June update

It's been a while since I posted! Part of it is that I've gotten some new tasks at work and classwork is as engaging as ever. I'm studying adult learning theory and there's a load of stuff to learn...about learning.

I've also been up to various house projects! It's been so rewarding investing time instead of money into little projects. Then, something unfortunate happened with OfferUp. I switched out my SIM card to test it on another phone, and the app suddenly required me to verify my account through phone number. Well, you might know that I use Freedompop, a carrier that gives you a 200MB data limit and phone number free every month. The caveat is that the phone number isn't recognized by services like Uber and certain verification services like this one. After a week of exchanging emails with Offer Up's customer service and no helpful suggestions how to get back up and running, I had to close my account. So unless I want to lie about my phone number, I'm out of luck for Offer Up, one of the less-flaky FREE person-to-person selling methods.

Another reason I haven't posted is because of conflicting feelings. I'll come right out and say that I failed one of my major commitments of avoiding spending money on games. Almost monthly, at this point. Luckily, that's averaged out to about $25 per month, but I still feel conflicted about dispensing advice that I can't follow. Another thought was the responses to frugal decisions in eliminating joy from your life to save money that reaches vegan and crossfit levels of annoying. But I have to remember that this is a blog post and readers have chosen to come here. Also, the satisfaction I experience of doing what I can to put money elsewhere outweighs the 'little joys' brought by having an underpaid person prepare my coffee, food, or wearing the latest cheaply-made brand name clothing. So, take what you will from my frugal habits if you haven't already, and you might be surprised how easy some of this is to make into a habit.

I've still been economically and ecologically sustainable in my normal ways:

Cooking for myself. Sundays, I put 3 cans of beans, tomatoes, spices and whatever cut of meat in a crockpot all day, and by the night I can freeze at least 4 days of lunch. I've been eating this chili 4-5 days a week for about 6 months. Food variety comes for the other two daily meals and on the weekends. I order pizza (carryout!) and eat out twice a month. There is room for improvement, here!

With the exception of screws, a new bathroom motor and cover ($30 total), all of my home improvement has been through secondhand methods. Through OfferUp, I bought some tools for about what they'd cost to rent as well as some custom-ordered cellular blinds that turned out to be the wrong size for the seller, but the right size for me. I basically got 4 for the price of one.

House parties with friends. You get control over the drink selection, and there's no need to shout over air horns!

Hang-drying laundry. This works out to about $10/month in savings, but the smaller eco-footprint is where it's at. Clothes last longer and it's easier to follow up with proper organization than just loading everything into a basket and forgetting about it.

Live on bus lines. I walk 10 minutes to a bus stop that drops me off 10 minutes from work. 350 sqft studios downtown are $1050 per month. My mortgage and HOA dues are roughly the same for a unit twice as big. I'm building equity, too. When I was looking at the place, the bus route was a qualifying criterion for my move. One look out the window on any given day at the daily car accidents remind me that I don't miss driving.

Don't compromise if you have time! I'm writing to my supervisor about why we shouldn't use certain business accounts for office supplies. The argument against me is that they save money on some things and spend more on others in a giant compromise. The problem is that I'm looking at data that we still come out spending 40% more than necessary. You can either spend time working to pay for things, or spend time saving money. This applies to me for groceries: I know what's worth it at Costco vs other stores, and visit 3 different places to get the best prices. Then again, I have the time to do so, and get to torment my wife along the way with fart sounds and car sound effects and everything.