So, where do we go from here?
Quiet simply the world is in our hands.. Its all about our choices, not our neighbours or our governments, Its about the choices We make which make a difference.
My own thoughts are that we have to start and embrace a simpler way of living, we have to stop ‘Wanting’ all the time..
Lately, I have been extremely discouraged by what I believe are very critical challenges facing my generation. One of the primary challenges I see is the crippling amount of debt borne by the average American college graduate in times of intense competition for work.
In this climate in which individuals step out into the world with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, the dream of owning a home can seem impossible, even with a decent job.
“We so often hear that the world is running out of water. People are dying from lack of water. Rivers are dewatered from lack of water. Because of this we need to take shorter showers. See the disconnect? Because I take showers, I’m responsible for drawing down aquifers? Well, no. More than 90 percent of the water used by humans is used by agriculture and industry. The remaining 10 percent is split between municipalities and actual living breathing individual humans. Collectively, municipal golf courses use as much water as municipal human beings. People (both human people and fish people) aren’t dying because the world is running out of water. They’re dying because the water is being stolen.”
– from “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change,” by Derrick Jensen in “Onion” Magazine. Profound and eye-opening! To read the full article, click here.
Tammy Strobel blogs at “Rowdy Kittens” about simplifying her life, riding bicycles, and living in tiny houses (or as she puts it, finding “fulfillment in less stuff, less debt and less wage-chasing”). Simplicity! I’m in favor of it.
She has a print book scheduled for release in September. The title is: “You Can Buy Happiness (And It’s Cheap).”
If we had a Pulitzer Prize for book titles, that would be a winner. You can see the cover and read a little more about her book here. It’s nonfiction, and already listed for preorder in paperback on Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobel. I can’t wait to read it. I think I’ll probably order some happiness as well, since it’s cheap. Maybe I’ll buy happiness in large quantities, enough to share. Continue reading
From That Used To Be Us, by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum; Chapter 13, “Devaluation:”
THOMAS FRIEDMAN, Wikimedia Commons
“. . . something else that happened with the end of the Cold War and the passing of the baton from the Greatest Generation to the baby boom generation: an erosion of important, traditional American values that long underpinned our public and commercial life. . . .
“A well-functioning political system must be rooted in something deeper than itself: Continue reading
While I’m working myself into a lather, writing my next post about THE END of Civilization in America, you have time to enjoy this spirit-lifting essay by Ms. B, a gifted British blogger. She manages to cover many of the things that really matter — dogs, austerity, friendship. Ms. B makes her points deftly and moves on. She doesn’t beat you over the head, again and again, about the same boring issues, the way I do.
A TALL, SNOW-COVERED, OUTDOOR CHRISTMAS TREE IS THE RIGHT SOLUTION WHEN YOU LIVE IN A SMALL, INDOOR APARTMENT.
I’m making some progress on downsizing and simplifying my lifestyle. Two years ago, I moved from a large apartment in a pricey suburban neighborhood to a small apartment in a rural/seasonal resort area three hours from the cities.
I gave away a lot of stuff, and moved what was left helter-skelter into a one-room apartment. It has two windows in front and a door and screened porch in back. Cross-ventilation!
Rent is reasonable and includes all utilities. Priceless amenities are a quiet street that ends at the marsh; a parking space; a small fenced yard, with nothing but woods beyond; cable TV and high-speed internet service.
CLUTTER GONE WILD.
CLUTTER ALL AROUND.
A COMPLETE GALLEY KITCHEN. EVEN A FIRE EXTINGUISHER, IN CASE I TRY TO COOK.
My neighborhood is an enclave of quiet affluence. Within sight, across the water, is a resort that can be rowdy in summer and a ghost town in winter. I might be the poorest church mouse on the block, but not the only one living on a tight budget. A few of the houses are little more than old beach cottages, but most are medium-size, modern homes with that suburban look. Some of the more spacious houses have million-dollar waterfront views. Within a short walk are two grand, waterfront homes that must be worth . . . I can’t even guess. One of them is a modern mansion.
THE MARSH IN WINTER. VISIBLE BY WALKING DOWN THE STREET. NATURAL BEAUTY AND PUBLIC SPACES ARE IMPORTANT AND USUALLY FREE.
But I digress. This post is not about living large in a mansion. Anyone could do that. And it’s not about living large in your car or a tent, which would be more of a challenge than I’m up to. We’re talking about a modest and attainable goal of living large in a small apartment. (If your apartment has a separate living room and bedroom, with a walk-in closet . . . well, that doesn’t qualify as small).
SAFE AT HOME. LOLA IS PERFECTLY CONTENT IN A SMALL APARTMENT.
My challenges with living large in a one-room apartment are the same ones I would have in a big house. Fundamentally, I have no “nesting instinct.” Plus, I’m disorganized. The only kind of order that comes naturally to me is “Robert’s Rules of Order.” For everyday life, the nesting instinct is more useful than Robert’s Rules.
Here are Hayden’s Rules of Order for one-room apartment living:
HOME OFFICE OF THE ConsterNation BLOGGING EMPIRE. SOMETIMES ALSO USED AS A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS.
I’ve saved the most important secret of living large for last. As you can plainly see from the photos, I need to reduce clutter.
People sometimes criticize me for having too much “stuff.” I’ve gotten rid of enormous amounts of stuff, but I still have too much. Other people have their stuff all over the basement, the garage, the attic, the walk-in closet, the guest room. And that’s not all. Homeowners often rent a storage space for their extra stuff. Why don’t they simply give it away or sell it on eBay?
Everything I own is inside my one-room apartment, or inside my car, which is parked in the driveway. And there’s a limit to how much clutter I can hide in the trunk of the car.
To sum up, I need to get organized and reduce clutter. That’s not too much to ask. I call this challenge “My Apartment Project.” Two years is long enough to put it off. What you see here are the “before” pictures. Coming soon will be the “after” pictures. Wish me luck and stay tuned.
If you have any helpful tips on one-room apartment living, they would be welcome under “comments” below.
– John Hayden
Image via Wikipedia
So now I realize that my wayward life has become a series PROJECTS.
I use the word “project” in the baseball sense. Major League teams are eager to sign talented young players who are promising “prospects.” Note the difference between a prospect and a project.
A “prospect” has a real chance to make it in the Major Leagues, after a year or two in the minors. Baseball scouts have high expectations for a prospect. He probably gets a bonus simply for signing a contract. Hence, the term, “bonus baby.” Millions, sometimes, for raw talent.
A “project,” on the other hand, is a young player who appears to possibly have the makings of a Major Leaguer. But the wise old men of baseball understand that this player needs a lot of coaching, and maybe years of seasoning in the minors. Developing this rookie into a Major Leaguer is a project for the long term. The outcome is by no means certain.
My projects are never going to the Major Leagues, but they will require perseverance to reach humble goals. I’ve already mentioned the first two projects:
In addition to Austerity and Fitness, the care and organization of my small and disorderly living space has achieved the status of full-fledged project. My Apartment Project. More on this to come soon, with “before” pictures.
And now I see that the Holiday Project is upon us again. This is primarily a Survival Project. The Holiday Project will make all the other projects more challenging. Normal life resumes on Jan. 2, 2011.
After the holidays looms My Job Project. Talk about a humble project! It’s weighing on my mind a little. But not too much, thanks to Social Security.
I feel a rant coming on soon about politicians who want to solve the national budget and debt crisis by killing Social Security. They want to throw aging workers under the bus. Or put us on an iceberg and let us drift out to sea.
Excuse me, but I’ve been paying taxes into Social Security since I went to work at McDonalds at age 16. Social Security is not like welfare, or even food stamps. My Social Security is b0ught and paid for. I own it. It belongs to me. Do I make myself clear?
As you can see, I’m dealing with a full load of projects here. And I haven’t even mentioned the Laundry Project, which has reached the top of the priority list for tomorrow, or the Blogging Project, the one that keeps me typing until the middle of the night.
If it weren’t for the Blogging Project, consisting of three different blogs (which is two blogs too many), I’d have more time to focus on the important projects.
– John Hayden
Image via Wikipedia
It’s too soon to know whether the Austerity Project will be a success. I’m defining “success” to mean reducing my spending to match my income.
The total damage for Austerity Project, Week No. 1, was $189.13. Issues from Week No. 1: I ate pizza three times. That number has to come down. My biggest single expenditure was a fill-up at the gas station, with regular at $2.76 a gallon, for a total of $33.68. After rent, health insurance, and food, gas for the car is my next highest monthly expense. Soon I’m going to need an oil change and some regular maintenance, which is not included in the monthly budget. And looming in February is the $700 annual payment for car insurance, which is also off-budget.
The first day of Week No. 2 was my first day with no expenditures. Not a penny. Tuesday was $16.23 for miscellaneous household goods at Walmart.
Today, I signed up with a health club, aka “gym,” with a commitment of $19.95 a month for the next year! I did not make this decision lightly. There is no health club line in my monthly budget. I don’t know where the $19.95 a month is coming from. But you have to admit it’s a good price for a health club membership.
With a fancy new health club opening, there’s something of a price war going on among health clubs in my area. I found the $19.95 price at a so-called “bare bones” club. It doesn’t have a sauna or whirlpool or spa. The locker room is small. No towel service. But the place is bright and airy, and they’ve got more equipment than I’ll ever use.
I’m thinking that at age 62, with creakiness in the bones and weakness in the muscles, the health club membership comes close to qualifying as an essential.
It’s not as if I’ve been inactive in the past year. For much of that time, I worked as a security guard, which was mostly walking, walking, walking around a large building and grounds. In other words, my job was to be a moving, human scarecrow. Since August, I’ve spent a lot of time on political campaigning, which also involved lots of walking. I got a sunburn, and then a tan, on my face, but I can’t say I feel any healthier for all the walking. The campaigning resulted in two disappointing losses, first my own in the primary, and then the candidate I volunteered for in the general election.
Now, with the security guard job and the campaign over, and winter coming on, I feel like I’m facing rapid deterioration if I don’t keep these old bones moving. The health club is less than $1 a day, and it will give me another place (in addition to the library) where I can go to get out of the rain and snow.
I’m starting the health club adventure at near rock bottom (I always feel rock bottom this time of year, with the shortening daylight and the sun low in the sky). Job one is to get myself to the health club almost every day. It will be interesting to see if the exercise makes a difference. Any improvement in health of mind and/or body will be well worth the $19.95.
Stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted.
– John Hayden
On this first day of November, in the Year of Our Lord 2010, it’s time for me to begin.
After a lifetime of free spending, I’m changing my ways. I’ve never had expensive tastes, and in the past two years, I’ve downsized my lifestyle and focused on simple living.
Now, I have to get really serious. In June, I turned 62, and in August, I received my first Social Security payment, direct-deposited into my checking account. For a variety of reasons, it looks like I’ll never have a middle-class job again. So it’s me and Social Security, and whatever part-time or seasonal work I can find. The rent is covered, and a few other items that I still think of as “necessities.” (Food comes to mind.) But there’s no budget line for “discretionary spending.” There’s no financial margin for error or excess.
Therefore, I will begin today, Nov. 1, 2010, to keep a record of everything I buy, everything I spend, down to the dollar. Hopefully down to the penny. I call it my Austerity Project. I should have done this a long time ago.
I have one of those old-fashioned elementary-school composition books, bright red color, made in India, I forget how much I paid for it. (See, that’s my problem. I never pay attention to how much I pay for the things I think I need. I need it, so I buy it.)
In this bright-red composition book, I will record every expenditure, every day. On this, the first day of the Austerity Project, I did one load of laundry at the laundromat ($3.25). While waiting for the clothes to dry, I had the off-season special from the Pizza place next door ($4.23, including tax, for two slices and a large Coke). I invested in an eight-pack of budget paper towels, which were on sale at Food Lion ($5.08). I bought a gallon of Turkey Hill iced tea and two bananas at Super Fresh ($3.65).
Total damage for Day One: $16.21.
Today was the last day of the 2010 election campaign, and tomorrow, Election Day, will be a long day volunteering at the polls. So I knew these first two days of the project were going to be hard on the budget. Tomorrow, I’ll probably grab a quick lunch at McDonald’s or someplace. The polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., so that probably means a couple shots of caffein during the day. Maybe a doughnut. Hey, Election Day is a special day for me. I’ll even go to a party after the polls close. Whether it’s a funeral or a celebration, I’ll buy at least one Coke at the cash bar.
Wednesday, the day after, will be hangover day, nothing to do but drive around and take down the campaign signs. No more excuses about hamburgers at McDonald’s or Cokes at 7-Eleven.
I never thought it would come to this. But then, I never was much of a realist.
I never thought a newspaper or a Coke would be a luxury I couldn’t afford. I can still enjoy those luxuries, but now, I must have discipline to drink the Coke at home, and read the newspaper at the library.
I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.
– John Hayden
I can compromise on cola, for the sake of frugality, but you gotta take a stand on principle somewhere.
I think I’ll draw my line at computers and operating systems. Two years ago, I paid twice the price for my Mac iBook from Apple, compared to a generic Windows laptop. Never regretted it. Would do it again (not that I can afford a new computer right now).
The point is, I don’t NEED a new computer. Apple keeps sending me free software updates over the Net. If I had bought the Windows laptop two years ago, that balky version of Windows would be obsolete, and I’d be faced with buying the new Windows or a new computer.
My brand loyalty to Apple is stronger than ever. I’m determined to hold out for an iPhone, or at least an iPod, when I can afford it. Right now, Apple is still coming out with significant improvements to the iPhone on a regular basis, and reducing the price as well. So I’m content to wait another year or two until the iPhone is fully evolved, and the price is lower.
Waiting to make an important purchase is a good approach to frugality. Paying more for a product that won’t be obsolete in six months can be thrifty in the long run. Immediate gratification is over-rated.
Coke has always been my cola. Yes, I can taste the difference! I usually stock up on extra Coke when it’s on sale. But when Pepsi is on sale and Coke is not, I stayed with the Coke.
Just this week I’ve realized that brand loyalty is an extravagance I can no longer afford. Unfortunately, I’ve also noticed that Pepsi seems to be on sale a lot more than Coke. A few weeks ago I was able to buy two-liter bottles of Coke for $1 at one of those “dollar” stores. Then it went up to $1.25.
I’ve searched the supermarkets and the discount stores in the past week. The regular price for a two-liter Coke seems to be $1.79. The lowest price I found was $1.25. But Pepsi is on sale for 99 cents!
Breaking a lifetime habit, I decided I simply could not justify paying 26 cents more for the taste of Coke. Just like that, Coke was no longer an essential in my everyday life. Does this count as an epiphany?
Now I’m getting serious about thrift. You’ll know I’m deadly serious when I shake the cola habit and switch to water or tea.
Geography of Frugality? Some of the Top 25, But Not All.
A little bit of Main Street in downtown Bangor, Maine.
It’s a good thing my niece and her husband, along with my sister, have a signed contract to buy a wonderful 100-year-old house in Brewer, Maine. Money Magazine has named Brewer’s neighbor, Bangor, Maine, as one of the 25 best places to retire in the U.S. Do you think house prices might go up?
Money mentions Bangor’s “four-season” climate as one of the area’s attractions. But I’m thinking retirees will not stampede to enjoy the frosty, northern climate. More likely, retirees will consider some of the magazine’s Sun Belt recommendations. Bangor and it’s twin city, Brewer, just across the Penobscot River, will remain unspoiled by fame, is my prediction.
Some, but not all, of the cities recommended by Money could qualify for my “geography of frugality” concept. Here are the top five on the list of 25:
Hmm, Port Charlotte and Surprise sound like good places to hunt for bargain-priced housing, if you’re interested in the Sun Belt. But Pinehurst, where an average three-bedroom house is $300,000, doesn’t sound so frugal. Money Magazine provided the average price for three-bedroom houses for all 25 cities listed. Unfortunately, it gave the percentage price decline only for the first five.
In Bangor, number 23 on Money’s list, the average price of a three-bedroom house is $165,000. My relatives snapped up their bargain house for less than $150,000. Bangor also has an international airport, a great bus system (I have this fantasy of saving money by living without a car), cultural attractions, and major regional medical facilities.
Then there’s the city of Philadelphia, at Number 10 on Money Magazine’s list. With an average three-bedroom house costing $375,000, Philly is way too pricey, in my opinion. I think I’ll investigate Surprise, Ariz., where prices are down a whopping 48 percent.
Last summer, my brother, Tom, and I took a quick weekend trip to explore some small towns in hilly, west-central Pennsylvania, between Altoona and Johnstown. We focused on a triangle of small towns — Ebensburg, Cresson and Loretto — and mostly ignored the two small cities.
I would nominate all three towns for any list of “coolest small towns” in America. Ebensburg is the largest of the three, a picturesque county seat with a Wal-Mart on the outskirts. Wonderful, big old houses, and a nice miles-long walking and bike trail on the right-of-way of an abandoned railroad line.
Cresson is a bit smaller, a railroad town and birthplace of Robert E. Peary. It has a small college and wonderfully friendly people. There’s a great family restaurant at the stoplight in the center of town, and a bed-and-breakfast next to the railroad tracks. The bed-and-breakfast promises visitors they should see a minimum of one train per hour during their stay.
Loretto is really nothing more than a village. But what a village! Loretto has its own university (St. Francis University), a monastery with beautiful landscaping, and a cathedral. This part of Pennsylvania has lots of Catholics!
Now comes the following report from Tom on his latest small-town discovery in central Pennsylvania:
Re affordable places to live . . .
Last weekend, visited Huntingdon, Pa., population 6,800, about 30 miles south of State College, Pa. (The main campus of the University of Pennsylvania and home of Nittany Lions football is at State College.)
Huntingdon was voted 5TH “coolest small town” in America in a recent poll by Budget Travel magazine.
I looked at a four-bedroom house in historic downtown area that seemed too good to be true. With a price of $90,000, this house was 2,000+ square feet, in great shape, with a large garage and small but nicely landscaped yard. The house was a short walk to stores and restaurants, public library, numerous churches, Amtrack train station, the Juniata River, etc.
Huntingdon is the county seat of Huntington County so there is the courthouse and municipal buildings as well. The town also is home to two colleges and a hospital.
It all looked so nice I’m planning to go back this weekend and explore some more. Have an appointment with a Realitor to look at a three-bedroom house listed at $70,000. I’ll give you an update if you like. Love the blog! Tom
Thanks for the report, Tom. Maybe we should write a book about small towns.
Please take some digital photos of Huntingdon and send them to me as attachments to an e-mail. Thanks.
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