-going/ I haven’t been focusing on eating locally as much these days since I’m trying to finish up the stuff in our pantry. I finally finished the arrow root powder today and most of the muffin paper cups. Today I made blueberry corn muffins. Receipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance(VwaV). ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/13/weekend-cooking/ I’ve been feeling a bit lazy lately so I haven’t been blogging. But I’m finally in a much better mood than I was for the past month. The post below was written a long time ago. I was clearly cranky when I wrote it.   —————-  I am a very direct person…that ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/11/sticking-to-the-point/ I joined two challenges this month: The No Graze Days challenge hosted by Heather and the Quit Now Challenge hosted by Chile. 1. No Graze Days - I promised to be more mindful when eating and to meditate once a day. The last time I meditated was hmm…over two weeks ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/08/july-challenges/ No pictures because I couldn’t get it all together for a photo-op. The recipe is sort of made up substituting the sweet potato pie recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance .  I used a store bought non-local graham cracker crust because I was lazy. The filling was hand pitted cherries (because ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/07/cherry-pie/ So I’ve been spending most of this long weekend planning a possible trip by bicycle to the West Coast. Whether this is still going to happen is still up in the air. But I thought we may as well plan as though we’re going to do it by bike. The ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/05/planning-the-move/ Areas  Monthly U.S. Monthly Goal ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/03/riot-for-austerity-for-june-2008/ I have managed to grow tomatoes!   These are the size of cherry tomatoes one would get at the grocery store but I am not sure if that’s how large they’re supposed to be since I grew it in a pot (or planter as home depot calls them). I’m learning that ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/07/02/tomatoes-and-salsa/ Wow did I spend alot of money in June. Stress and disaster is expensive! I more or less depleted my emergency fund, but I suppose that’s what its there for right? So I need to increase our savings and to do so I’ve joined Chile’s Quit Now Challenge where I promise ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/30/back-on-frugal-wagon-and-other-miscellaneous-news/ I finished reading Hope, Human & Wild by Bill McKibben last week.The book is a collection of three stories that promote a message of hope against…a world where resource depletion is almost a contest. The stories are detailed from McKibben’s perspective which may be why I wasn’t too thrilled with ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/30/book-review-hope-human-wild/ "I’m following the trend ‘cause I wanna have some friends. I want to be somebody. Don’t wanna be a ‘nobody’……….. - From the Dead Milkmen’s "Moron" I’ve gone back to using toothpaste. I got nervous about having many dreams in which I look at my reflection in ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/29/back-to-toothpaste/   This week’s edition of One Local Summer includes stir fried noodles. Local ingredients include peas, carrots and brocolli. I’m going to make an allowance regarding local ingredients. That is, I will not purchase local noodles even though its available because of the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/29/one-local-summer-tomato-juice-stir-fried-noodles-green-beans-and-mushrooms/ I drove alot in June. I’ll figure out the exact mileage and gas consumption when I put up my riot numbers, but I bet its more than the average U.S. consumer’s consumption. The big trip in June was to a funeral. Originally the plan was to fly to the funeral. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/28/driving/ Thanks everyone for your kinds thoughts and sending good vibes. I was finally able to get some sleep instead of tossing and turning from the pain. Who knew nerves could hurt so much? Anyway…the month is finally drawing to a close and since I got to eat home cooked meals ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/26/sins-committed-in-june/ Its….shingles. Very exciting and excruciatingly painful. What is with all these painful ailments visiting me? I’ve got my kidney stone my UTI and now this. I really hate the fact that I have a high threshold for pain because I start having discussions like…what exactly is the criteria to be ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/23/the-good-news-its-not-a-heat-rash-or-boils/ After seeing a picture of Melinda’s pancakes yesterday I knew I had to make it for breakfast this morning. I was too impatient to wait for bubbles, but the pancakes still turned out to have the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness!  I used honey instead of sugar so the meal is 100% local. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/22/melindas-yogurt-pancakes/ The picture is from the cookbook: Vegetarian Cooking. The dish can be easily veganized by using margarine instead of butter and soy milk instead of cream. I was catching up on all my blog reading this morning and noticed that very few of the meals featured in the One Local ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/21/beet-wild-mushroom-and-potato-casserole/ Now I have a heat rash. Or that’s what I think it is. I think my body (or rather my belly) is cooking itself. Maybe I can offer myself as part of a one local summer meal. I’m sure I’m tasty. I am trying some natural remedies and am going to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/21/month-of-bad-luck-continues/ Today’s breakfast: Homemade yogurt with strawberry syrup (strawberries and honey with a teaspoon of lime juice that is organic but not local) and local chicken and apple sausages with toast and butter. Bread is store bought with organic not local ingredients. I don’t have a toaster so I toast bread ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/21/one-local-summer-breakfast/ From husband’s email: Under Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, there was a financial panic. This was caused first by Tiberius seizing property for "crimes against the state". Then he took the money from the treasury and used it on orgies. Taxes were high. He spent little money on public ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/19/injecting-liquidity/ Yesterday I had a thought. Just one. I think the city pays waaay more attention to bums and skateboarders than they do to other residents of the city. Just because bums sleep on benches and skateboarders use benches to grind means that now the public benches are either uncomfortable or ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/19/bums/ How to talk to a climate skeptic. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/18/talking-point-on-global-warming/ I’ve been reading Hope, Human and Wild by Bill McKibben. Its not too bad. But I wanted to write about my thoughs on Kerala…often brought up by environmentalists (including McKibben) as the golden standard to aspire to. I’ve been in a very pessimistic mood lately, so this post is going to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/18/kerala/ When the year began I was very ambitious with my goals. Well…I think I promised all sort of things to my readers at the half way point. So here is an update on the financial goals. For those of you (meaning me) with poor memories, here are the goals with ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/16/mid-year-update-on-goals/ Clearly I have pissed off the gods somewhere. This month has begun with every imaginable thing going wrong. As well as some unimaginable things going wrong. I suspect my riot numbers this month will be equal to that of an average U.S. consumer. What joy. The most recent bad thing ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/15/woes/ I have never been much of a consumer. Part of the reason is because I am lazy and being a consumer takes time and effort and money…stuff I don’t like to part with very easily. But there is another reason. I was lying around thinking about why I am a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/13/the-road-to-non-consumerism/ I recently commented on Penelope Trunk’s blog that my blog was an intersection between ethics, money and the life. So I was very pleased when I encountered a passage in Secrets of the Temple that shed some light into the relationship between money and food from a historical perspective. My current ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/12/intersection-between-food-and-money/ Heather @ Simple Green Frugal had a fun post where she created a mosaic based on some questions. The questions were: Questions: What is your first name? What is your favorite food? What high school did you go to? What is your favorite color? Who is your celebrity crush? Favorite drink? Dream vacation? Favorite dessert? What do you want to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/10/my-mosaic/ I opened an interest bearing checking account with ING. One of the main reasons was because of Regulation D. Now that I have shifted all my checking account transactions to ING let me explain why I moved from my credit union. A few months back I received a letter from my ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/09/an-interest-bearing-checking-account/ Like everyone else, I was sad when I read Crunchy Chicken announcing that she would be taking a blogging break. To be honest, I was surprised that she hadn’t done so earlier. I mean this lady was a mom to two kids, she appeared to have a full ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/06/a-tribute-to-crunchy-chicken/ Others are doing it…so am I. From top: Bell pepper,  cilantro, cucumber, tomato EDIT: All the soil in my pots are from my compost bin. Yay for free soil and compost!   http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/05/what-am-i-growing/ Tonight’s dinner is garlicky kale with tahini dressing. The recipe is from Vegan w/ a Vengence. And in case you can’t tell, its my favorite cookbook. The kale is local, but the tahini is from Istanbul (not Constantinople). http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/03/tonights-dinner/ Areas  Monthly U.S. Monthly Goal ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/02/riot4austerity-may-2008/ This week’s dish for is matar paneer. I used this recipe, but I didn’t follow the directions. I fried the garlic stems, onions then added tomatoes then the spices. Then water and finally the peas. When the peas were cooking, I fried the paneer and then added it to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/06/01/one-local-summer-matar-paneer/ Today I spent $40 on the following produce:Garlic stems, cherry tomatoes, beets, raddish, strawberries, peas, bok choy, mushrooms, string beans and cucumbers. Zucchini season has begun…but I didn’t get any. No new plastic entered the house with the purchase. Picture below: This year I’m trying to reduce how ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/31/farmers-market-haul/ I’ve been reading Chile’s archives as my role as a bean stalk (thanks Chile!) and was reminded of some challenges that were presented last year. Specifically, Crunchy’s no TP challenge. Now that its been a year since I began blogging, I should probably write about why I chose ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/29/toilet-habits/ After months of sitting around being nervous, I can finally admit that I have found success with the Diva Cup. I’ve been using rags (that are glad) for about 2 years and every month the entire process of getting in touch with my womanhood is a giant pain in the…well…you ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/29/diva-cup-success/ I finished reading Rubbish: The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje and Cullen Murphy as part of my participation in Green Bean’s May Bookworm challenge which is now going to continue into the month of June. As I mentioned before on this blog and on other blogs, this book was ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/28/review-rubbish/ Now that global warming is probably a reality, brown is in! Tan is cool We’ve finished all our white goods: flour, rice (sushi, jasmine, basmati). So we’ve switched to brown stuff: whole wheat flour, brown rice. Brown rice isn’t available in bulk bins and since I don’t want to buy ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/27/going-brown/ Another excerpt from Secrets of the Temple: New money was created not only by the Federal Reserve but also by private commercial banks. They did it by new lending, by expanding the outstanding loans on their books. Routinely, a bank borrowed money from one group, the depositors, and lent it to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/25/creation-of-money/ I believe a commenter on Boston Gal’s Open Wallet had recommended "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country". I started reading this book a few days ago since its due back at the library next week (I’ve already renewed it past its limit). The book is ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/24/excerpt-secrets-of-the-temple/ I am just staking out my claim here. It seems that people in the media love making predictions and I thought I should get in on the act as well. After all this blog is a medium. So forget the Goldman Sachs and the future president’s predictions, I am going ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/24/beany-the-sage-of-the-bloggy-world/ We got $1,200 per the economic stimulus package along with two mailed notices. One stated that we were going to receive $1,200 and one stated that we should have received $1,200. We donated some of the money to charity, paid a little bit to husband’s student loan and saved the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/22/stimulating-the-economy/ So it seems that one of my favorite comicstrip artists moved to L.A. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/21/la/ I am a member of the philly car share service because there are times when I do need a car. In 2007 I drove once. That is I borrowed a car from the car share service and drove it for a few hours on one hot day in 2007. In ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/20/ask-and-you-shall-receive/ Today I made baked eggs with creamy leeks from Vegetarian Cooking by Linda Fraser. It was the first time I had leeks and I loved it! I topped it with crumbs made from the bread I baked yesterday. I rode to the farmer’s market and only purchased from basil, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/18/todays-cooking/ Today I made yogurt for the first time this year (the temperature was finally warm enough). I bought a small container of plain yogurt yesterday (for the culture) which did come in plastic. I also made chocolate pudding from Vegan with a Vengence. I topped it with coconut flakes. So ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/17/busy-saturday/   I still cannot make a pretty pie. The filling is a mixture of strawberry jam (which I made), rhubarb  sauce (which I made), local maple syrup and arrow root powder added as a thickner. The flour is also local - a wheat pastry flour that was a pain in the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/16/patchy-pie/ I read a very well written and beautiful post recently that really made me think. Of course one of the reasons I related to the post is because I’ve felt like Megan many a time. And I’ve been at the other end of the spectrum unable to see someone’s point ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/15/getting-beyond-ourselves/ Radishes are in season and I don’t think I’ve had them prior to yesterday. I’ve been introduced to so many new fruits and vegetables since I began eating locally…who knew eating local foods to be so adventurous? Last night I made radish salad which was most excellent. The recipe is from ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/15/radish-salad/ I’m in a foul mood today. This is probably due to all the "news" I’ve been reading since yesterday. Warning: negativity and pointless pontification ahead. There are many claims and even studies showing the correlation between educated women and delayed pregnancy.  So I’ve been very curious on how much ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/14/think-of-the-children/ I’m currently reading Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage by William L. Rathje and Cullen Murphy. To claim that the book is  compelling would be an understatement.  Yesterday evening I read the section on two U.S. food shortages, beef and sugar, that occured in 1973* and 1975. The garbologists found a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/13/food-shortages/   In an attempt to bring no new plastic into the house this month, I decided to make sriracha sauce instead of buying it. I had alot of dried red chillis sitting forgotten on a kitchen shelf and thought it would be the perfect way to get use it up. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/11/sriracha/ Yesterday I stopped by the fair food stand and got lotso goodies: meyer lemon curds (so good that I want to consume the entire bottle), rhubarb jelly, rhubarb, chevre*, potatoes and apples. I’m going to make rhubarb sauce that was posted on  the Healthy Cheap Cooking mailing list to serve ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/10/food/ I didn’t have rice and beans for lunch today. I had a salad. I had butter roasted asparagus (made this morning) served on top of raw spinach leaves. Dessert is an apple. Very filling. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/08/100-local-lunch/ YEARLY   Monthly Goal   ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/08/90-for-april-2008/ Not sure if I am inspiring people or not but…. My neighbors have started drying their clothes out in the backyard. The adult male rides his bike (I see him all the time arriving or going somewhere on a bike) everyday Friends are talking about buying worm bins for composting and baking ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/07/inspiration/ I am participating in Green Bean’s "Be a bookworm" challenge this month. The first book I finished was "Plenty" by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon, creators of the 100 mile diet. Yes, I am reading more than one book for this challenge. After all, I am a bookworm. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/07/being-a-bookworm-plenty/ I think I’m going to try making soy sauce at home. I bought 30 lbs of GMO free soy beans a few months back. Making soy sauce will finish up some of the soy beans. Here is a howto with pictures! http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/06/how-to-make-soy-sauce/ I’ve been thinking alot about alot of things… I’ve learned that I am an introvert and think that the world would be so much more wonderful if everyone just shut up and read books all the time. And then blogged about it. I read alot about peak oil. I think alot ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/06/random-thoughts/ I checked out the Prospect Park Farmers’ Market when I was in NYC this past weekend. I was so impressed - it was huge! There was so much room to walk around and browse. I didn’t buy anything because that meant I would have had to haul the food all ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/05/farmers-markets/ SFordinarygirl asked me to share a sample of what I eat as a vegan to stay full. I was so flattered that someone values my thoughts that I basked in that glory for awhile. After I got done with the basking, I thought about providing a response. I tracked what ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/05/eating-vegan-and-staying-full/ The big purchase in April that violated Crunchy Chicken’s rules was a pair of sandals. They were made in the US by Ana-Tech (Anatomical Technology) and purchased from Lithia Park. They feel comfy and I am glad I don’t have to wear sneakers throughout this summer. Too bad its going ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/02/buy-nothing-challenge-update-2/ Back when I didn’t know anything about money (10 years ago) I regularly paid overdraft charges. It was completely idiotic on my part and I’ve reformed my ways. However when reading other personal finance blogs I noticed that many bloggers regularly face these overdraft fees at their bank due to various ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/02/how-to-avoid-overdraft-fees/                               Baking soda as deodorant is very, very itchy. It wasn’t itchy initially but it is now. And has been for the past 3 days. I think I’m going to stop using baking soda on my pits. This is surprising because I have tough skin. My husband says my skin is as ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/01/baking-soda-as-deodorant/ I am really tired and sleepy and at work. Apologies for spelling mistakes, more than usual grammatical errors, etc. A few weeks back when Crunchy Chicken introduced the challenge for May, I readily signed up. I was especially excited about turning off our ancient fridge and going without electricity. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/05/01/no-too-much-extreme-eco-throwdown-for-me/ CSA for the poor. Tom Lehrer’s song on pollution (youtube) Olive Oil Scandal.  Michael Pollan on the revolutionary act of gardening. (I have yet to read a book by Pollan - its always checked out at the library. But his articles have…actually changed my life and my way of thinking.) http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/29/articles-i-am-enjoying/ I was looking for info on lead. I wondered if the presence of lead in soil could get into fruits and vegetables growing in them and then give me brain damage at age 40. A few google searches later I found that:  "Soil naturally has ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/28/lead/  I went riding yesterday despite a weather forecast that promised thunderstorms. I took pictures of my favorite parts of the ride. It rained at night after I fell asleep. Starting out, this is next to west river drive (on the left) with the ominious clouds above and the Schuylkill River ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/27/bike-ride/ This is a cut the clutter update. 4 months after complaining about catalog choice, the number of catalogs showing up in my mail box has finally gone down. Today when I checked my post office box, I had one catalog from Title Nine which I had not asked catalog choice ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/25/cut-the-clutter-update-2/ Car Free LA -  is a site by Gary Isse that has all sorts of stories on living a car free life in Los Angeles. He had a tip for SoCal residents:   "If you are considering looking into an alternative way of getting to work and back and are in ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/25/car-free-living-in-la/ I like offensive humor. Not the kind that emphasis toilet habits, but the kind that is not allowed in polite company. The sort that screams: Nothing is sacred! So I’ll come clean. The type of humor that makes me laugh out loud is the sort that would NOT fly at cocktail ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/24/environmental-humor-this-time-its-funnier/ Last year I tried many new fruits and vegetables that I’d never had before. While there has been studies on the time it takes for people to adjust to new foods, the asian pears I had from North Star Orchard was….unbelievably delicious! I didn’t need to convince my taste buds ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/24/article-farming-as-a-labor-of-love/ The farmers’ market season begins in less than 2 weeks and yes, I am looking forward to it. Without going into too much detail (after all, I am trying to be anonymous here), this year I might have the opportunity to work with some farmers and get compensated in fruits ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/23/downside-to-farmers-markets/ I meditated for an hour yesterday at a zen center. Its the first time I’ve meditated for more than 30 minutes. And the strange thing is….it didn’t feel that long. I was worried that my legs would fall asleep or I would fall asleep or I’d burp or something. Nothing happened, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/22/meditation/ I’ve sold or swaped about half our books. I’ve made about $100 so far (excluding shipping). And I usedold cardboard boxes to ship many of the books. For paperbacks, I shipped the books using paper. There are some books that we picked up from someone else’s trash. The covers are torn ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/21/cut-the-clutter-update/   Last week I made chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon cookbook. I had some leftover chickpeas so I made Spicy Chickpeas from Vegatarian Cooking by Linda Frazer. Onions, tomatoes and chickpeas were local. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/19/spicy-chickpeas/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/18/my-current-budget-and-being-a-tightwad/ I finished reading Oil on the Brain by Lisa Margonelli. Margonelli made a point in the epilogue that really stuck with me…that when she gets very pessimistic she recalls that that over 150 years ago, it was the environmentalists that were decrying the whale oil industry which was leading to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/17/oil-2/ One of the many ways I’ve been changing my consumption habits is by purchasing non-food items used or made via sustainable business practices. Several months ago I was in the market for bras and I found a company: Decent Exposures that was a shiny, happy company that would satisfy that ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/16/indecent-exposures-or-the-post-where-i-admit-more-than-i-need-to/ I self medicate with humor. I am a fan of Dave Barry and Gene Weingarten, but the daily bad news and the realization of what the First Noble Truth means doesn’t uh….neutralize (??) the humor I get once a week. I wanted something on a more regular basis. I found plentymag’s ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/16/environmental-humor/ I’m putting this post in the Cut the Crap category. This is all the stuff I need to do before moving cross country in terms of getting rid of stuff. April - Get rid of all books: sell, swap or donate.  Get rid of misc. junk. May -  Get rid of/Donate extra ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/15/stuff-to-do-in-preparation-of-our-move-declutter-challenge-update/ I got some local tomatoes from Kauffman’s stand at the Reading Terminal Market. They were $3.99/lb and I bought two pounds. According to Bob Libkind, they were grown in greenhouses. Meanwhile my own Siberian determinant tomato plants have been placed outside in our backyard. I hope they don’t die.  http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/14/local-tomatoes/ This past weekend, we walked over to the nearby stripmall to buy some stuff. We needed garden lime for our compost bin and shipping tape to mail paperbacks via paperbackswap.com. I don’t count these purchases as part of the Buy Nothing Challenge because: a.  I didn’t want my worms to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/14/us-made-sandals/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/12/bell-pepper/ I’ve been in a really crummy mood for a while now. I finally figured out what it is. So I am asking for your thoughts. To anyone who comes across this post.  1. Dogs - Our backdoor neighbors have two dogs. They are some sort of boxer breed. Their yard space ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/10/soliciting-opinions-and-thoughts/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/10/oral-care/   Ever since Green Bean mentioned Earth Hour, I’ve been spending my evenings with the lights turned off. I’m not spending my time in the dark to make a statement on climate change. Instead, spending time in candle light makes me sleepy so I can go to bed easily and thus ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/09/candle-light-nights/ I am currently reading Oil on the Brain by Lisa Margonelli. Every page in the book so far has had quotable passages and new (to me) information. Its a fascinating book where Margonelli follows the flow of oil backward: from the pump to the ground. I generally am not a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/08/more-on-la-and-oil/ My husband sent me this story about the world’s most environmentally friendly car. But it got in trouble with the law for being "unsafe". The case was dismissed. The video is fantastic and worth watching. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/08/world-most-enviromentally-friendly-car/ I’ve been thinking about our upcoming cross country move alot…so I’m going to blog about it so I’ll quit stressing about it so much.  So we’ll be moving to California by the end of the summer. I prefer to move after August 31st when our lease ends (we won’t be getting ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/07/impending-move/ I didn’t really need it, but I bought it anyway: Oyin Handmade funk butter. Because I’ll be getting the funk big time when summer rolls around, and I would like to have the butter.I’ve used the funk butter before and loved it (main ingredient is baking soda). But I didn’t ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/07/buy-nothing-challenge-update/ Its been a while since I posted a dark days update. And for me its still dark days since the farmer’s markets don’t open until May. Last night I made black beans and acorn squash quesadillas. The filling was a recipe from Veganomicon (latest from Isa Chandra and Terri Romero) which ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/04/dark-days-update-3/ If I am going to live in LA without a car, I need to get information on it. This category will have articles relating to car free living in Los Angles. First, Chris Ballish’s interview on living car free in LA. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/04/car-free-living-in-los-angeles/ Areas 90% Mar-08 Gasoline (per person) - in gallons 4 - Electricity (kwh) (household) 90 91.25 Heat +Cooking: Natural Gas (therms) (household) 1 56.38 Heat +Cooking: Oil (gallons) (household) 5 0.75 Heat +Cooking: Wood (unsustainable) (household) 8   Garbage (lbs/year) (per person) 27.38 5 Water (gallons/year) (per person) 507 11.22 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/03/march-rioting/ Well, March is over. So how did I do on the Trim the Fat challenge? Eh. 1. Spend no money unless necessary - Despite my desire to hold off buying new pants, I didn’t hold off. I purchased a pair of curdroy pants from the thrift store as well as a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/02/trim-the-fat-update-2/ Apparently the 4th episode didn’t teach me anything.I have no idea what made me ill. Was it the non-local strawberries? The ice cream? The restaurant kim chee? This poisoning meant that I purchase many nonlocal items: oranges, orange juice, and other items. I’ll post my riot4austerity numbers when I feel ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/04/01/5th-lifetime-food-poisoning-episode/ This is the bread we’ve been making using a modified version of the no-knead recipe. We store it on the counter top in the kitchen and the bread last for more than a week without getting mouldy.  http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/30/no-knead-bread/ WARNING: This is another boring tax post. This is not advice. The writing will probably get on every English language person’s nerves. According to the IRS, I can itemize my deductions and deduct state and local income tax or state and local sales tax. Every year I’ve filed ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/28/deduction-of-state-and-local-tax-on-federal-return/ DISCLAIMER/PARANOID thoughts: Don’t take this advice as its not meant to be advice…its my general ramblings about my favorite topic in the world.  I just read Publication 15 which is  the Employer’s Tax Guide. I was trying to figure how my employer determines how much tax to take out per pay ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/27/paycheck-thoughts/ Kiplinger had a good article on moving away from the lawn aesthetic. I don’t want to think about the amount of water that is wasted, but: American yards have a drinking problem. for decades, we’ve bought into the aesthetic of the perpetually green lawn — watered, fertilized and pest-free. And we’ve ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/26/kiplinger-article-create-a-greener-landscape/ I admit that I’ve been checking zillow.com and other sites to get a feel for what housing prices are like now that everything is apparently a mess (I don’t watch TV and I know no one in financial trouble, so this financial crunch news seems like a regular broadcast from ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/25/living-space/ I just learned about the Choose to Save website. From their about page: Financial security is one of the most important issues for most Americans. Whether it’s putting kids through college, saving for an emergency, buying a house, or saving for retirement - having enough money for life’s demands is among ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/25/choose-to-save-website/ NOTE: This post is just an exercise that I’m doing for my own entertainment purposes.  In one of my business classes I was required to do industry analysis. I found the exercise to be a pain in the ass because I don’t think an analysis can be done in less than ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/24/fdic-ncua-website/ I was finally able to articulate my views on animals and turned it into a comment at Crunchy Chicken’s blog. I am putting it here to I remember how I feel about animal rights issues. On a poll that Crunchy was running to figure out how her readers felt about ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/22/animal-views/ I broke my husband’s USB key last week in a manner that will just take too many words to describe (I insist on using the computer case/chassis as a foot rest and my foot was close to the usb slot). Since I felt bad I offered to buy him a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/21/trim-the-fat-update/ When I become a Buddha I will be known as Shakyamoney seeing how much I obsess over money. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/21/enlightenment-a-buddhist-joke/ I think eating locally is starting to get easier despite the fact that we’re still buying at least 2 organic tomatoes (grown in mexico) at $4.99/lb every time we buy groceries. I will not be doing this anymore…because Mexico is far away and thus not local. I did go without ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/20/dark-days-update-2/ An excerpt: One frigid March morning last year, federal agents raided a factory in this old whaling town, arresting hundreds of illegal immigrants as they sewed vests and backpacks for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most were shackled and sent to a detention center in Texas, where they faced rapid ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/19/article-boston-financier-steps-in-to-bail-out-illegal-immigrants/ It appears that the CS rep I spoke to about my comcast bill did give me a discount! My bill arrived today and it was $32.29. Previous bill was $42.95. That an extra $10/month I didn’t have before. I will  mail my thank you letter tomorrow. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/18/update-on-comcast/ In 2003 I got really depressed for a variety of reasons. The main culprit was my news obsession. People were dying, people were mean, people were crazy, the sky was falling and I just couldn’t handle it all. I was whining about my low spirits on an online forum and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/18/going-tech-free/ Inspired by Xin Lu, here are 5 reasons I like public transit, and 5 reasons I dislike public transit: 5 reasons I like public transit1. I can catch up on sleep2. I can do a lot of reading3. Its free (100% paid for by employer)4. Safer5. Entertainment (I think Philadelphia is ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/17/public-transit-likes-and-dislikes/ This might be my final update on freezing my buns: I rode my bike yesterday wearing a teeshirt and jeans and it was such a good feeling. Intially when the challenge began I was very excited. The excitement wore off a bit when I got sick, when it became really, really ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/16/freezing-my-buns-final-update/ I purchased Quicken 2006 in 2006. I think I paid the full price and got a downloadable link. Its a good tool and after purchasing codeweavers earlier this year…I can now use it on linux with no problems. I track everything on it, including my growing price book. Here are ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/14/money-management/ Read the post after lunch. My foray into the world of body odour began at puberty. Hair appeared in strange places, blood dribbled down a certain orifice, boys suddenly were taller than me…it was an interesting period. One day I happened to sniff my under arm and almost passed ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/13/being-stinky/ I found out about the Trim The Fat challenge, after the challenge ended. I decided to do the challenge anyway, because this is how I entertain myself. I’m not very imaginative so I’m just going  to use Chile’s guidelines for trimming the fat which are: 1. Spend no money unless necessary. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/11/trim-the-fat/ I was browsing the archives of Credit Card Hell recently, and a commenter suggested living on a food stamp budget in order to save on grocery bills. I was curious to see what a 2 person household would get if elligible for food stamps so I checked Pennsylvania’s Food Stamp ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/10/food-stamp-budget/ Edit as mentioned earlier     This doesn’t look too hot when the size is reduced. The banner in small size looks like it has a case of yellow zits.  http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/08/my-environmental-logoslogan/ I received a letter from my internet provider, Comcast, that upset me. It said in part: During a routine audit of our billing system, it has come to our attention that you are being charged the multi-product discounted price for Comcast High-Speed Internet Performance Tier. Internet service is discounted to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/08/saving-on-internet-bills/       http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/06/im-growing-something/ Now that we’ve been making our own soy milk and tofu we’ve also been creating lots and lots of okara:  which is a "white or yellowish pulp consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean which remain in the filter sack when pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/05/okara/ I love doing taxes and reading up on tax issues. Its a pity the IRS won’t even call me for an interview.  I filed our taxes this past weekend and wound up with a $803 refund. I then filed our state taxes and wound up owing $3. So I will ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/04/taxes/ This is an r-rated post. So kindly avert your delicate eyes if you can’t stand the heat. Every enviro-nut (I use the term affectionately not as an insult) has one specific cause they focus most of their energy on. It could be getting rid of plastic, not buying stuff, eating ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/03/this-is-an-r-rated-post/ Areas Average US per year 90% Feb Gasoline (per person) - in gallons 42 4 0.33 Electricity (kwh) (household) 917 90 98.25 Heat +Cooking: Natural Gas (therms) (household) 83 1 67.65 Heat +Cooking: Oil (gallons) (household) 626 5 0.25 Heat +Cooking: Wood (unsustainable) (household) 10 8 0 Garbage (lbs/year) (per person) 136.9 27.38 4 Water (gallons/year) (per person) 3,042 507 7.48 Consumer Goods (in dollars) (per household) $10,000.00 $83.33 0 Food: Local   70% 6% Food Bulk   25% 12% Food Wet Goods 50% 5% 5% All this micromanaging is starting to get tedious. Or maybe ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/03/90-for-feb-2008/ I didn’t ride my bike much in Feb either: 2/02/08 - 14.5 miles   2/15/08 -  4 miles 2/18/08 - 48.28 miles The ride on 2/18 was on presidents’ day. We biked to Valley Forge and the weather was a little crazy. It was lovely when we started at 60 degree Farenheit. By the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/02/rioting-bicycling-2/  Apples and cranberries are local. Flour, butter, sugar, spices are not. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/03/01/apple-cranberry-crumb-muffin/ I spent some time in the library today and read this interesting article in the New Yorker. The main topic was greenhouse  emissions. The article starts out by mentioning Tesco’s (Britain’s largest retailer) committment to reducing greenhouse emissions: Tesco sells nearly a quarter of the groceries bought in the United Kingdom, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/29/article-big-foot/ So I am still freezing my buns. But a look at my latest gas bill will indicate that I haven’t been freezing my buns too much. For the month of January we used 66 ccf and in December we used 53 ccf. This translates into 54.33 and 67.65 therms respectively. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/28/freezing-my-buns-update/ Another long term goal (in addition to moving across the country and perhaps to another country and perhaps also to another hemisphere and, retiring early), is to become a musician. I’ve wanted to do it since I was…I suppose 10, but again money or the lack of it got in ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/26/another-goal/ I had an old blog at vox that I didn’t really use. I had a total of 3 posts before I gave up on it and started this one. One post was as follows:   P = c *[(1-(1/ (1+R)^t))/R]+(F/(1+R)^t) When c reaches an amount I can live on per ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/25/retirement/ I went on a cooking frenzy today. I made tofu, soy milk, roasted butternut squash soup (recipe from vegan with a vengence), mashed potatoes and punk rock chickpea gravy (also from VWAV), and peanut butter oatmeal cookies. Potatoes, some of the soy beans, butter nut squash, chickpeas and some of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/24/212/ I purchased the soya joy soy milk maker and 20 lbs of GMO free soy beans toward the end of November 2007. The soy milk maker cost $89.95 and the 20 lbs of soy beans including shipping cost  $17.22 (there was some sort of special the company had running). Total ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/24/soy-milk-savings/ I decided that for the rest of the winter season I will not be purchasing from the winter buying club. The money I pay to the winter buying club is a deposit that has to be paid a few weeks before the food is actually delivered. I was using my ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/23/dark-days-update-and-our-food-bill/ I saw these palm trees inside the World Financial Center #4. They are real. I touched it to make sure. Unless I don’t know what barks feel like. And since the building was ruined during the 9/11 attacks, these trees were very recently uprooted and then brought over and replanted. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/22/palm-trees-in-nyc/ My husband purchased Hooked! as a birthday gift for me and I am glad he did. This is one of those books that can be read repeatedly. Each reading gives me new insight that I did not previously have. The book is a collection of 17 essays about consumerism from ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/21/book-review-hooked/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/20/tightwad-wedding/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/19/water-bill/ We’ve been using grey water to flush the toilet, but I didn’t want our guests to bother with our flushing system which was broken. The toilet flapper, pictured below was missing a flapper seat. Note: I don’t know why the flapper has that yellowish tinge. Wonder if its because of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/17/toilet-flapper-replacement/ Whoops! Forgot that today was VD (thanks to crazyauntpurl for the new acronym). I have a draft post about VD and it has my usual grouchiness about anything calendar related. I’ll finish it some other time as I’m in a good mood today. Inspired by M, I’d like to list ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/14/vd/ I have not completely forgotten about my dark days challenge. Last month I was bad. I bought tomatoes at $4.99/lb. They were organic and look pretty sad, but they are edible. I bought fish. The flour I used was grown in the midwest. I bought a small container of soy ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/14/dark-days-update/ Last semester was my most horrid semester in college. Because of that experience, I’ve decided not to pursue any more degrees. I was sick and tired of not doing things I liked. So I promised myself that as soon I was done with those damn classes, I would do the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/13/making-myself-happy/ I have been thinking about whether I ought to write about my money in more detail. There are several reasons I think this would be a good topic to write about, the main one being that I obsess over it quite a bit. Another reason would be to see the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/12/navel-gazing/ The local city paper had a good article about a city dump in Puerto Vallarata, "a beguiling tourist trap on Mexico’s Pacific coast". An excerpt: Though it’s not a perspective that you’ll want to savor. The locals call this place "La Basura," meaning literally, "the sweepings," for it is a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/11/article-a-view-from-the-dump/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/10/cost-of-tube-tying/ Edit: I found this to be very amusing.  You know…ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) comes down…but doesn’t really. But the arm depicted in the above parking lot does come down (one almost smashed my head a few days back). One of my future goals is to be a humorous writer and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/10/arm-comes-down/ I cancelled two more credit cards that I haven’t used in a while. One was my L.L. Bean card issued by Bank of America. Purchasing from L.L. Bean using their credit card meant I got free shipping. But it also meant BOA would keep sending me these checks to use ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/08/more-cancellation-of-credit-cards/ My spreadsheet can be viewed here. Areas Average 90% Jan-08 Gasoline (per person) - in gallons 41.66 4 .83 Electricity (kwh) (household) 916.66 90 85 Heat +Cooking: Natural Gas (therms) (household) 83.33 8 7.5 Heat +Cooking: Oil (gallons) (household) 62.5 6 0 Heat +Cooking: ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/08/90-for-jan-2008/ Arduous has tagged me for a meme. Which is a bit challenging because I have chosen not to write about some things like friends and family. But, I’ll give it a go. Here are the rules for the meme: Archive Meme Instructions: Go back through your archives and post the links ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/07/tagged/ Yes, I was supposed to post my micromanaged figures last weekend but didn’t. I was a bit of a social butterfly. So I didn’t spend time online putting it all together. I am working on my 90% reduction spreadsheet…I am a bit alarmed that our water bill didn’t go down ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/06/the-micromanagement/ I just closed my club express card. I had opened in in 2007 to get discounts when buying a suit. I haven’t used it since and the company keeps spamming me with coupons every week. I was able to close the account without speaking to a person. I was asked ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/06/club-express/ I found the blog, 20 year challenge via blunt money yesterday and immediately added it to my feed reader. I have never found a blog that I relate to on so many levels. And since I am not good at articulating my thoughts too well in words, finding this blog ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/06/20-year-challenge/ I had written to my senator about H.R. 6, The Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 sometime last summer (I think). I received a response yesterday which is posted below. I have also linked to the new law. Thank you for taking the time to contact ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/05/hr-6-the-renewable-fuels-consumer-protection-and-energy-efficiency-act-of-2007/ The husband and I have been thinking about moving from Philly to Los Angeles for a few years. My husband has always wanted to live there, and since I promised to move to the West Coast once I was done with my degree…now I have to fulfill the promise. We’ll be ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/04/los-angeles/ Don’t Buy It. Like many other bloggers, I will be saving any rebate checks I receive. For one, I don’t actually need anything. And for another, this consumerist economy is not sustainable in the long term. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/03/dont-buy-it/ In January, I rode my bike only twice. Why? 1. It was really, really cold. 2. I was really, really sick for about 2 weeks so I didn’t go anywhere.   I also didn’t ride very much. Here are the numbers: 1/18/08 - 4.7 miles  1/21/08 - 8.7 miles (25 degree Fahrenheit) http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/02/02/rioting-bicycling/ Ok. All January I tracked as much as I could. I think I tracked everything, but its in various places. So here is the first installment. Its on google spreadsheets. It tracks my public transit use because I wanted to see how much gasoline I used in public transit every ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/31/rioting-micromanagement/ Sorry about all that template updating yesterday. I wanted to try out a new theme, but blogsome is somewhat limiting in what themes are available, so I was hand coding everything trying to make the page pretty and compliant. But I think I sent out a million updates. So…sorry to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/31/900/ I will be having some posts about money for awhile as its been on my mind more than usual. While waiting for my husband to show up for a cheap date (a meditation class) at a local B&N a few nights back, I picked up Jeff Yeager’s book, The Ultimate ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/30/first-financial-memory/ People have been singing the praises of catalog choice as it supposedly removes all the unwanted catalogs from one’s mail box - I have yet to see any results. However, now catalog choice has a very nice database of my past consumer habits and what I don’t want. Will they ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/29/catalog-choice/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/28/tightwad-representative/ This is a long one.   I am reading articles about the middle class squeeze on msn. I am not sure if I am middle class. I don’t think I am. But I do recognize that I make more money than probably half the planet and have a living standard that provides ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/25/class-talk/ Some people have warm, supportive, loving family members. Other people have husbands that will wake up at 5:30 in the morning to roll out tortillas and make a fish taco to satisfy his wife’s craving. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/25/love/ Although I stopped tracking my expenses in 2007 when I got stressed (which happened several times), I thought I’d try to reconstruct my expenses from other methods. I tried to use my debit or credit card whenever possible so it makes it a bit easier to reconstruct. Between my husband ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/24/2007-money/ U.S. Paying Down Debt With the advent of surpluses, the United States has begun to make real progress in paying down its debt. During 1998–2000, debt held by the public fell from $3.8 trillion to $3.4 trillion—a $363 billion drop. By the end of this year, more than $200 billion in ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/23/us-paying-down-debt/ One of my many goals is to be a gracious, delightful dinner party hostess. I’ve hosted small parties before, but its usually very stressful to do so. I have friends with idiotic (yes, idiotic) allergies, food preferences, and so on. So its a pain in the ass to cook something ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/23/dinner/ Uses for vinegar via PTF http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/22/uses-for-vinegar/ Its very cold here in Philadelphia. In fact, it has been so cold, I’ve done something I have never done before: day dream about living in Southern California. So I spent time over the weekend looking for jobs in Southern California. I also turned on the heat because my entire body ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/22/cold/ Today I made Autumn and Winter Soup. The recipe is from The Balanced Plate, by Renée Loux. The recipe is below: INGREDIENTS: 1 large yellow onion, diced 1 red onion, diced 4-6 shallots, peeled and chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 carrots, scrubbed or peeled and roughly chopped 2 parsnips ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/21/autumn-and-winter-house-soup/ Life and Debt. Available on netflix to watch instantly. From the documentary’s website: Life & Debt is a woven tapestry of sequences focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas. By combining traditional ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/20/documentary-worth-watching/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/20/tofu-seitan/ Well, my husband quit his job earlier this week, so instead of pretending we have to live on just my income, now we really have to live on my income. Obviously this puts a stop on student loan payments for the time being. The reason for quitting? It was high stress ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/18/quitting/ One thing I realized now that my husband and I cook all our meals from scratch is the sheer amount of flour we use. We use it to bake breads, pies, etc. And since we will be living on very little money this year (for a variety of reasons), I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/17/flour/ I think I need to look for a new job. This is what I don’t want in my next job because they were reasons I quit previous jobs: 1. Overbearing, anal (in a bad way) co-workers/boss 2. Sexual harassment 3. Serving clients that were unethical/mean 4. Job that made me feel like my brain ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/16/job-hopping/ Become deliriously sick and possess a very vivid imagination. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/15/tightwad-way-to-experience-the-effects-of-lsd/ I am currently reading “The Other Side of Eden” by Hugh Brody. I forget who recommended the book, but it has been very enlightening in enabling me to understand the Inuit and their culture. Many of the books I’ve been reading during the past year have taught me how much ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/11/excerpt-from-the-other-side-of-eden/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/10/being-a-tightwad-magazine-subscriptions/ Retirement: Ideally I want to max out both our Roth IRA accounts this year. That is probably not going to happen. Unless we win the lottery. Which will also not happen because I never buy lottery tickets or pay any attention to that industry. So we will probably contribute about ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/09/financial-goals/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/08/making-laundry-detergent/ This is a bit of a brain dump. Over the weekend we had more meals that were cooked from locally grown ingredients. Spelt pancakes (containing a bit of cinnamon) and served with sliced apples and maple syrup (all local). It was excellent! I also baked a vegan tart from the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/07/weekend-meals/ I listen to classical music and I love not having to buy classical music. The Alexander Street: Music blog has free downloads every week that exposes me to new composers, many of whom I learn to really like. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/05/free-classical-music/ Last night’s dinner and today’s brunch was the most local yet. Last night I made steak, glazed carrots and mashed acorn squash (I over cooked the squash so I mashed it). I marinated the steak in dijon mustard, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce and cooked it on low heat for about an ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/04/dinner-and-brunch/ 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 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/03/footwear/ So now that I can focus on stuff besides school, I have to face the reality of investing and saving for retirement and other major purchases for the future (such as land and a house). Right now, I have some stock in a company I believe in because of their ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/02/investing/ Happy New Year! After last year, I have high hopes for this year. In many regards 2007 was one of the more horrid ones personally for me. But I learned much from the experiences and have many plans and goals for 2008. I usually don’t have resolutions, but this year ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2008/01/01/new-year/ I am writing my thoughts down so I can look back and see my state of mind as it is right now. By next December my husband and I plan on moving from Philadelphia. Where to? We’re not sure yet. Why are we moving? So my husband can go to medical ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/30/thinking/ Ever since I had the idea to use bathwater to flush the toilet I am bothered by the fact that millions of people use drinkable water to flush their sh*t. This is very troubling because I think I read that we are having a water problem. I was motivated ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/30/flushing-the-toilet/ I joined the Riot for Austerity mailing list sometime this past summer. I posted my baseline and then proceeded to figure out where I should begin. Thinking that the goals were impossible to reach, I decided to try anyway and I am glad I did because my progress in ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/28/update-on-my-rioting/ I received an email recently regarding the Winter Buying club and the email contained this little snippet: Sam Consylman, our ever-curious forager and grower of interesting vegetables (google Sam!) is offering to three and only three Winter Harvest members a root cluster of Jerusalem artichokes (a corruption of girasole: It. sunflower) ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/27/sam-consylman/ So I am freezing my buns (its actually my toes, my buns are always warm), in more or less freezing wonder and perhaps one or two of you are wondering if I actually am freezing. Well yes. But for about 3 days in the early part of the evening a few ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/26/coming-clean/ http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/25/merry-christmas/ Santa is coming! And after getting tired of his complaining reindeer, he is now delivering gifts on a motorbike. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/24/santa/ I just made kim chee. The chinese cabbage, carrots, garlic and daikon radish are local. Additionally, we can use kim chee to make kim chee chigae which is a meat based soup and very, very tasty. One of the reasons I love making kim chee is, because its extremely easy ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/23/dark-days-challenge-update/ Since the end of tomato season and after we ran out of the last jar of home made tomato/pizza sauce, I’ve been really craving pizza. So I made pizza this week. I wanted to eat tomatoes that were local when picked and hopefully preserved and turned into pizza sauce. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/21/dark-days-challenge-update-2/ I spent some time with the old folks yesterday. It had been a while since I’ve been in a car so I was more or less terrified of traveling along the street that is home to some of the deadliest intersections in the country. But, I survived and live to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/20/living-in-a-bubble/ I found a farm subsidy database that tracks who gets how much money in farm subsidies. To understand the history of the farm subsidy bill, a reading of the Agricultural Adjustment Act will be necessary. It was originally part of FDR’s New Deal package that was reformulated after it was ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/19/farm-subsidy-database/ Answer: Hanging out with old people with whom you have absolutely nothing in common. In other words, they dislike their spouses, think “organic food” is a giant con to get one to spend alot of money, are very religious (in the sense that they think that there is a heaven ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/19/whats-worse-than-hanging-out-with-old-people/ Today I made a budget that makes me happy. It has my new salary (now that I’m working full time) and my husband’s salary divided proportionately between all our little categories. Since I will finally have some wiggle room, I can have categories such as “recreation” and “charity”. While the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/18/budgeting/ 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. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/17/making-tofu/ Its in the mid 30s this afternoon. I am sitting in my warm sheep skin slippers with my hot water bottle on my lap knitting my second pair of socks for my husband. The pattern is interesting enough that it isn’t boring me, and it looks really nice. I’m ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/15/quiet-afternoon/ Yesterday to celebrate finishing my last exam* I stopped by the Reading Terminal Market to buy some local butter and beeswax candles. While I was at the fair food farmstand, I noticed an ice cream brand I’d never heard of before: Chilly Philly Ice Cream. I got the Vanilla flavor, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/14/chilly-philly/ If I have to point to one place where I became aware of the garbage problem I have to thank The Debt Defier (now debt free and living in Thailand) for posting a picture of a landfill. I am not obsessive enough to hunt the picture down, but its there ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/12/avoiding-mak-ing-trash/ After I joined the dark days challenge, I found out that there was a winter harvest buying club. I immediately joined and expect to get my first set of produce in January. So now, the challenge doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. My argument is that some people get ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/11/dark-days-challenge-update1/ I bought two quarts of soy beans at the farmer’s market recently. I cooked it in the crockpot, and then started shelling them. It took me an hour before I was done and began wondering about the frozen edamame I had purchased at Trader Joe’s a few years back. At ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/10/edamame/ For the past several years I’ve managed to avoid getting involved with the seasonal activities at this time of the year because I dislike everything about it. I hate "Christmas" music because its annoying and the lyrics are just plain weird. I hate gift giving because its a waste of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/08/tis-the-season-to-be-grouchy/ Every year during the winter, I slip and fall on a icy sidewalk. Usually this occurs later in the season. This year, not only did I slip, fall and land on both knees after the first snow (flurry) fall, but it happened on a wet SEPTA bus. I hope this doesn’t ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/07/falling/ 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, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/07/soy-milk/ In addition to freezing my buns, I also decided to join another challenge: The Dark Days Challenge. Sounds ominous. Since I will be getting a school break in 8 days (wee!) I have all sorts of plans on what I would like to do. Although I do like Kim Chee, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/05/dark-days/ Every week it gets a little bit colder. Every weekend we find new holes in our rented house that need patching up and/or sealing. This serves two purposes: it keeps the draftiness down to a minimum and prevents access points for small creatures such as a mouse. The interesting thing is ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/04/taking-a-page-from-the-homeless/ Pizzaz always triumphs over content. Apparently I should get used to this. This piece of information was passed on by a professor. I think I should demand my tuition money back. I already knew this. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/03/todays-lesson/ The temperature hit 32&deg F today. There was a mixture of snow, ice and rain for most of the day. This means slippery sidewalks and a colder household. One downside to not turning on the heat, is that its taking longer for our beer to ferment. In an attempt to further ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/12/02/freezing/ I gave a small bit of money to the Green Party and I received a bumper sticker. Since I don’t own a death wagon, I stuck it on my bicycle. So it is now a rod sticker. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/30/bumper-sticker/ Its nice when (on the rare occasions) college work and life intersect. I’ve been learning about cafeteria plans in my risk class, and this open enrollment season I signed up for a cafeteria plan which on paper seems to be just what I need. Whether I will be unhappy with ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/29/cafeteria-health-plans/ I haven’t written about my finances here lately. But here is the latest. Husband began a new job that pays quite well (to us, its probably not much to others). I reduced my hours at work and was bring in about $600 net per month for the past few months, so ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/student-loan/ I realized today that I am a very tidy person when school isn’t in session. I remember when I was between 11th and 12th grade I had a very long break (including summer holiday) and it was the first time that I can remember when my room was tidy consistently. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/27/tidy/ One way to keep warm during the Freeze yer buns challenge is to do deep cleaning. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/26/keeping-warm/ I recall reading that Japanese homes had no central heating and searched the web for articles on how they keep warm. I found a mother jones article that was published in 1976 that was very enlightening. An excerpt: As you might have suspected, we did wear more sweaters and other such ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/19/how-the-japanese-keep-warm/ We still haven’t turned on the heat, but it was nice to come across the following article while working on a paper, “Japan Sweats It Out As It Wages War On Air Conditioning”. An excerpt: Late last month, the presidents of Japan’s three biggest banks gathered to make an important announcement: ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/18/article-on-cooling-down/ A few days ago, I stopped by the local acme to pick up soy creamer which I usually have with my morning coffee. However, there wasn’t any soy creamer and I freaked out (in a minor way). I don’t like to drink coffee with regular soy milk because the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/16/organic/ I found out about Purple Women via m and this is my contribution regarding my decision to remain child-free. Although I was on the fence about having kids until recently, after I finally made up my mind I realized that I never had wanted to have children, either by being a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/15/being-purple/ While browsing Netflix, I came across a television show called “The Good Life“. Only Season 4 is available for instant viewing, and so far I love the show. On his 40th birthday to be precise, Tom Good decides that he’s had enough of the rat race and that he and wife ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/11/the-good-life/ My thoughts right now have to do with an event that will take place a year or more from now: a cross country move. On one hand, I am perfectly happy with tossing out (giving or selling) all our stuff (although I will miss our composter and IKEA dining table). ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/09/on-my-mind/ I am reading Karen Armstrong’s The Battle For God. Its primarily about how religious (of the three monotheistic faiths) fundamentalism came into being. An excerpt about Mohammad Ali’s efforts on equipping an Egyptian army: The pasha was thus forced to conscript the fellahin, dragging them from their homes, families, and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/07/agriculture-in-egypt/ While browsing various sites looking for a good hot water bottle, I found Jane Rose’s Beach Litter Art: The inspiration for my artwork comes from my passion for beachcombing, which I do along the shores of the Isle of Colonsay where I live. A small Inner Hebridean Island off the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/06/beach-trash-art/ I recently joined Crunchy Chicken’s “Freeze Yer Buns” challenge. Why did I join? Because I think its a fun little challenge, how would I deal with the cold if there was an electric shortage or something along those lines? I also think we could save some money. The best ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/06/freezing-my-buns/ Excerpt from the article: The problem is, social movements have long been made by people far worse off than our indebted generation, a fact driven home on a recent trip to Tijuana, Mexico. I met a group of women, many in their mid-twenties and most with children, employed by the foreign-owned ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/02/article-whatever-happened-to-the-good-life/ Only time will tell. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/02/will-we-have-tomatoes-this-christmas/ Why are there more crazy men than women riding SEPTA? I think I’ve seen one crazy woman riding SEPTA in all the years I’ve been here. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/11/01/crazies/ Penn State has a sustainability website. Their mission: The mission of the Penn State Center for Sustainability (CfS) is to integrate education, research, and outreach on issues of sustainability through innovative, interdisciplinary projects, facilities, and hands-on learning opportunities. Our Educational Mission: To support the ecological literacy and stewardship of students, faculty, and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/31/penn-states-sustainability-site/ After hearing many good things, I decided to buy one pair of Smart Wool socks for my husband and myself. There are claims that they can last for almost a decade and I want to see if that is true. SmartWool also claims that 10% of every website order ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/31/socks-and-slippers/ http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/27/100/ Its a rainy day today. Since the farmer’s markets will soon close I didn’t want to miss it. I am stocking up cheese that is so tasty I think its better than chocolate. I got lotso stuff including yogurt. The yogurt container had the following address which I looked up ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/27/116d-s-ronks-road/ It seems that I may have finally managed to sign on to a CSA or a buying club (forget which) with Meadow Run Farm. They will be delivering animal products during the winter season. Every year I always miss signing up for these things and its annoying. The eggs, yogurt and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/26/meadow-run-farm/ It would be nice if my accounting and business classes begin discussing the ethical implications of the housing market “crisis” - about banks being bailed out for poor decisions that should have been analyzed some more. But we will instead focus on the past and discuss Enron to death. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/25/ethics/ Despite global warming, we still experience some bitterly cold days. This year in an attempt to stay warm indoors and save on our energy bill we decided to get some warm clothes. First on the agenda is slippers. LL Bean’s Wicked Good Slippers seem to be highly recommended. But I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/24/made-in-the-usa/ I love reading different ways of subverting the so called norm. Dumpster Divers Go Mainstream In Thrifty Germany: “It’s the culture here in Germany,” says Dora Fecske, a Frankfurt businesswoman. “Why trash something if it’s still good?” She recently found a large wooden dining table in the street and carried it several ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/23/absolutely-free/ I’ve been having all sorts of “crazy” thoughts over the past few years. I’ve been actively thinking about retiring early and then thinking about exactly I can live and how little can I live and survive on and what to do during my retirement and exactly how long do I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/23/whats-the-ugliest-part-of-your-body/ *warning* negative post ahead In general my view of this city is growing more negative with each passing day. No matter where you are in the city, you’re always a few blocks from the ghetto, or you have homeless people and other random creeps hanging around near your apartment or home. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/22/community-garden/ Since the first and second installment of our frugal habits, I thought I’d put out a new one. Clothing We’ve started purchasing clothes from the thrift store. This fits in with our environmental concerns (buying used) and our wallets. There is a great thrift store not very far from our place and ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/19/more-frugal-habits/ It would have been nice to have all this self analysis and realization come to fruition the day after my last exam. But instead I had to have it now, in the middle of my final semester. I suppose philosophy cannot be timed. I’ve been reading Karen Armstrong’s memoirs (she ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/18/catharsis/ I am reading Karen Armstrong’s The Spiral Staircase. A small excerpt: In the course of my studies, I have discovered that the religious quest is not about discovering “the truth” or “the meaning of life” but about living as intensely as possible here and now. The idea is not to latch ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/17/being-human/ Oh brother are you gonna leave me wasting away On the streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia The picture above shows a very common sight in my neighborhood: litter. For whatever reason, there are some people who live near me that think that the streets of Philadelphia is a trash ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/15/trash/ This college thing is getting worse and worse. And I only have another 60 days to go. I don’t know how I’m going to finish especially since every day I feel like quitting with even more intensity than I felt the previous day. My solution: I’m going to aim low. ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/14/yet-another-mope-filled-day/ Image credit After work, my husband and I met up at the Reading Terminal Market. I’ve been wanting to eat more and more local foods, and I had other plans for the weekend, so I wanted to get some shopping done today. Last weekend when I went to the wine ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/12/sustainable-food/ I finished reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver a few days ago. While this certainly means I read this at the expense of studying, I realized that I am behaving no differently than I did when I was in Junior High: I just love reading books not assigned by ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/10/animal-vegetable-miracle/ From “Can you say recession“: the simple truth is America’s economy is built on people buying stuff, and their pockets are nearly empty. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/08/american-economy/ A cheap, easy meal to make in a jiffy. Ingredients include jasmine rice, carrots, beans, broccoli, eggs, onions, peppers, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce. Veggies were local. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/06/fried-rice/ I suppose the main thrust of the post is due to some of the posts I’ve read today, specifically, m’s post on the tao of making money on finding an blog audience she can relate to on some level. This post is going to be some what disjointed, but I’ll try ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/05/writing-about-struggles/ For aspiring corporate workers who think McD is an awesome company(and those who are bored): The McD video game. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/04/mcd-video-game/ Well the posts here aren’t going to be very cheery for awhile. I am very tired and down about school, about college life, about college administration about every thing college related. Yet, I did make the choice about returning to college. I suppose I’m just in what Seth Godin calls ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/10/02/gloom-and-doom/ Apples are in season (I think) and so I made something. However it got slightly burnt because I was too engrossed in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. An excellent read. The pie however, came out great despite the slight burns. I used honey instead of sugar and it tasted ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/30/apples/ The constant exhaustion and sleep deprivation. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/28/another-thing-i-wont-miss-about-college/ I am currently reading Happiness, a book by Matthieu Ricard. A section on renunciation really spoke to me, the section is below: The Intelligence of Renunciation Renunciation is a way of taking one’s life into one’s own hands, that is, of becoming fed up with being manipulated like a puppet by selfishness, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/26/renunciation/ Here are my favorite posts from the Urban Vegan: * summer express :: 101 simple vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less * Recipe: sun-dried tomato pesto * vegans gone wild! contest :: and the winner is…. * vegans gone wild runners up :: part 1 of 3 * vegans gone wild runners up ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/25/favorite-posts-urban-vegan/ Telephone Conversation with FIA Card Services. Me: I’d like to reduce my credit limit from $1,800 Customer Rep (CR): How low would you like it to go? Me: How low can I go? CR: Its up to you Me: Ok then, $50 CR: Uh…you can’t go that low Me: Well then, how low can I go? CR: $500 ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/24/credit-decrease/ From Penelope Trunk’s blog, Networking tips for introverts. An excerpt: Help others. For instance, send leads to jobseekers you know. You don’t have to talk to them, but they’ll remember the favor and view you as a friend. My husband maintains a list of specialized job sites that he sends ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/21/post-networking-tips-for-introverts/ Last weekend we decided to get the week’s grocery supplies from Reading Terminal Market. While at the market, I came across a beeswax candle shop and decided to buy some candles. Later after the sun set I asked my husband if he’d be willing to to spend the rest of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/20/an-experiment/ Classes are in session along with loads of homework, papers due, assignments due, exams due. I am severely stressed as evidenced by the vast amount of hair I manage to shed. Only a few more months and I will be done. And I can’t wait. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/19/challenges/ I read “Alternatives to Plastic” sometime in 2006 and immediately set about eliminating plastic from my life. It has been, by far, one of the most challenging goals I’ve ever set for myself. While I am a lot better now about avoiding plastic in my life than I was before, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/14/favorite-posts-on-living-plastic-free-in-2007/ Eating Beans and Rice by Pat Meadows http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/12/blog-post-eating-beans-and-rice/ I wasn’t very good in saving much money buying textbooks this semester, but I did avoid purchasing 2 required textbooks and saved some money for one of my classes. Here is how I did it. Both texts are required for a single class. Textbook #1 is from a publishing company. However ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/11/text-book-savings/ While reading for a class, I came across the story of Java Logs. I promptly looked it up. From the website: Java-Log, an innovative new firelog made from 100 per cent recycled spent coffee grounds that burns brighter and more beautifully than sawdust firelogs. Java-Log burns for up to three hours, producing ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/10/java-logs/ I recently watched a documentary about Ralph Nader and read a few articles and books about/by him and decided to join the Green Party. The Green Party has 10 Key Values, all of which appeal to me: GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/07/green-party/ I recently read a very interesting article by Vicki Robin where she reiterates facts I’m learning in B-School: Few of us realize that our money is no longer backed by anything real – not by gold, not by land, not by heads of cattle. Nor do we realize that the government ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/06/money/ I found an ecovillage in PA, Hundredfold Farm. From their website: The Hundredfold Farm Cohousing Community is an effort of several families to create a 14-household rural cohousing community in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania area . The members of this multi-generational community are learning together as they explore the art of living ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/05/ecovillage/ I was looking for an online calendar in an attempt to be more organized this semester and found 30 boxes to fit my requirements perfectly. By which it had one main feature I wanted: ability to view the description in my printout. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/09/03/online-calendar/ These are some of my favorite posts on The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, who says: I’m working on a book, THE HAPPINESS PROJECT–a memoir about the year I spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study I could find, whether from Aristotle or St. Therese or Martin Seligman or ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/31/favorite-posts-on-the-happiness-project/ A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring [216] There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. - Alexander Pope in An Essay on Criticism http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/29/quote/ This past weekend, my husband and I visited Greensgrow Farms for the first time. We rode our bikes there and it was a really nice ride. It was my first time on farm of any sort so I was especially excited. We purchased an eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/28/greensgrow-farms/ Classes begin today. Blogging will be light from now onward. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/27/undergrad-woes/ The Worsted Witch is one of my favorite blogs. The author, Jasmine, combines more interests of mine together on one blog than any other blog I know of such: knitting, the environment, eating locally and voluntary simplicity along with many other topics. Here are some of my favorite posts that ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/24/favorite-posts-on-the-worsted-witch/ When I am not too busy with school one of my favorite activities is to bike along the Schuykill River Bike trail that goes all the way to Valley Forge. We usually bike to Norristown and back (total of 40 miles) and have a pitstop in Norristown at an excellent ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/23/frugal-things-to-do-2/ In addition to the frugal habits I mentioned before, here are some additional habits I follow. These ones are fairly new (less than a year old). 1. Don’t buy trash bags. We use grocery bags from the groceries we buy. But since we use our own cloth bags in bagging ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/22/other-frugal-habits/ I enrolled in Peco’s Wind Energy Program. Below is an excerpt from the confirmation email I received. I hope this decision doesn’t kill too many migratory birds that aren’t pigeons. Thank you for choosing PECO WIND energy! Your commitment to purchase PECO WIND energy will help create a healthier environment by reducing ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/21/wind-energy/ Here is a smart 16 year old. I wish her well and completely understand her point of view. An excerpt: The hostility I’ve encountered on the streets of Toronto as a cyclist is astonishing. Once, biking home from the beach a car sped by so closely that its side-view mirror actually ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/20/bicyclists-are-entitled-to-a-piece-of-the-road-too/ Here are my favorite posts from No Impact Man. * Making bread (includes his recipe for making bread which I haven’t had a chance to try yet) * Stopping the junk mail tree killers (I’ve tried many of the suggestions and they’ve worked. I have not tried subscribing to Green Dimes. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/17/favorite-posts-on-making-bread/ Since I love reading, I love attending book readings. Its free and you get to be part of a (usually intimate) audience that is really into reading. Earlier this evening my husband and I attended a reading by William Gibson. My husband is a fan of his and I’ve enjoyed ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/17/frugal-stuff-to-do-1/ I began my undergraduate degree in the Fall of 1999. My parents paid the first semester’s tuition bill by taking on debt. The next three semesters (and two summer sessions) were paid with parents taking on debt, me getting a scholarship and me paying tuition with a credit card. I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/15/paying-for-college-out-of-pocket/ I am reading a phenomenal book: The Party’s Over. Here is an excerpt about transportation. Specifically the car. Which I have a strong distaste for. I will go as far as to say that I have strong feelings in my hatred towards the car than I do for anything ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/14/excerpt-from-the-partys-over/ I’ve been somewhat obsessed with the finances and the concept of happiness for most of my adult life. I am always thinking about these two issues and spent alot of time thinking about it during the past few years’ housing bubble. Why were people so obsessed with the idea of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/13/great-quote/ I save many posts from the many blogs I read because I think they are worth re-reading. Here are some of my favorites from zen habits: * Refresh Your Focus Every Week to Achieve More * A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life, With 7 Practices * 8 Practical Tips to Cure ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/10/favorite-posts/ I feel like I am being tugged by two seemingly conflicted view points. First let me talk about the more fun view. The first view point is me being a “bum”. No permanent job, but working just to get by with a moderate amount of savings. I spend the majority of ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/09/living/ There is only one main goal I have for my future. That goal is: not working. I dislike working because it gets in the way of everything I like to do: bicycling, reading, sleeping, cooking, exploring, learning musical instruments, painting, drawing, writing (one of my long held goals when I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/07/2016/ Inspired by M’s post on Get Rich Slowly, here is a list of our frugal habits. Like M, our habits were formed with the idea that they would be sustainable in the long term and would not make us feel like we were depriving ourselves. Many of the items may ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/06/my-frugal-habits/ If I pass all my courses between now and December, I will be receiving my college diploma in December. Between now and my last day of classes I have 4.5 months left. I recently read Seth Godin’s “The Dip” and I feel like I’ve been in the Dip for a ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/03/45-months/ I work with a lot of older people. They are always keeps telling me how much I will miss school once I graduate and move into the “real world”. And every time I say, no I won’t! I hate school. Now, it has occurred to me why people actually keep ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/08/01/i-wont-miss-school/ “No Sex Please, We’re Organizing” (sources) http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/31/clutter-clutter-every-where/ I’m almost done reading Linda McQuaig’s ‘It’s The Crude, Dude‘ (which by the way is an awful name. What demographic were the publishers trying to reach? Also labelling McQuaig as “Canada’s Michael Moore” in an insult). Its a facinating book that closed many knowledge gaps I had. Worth reading ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/26/oil/ 15 hour day today. And yesterday and for the rest of the week. Blogging will be sporadic. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/25/busy-and-tired/ I am now a student member of PICPA (Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants). The membership was $10/year. So I think it was a good value even though I am not sure on whether I plan on staying in PA after I graduate. I hope they have activities on the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/20/picpa/ I am taking two courses this summer session, one of which is “International Monetary Economics”. While I was excited on the first day of class, this course, like other economics courses is a huge *yawn*. The course is actually quite interesting. Topics include, how foreign exchange rates are determined, and the ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/international-monetary-economics/ Home made pizza with home made sauce (store bought cheese) and home made sangria. http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/18/last-nights-dinner/ Our debts: Hubby’s student loan (consolidated at 4.125%): $41,456.78 My Visa: $110.00 My Mastercard (0% APR) : $1,390.92 My Line of Credit (LOC at13.99%): $1,121.46 Student Loans Subsidized (due in June 2008): 2750.00 Student Loans Subsidized/Unsubsidized (not yet disbursed due in June 2008): 2500.00+ 2750.00+320.00 = $5,570 Goal is to be debt free ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/17/debts/ I just learned about walk score: What is Walk Score? Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. My current walk score was 86/100 which means: 70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It’s possible to get ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/16/walk-score/ Summer school has started again and I am taking two hard classes. So I will be spending the next 5 weeks moping around, cursing my classes and studying. If I do procrastinate, I plan on blogging. But I really need to get my act together and study diligently if I ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/16/warning-few-posts-ahead/ In 2006 I did many significant actions that benefited my wallet: switched to cloth napkins (gladrags), tossed out the microwave (to prevent myself from buying and eating instant and packaged food, quitting my FT job when my expenses had been whittled down (the two of us can live on less ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/16/saving-money/ I purchased a clothing item from LL Bean this morning. Before I thought to check to see where the clothing item was manufactured. I had ordered a Polo shirt. I then contacted LL Bean asking: Additionally, I would like to know which items that you sell are made/produced/handled outside the United ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/12/ll-bean/ Flakey sounding post follows… I spent this past weekend in Manhattan. It was nice. I visited the Financial District for the very first time. And I love it! I thought it would be crappy, but because the area is so old, its almost cute. Now that I can tell the difference ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/11/weekend/ I am in my late 20s. Husband is in his early 30s. We plan on purchasing a house/permanent living space when I am in my mid to late 30s. Between now and then we plan on eliminating our debts (student loans) traveling and possibly living abroad and growing our savings ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/06/housing/ 1. Gasoline. Average American usage is 500 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR. A 90 percent reduction would be 50 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR. * No reduction in emissions for ethanol or biodiesel. * Public transportation and Waste Veggie Oil Fuel are deemed to ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/05/my-baseline/ I’ve been reading a book entitled “The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an extrovert world” by Marti Olsen Laney. Its been almost life changing because I became aware of what it actually means to be an introvert. Why I am exhausted on Friday nights to go anywhere, why being ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/05/motivation/ This past few weeks I’ve been gathering data about our finances. To date, I tracked everything individually and have been doing it for the last several months. I decided to combine our finances on paper because we may plan to purchase significant assets in the future (3-8 years). Because the biggest ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/04/finances/ Since I joined the 90% reduction group, I’ve been paying more attention to my consumption. I’ve been composting, buying locally, and walking to the subway station more than taking the bus to the subway station. This walk to the subway has ensured that I walk atleast 1-2 miles ... http://beancounter.blogsome.com/2007/07/02/progress/