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Little Luxuries

The Tightwad Gazette is one of my favorite frugal living books. Before blogs even existed, the Frugal Zealot (author Amy Dacyczyn) had a regular mail newsletter where she included frugal tips.

One of the biggest ones that has stood out to me over time has to do with luxury. I remember my brother thinking it was particularly cruel. The Frugal Zealot talked about getting ice cream for her kids. From time to time, they'd stop at McDonald's for a little ice cream cone. She saw this as an affordable splurge. And if her kids started clamoring for something fancier, like an ice cream sundae? She'd wait longer before getting cones so that they still seemed like a treat and not a given. Her main advice was to pick small luxuries and not get them so often you get used to them.

Well, this weekend reminded me of a similar situation of enjoying what is in your life rather than always wanting more. In our culture, vacations seem to be high-end things where you get to sample the fancy life. Spa treats, luxury hotel rooms, and renting fancy cars are all possible vacation options. But I am reminded that another option might be more effective.

We went to Matt's parents' house for Thanksgiving. Their guest room has a full size bed, which is smaller than our queen. We share a bathroom with more people there. It's not our space. All of these are still appreciated; we don't pay anything, get to spend time with family, and get out of the house. However, coming home is always a treat.

Now, more than I ever, I notice that. Our queen size bed is going to feel so good tonight, especially now that we have Julie and sometimes sleep with her in our bed. Being able to spread out is awesome. Nursing also made me appreciate my nice setup here at home, where I have a large headboard to lean against and a special back pillow on the bed to give me extra support.

This makes me wonder if the US way of doing vacations is smart. After a week of camping or cheap motels, it is always nice to return home (especially if I cleaned the house before I left!). Perhaps the way to manage money well and avoid keeping up with the Joneses is to participate in a little personal austerity. Used to pedicures? Lower the frequency. Not savoring the evening glass of wine? Cut that back to weekend-only wine.

What else do you do that helps you appreciate your small little luxuries in your life?

What if?

I've been searching for quite awhile to find a charity that I both admire and think will do good work on the ground in Haiti. I know millions have donated to the Red Cross, but I've always been skeptical of their work in other countries; since they respond to emergencies, they're not usually an established charity on the ground, and it can take time to get relief up and running. From my own time spent working in Latin America, I know that it takes lots of time to create a working relationship in a country. Further, sustained relief will be necessary, and the groups that work in Haiti need support to continue working through the rebuilding effort that is likely to last years.

That said, I've finally found my foundation for helping Haiti. I learned about the foundation from a couple in my church that regularly visits Haiti to do service projects. Further, this foundation's work is so awesome that I want to keep this list on my regular non-profits donation list (other non-profits on this list include Heifer Project, Donors Choose, the Nature Conservancy, and local non-profits). They're a small charity that is extremely efficient -- 92% of donations go straight to Haiti -- and they work both in education and food aid for children.

The What If? foundation really is one of those non-profits that gets it right. They work with people on the ground, which is awesome. They are filling a need that existed, as identified with people who are there. And they are doing so in an efficient manner that maximizes the utility of aid.

One of my favorite sayings is "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time; but if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." Service is about more than just saying "this is what I think you need." It's about working together with the people who have a need to identify the need and work cohesively to meet that need. The What If? Foundation excels at this.

Maybe I'm an adult now

After literally years of thinking about it, I finally started my Roth IRA the other week (thus completing goal 53. Start a Roth IRA (or other investment fund)). The funny thing about this is that I'm now glad I didn't start a Roth much earlier, as I would likely have lost all the value in it.

I've got my Roth set up at Charles Schwab, where I also do my banking (recommend by a friend!). The huge benefit is that I could start a Roth with $1,000; other services required larger minimum contributions. Right now, I own pieces in two index funds: a Dow Jones Total Market fund and an S&P 500 fund.

The best part of all is the immediate growth. I know it won't always be this exciting . . . but I did make $22 in a week and a half! I still don't understand the stock market, but hopefully now those investment blogs and books will make a little more sense.

As a completely unrelated side note, I can hear the waves crashing on the shore. I love being close to an ocean again.

Jobs and money

One of the trials of being a naturalist is the dearth of full-time, year-round positions. Currently, I'm teaching summer camp at the same place where I interned for the school year. This lets me stay close to Matt, and I'm having a lot of fun playing with kids. We do all the camp planning, so it's also good experience.

I've finally gotten a position for the fall, and I'm quite excited. I'll be heading to Maine to teach ecology at a residential center (email me if you'd like more details -- I'm just trying to avoid google). It will be much busier than here, since the kids spend the night, but it will be a fun and different experience. This will mean a few months away from Matt, but we're planning a fun Thanksgiving roadtrip for my return to Minnesota.

For these jobs, I definitely took a pay-cut from what I was making as a grad student. Michigan paid us quite well, so I was never hurting for money. Of course, at the time, it always seemed like I didn't have enough. But "not having enough" meant that I was saving up less than $500 a month.

This does highlight the importance of strong money-management for me. I'm glad I built up a substantial savings cushion while in grad school; this allows me the financial freedom to pursue enjoyable jobs without worrying how I'll pay all the bills each month. Currently, I'm making $700 a month (after taxes) with free housing. Some months, this is more than enough money for me; other months, that savings cushion gives me the float I need to make it through. Months where I pay car and health insurance are particularly tight -- car insurance is $430 for 6 months, and my meagre health insurance is $130 a month.

I really enjoy the naturalist thing. We'll see if I'm able to make a career out of this for the long haul. If so, awesome. If not, I've learned a lot of fun games and alternative teaching methods, and I'll eventually figure out a job that works out well for me. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the ride and glad to have this luxury of exploration.

Feeling vexed

One of the great frustrations of my life is trying to figure out when extra money spent will result in more, less, or the same amount of hassle. Amongst those who are frugal, one of the common pieces of advice is "spend more money for a quality item that will last longer."

Under this idea, I spent $400 on a mountain bike on Saturday. It's a lovely bike, and I already took it out for a trail ride. I spent an extra $50 to get a lighter frame (I'll be doing some road biking with it too), and it's definitely worth it. However, I bought the bike somewhere 30 minutes away, and I already have a service issue; in my very first bike ride, I managed to somehow pop my tube. I don't see anything crazy sticking out of it, so I can't imagine that I went rolling over nails. I've saved up money for quite a long time for this bike, and my excitement is now dampened by this unfortunate issue. I'm taking the bike to be serviced tonight, and I'm hoping that nothing is found sticking in my tube so that the bike shop will fix it for free.

Today, I will also be packing up one of the lenses from my D40 to be sent in for servicing. Thankfully, I'm still within the one year service window. The autofocus on this lens has been broken since December (yes, I procrastinate too much). And this lens issue has been causing me to use my camera less and be less happy about my camera ever since.

Conversely, I spent $5 on a pair of headphones last summer when my old pair went belly up. The headphones have worked so well for me that I bought another pair this weekend so that I can have a gym set and a home/work set (avoids putting on sweaty headphones at any time other than the gym). I could have shelled out for a much more expensive version, but why bother? And on the flip side, I spent more money for my ipod nano ($150) than I could have spent on a similar product, but the ease of use, loveliness, and long battery life have all been completely worth the investment for me.

I'm hoping that the fixing of my bike and camera lens will lead to useable products that don't have any immediate issues. But I have to admit that I'm a bit disheartened right now. Complicated products are often hard to do right, and I did my best to find good quality items. I did some research, checked out some reviews, and was quite happy with my purchases when I made them. But I must admit that problems like this are quite the downer and make me think twice about spending lots of money on something fancy.

New year thoughts

A lot of people are posting 2009 goals posts, and reading these posts keeps spurring thoughts in me. I already keep track of a lot of goals with my 101 things list, but I think it's also good to talk about some specific yearly goals.

I achieved some awesome things in 2008. I left a situation that wasn't working for me (grad school) and moved into a job that I'm really enjoying. If only the job wasn't temporary, but I digress. I completed my first ever 5k with a respectable personal time. I met a cool guy and started a relationship, which is a fairly uncommon occurrence in my life. I paid off my car, built up my savings, and thought really hard about maybe someday starting my Roth IRA (I know -- soon! hopefully! maybe!). It was a hard year for me in many ways -- moving away from a friend base is always difficult -- but I made a lot of personal gains.

In 2009, I have more things I'd like to achieve in my life. But as Mac at Get Fit Slowly points out, goals don't work well without a definite plan of action. Goals also work best when they are specific, focused, achievable goals that are not beyond reachable grasp. I'm a firm believer in setting reasonable goals that might push one a little but don't reach the breaking point.

Some big goals I have for 2009:

1. Get another job or two. These don't have to be permanent jobs, but that would be nice. Permanent positions are hard to come by in my field, but I should definitely be able to move into a seasonal position or two. I'm hoping to find at least one of these seasonal positions in Minnesota, but I'm not going to turn down other positions due to geography.

2. Continue improving my fitness through regular gym visits (minimum of 12 per month, which is three a week and conveniently also the number I need for my health insurance to reimburse me for the majority of my gym membership), participation in sports, and outdoor activity. I made great gains in fitness in 2008, and I don't want those erased. Sometimes this goal is difficult for me; I have to realistically admit that I'm still not in great shape and that I have a really difficult time getting into shape. My boyfriend joined my gym so that we can work out together, and I'm occasionally jealous of his pullup and running abilities. I have to continually remind myself that he and I are in different places of the fitness continuum, and I try hard to push my progress based on beating my own milestones.

3. Return to bulking up my savings account, which will be measured by increasing the size of my savings account. Due to low pay at my current job, I'm living right around (or occasionally above) my means. I'm certainly not going into debt, but I feel it is important to re-emphasize savings in my life. This will be acted out by continuing my dedication to home cooking and using what I currently own before buying anything new.

4. Read at least one book a month. This is a sad thing for me, as I greatly enjoy reading and can often devour a book in days if given the chance. I've let other priorities take over in my life, but I'd like to carve out a little more time for reading. To help me achieve this goal, I'm signing up for an adult winter reading program at my local library.

My goals aren't too fancy, but they're in line with what I realistically want. Furthermore, I've found that just the simple act of setting any goals push me to achieve even more in my life. By pushing myself to extend my boundaries in a few specific ways, I notice that I also look for other fun ways to push myself that never initially occurred to me.

What are your plans for the new year? Any fun things planned in 2009?

Wants

Due to my less-than-stellar intern pay, I spend a lot of time contemplating my budget (November numbers coming soon!). I survived just fine on grad student pay, and I didn't obsess too much over little things, but $190 a week gives me little margin for anything. I actually have a slush fund of allowable money to cut into for indulgences during this year (for example, I'm going to DC in January to visit Zandria and some other friends. In my budget? No. In the slush fund, and a reasonable treat? Yes). I saved up for the slush fund once I realized that I would be taking a significant pay cut for this job, so I feel okay spending it.

Part of this contemplation is realizing where my wants lie on a continuum of happiness. Today, I read a stellar blog post about how you can't always get what you want. In it, JD at Get Rich Slowly relates a conversation he had with his cousin. His cousin came up with sage advice: "It’s not want that’s the problem, but the habit of constantly satisfying wants.” That is to say, it is okay to sometimes indulge. You just can't indulge all the time.

JD's big indulgence wish is a minicooper. He pines after that thing. He must mention it at least twice a month on his blog, if not more. But he's considering whether or not it's okay to buy one if he comes into some cash (say, from an inheritance or a book deal). When is it good to address the indulgence? When should you do something more practical with the money?

For me, I'm starting to figure this out. I've got a few examples that ramp up in scale. Since I make nothing near what a normal person might make, we won't even start to talk about cars (tho I must say that I am fortunate to really love a car that is affordable and reliable, so I managed to get my paid off dream car while still making crap for money). We'll stick to little things that actually do influence my minor budget.

Another way to redistribute, as it were

I stumbled across an awesome article that details 6 ways to raise a charitable child. The basic message is simple: be a good role model, and get your child started early. What I particularly love is the idea put forth by the parents in the article. They suggest that you make donations in your child's name, but be sure to make age-appropriate donations to organizations that are interesting for the child. Therefore, good donations for young children include "adopting" an animal at the zoo or giving money to the Humane Society.

The key to age-appropriate donating is making sure that kids are able to connect with their giving. As children get older, you can help them choose appropriate charities. Political or abstract giving (say, to world hunger) is better for teens, and giving to public schools or third world nations might be good for children in upper elementary.

Still, tho, the main point is to set up a culture of generosity within your household. Sit down with children, and make sure they understand where your charitable giving goes. And allow kids to participate in how the family's money will be spent.

For my part, I have a couple of organizations that I support when I'm able. Due to my internship, my giving has dropped somewhat this year, but I try hard to still give something. I've already donated to the nature center where I work, and I have several more causes that will get my money sometime in the next few months, including

* The Nature Conservancy (conserve land throughout the world, including in your own backyard)
* Heifer International (buy animals and training for third world citizens)
* Donors Choose (public school supplies for low-income schools)
* Habitat for Humanity
* various nature centers/zoos/etc via "adopting animals," but typically done spur-of-the-moment, so I have no links

So, what are your favorite charities? Where do you choose to donate money?

October spending

As per my 101 things goal 50 (Write down all my spending for one month), I have tracked my spending for the month of October, and I am here with a categorical report.

First, I've decided that I need to track for at least another month or two before developing a budget. I had a lot of unexpected expenses. Also, I'd just like to know how I really spend money over the long term. I was happy to see that I had a pretty easy time writing stuff down, and I'm hoping I remembered everything.

Food (just groceries, in terms of food to cook): $132.30
Fun food (eating out, Halloween candy, etc): $74.06
entertainment: $7.88
charity/tithe: $55
medical: $43.37
car (new tabs): $65
electronic: $131.98
household: $63.58
clothing (a fleece headband): $14
gas: $35.99

total: $623.16, gulp. I'm glad I don't have to pay for rent here. $655.86 is my income for the month, so I'd classify October as a net loss, since I technically paid $190 for health and car insurance during the month (not listed here because those expenses are paid every 3- and 6-months).

Things that I think will be one time expenses here include electronic and household. I bought a new router for $105 from apple because we changed internet services here and no longer get a bundled router from our provider. This is nice because it is compact enough that I can easily move it with me to a new place. I also bought a 4 gig jump drive and some filters for my camera. The household spending was mostly all a new vacuum (the one at the house does not work. Technically, my work would reimburse me, but I like this vacuum a lot and would rather find a way to move it with me) and some Ikea stuff, and I should be able to not spend that in the future.

Charity also will probably be not so big in the future, and the same is true of medical expenses. Being sick for a month really knocked me out in that category, and I also had to pay a bill from a copay that was mistakenly not collected from me in Michigan this summer. Oh, and speaking of Michigan, I don't think I'll have to pay those car tabs for another year.

I see entertainment as being a bigger category in future months, seeing as how I've already spent $5 there in this current month. I think my entertainment savings were due to my boyfriend paying for camping and us watching lots of sports and movies at home instead of going out.


I'll be back with my October monthly report soon!

How I afford to travel, in the general sense

Short answer: priorities and thrift

Long answer:

Shockingly, just an expansion of my short answer. Travel is one of the most important things in my life. I love pulling on my backpack and heading to a new place. And I love this so much that I am willing to forego other pleasantries in order to save money to provide for travel.