Green-Eyed Monster

Yesterday Mimi rode her bike.

I didn't expect the experience to be so quietly devastating. Hearing her intention, I followed her to the shed and watched her wheel it out and ride away, my jaw slack with concern and surprise.

Then I had to walk to work, an intense jealousy building in my gut. Had she taken my husband out to dinner it might have inspired similar rage, albeit that emotional response might have been much more justified. That bike and I have been through so much together, so many miles in so little time, so much growing and learning. And Mimi just hopped on and rode off like nothing happened, slightly adjusting the handlebars to her liking.

Which is how I know there are some things worth owning.

I think sharing is the first step to reduced consumption. If the nine members of our house lived in eight separate apartments, we would require six more refrigerators, access to seven more washers and dryers, one more phone, seven more ovens, six more Internet connections, several coffee makers, blenders, microwaves and/or toaster ovens, dozens more pots and pans and cooking utensils, at least four more bathrooms, and possibly six more water heaters. As individuals we'd add at least four cars to the road every week to go shopping and would ultimately spend more at the grocery store for smaller portions of food, while producing more packaging waste.

In other words, sharing has reduced our consumption of energy and production of waste by A LOT. I'd like to believe that no single item needs to be totally owned by an individual, that we could theoretically share large closets of clothing, swap artwork and pieces of furniture as fits our inclination, and share a small fleet of well-maintained bicycles. But...then I saw Mimi hop on her bike and ride into town.

I have access to three other bikes, of course, all of which just need minor repair. My original intention was to ride Mimi's posh cycle until April, at which point I would commit one day a week to Yellow Bike Project as a birthday present to myself. Now I might look at my schedule and see if I can get one of the bikes fixed up to be my very own in the next week or so.

Being Me

I'm not going to go by Tread Softly anymore. My name is Maya.

Last year there were too many near misses and introductions. I've been a closet blogger, quietly tapping out my thoughts on consumption and financial evolution and hoping to God no one found out about my secret on-line identity.

It's a self-esteem act, I think, preferring to feel like a failed writer altogether than admit to my friends and family that I pour my heart and soul into a series of half-baked essays and manifestos on financial integrity. I don't want my brother to challenge me, as I know he will, about the merits of a mortgage rather vs. the insecurity of renting. I don't want employers or coworkers to know where I spend my money, I don't want my friends to feel judged about where they spend theirs. I prefer reading comments, accepting critique, at my leisure.

"Tread Softly" was a fiction I developed, a champion of my most precious values who no one ever had to take seriously. A mask I could wear while blogging and discard at work, the grocery store, or bar. A stagnant entity that changed in vague announcements on a near-monthly basis: Tread Softly opened a savings account. Tread Softly is going camping. Tread Softly liked riding the bus, now she likes biking. Tread feels very two-dimensional because my friends don't know her, my family can't tease her, my bosses can't fire her.

This isn't my way of confessing hypocrisy. Quite the opposite: I don't want or need the mask anymore. When new friends ask how I spend my time, the blog and its content come immediately to mind. Financial integrity comes up in conversation and I feel entitled to speak up, obligated to voice my opinions. Maya's opinions, not Tread's suspicions.

What's more, the topics within this blog and my daily life are no longer personal enough to tuck away in a private spot on the Internet. I live with nine other people and our finances are intertwined. I belong to a community of like-minded individuals, and when you google certain topics in Austin, this blog pops up. I can either wrap myself in nicknames and allusions and metaphors or quit making myself look silly. Or both, of course.

I hope that this blog and its readers continue to enrich my life, that I can share and live my values with you and that the process will all make us better people. I hope none of you steal my identity, drain my bank account, or steal my stuff. If you want any, I'm sure we can share :)

Big Trip

I'm embarking on my longest bike journey yet, 14.5 miles one way to visit my friend and Godbaby in the hospital. Of course I was in the waiting room last night when Oblio was born, but who can stay away?

Good Job, Frugal Habits

I quit one of my house-cleaning jobs today. For some reason I'm really antsy about employment and am not feeling good about my potential upward movement into an office environment. This post was written to cheer myself up more than anything else. Hope you enjoy.

Earning and spending can get tricky in the city really fast. For some reason the average city dweller ignores the potential frugality of their arrangement. Many people would rather spend $300 a month maintaining a vehicle than $20 on a bus pass, most of my neighbors spend more than $10,000 a year on property tax alone rather than the $9,600 it costs to rent a decent apartment in the same area for a year (including utilities), and surprisingly few seem to take advantage of thrift stores and other resources available to us. Employers are therefore required to set payroll high enough to attract people who quite literally throw thousands of dollars out the window every year. For a frugal citizen, however, those thousands of dollars can become your early retirement fund. Even entry-level office work can substantially boost the savings account of a frugal ex-service worker.

When seeking this type of job, don't mention during the interview process your frugal leanings. When asked why you want the job, don't point out that the building is on a bus route that picks up and lets off at your doorstep. When describing where you hope to be in five years, don't explain that by then you should have enough money stocked away to take an extended vacation hiking across Western Europe before settling down in Southern France to write poetry. There is just too good a chance that your potential boss is struggling along at his much-larger salary, and does not want to hear an as-of-yet underemployed future secretary outlining her path towards financial freedom via sound investments and careful consumption. Not yet, at least.

If you get one of these well-paying jobs, blending in might be difficult at first. You might have to brag about an expensive new gym membership or posh yoga class to explain your vibrant health to car-crippled coworkers. Claim to be on a cleanse if invited out for lunch, and explain that for a month or so you "must" eat a good diet rich in grains and veggies cooked at home. Memorize the labels in your clothing so when people compliment outfits you can guess where they came from. "Oh, this old sweater? It's Banana Republic...apparently." The point isn't to be a sneaky liar, but to avoid labeling yourself the office extremist nut before people know how to spell your name.

Eventually you and your coworkers will find common ground. You will not be the only person in the office with a garden, second-hand heels, or a bike. Leave a copy of Your Money Or Your Life on your desk, bring in home-baked treats to the office in reusable and non-plastic containers, and splurge during the holidays on little Christmas goody-bags (reusable filters for the coffee machine, glass straws for the soda addicts, etc), and otherwise come out of the frugal closet to make friends.

Upon getting to know you, your office mates will want to share in what looks to them like your inherent good luck. Your car never breaks down and you're never stuck in traffic, you clearly spend your weekends outside getting sun and exercise, and you never seem bothered by fluctuating grocery and gas prices. In fact, you seem to be able to afford the good life on a mediocre salary. They will want to know your secret. At that point, you can share the finer points of your lifestyle, "Oh, this old sweater? $2.50 at the thrift shop on South First."

33 Miles :)

I rode 33 miles last week!

What makes this number especially gratifying is not only was yesterday my 52nd day cycling in a row, but this is the 7th week running that I've ridden more miles than the week before.

Like most of my trips, yesterday's was utilitarian. Darling and I have actually made half of the trip by bike most Sundays this year. We ride to Ambi and Mordi's house after I get off work, hang out until around 9:30 in the evening, and then catch a bus back home. Until this week we never felt comfortable riding home in the dark because we haven't had lights, which Darling alleviated with a not-exactly-Valentines Day present.

Have I mentioned that this is the most gratifying resolution ever?

Trips are becoming fast and painless, riding more every week has happened easily and without planning. It's saved me money and eased my anxiety.

On my Saturday post both The Lost Goat and Lizzie seemed surprised about my desire for a tent. Suddenly it strikes me that Darling and I haven't engaged in our favorite hobby since moving to Austin. Believe it or not, we used to be quite the spelunkers and hikers, spending our weekends exploring caves in Appalachia. It's strange to have lost such a precious part of myself to time and circumstance.

Four years ago, however, I couldn't imagine why anyone would choose a bicycle over a big comfy bus. I also didn't know how to turn a heel, roll a croissant dough, or tickle a baby niece until she squealed with delight. Passions ebb and flow, interests spark, burn, and possibly dim as the years pass. Life is way too full of possibilities to be stuck anything particular and impermanent.

2010 Taxes Filed

I filed my taxes yesterday through TurboTax and the return has already been approved by the IRS, which means some irritating pieces of debt I've been kicking around for the past year will be paid off and my emergency fund will be replenished in March. I also spent $50 on our first bond, simply out of curiosity.

There's a big list of purchases I'd really like to make with this money, including a bike of my very own (and man, could I afford an awesome bike), panniers, helmets, and a tent. I think having a month's expenses in the bank is more important right now, however, especially seeing as how much of our income will go towards paying off debt in the coming year. Besides, wants become needs so quickly when this much money is involved. I'd start out buying a really excellent Huffy and a tent, the next thing I know we'll be debating between purchasing a small gas stove, a solar oven, a dutch oven, or all three. That money will be gone in three weeks and suddenly I'll be sick in bed for a week and completely incapable of paying rent...

Happy Dance, Angry Dance

I suffered a fairly intense anxiety about how little money I earned this year. Jumping from job to job early in the year, depending on my Mom's kind bribery and my housemates' patience to cover rent over the Summer, and coasting into 2011 working like crazy on a number of low-wage part-time jobs while tackling seemingly insurmountable medical bills...Man, am I glad that's over. I figured the icing on the cake would be a horribly disappointing tax refund and dreaded horribly the chore of entering such paltry sums into TurboTax.

As my anxiety over the deed reached a fevered pitch, I engaged the help of a nifty Turbo Tax refund calculator. Prepared for the worse, I was surprised by...well, the best. Darling and I actually have a very hefty sum coming to us.

Looks like this Friday I'll be doing the job for real, and maybe the end result will be a bit smaller than calculated, but still helpful.

I intend to use the refund to pay off the rest of the debt owed to my brother, have my violin fixed, and create an emergency savings fund. Having a cushion in place will really ease my mind. I've been really nervous about draining my bank account every week in order to pay off my student loans in 18 months.

Speaking of such...
My student loan debt was sold to a new company!

I don't know whether to be happy or annoyed. This is my third loan "servicer" in only five years of making payments. Is it normal to experience so much transition with student loans?

I'm glad to have debited that $162.50 early this month, because the unannounced transfer took place on Monday and I won't be able to make payments again until the 24th.

I don't mind dealing with a new company, but I hate having lost all the information on my old account. I have no access to my payment history, which painted such an encouraging picture. The only information available now is the 1098e numbers from 2007 - 2010. (Also a pretty picture: I went from paying $716 annual interest to $565).

Old Job, New Bosses, Wrong Foot

The worse part of quitting a job, I think, is not the hunt for a new employer but the training period that comes with starting a new job. The work I do is fairly straightforward- there are only so many ways to brew coffee or roll silverware - but the interpersonal relationships that must be developed in customer service can be exhausting. Regular customers must be memorized and catered to, coworkers must be entertained and won over, and bosses must be impressed.

The cafe I work at recently underwent a transition in ownership, granting me an uncomfortable new relationship with a couple of new bosses. The ex-owner left things in a bit of a disarray in terms of paperwork and it has resulted in a messy learning curve for the new people. The taxes weren't filed properly, the permits need updating, equipment is in disrepair, and we're understaffed.

I covered a lot of shifts during the transition period, but the time has come to devote more attention to my higher-paying job. For some reason, however, communicating my needs to the new management was extremely difficult. Despite multiple conversations and a very clearly written explanation of my availability, my first schedule did not meet my requests at all. I had to approach my bosses and explain that while I am want to be flexible, my other job takes precedence.

It's frustrating to have started this relationship on exactly the wrong foot. My ex-boss knew that I was picking up slack, but it looks to my new bosses that I'm dropping the ball. I finally got the perfect schedule, but at the cost of appearing confrontational and inflexible.

On the bright side, it's not like I wasn't looking to exit this line of work anyway. Nothing has moved forward on my current on-line applications, but I have a couple of days off coming up to fill out more applications and decorate the resume a little.

Many despriptions of cooperative living depict a life of continuous socialization. You might imagine me rolling out of bed and getting in line, toothbrush in hand, for the shower. Perhaps afterward I pour a bowl of homemade granola and as ask Rin to pass the milk. Dinner is undoubtedly a noisy affair followed by evenings taking turns on the piano and playing endless games of Monopoly in the living room.

In reality we do play boardgames and occassionally crowd the kitchen, but the nine of us also have very different lives and social circles. Our schedules are so different that we have an incredibly difficult time scheduling sit-down meals or parties. We watch the occassional film together, but lately our den has been "booked" rather than cassually shared. Darling hosts sci-fi film and gaming days, BS rehearses with his bands, and Rin has a yoga class...three activities that don't exactly go hand in hand.

The evenings we find ourselves together tend to be spontateous and surprisingly sweet. Last Friday we had just such an event. BS and Mimi built a fire, and one by one myself, Bo, Sk and a friend of his, Em and her boyfriend, and Vin ventured out to take a seat. Only Darling and Rin were missing, many people were quietly sipping wine and the topic was love and regrets as we huddled close to the flames for warmth. We spoke of the house, of days past and needed repairs, of wayward young family members, of ex-wives and ex-housemates.

I paint this picture not only to give you a sense of our "family" dynamic, but to explain why one might crave whiskey. One might have even crave whiskey, on that chill starry evening, enough to ride in a car with someone else and shell out $12 for a bottle. Which is what I did.

That was my fourth ride in a car this year, all for what amounted to a single shot sipped slowly as the hours passed while others indulged more heavily. Afterward I went upstairs and tidied my room for a bit. I made the bed and lit some candles and was happy when my Darling husband returned home from his visit with my brother.

Cast of Characters

When Darling and I first moved to Austin and started this blog, the two of us pretty much stuck to ourselves. I wrote about our weekly grocery trips and where are paychecks went, only occasionally mentioning the rare night out with friends and only ever giving my little sister a serious pseudonym.

These days a lot of my frugality has to do with daily interactions with friends, family, housemates, and coworkers. I lose track of who I've introduced and by what name. So, for those of you so fascinated with my life, I present you with a cast of characters of whom I can refer to from now on:

Family

• Mom
• Dad
• Rox - my stepmom
• Tricia - my adopted Mom, who supported me during my last couple of year's of high school
• Eb - my elder brother by about twenty years
• Froggy - Eb's small daughter
• Ob - my older brother by about five years
• JK - Ob's wife
• BabyO - Ob's baby girl
• Lenore - My little sister, four years younger than me (two inches taller, thirty pounds thinner...)
• Wang - Lenore's husband

Friends

• Ambi - Known since I was eleven, Tricia's daughter, and smartest person I know. She builds lasers for the university and taught me to make beer.
• Mordi - Ambi's boyfriend since we were fifteen, he's been running games for us ever since.
• Dani - best friend from East Texas (actually, she is Canadian, but moved here in elementary school). She's currently renting a room from Lenore and Wang while going to grad school.
• Raja - was introduced to me when we were juniors in high school by Ambi, we've been hardcore tight ever since.
• Xy - Raja's husband

House Mates (Each of these people is so absurdly amazing and deserves a paragraph singing their praises, but I'm going to err on the side of valuing their privacy in this case)

• Rin
• BS
• SK
• Bo
• Vin
  
• Em
• Mimi

This is by no means a summing up of all the people who influence and enrich my life, but it will make it far easier for me to describe my days and lifestyle without writing an introductory paragraph at each mention.

Questions Answered

Dear Kristen,

I can't imagine what it's like to read all my archives at once. It makes me feel numb just thinking about it. To answer your questions:

1. My favorite green for smoothies is kale, which does really well in Austin in all but the hottest months. Spinach is a close second. A handful blends nicely and does not affect the flavor of a good smoothie. My smoothie recipe also includes orange juice, berries, and yogurt. I used to get much more clever, including cooked pumpkin, cinnamon, and nuts. Have fun with your blender!

2. A lot of people like to arrange automatic debits to cover bills in an "out of sight, out of mind" fashion. I, on the other hand, am obsessed with watching my balance go down and check my debt account a couple of times a week. I play a number of little mental games, such as guessing how much less interest I will be paying next week than last week (my last payment reduced my weekly interest payment by nearly ten cents!!!). That's why I don't just set up an automatic debt plan and leave it at that. I pay based on my moods and whims and abilities. Because I have an irregular income, sometimes I pay less than the minimum balance. But I'm always ahead of the game, and on track to be debt free next year (as opposed to the year 2021, the loan company's "projected payoff date").

3. I started my blog April 27, 2007 and entitled it "Year One: In Which We Begin A Social Experiment." Year Three was "Forming Our Hypothesis." I cannot for the life of me recall having ever named Year Two. Anyway, Year Five will be announced in two months on the fifth anniversary of my blog. I don't know when I will name it. My original plan was to give all the "chapters" of this project pseudo-scientific names, but I figured that would get old around Year Seven. I don't remember why I named this year Reclamation, it felt right at the time. We'll see what feels right in April. If I were to give 2011 a name, though, I would call it, "The Year Biking Doubled The Size Of My Butt."

Thanks for reading!

General Update

This was a slow week at work. No one seems to be going out to eat and my shifts at the coffee shop were less than profitable. Most frustrating is that my boss who sold the coffee shop put our paychecks in the mail today from California. So I won't get my check until Monday at the earliest.

As a result, it's Friday and I have roughly $30 in the bank. Rather than empty my account transferring such a meager amount to the student loan company, I'll make a run on Monday and make the $162.50 payment afterward.

Hopefully things will pick up next week. I'm really super enjoying the new coffee shop owners and think that job should get a lot more lucrative in the coming months. Our machinery is being repaired and fine-tuned, our pastries are all fresh baked rather than outsourced, and we switched to the best roasters in town, who are going to give us all a really good refresher course on blending coffee drinks. I used to be a huge coffee nerd, attending barista conventions and creating latte art, but that fell to the wayside after my discovery of how much more money waitresses earn.

On the topic of the job hunt, my employer of choice is not moving forward on my applications, at least not according to the website. I need to move on this more...

Today was my 42nd day on a bike, and this is by far the best resolution I've ever made. My butt and thighs have been hurting since my long ride in the wind a few days ago, but it gets easier every day. And yesterday I rode in a car for the third time this year in order to buy groceries for the house. It made me grateful for all the times I haven't been in a car in the past two months :)

Financial Fun

I reached an exciting debt milestone: less than $11,000 in student loans!

After months of paying $10-$50 a week, it was a lot of fun to knock $150 off the principle at once. So much fun, in fact, that I almost want to make another payment right now!

Instead, of course, I paid the much-less-exciting phone bill.

Only four more days until the next big transfer, though! :)

Online Job Hunting Revisited

Last month I talked about job hunting on-line, and how much I hated it. One of the reasons I felt this way was that my employer of choice seemed to have the most annoying application software in the entire world, booting me off multiple times without saving my information.

All I can say is that it's a good thing that "follows directions well" is not on my resume. Skimming through the application directions I repeatedly failed to notice a paragraph warning against using the "tab" key to move from field to field. Once I read and followed that instruction, I was able to complete the application form and submit it for half a dozen jobs in less than half an hour.

Once my application was submitted, I could log on to the site to see my status. Three of the jobs I applied for have successfully reached the "final screen," which is the last step before a recruiter might call me. Thee of my applications, for whatever reason, haven't moved forward at all yet.

I'm really glad so many people encouraged me to keep trying. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll make my way to the next level and I'll have a shiny new job in March!

Money is Time Update

Today I calculated January's Real Hourly Wage and determined how many hours I worked to cover the month's expenses. As I expected, this month we spent much less money on transportation, alcohol, and gifts. This is where my time went instead:

• Rent: 71.76
• Debt: 11.43
  
• Food: 7.08
• School: 3.31 (spent on books for which we have a refund coming)
• Work Expenses: 2.23 (includes cleaning supplies and subtracted from my real hourly wage)
• Lazy Spending: 1.88 (most people would call this misc.)
• Licenses: 1.9 (drivers license renewal)
• Transportation: 1.83 (bus tickets)
  
• Hygiene: .36
• Clothing: .23
• Office Supplies: 1.52
• Entertainment: 1.91 (this includes books, gifts, and bath stuff

I spent more time in all categories because my real hourly wage (RHW) decreased by about six dollars. This is in part due to the fluctuations in tip income, but I also took into account some of the ways I spent money as a result of my jobs. Purchasing cleaning supplies, for instance, or schmoozing with my manager (whom I absolutely adore) after work over a hot cocoa. If I spend three bucks stocking or sucking up, that's three bucks less earned in a shift.

Last month my three largest expenses were rent and medical expenses. Nothing else took more than six hours of my time (though food and snacks, gifts, and the phone bill were next in line). This month it's nice to see that the only expense that took more than a week of work was rent, and my next largest expense was debt, followed at a distance by food. The amount we spend on snacking and eating out is strongly influenced by the amount of money Darling and I keep at hand, so I expect that as the amount we spend on debt increases, the amount we spend on food will drop dramatically. That's one of the benefits to weekly debits: the money needs to be in the bank, not accumulating at home or in our pants' pockets.

February 2011 Net Worth

January is off to a better start than I realized:

I struggled nearly every month of 2010, fighting to keep my net worth above the -$10,000 mark. The past two months in particular Darling and I had to pay a ten dollar late fee on our rent.

Well, rent for February is in the bank, and our assets chime in at 2,915.95.

Not only will we be able to pay rent, but we'll be able to make the first of 72 weekly transfer of $162.50 to the student loan company. I'm going to go ahead with my plan of paying $650 a month so we will be debt free by Year Six of The Challenge. Last month I didn't make a debt payment at all, and although we've been receiving bills for $0 since April due to consistent overpayment, a lot of interest racked up really fast. My first $50 sent in January didn't affect the principle at all. The next $50 put me in better standing, and things were back to normal when I made a $10 and later a $40 payment. My current debt is 11,269.01, and I just can not wait to watch that melt away in the coming months.

In the meantime, my net worth is the highest it's ever been: -$8,353.06!

Great Start to 2011

I am writing this in a nice toasty kitchen. Through the window the world looks sunny and warm, but it is actually bitter cold out there. Which is ironnic, because the past few days I've worn short sleeves on the bike path and broke a sweat despite the ominously dark clouds hanging low on Austin. That's hill country weather for you.

In the living room I listen to the soft blending of voices, violin, accordion, clarinet, and guitar of my friends' band. I'm waiting for a phone call from my Dad, who was going to let me know when to meet him at the bus stop, but it seems he's no more willing to face the weather than I am. In a few hours I head to work, and maybe he will meet me there for a cup of coffee instead. A day sat waiting for the phone to ring is not one wasted in my life. I did some writing for the house, enjoyed a pot of coffee with and discussed a bright cooperative future with one of my house mates, and enjoyed a late breakfast of steamed not-at-all seasonable veggies.

Today the coffee shop transferred ownership to another local business, and I'm super excited about impending change. At the same time I'm exploring exciting opportunities. I do have to confess my complete reversal of opinion on online job applications. Seton Hospital lets you apply for a job and then track the status of that application during the hiring process. Seton hospital also re-reimburses full and part-time employee's college tuition, fees, and books up to $2,000 a year. So guess where I am absolutely obsessed with working now? I applied for five jobs and my top two picks have apparently met the minimal qualifications and are being screened for preferred qualifications already!

I'm waiting until tonight to calculate my net worth because I'm picking up a paycheck and tips later today. But I can tell you now that we have February's rent in the bank already! I can't remember the last time we accomplished this by the first of the month! Since we're on schedule, we'll also be able to make the first $162.50 payment to my student loan company. If we do this every Friday we'll be debt free in eighteen months :)

In January I rode my bike every day, a total of 82 miles. I rode in cars twice, both as a last resort (buying groceries for my house after discovering I couldn't manage the bike trailer and then babysitting on Martin Luther King Day up north and realizing at the last minute that trains weren't running). I maintained a mostly vegan diet, but cheated a few times (I had cheese twice, baked a cake with eggs, made pancakes with eggs). I tracked every penny coming and going and am about to track exactly where my life energy is going as well. All in all I'm pretty pleased with how this year is progressing.