Expect Less

I just read about trying a No Spend month, and while I’m completely blown away that 3 people got by on $250 to cover their food, gas, and entertainment costs, I think I might give myself $150 for August until I leave for Iceland on 29 August. I only have one event scheduled that month - a birthday party - so I won’t have to cancel out on any plans or anything.

Still, $150! I’m nervous, but I think I can make it work. I’ll definitely have to eat out a lot less, and give more thought to the food I buy at the grocery store. Since I don’t have any fuel costs I have a bit of an advantage, but the cost to feed three people isn’t drastically more than the costs to feed one. I think I’ll be making lots of leftovers, though they’ll probably be consumed mostly at home, since I don’t want to be microwaving any plastic Tupperware.

One thing I didn’t see addressed was the policy on using food that I already have at home. I have a fair bit in my fridge, so digging in to that would make the whole situation much easier. I suppose it’s up to each person how they want to handle it, and I think that I’ll just go about things as I normally would, except with less dining out and entertainment events and more thought to what I’m buying when I go grocery shopping.

I’m going to try something out to cut back on another aspect of my life - I’m going to try to make it until the end of August without using my credit card. I’ve been lucky in my financial situation in that I’ve never carried a credit card balance over from month to month.

Still, I know that the ease with which I use my credit card has affect how much I can save each month. My credit card, especially when used to eat out and go to bars, has been a huge factor in this. A quick glance at my statement from Discover Card shows that I spent $330 at bars and restaurants last month, and that’s just at the places that took Discover.

So here is what I will do. I will take my credit card and put it in a drawer. I’ll stop taking it out with me, and when I’m going out for food, I’ll pay with cash that I withdrew before heading out. I’ll keep a tally of everything I spend eating out or drinking, and see how that keeps me in check.This will be tough, because I love going out with my friends. All the same, I know this will be a good thing to do, and a good test of self control.

Unchecked dining out is not one of my largest expenses, but it’s one of the easiest to curtail at this time, and one that’s entirely unnecessary. I know how to cook, I have a great place to have a friends hang out, and I can make the change today.

A different post is that I feel like my apartment has become an unnecessary expense - not that I don’t need a place to live, but I don’t need the place that I have. That, however, is something I can’t address until my lease is up next year.

I’ll try to make a point to provide regular status updates regarding these cut backs. Here’s to hoping it works well. Since tonight’s a friend’s birthday night out, I’m going to be challenged right off the bat. This should, however, have the added bonus of keeping from drinking too much. Double win!

After nearly a year of being my primary grocery supplier, and 9 years in business, I received an email this afternoon that SimonDelivers is shutting down. They blame the situation on the current economic conditions, specifically food and fuel costs.

This is really disappointing to me, as SimonDelivers was a major factor in me realizing that I could live without a car. Now that I’ve moved downtown, though, several grocery stores are easily accessible by bicycle so it’s not as major of a setback for me. Still, the convenience was incredible.

This past weekend I’d done most of my shopping but not submitted the order yet. When I realized this on Sunday night, I hopped on my iPhone, hit a couple buttons, and my order was placed, all from the comfort of the patio of a local bar.

One option I do have, in addition to shopping like a real person (and maybe joining the co-op!) is the online shopping/delivery of Lunds & Byerly’s. I’ve seen their vans around my neighborhood occasionally. I don’t think there are as many delivery time options, but it’s still an easy way to get my grocery shopping done.

Just read “Why Bother?”, an article from the NYT, and while it’s about making an effort to be green and being conscious of the environment and our impact on it, I think some of the ideas can be applied to living with less clutter as well.

Our culture has so many expectations for us, and it can be challenging to stand up to them. When I sold my car a few months ago, there were quite a few people who thought it was a dumb idea, they couldn’t see the point of it. But since I got rid of it, I’ve driven a car three times, and only for 5 minutes in the past two months. I don’t need it to function, I don’t need it to see my friends, I don’t need it to live my life. I know a several people who could get by without a car with just a little more effort or allowing a little more time to take a bus, a cab, or even getting HourCar for the afternoon or a rental car for the weekend.

I haven’t talked about it a lot here, but I’ve been trying to eat locally, avoid eating meat (3 weeks without meat now), and waste less. I’m still far from perfect, and I know I’ll never get there. But I can make the effort to make less of an impact, and if I can at all inspire others around me to do the same, then I’ve done something to change the world. It might be tiny, but that doesn’t matter. As Gandhi said, “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

NYT Article found via What I Learned Today

I just wanted to share these writings by Merlin Mann on 43Folders about cutting back on clutter. He has some very good advice in here. I’d elaborate, but I need to get some work done.

A few weeks ago my buddy Scott mentioned an approach to exercise he’d read about called Tabata. As he explained the basics to us, I saw a lot of things that appealed to me - speed, effectiveness, and minimalism. I’ll be explaining this as I understand it and practice it, though there are several possible approaches.

Tabata isn’t about building massive muscles. It’s about toning and defining your muscles, and it’s about burning fat and having a cardiovascular workout. Basically, you’re sprinting through a series or exercises, taking quick breaks in between them.

You pick 4 exercises that will work as many muscles as possible; I’ve been doing pushups, burpees, jumping rope, and thrust squats. I have a few more exercises I’m considering throwing in to the mix, but so far this has been a good mix. Then, using a timer of some sort (I have an mp3 with tones), you do 20 seconds of an exercise, as many as you can with good form. Rest 10 seconds. Do the next exercise. Continue on this path for 16 minutes, or 8 sets, moving from exercise to exercise. Some people do a single exercise for 4 minutes before moving on to the next. I like rotating because it lets me start fresh on each one and wear down equally through each, rather than starting my last exercise already exhausted.

When I first heard Scott talk about this, I figured there was no way 16 minutes of exercise could be that hard. But wow, is it ever. In only a few weeks I’ve noticeably lost weight, I have more energy, and I have no problem finding 30 minutes to warm up, exercise, and then cool down. You could do this anywhere, really - the only equipment I use is a jump rope and two dumbbells for the thrust squats, and other exercises could always be used as well.

An added bonus is that, by its very nature of keeping you in constant motion, you can’t get distracted by the cute girl on the treadmill or the highlights on Sportscenter. There’s not time for that, there’s just time to ask yourself why you’re doing this to yourself before starting in on the next set.

I’ve gathered up several links that have given me more information on Tabata over the past few weeks. You can get ideas for other exercises and see some other accounts of how well Tabata is working for these people.

• Testosterone Nation
• Tabata Training: Is Tabata Training the Ultimate Fat Loss Workout? on Squidoo
• Pump up Your Workouts with the Tabata Method - Warrior Fitness World
• The Buck Stops Here: Tabata Intervals
• Goals To Gold

I did a Tabata workout this morning, and raised my weights a few pounds in addition to adding a jump at the end of each burpee. When I reached the final 4 minutes it took all I had to even stand up after doing pushups. It’s incredible how much you can push yourself in a short period of time.

I moved this past weekend, from Bloomington to Minneapolis. This looks to be a significant lifestyle change, as I expect that living without a car will be much more feasible now. There are two HourCars within two blocks and a few more within a twenty minute walk.

The biggest challenge of this move has been a significant reduction in closet and storage space. I can no longer effortlessly store 8 to 10 rubbermaid boxes throughout the house and in storage in the garage. As a result, I’ve been doing a lot of rearranging and sorting of the boxes I have left, and finally worked myself down to 4 boxes, which fit in to my hall closet without too much trouble. One contains electronics and home improvement hardware. One contains my old NES and Genesis systems. Two contain mementos. Apart for that I have 6 empty boxes that I need to pass along, sell, or otherwise free myself of.

As the final steps of settling in are completed, including mounting the TV on the wall, building out a new desk, and building out a small window seat in the bedroom, I think this place is really going to feel like home. I’m thrilled with how things have come together, and I’m looking forward to these last few touches that I think will make a bit difference.

Once the TV is up there will be pictures, but until then things just don’t feel right so I am holding off.

Well, it’s Tuesday. I move Friday. I couldn’t be much more excited for this.

I’ve been packing for the past few days, and most of my stuff is ready to go. I’ve been throwing things out, lightening the load as I go through the packing process. There are still a few things I think I should probably let go, but I can’t bear to do it just yet. I’ve done well enough up to this point that I think a few extras are hardly the end of the world.

I packed up another bag of clothes and sent them on to Goodwill yesterday, and tonight I’m going to post a few things on Craigslist one last time and see what happens. It’s hardly the end of the world if they don’t sell, but it’d be nice to get them out to people who’d do more than keep them in boxes in a closet.

Once I move it will be interesting to see how everything fits in to my new place. I have some very generous closet and storage space in my current apartment, but the new one has less storage space and more open space. I won’t be able to just pile boxes up in the closets this time, so I may have to evaluate the need to keep some things boxed up and out of site.

As I said, I’m really looking forward to spending this weekend getting settled in to my new apartment - putting up shelves, hanging art, filing things away. It’ll be a fairly long process, but I’m optimistic that I can have it all done by the end of the weekend. I have a few fantastic friends taking time out of their days on Friday to help me out, and that’s going to make a world of difference when it comes to getting things in their place. Watch for some pictures next week!

Selling off my old computer gear has gone better than I expected - I’ve had inquiries on nearly everything and a few pieces are already gone, with more going out the door tonight.

Packing has been really easy so far, and my last purge before the move, which consist mostly of clothes, is going to be great. I’m going to put a ton of stuff in garbage bags and get it to Goodwill. Beyond that all that’s really left that troubles me are the movies, and I’m thinking that a large lot of them on CraigsList might move pretty quickly at a reasonable price. We shall see.

But yes, I’m feeling good about this. A little extra cash is nice to have, especially for things that I don’t use that other people can appreciate.

Once the move is complete I have a few more things I’m planning to write up that are helping me keep my life simple, including some techniques I use when shopping online, keeping my wallet streamlined, and moving things to my computer so I don’t have to keep them on the shelf.

I move in two weeks, and so yesterday I started packing up some boxes. I threw things out as I went, and left books and moves that I’d like to sell sitting on the shelves. I’ll take pictures and put things on Craigslist and Half for the rest of them.

I’m also thinking about going through my boxes of cables one more time and putting the bulk of it online. I have an old computer monitor, game controllers, and more cables than a person could possibly need in there. A friend of mine, Aaron, is coming by to take some of it off of my hands, and the rest are being posted online as well. I’m hoping to make a few bucks and lighten my load at the same time with this final push.

The next two weeks also hold that lovely ballet of trying to eat as much of my food as possible, without having to do much more shopping. I think I’ll have to do one more grocery order, but it should be minimal. Or, maybe I will just start experimenting in the kitchen and see what I can create. I’m extremely excited to move, and also to be reducing the amount of material goods that I bring with me in the move. I’ve probably only parted with a small percentage of all the things I have, but it already feels great and I think that before the big day I can make an even more significant dent in what I have to bring with me.