Archive for the ‘frugal’ Category
Bike to work : an update
This week I really hit my stride with the whole bike commuter scene. Somewhat by necesity (my car was in the shop), I rode to work 3 days in a row. After experimenting with a few different routes, I’ve found the optimal balance between distance, traffic, hills, and road conditions (in my case, Wisconsin Ave and State Street). I also discovered realized that my office building has a bike rack on the same side of the building as the gym (& showers) so I can minimize the risk of bumping into anyone in my sweaty condition.
I had my first roadside flat today, but fortunately I had all the necessary equipment to fix it. Surprisingly, it only took about 10 minutes to get back on the bike with a new tube. (I guess I just earned my bike commuter street cred?)
The biking itself is getting easier and faster. I can now consistently make the commute in 30 minutes, which compares very favorably to driving by car. I’ve noticed that I’m eating about 1000 more calories on the days I ride, but I suppose this is in line with the energy I’m using.
Final verdict : bike commuting is easy! fun! inexpensive! green! You should try it too.
Filed under energy, environment, frugal, work : Comments (3) : Jul 17th, 2008
Sourdough Starter
When I was a kid, my dad used to keep a sourdough starter alive in the fridge. On Sundays he would pull it out to make the best sourdough pancakes around. According to family legend, this particular starter was passed down through many generations of Quakers, until it came to my father as payment for legal services early in his career. Sadly, the starter is no longer alive in the Johnson household, but I’m sure the strain is still making great bread out there somewhere.
This history is why I was so excited to read in The Urban Homestead that starting a sourdough starter is really quite simple. Just combine flour and warm water, feed it daily, and within a week or two you’ll be making bread and pancakes that will impress all.
I opted for some [needlessly expensive] organic unbleached flour from Whole Foods but saved money on the container by hitting up the weekend rummage sales.
Today marks day 1 of my sourdough starter experiment. Let’s hope this tadfad lasts long enough for at least a few loaves!
Filed under frugal, hack : Comments (0) : Jul 13th, 2008
Bike to work #1 : success!
After many many months of hemming, hawing, and making up excuses for why I couldn’t, I brought my bike to work today and rode it home. (Since I left my car there, I’m really hoping it doesn’t rain tomorrow morning.)
Initial thoughts on bike commuting:
- It’s shorter (by distance) and only slightly longer (by time). Since I’m taking a more direct, as-the-crow-flies route (as opposed to the highway), i’m shaving off a couple miles from the commute. Plus, since I can use the bike/curb lane and generally don’t need to wait for traffic, I can maneuver much quicker.
- Office buildings need showers. I got pretty sweaty riding home. That’s fine if I have a shower to jump into, but at work I’ll need to use the gym’s shower facilities. My frustration is that the people who run our gym refuse to entertain the concept of bike commuters using only the showers for a reduced rate. (I’m not planning to pump iron while at the office.)
- Very pleasant way to start/end the day. Unlike car commuting, when I have to constantly be thinking about traffic and watching for bad drivers, bicycling is very relaxing. I’m still watching for bad drivers, but I found my mind much clearer. I think it has something to do with the exercise component.
- Total gasoline used : 0 gallons!
- You should try it! I used to think it was too far, too many busy roads, too this, too that. Unless you try it, you’ll never know if you like it.
Filed under Milwaukee, energy, environment, frugal, work : Comments (1) : Jun 24th, 2008
GTD Zen, rollabind edition [Updated!]
[Update!] I’ve updated the template below and packed it in a weekly set. I’m going to print off a few copies and sell them. Interested?
I’ve been dabbling in the GTD world for a long while, with mixed results. Given my interest in web2.0, you’d think I would be a power user of some online GTD apps like SimpleGTD. Not so. As useful as these things are, I find that they suffer from a major handicap : I’m not online 24 hours a day. (Until I get my iPhone2.0, but that’s another day).
Most users would simply compensate by keeping a paper copy with them at all times and syncing when online. This was simply too complex for me. Instead, I’ve been using good old fashioned paper & pen. Sadly, even this requires a bit of optimizing.
I wasn’t happy with notebooks, as I couldn’t add/remove pages. I didn’t want to carry a 3-ring binder, either. What to do? Rollabind!
This technology isn’t new, but I think it’s pretty slick. Using small plastic discs and a special hole puncher, I now have the best of both worlds : a portable notebook that gracefully allows adding/removing pages. Splendid!
Not stopping there, I downloaded the D*I*Y Hipster PDA and David Seah’s compact calendar, remixed Benjamin Franklin’s measures of virtue, threw in a SWOT chart, and now have a custom GTD solution that works great.
Always one to share, here is a PDF of the pages I use. Feel free to remix and use as you see fit (credit goes to the above sources). If you’re interested in the rollabind system, I’m a proud owner of the special hole puncher and would gladly help you get started.
Filed under frugal, hack, work : Comments (2) : May 20th, 2008
Shirt Hack
I took a copy of my favorite Johnny Cash photo
and screen printed it onto a shirt (by hand!). I’m pretty happy with the results. What do you think?
I’ll put up a how-to here on tadfad sometime if there’s demand.
Filed under culture, frugal, hack : Comments (5) : Oct 24th, 2007
Optimize your organic shopping
It’s no secret that organic foods generally cost a bit more than their factory-farm counterparts. (This is due largely to the fact that more of the costs are internalized in the cost of the food. . . but that’s for another post.)
The best practice would be buying 100% organic, 100% of the time. If you’re like me, that’s tough to do. Instead, wouldn’t it be nice to optimize your organic purchases to get the maximum value for your dollar? Of course it would!
Well you’re in luck! The Environmental Working Group has researched and published a comparative ranking of popular fruits and vegetables. They’ve identified the foods with the highest levels of pesticides (buy those organic!) and those with the lowest.
But wait! It gets better! Act now and you can get a handy wallet-size guide [pdf] for your reference next time you’re in the grocery store.
All for the low, low price of $0. Isn’t the internet great?
Filed under environment, frugal : Comments (0) : Oct 23rd, 2007
Easy eco-frugal tip : bags
Ever go to the grocery store? Ever hesitate at the question “paper or plastic”? Do you like free money? Do you like the earth?
Great! Me too!
Here’s a painfully simple way to be green and save some green when buying groceries: bring your own bags. Most [all?] stores will happily accept used bags and give you a discount to boot! (My local store gives me $0.10 per bag)
Both plastic and paper bags require energy inputs for manufacturing and transport, carry groceries once, then end up in a landfill. Of course, even the flimsy plastic bags can be reused multiple times. Paper bags hold up even better. Canvas or Tyvek is the best option, as these will last years.
Here’s my challenge to you: put a few extra bags in your car and bring them in next time you buy groceries. Take the $0.50 you saved and buy some candy. Smile as you contemplate the energy you’re saving. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Filed under environment, frugal : Comments (5) : Oct 15th, 2007
The Importance of Expense Ratios
As a young investor, I know it’s important to make wise choices now so I can allow my retirements savings to grow to its maximum potential. Fortunately, I had a great investing mentor in my father and I’ve continued to educate myself in these matters. As I’ve written here before, I think we do a great disservice to young people everywhere by not teaching them the basic principles of banking, investing, and finance in high school. Especially as we drift away from publicly funded Social Security towards self-directed 401(k)s and IRAs, we need to empower everyone with the knowledge to make smart decisions.
One subtle detail in the world of mutual fund investing is the expense ratio. This little number (usually around 1%) can have a dramatic impact to your earnings over the course of a long term investment. Conceptually, the expense ratio is simple: the mutual fund company deducts the percentage from the fund assets each year to pay salaries, administrative, and overhead costs. This is fair and honest, as they are providing you a service and deserve to be paid. The problem is that many investors fail to recognize the impact of the expense ratio.
For example, consider an index fund that tries to mimic the S&P 500. I own one such fund from Fidelity that charges only 0.1% for expenses. Actively managed funds, and especially exotic funds with a narrow focus, sometimes charge upwards of 1.5%. This means that the fancy fund has to out-perform the S&P 500 by 1.4% every year just to break even with the index. Not an easy task.
And here is the rub: when comparing returns between two funds, the investor will often ignore the expense ratio. In the example above, you might find a fancy fund that beats the market by 1% every year. Great! Except it’s not. With a higher expense ratio, you’re actually worse off than if you held the boring, vanilla, S&P 500 index fund.
Here’s the bottom line: if you’re investing for the long haul, pay close attention to the expense ratio. It’s often a better choice to choose the low-cost, boring index over a high-cost fund.
Filed under economics, frugal, work : Comments (0) : Oct 11th, 2007
Credit Cards
Credit cards can be a great financial tool or a terrible nightmare. Depending on how you use them, you can either pay 15-30% above your actual purchases or you can politely ask the credit companies to pay you. Which would you prefer? Sadly, you won’t get the same interest rates as the big guys. 1-5% is pretty easy to find, though some people push it further using complicated (and risky) APR arbitrage. But I digress.
The first step to establishing a profitable relationship with your credit card company is to pay off your balance. If you routinely carry a monthly balance, look at your budget (you do have a budget, right?) and figure out what spending you can cut to drive that balance to zero. Once you hit the magical number zero, you’re ready to start making money.
The next step is to find some good rebate cards. I personally use a rebate card from Citibank that gives me 1-2% cash back on all purchases and a BP Chase card that gives me 5% back on BP gasoline and 2% on food & travel. Since I don’t carry a monthly balance, this means that I’m earning a small return on each dollar I spend. Splendid!
Now for the caveats:
- If you don’t have the income stability (or financial discipline) to pay off your balance in full each month, don’t bother with these rebate cards. They generally come with a higher APR than standard cards, so just one month of carrying a balance could cost you more than a year’s worth of rebates.
- Read all the fine print for the card as well. Make sure that you’re getting the deal you want without any bogus strings or exceptions. The BP card advertises 10% cash back but reading the fine print reveals a 60 day bonus period after which the rate drops to 5%. Such marketing tactics are common among card offers.
- Don’t bother with points–go for the green. Some cards offer points that can be redeemed for travel, prizes, or gift cards. Skip over these and go straight for the cash.
Final suggestion: try one of the new online financial management services like Yodlee or Mint that automatically import transactions from all your financial institutions and give you a daily snapshot of your balances. This makes it much easier to stay on top of your spending and prevent any unexpected bills.
Filed under economics, frugal : Comments (1) : Sep 21st, 2007
Bike light hack
I have a nice LED bike light from Cateye. It has a bush-button soft switch on the back that cycles through on-flash-off. It stopped working properly a few months ago, and would only flash if I held in the button. Needless to say, this was frustrating. (And unsafe).
I cracked open the case and poked around a bit. I disconnected the leads coming from the switch and re-routed them to a plain-old SPST switch that I glued on to the side. Now I have a very simple, very reliable way to turn it off and on.
I’m not going to win any points for style, and I probably shouldn’t take it out in the rain, but I’ve saved myself the $30 and environmental cost to replace it. Hooray!
Filed under frugal, hack : Comments (1) : Jul 22nd, 2007
