I've had an excellent and busy week since my last post. Sunday was spent playing board games and enjoying a delicious enchilada casserole with friends. Monday I sat baby Oblio, cooked a large family stir-fry, attended a house meeting, and went to the Barton Springs evening free swim. Tuesday my mom came into town, which meant shuttling up to north Austin to spend time with her and my brother and niece before work. Wednesday a friend and I took both of our visiting mothers to lunch (actually, the mothers insisted on treating). Then Thursday was a real hit: I woke up early for my house cleaning gig, Xy and Raja popped in to visit for a few hours, and I helped a friend bake vegan chocolate chip cookies for his family reunion before heading to my night shift.
After all that I only had a few hours to sleep before babysitting Oblio. By the time Raja picked him up in the early afternoon I pretty much just crawled into bed to watch Away We Go, drink tea, finish a book, and cuddle Darling for the rest of the day.
Several people have recommended deciding what I want to do before diving back into the job market. To be honest, if every week of my life proceeded like this past week, excluding the exhausting evening shifts at work, I'd be pretty darn happy. Spending time with my family and friends, hosting guests, baking for loved ones, sharing meals and conversation and games with friends? Rocking babies to sleep, riling toddler nieces into frenzied excitement, doing small repairs on my creaky shared house...Life is good.
Turning in my two-week notice seems to have invited the good back into my life, the qualities that have all but been left for dead since starting this job. After months of wrestling with my consciousness and suppressing my intuition, justifying poor choices and waiting for things to improve, it's amazing to experience happiness again, even as I continue to struggle with frustrating evening shifts and resulting sleep deprivation.
Thursday, my last day, can't come quickly enough.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
So...What Next?
Fantasizing about quitting a job is very different than facing the cold reality of impending unemployment. It's been a while since I've left a job without an escape route to another paycheck.
This time around, my inherent and general enthusiasm for work is severely lacking. I would much rather sulk off to lick my wounds than put on a happy face and fill out applications. Darling and company think I should take a week off and think about what I want to do with myself. Right now I only know what I don't want. I don't want to work forty hours a week, commute, work with anyone under the age of 25, serve frat boys or entitlement whores, sell liquor or crappy food, earn less than $15 an hour, juggle two part-time jobs, listen to awful music, worry that my employer is on the verge of bankruptcy, or wonder if I'll make rent.
I'm not totally unambitious. I do have an idea or two in the back of my mind. I'm just very hesitant to pursue something new, to tackle a new type of dream while I'm still reeling from the backlash from catching the last.
This time around, my inherent and general enthusiasm for work is severely lacking. I would much rather sulk off to lick my wounds than put on a happy face and fill out applications. Darling and company think I should take a week off and think about what I want to do with myself. Right now I only know what I don't want. I don't want to work forty hours a week, commute, work with anyone under the age of 25, serve frat boys or entitlement whores, sell liquor or crappy food, earn less than $15 an hour, juggle two part-time jobs, listen to awful music, worry that my employer is on the verge of bankruptcy, or wonder if I'll make rent.
I'm not totally unambitious. I do have an idea or two in the back of my mind. I'm just very hesitant to pursue something new, to tackle a new type of dream while I'm still reeling from the backlash from catching the last.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Giving Notice
I'm quitting my job.
My dream job turned into a nightmare. Employment that should have been about empowerment and communication actually centered around power struggles and politics. I was expecting self-development and personal growth, but I the only thing I developed was a mild stress disorder and the only growth occurred in my capacity to withstand and accept B.S.
I spent months waiting for change, trying to set a good example, desperately warding off disillusionment. The result was that I came off as Mom-ish at best, cloying at worse, and totally ignored either way.
I made the decision to quit Thursday and was alarmed by the intense feeling of relief which followed. After all, I'd just written a post glorifying my position. I decided to give myself the weekend to think it over.
Friday, after a long night of drinks with my favorite coworkers, I felt a touch of the camaraderie I've grown so desperately to crave and changed my mind. Saturday I hung out with a group of communist friends late into the night, caught a glimpse of the other side, and determined again to quit. Sunday I worked a very peaceful shift and got out several hours early, and decided that I could hold on a few weeks more, at least...Monday, my supposed day off, I spent three hours traveling to and from an hour-long meeting that made a mockery of all things related to meetings, cooperation, business decorum, and basic democratic principles. I went home and announced publicly for the first time my decision to quit, and for the first time in nearly a week was able to get a full night's sleep (I'd been operating on 2-4 hours hours at a time).
Yesterday was the first day I didn't change my mind, and in fact realized that I can't even stand to wait until finding another job before giving notice.
So I'll be turning in my notice tonight, and my last available day will be August 3rd. That means I'll receive my last full check on the 15th of August. That will be enough to pay September's rent. It's as nice a cushion as I've ever had leaving a job, giving me all of August to find a new job and all of September to earn the next month's rent. I might even be able to sneak a week off somewhere in there, if I tried.
My dream job turned into a nightmare. Employment that should have been about empowerment and communication actually centered around power struggles and politics. I was expecting self-development and personal growth, but I the only thing I developed was a mild stress disorder and the only growth occurred in my capacity to withstand and accept B.S.
I spent months waiting for change, trying to set a good example, desperately warding off disillusionment. The result was that I came off as Mom-ish at best, cloying at worse, and totally ignored either way.
I made the decision to quit Thursday and was alarmed by the intense feeling of relief which followed. After all, I'd just written a post glorifying my position. I decided to give myself the weekend to think it over.
Friday, after a long night of drinks with my favorite coworkers, I felt a touch of the camaraderie I've grown so desperately to crave and changed my mind. Saturday I hung out with a group of communist friends late into the night, caught a glimpse of the other side, and determined again to quit. Sunday I worked a very peaceful shift and got out several hours early, and decided that I could hold on a few weeks more, at least...Monday, my supposed day off, I spent three hours traveling to and from an hour-long meeting that made a mockery of all things related to meetings, cooperation, business decorum, and basic democratic principles. I went home and announced publicly for the first time my decision to quit, and for the first time in nearly a week was able to get a full night's sleep (I'd been operating on 2-4 hours hours at a time).
Yesterday was the first day I didn't change my mind, and in fact realized that I can't even stand to wait until finding another job before giving notice.
So I'll be turning in my notice tonight, and my last available day will be August 3rd. That means I'll receive my last full check on the 15th of August. That will be enough to pay September's rent. It's as nice a cushion as I've ever had leaving a job, giving me all of August to find a new job and all of September to earn the next month's rent. I might even be able to sneak a week off somewhere in there, if I tried.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Day Fifteen
Today is the fifteenth day of not spending.
So far Darling and I have purchased toothpaste, razors, a bar of shaving soap, several bus tickets, including the $20 five-day pass and the $30 30-day pass, and a taxi for the purpose of grocery shopping. We also paid some rent and debt.
What we have not purchased is more impressive. This includes alcohol despite hosting a fourth of July party and watching True Blood twice, which usually involves bringing a six pack of cider to share with friends. That's an estimated savings of at least $30 right there. I have also totally refrained from eating out for any reason, including food at work. Resisting the temptation to buy fried food for a shift meal has been my biggest temptation by far. But it's saved at the very least another $10, not to mention 50,000,000 calories.
The longest we've actually gone without exchanging money for goods and services is three days, mostly due to the bus pass situation (now solved).
Tonight I'm going to play games with friends, another ritual associated with a trip to the liquor store. Instead I baked a massive loaf of Challah bread to take.
So far Darling and I have purchased toothpaste, razors, a bar of shaving soap, several bus tickets, including the $20 five-day pass and the $30 30-day pass, and a taxi for the purpose of grocery shopping. We also paid some rent and debt.
What we have not purchased is more impressive. This includes alcohol despite hosting a fourth of July party and watching True Blood twice, which usually involves bringing a six pack of cider to share with friends. That's an estimated savings of at least $30 right there. I have also totally refrained from eating out for any reason, including food at work. Resisting the temptation to buy fried food for a shift meal has been my biggest temptation by far. But it's saved at the very least another $10, not to mention 50,000,000 calories.
The longest we've actually gone without exchanging money for goods and services is three days, mostly due to the bus pass situation (now solved).
Tonight I'm going to play games with friends, another ritual associated with a trip to the liquor store. Instead I baked a massive loaf of Challah bread to take.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Working For More
For the record, I really, really like my job.
I like my team mates, who are all roughly my age and with whom I relate quite well. I like my other coworkers, so many of whom are the dreamers and anarchists I've desperately needed in my life lately. I like the founders of the company who, totally unmotivated by profit, are driven by an idealistic pragmatism I've never seen before. I like the customers and the nature of our relationship. I like the pay, which is far more than the $17K Darling and I earned last year.
The most stressful aspect of my job is that which I value most: not having a boss. It's much more difficult than, say, not having a landlord. As with cooperative living, collective working requires strong and trusting relationships built on superior communication. Which does not, believe it or not, happen over night. But it's an amazing thing to see develop, and I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of that.
Lizzie aptly compared my mission statement to the American Dream. That's no accident. A major goal of this blog is to prove that The Dream is achievable by the average American. If Darling and I could buy land, build a house, and raise children on our modest incomes, so could anyone else.
What I'm finding is that while the standard Dream is achievable sans credit, it's increasingly difficult to accomplish within the bounds of a standard life. This is in part due to the fact that, despite international economic woes, most people are increasingly dependent on expensive luxury-turned-tools. Cell phones are a particularly good example of this. Five years ago I never saw cell phone numbers as a required field on job applications, nor did I expect to see most pay phones in the city gutted and dismantled by the dozens, literally over night. An act of simple frugality has, due to the shifts in culture, become a fairly radical lifestyle choice.
Some shifts are more personal than cultural. Simple and frugal choices lead down unexpected paths, and the further I travel the more difficult is to engage in standard practices. In our pursuit of cheaper rent, Darling and I started living cooperatively. Now we've grown accustomed to benefits beyond affordable monthly payments. Sharing groceries is one thing, sharing meals is something else entirely. Despite the compromises and sacrifices made in such an arrangement, the thought of living "alone" makes me very sad. Upon visiting home-owning couples these days I can't help but experience a sort of pity. So much space, so much stuff, so much dust. I wasn't born thinking like this, it is the result of years of experience and reflection that are irreversible.
I can see the same thing happening to me at work, with time. In a year or so I won't know how to have a boss or withdraw from decision-making processes. I won't know how to measure my worth to a company in terms of pay any more than I could handle sharing a wall with neighbors I didn't know intimately in an apartment complex. I will learn to love my coworkers, which at this moment is a very scary prospect, and it will be hard to imagine developing such ties with another group at another company.
The course of my life will be fundamentally different as a result of this job. I've undergone too much transformation in the past five years to ignore the implications of what I'm learning right now. I find it be very amazing and very, very stressful. And I don't know ANYONE who has been through this sort of lifestyle change or worked for this type of company with whom I can really share these thoughts. Imagine going to college freshman year, but somehow having come from a community that has never even heard of college before. It's hard, scary, heartbreaking, and more wonderful than you can describe...and no one has a freaking clue what you are talking about. That is what stresses me out the most.
The pay, the mighty dollar, was a big part of why I accepted this job. Being able to achieve some long-held financial goals is going to be amazing. That is easy enough to communicate, and perhaps the most appropriate topic for this blog. But everything else? It's going to take a while before I really know how to put it into words.
I like my team mates, who are all roughly my age and with whom I relate quite well. I like my other coworkers, so many of whom are the dreamers and anarchists I've desperately needed in my life lately. I like the founders of the company who, totally unmotivated by profit, are driven by an idealistic pragmatism I've never seen before. I like the customers and the nature of our relationship. I like the pay, which is far more than the $17K Darling and I earned last year.
The most stressful aspect of my job is that which I value most: not having a boss. It's much more difficult than, say, not having a landlord. As with cooperative living, collective working requires strong and trusting relationships built on superior communication. Which does not, believe it or not, happen over night. But it's an amazing thing to see develop, and I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of that.
Lizzie aptly compared my mission statement to the American Dream. That's no accident. A major goal of this blog is to prove that The Dream is achievable by the average American. If Darling and I could buy land, build a house, and raise children on our modest incomes, so could anyone else.
What I'm finding is that while the standard Dream is achievable sans credit, it's increasingly difficult to accomplish within the bounds of a standard life. This is in part due to the fact that, despite international economic woes, most people are increasingly dependent on expensive luxury-turned-tools. Cell phones are a particularly good example of this. Five years ago I never saw cell phone numbers as a required field on job applications, nor did I expect to see most pay phones in the city gutted and dismantled by the dozens, literally over night. An act of simple frugality has, due to the shifts in culture, become a fairly radical lifestyle choice.
Some shifts are more personal than cultural. Simple and frugal choices lead down unexpected paths, and the further I travel the more difficult is to engage in standard practices. In our pursuit of cheaper rent, Darling and I started living cooperatively. Now we've grown accustomed to benefits beyond affordable monthly payments. Sharing groceries is one thing, sharing meals is something else entirely. Despite the compromises and sacrifices made in such an arrangement, the thought of living "alone" makes me very sad. Upon visiting home-owning couples these days I can't help but experience a sort of pity. So much space, so much stuff, so much dust. I wasn't born thinking like this, it is the result of years of experience and reflection that are irreversible.
I can see the same thing happening to me at work, with time. In a year or so I won't know how to have a boss or withdraw from decision-making processes. I won't know how to measure my worth to a company in terms of pay any more than I could handle sharing a wall with neighbors I didn't know intimately in an apartment complex. I will learn to love my coworkers, which at this moment is a very scary prospect, and it will be hard to imagine developing such ties with another group at another company.
The course of my life will be fundamentally different as a result of this job. I've undergone too much transformation in the past five years to ignore the implications of what I'm learning right now. I find it be very amazing and very, very stressful. And I don't know ANYONE who has been through this sort of lifestyle change or worked for this type of company with whom I can really share these thoughts. Imagine going to college freshman year, but somehow having come from a community that has never even heard of college before. It's hard, scary, heartbreaking, and more wonderful than you can describe...and no one has a freaking clue what you are talking about. That is what stresses me out the most.
The pay, the mighty dollar, was a big part of why I accepted this job. Being able to achieve some long-held financial goals is going to be amazing. That is easy enough to communicate, and perhaps the most appropriate topic for this blog. But everything else? It's going to take a while before I really know how to put it into words.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Working Full Time - Today
My last post received some excellent comments, stocked with the usual great advice and encouragement. Sarah D. took a break from lurking and made the following observation about a topic I've been wrestling with for several weeks.
The long answer:
The most Darling and I have ever earned in a single year was less than $28,000. Last year we barely earned $17,000. In the meantime I've paid two sets of immigration fees, traveled to Europe twice, supported my Dad and little sister for a few months, spent a few thousand dollars on college classes, moved into one of the priciest neighborhoods in an already expensive city, paid cash for two oral surgeries sans insurance, and spent an entire Summer acting a fool.
While I've lived a life rich in love and experience, I am not entirely satisfied with my progress. In my early twenties it was all good and fine to work four days a week, exceed my minimum monthly minimum debt payments, and feel clever making a trip to and from England with less than $3,000. But next year I'm 27, and treading financial water isn't quite good enough anymore. So even before I was offered a full-time job, I was searching for something that would enable me to break free of my debt (and solve my dental woes) once and for all. Then I was offered my current job.
The mighty dollar is not something I want to pursue my entire life. I don't think there is a job on this planet that I could dedicate 40 hours a week to and still be content. I'm too spoiled, too petulant, and too sleepy by nature. That's why accepting this job, and working forty hours a week right now, is the right choice.
To my mind, debt is the only thing that keeps me traditionally employed in the first place. This is a radical statement, and we can deal with its implications in time, but for now let's deal with the fact that I have to pay over $10,000 before my life is totally my own. At my current rate, I'll be doing this for the next 5-10 years. That is not acceptable to me. By pairing a full-time salary with a hardcore spending fast, I might achieve debt freedom and perfect dental health by next year. It's not going to be easy. I might be a little grumpy for the next twelve months.
But once Darling and I can honestly say that what we have is totally our own? Capable of living very well while working very little? I can't even begin to imagine what we will do with that power. I'm hoping to have come into my own at my current workplace, which I really do adore. If not, I'll be more free than ever to pursue employment that does make me happy...if I choose to work much at all. But that's a challenge for later.
What does bother me at the moment is I'm really not feeling the joy with your new job. It seems to be mucho frustration, mucho extra travelling and a serious drain on your finite resources (ie time). Am I mssing something? It seems that you've become everything you've fought against over the past few years, albeit working for a touchy feely co-op, and mainly for the sake of the mighty dollar. Personally I'm all for job security, but you seem to be struggling. Are things improving?As with so very many of my responses, there's a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is yes, I've been struggling, and yes, things are improving.
The long answer:
The most Darling and I have ever earned in a single year was less than $28,000. Last year we barely earned $17,000. In the meantime I've paid two sets of immigration fees, traveled to Europe twice, supported my Dad and little sister for a few months, spent a few thousand dollars on college classes, moved into one of the priciest neighborhoods in an already expensive city, paid cash for two oral surgeries sans insurance, and spent an entire Summer acting a fool.
While I've lived a life rich in love and experience, I am not entirely satisfied with my progress. In my early twenties it was all good and fine to work four days a week, exceed my minimum monthly minimum debt payments, and feel clever making a trip to and from England with less than $3,000. But next year I'm 27, and treading financial water isn't quite good enough anymore. So even before I was offered a full-time job, I was searching for something that would enable me to break free of my debt (and solve my dental woes) once and for all. Then I was offered my current job.
The mighty dollar is not something I want to pursue my entire life. I don't think there is a job on this planet that I could dedicate 40 hours a week to and still be content. I'm too spoiled, too petulant, and too sleepy by nature. That's why accepting this job, and working forty hours a week right now, is the right choice.
To my mind, debt is the only thing that keeps me traditionally employed in the first place. This is a radical statement, and we can deal with its implications in time, but for now let's deal with the fact that I have to pay over $10,000 before my life is totally my own. At my current rate, I'll be doing this for the next 5-10 years. That is not acceptable to me. By pairing a full-time salary with a hardcore spending fast, I might achieve debt freedom and perfect dental health by next year. It's not going to be easy. I might be a little grumpy for the next twelve months.
But once Darling and I can honestly say that what we have is totally our own? Capable of living very well while working very little? I can't even begin to imagine what we will do with that power. I'm hoping to have come into my own at my current workplace, which I really do adore. If not, I'll be more free than ever to pursue employment that does make me happy...if I choose to work much at all. But that's a challenge for later.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Lessons From Fasts Past
Yesterday I used the seven day bus and train pass to get to and from work. I'm still frustrated to have spent so much money on something that won't get used for full effect, but at least I'm not steadily bleeding money on bus fare in the meantime.
For someone who "isn't spending," I've been especially obsessed with money. I remember this from Spend Nothing Months past. Coping with compulsive temptation requires cultivating a certain type of self-awareness. It gets slow at work, and I'm watching people eat fries. And even though I'm not hungry and have a packed lunch, even though I don't actually like fries that much, suddenly there seems to be a very compelling argument for just going ahead and buying myself a plate of fries to get through the next half hour of my shift before the dinner rush hits. And even though the answer is "no," my brain wants to chew on the idea, the pros and cons, the potential cravings, the justifications, the socio-economic relations between myself and the bloody stupid fries. If I was spending, I'd just think that it was time for dinner, buy a plate, eat it, feel guilty and greasy for the rest of the night, and wonder what the heck I was thinking spending $40 on food at work over the course of the month when it came time for monthly tabulations.
It's a silly example, but true. Every time I set limitations for myself like this, I can't help but pity the credit addict all the more. I have such a difficult time resisting things I can't afford while limited by the amount of cash in my pocket. How do people cope with $1,000+ lines of credit? I read critiques of spending fasts written by folks who have deluded themselves into thinking that money is about numbers, wants and needs, credit ratings and net worth. Until you truly, voluntarily choose not to spend more than absolutely necessary for a certain period of time, you can't really understand how much spending occurs out of boredom, stress, and habit.
Based on previous experience, I expect the anxiety associated with not spending to go away after about a week. But then, I've only ever "not spent" for a month at a time. What will happen after ten months of financial abstinence?
For someone who "isn't spending," I've been especially obsessed with money. I remember this from Spend Nothing Months past. Coping with compulsive temptation requires cultivating a certain type of self-awareness. It gets slow at work, and I'm watching people eat fries. And even though I'm not hungry and have a packed lunch, even though I don't actually like fries that much, suddenly there seems to be a very compelling argument for just going ahead and buying myself a plate of fries to get through the next half hour of my shift before the dinner rush hits. And even though the answer is "no," my brain wants to chew on the idea, the pros and cons, the potential cravings, the justifications, the socio-economic relations between myself and the bloody stupid fries. If I was spending, I'd just think that it was time for dinner, buy a plate, eat it, feel guilty and greasy for the rest of the night, and wonder what the heck I was thinking spending $40 on food at work over the course of the month when it came time for monthly tabulations.
It's a silly example, but true. Every time I set limitations for myself like this, I can't help but pity the credit addict all the more. I have such a difficult time resisting things I can't afford while limited by the amount of cash in my pocket. How do people cope with $1,000+ lines of credit? I read critiques of spending fasts written by folks who have deluded themselves into thinking that money is about numbers, wants and needs, credit ratings and net worth. Until you truly, voluntarily choose not to spend more than absolutely necessary for a certain period of time, you can't really understand how much spending occurs out of boredom, stress, and habit.
Based on previous experience, I expect the anxiety associated with not spending to go away after about a week. But then, I've only ever "not spent" for a month at a time. What will happen after ten months of financial abstinence?
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Spending on Buses, Not Booze
So, about not spending...
...It's been fairly easy so far. Since my last update Darling and I spent $186 on debt and $2 on bus tickets.
On Monday the house had a party and I had a really, really hard time not pitching in for beverages. It kind of makes me feel like a huge jerk, actually, not to purchase a six-pack to share. Not that there wasn't plenty of beverage to go around. Come to think of it, I had a similar compulsion while hanging out with friends on Sunday. I wouldn't have expected that to be my strongest temptation so far, but there you go.
I spent some time trying to fix my bike today and succeeded in little more than threading a nut and becoming very, very frustrated with the entire situation. I miss riding like crazy. Due to the 4th of July my trip with Em to YBP has been postponed yet again, but maybe on Monday everything will get sorted out.
...It's been fairly easy so far. Since my last update Darling and I spent $186 on debt and $2 on bus tickets.
On Monday the house had a party and I had a really, really hard time not pitching in for beverages. It kind of makes me feel like a huge jerk, actually, not to purchase a six-pack to share. Not that there wasn't plenty of beverage to go around. Come to think of it, I had a similar compulsion while hanging out with friends on Sunday. I wouldn't have expected that to be my strongest temptation so far, but there you go.
I spent some time trying to fix my bike today and succeeded in little more than threading a nut and becoming very, very frustrated with the entire situation. I miss riding like crazy. Due to the 4th of July my trip with Em to YBP has been postponed yet again, but maybe on Monday everything will get sorted out.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
2011 Resolution Update
So, I made some New Years Resolutions last January.
And I was fairly good at keeping them for a long while. Then...well, I obviously stopped mentioning them. It was Beanie's recent post on our car-free challenge that reminded me to fess up.
So, car free? Not so much. I posted early on about my first several snags. Getting across town to babysit Baby O on MLK day was my first ride of the year, I think. Remember that day I shared a glue trap with a rat and then discovered the trains weren't running? Crap way to start the year. February I borrowed a car from Bo to do the house shopping, got trapped in South By Southwest downtown traffic, and got rear-ended. Not long after I shared a ride to the liquor store with her and then a bottle of whiskey. By my Mom's visit in March I no longer had the energy to resist her request to drive her around the city, though I was still shaken from the last time I got behind the wheel. By April I took for granted that I'd end up in a car to buy emergency provisions (meat) for my family to eat at my birthday barbecue. And by May I pretty much let the matter drop.
What have I learned? Darling and I choose to live car free, and I really think that if we moved to a new town (or back to Virginia), we'd have no problem going a year without metal coffins. However, we live in my hometown,where not only do we know a dozen people who want to see us regularly, but they all live at least an hour's ride away from us. By not owning a car (among other "alternative" lifestyle choices) we're able to live in an absurdly expensive area of an already pricey city. My friends, in turn, have chosen to live in the suburbs. Eventually we will all have to make difficult choices about where we choose to live and whom we get to hang out with as a result of those choices, but we might as well enjoy our mobility while gas is affordable (if gas wasn't affordable, people wouldn't drive SUVs).
As for riding the bike every single day, I crapped out on my 26th birthday, which also happens to be the hundredth day of the year. So I rode my bike for ninety-nine days in a row, a little further every week than the week before. To be fair, that first day I missed was also the weekend of my longest ride, well over thirty miles. I only realized that I went a full twenty-four hours without riding in reflection.
I kept riding daily for a few weeks longer, then I got sick. After pedaling an evening or two in a sickly haze, I gave it up for about a week. Then one day I went to grab Mimi's bike and it was not available. That was the same week I was offered a new job eight miles away. You guys should be able to recall easily enough what's been up since then.
Is this a fail? Maybe. I personally don't think so. I got enough riding in to feel like a true cyclist. I made trips to doctor offices and to campsites several towns away. I rode on dirt roads and highways. I rode to see my Godbaby in the hospital twice in the first two days of his life. And I built a foundation for future cycling. I knew before signing on the dotted line that riding eight miles home from work would be a breeze, even when most of my friends and family could only relate to the route as a hour-and-a-half-stuck-in-traffic trip. I learned some basic bike repair and am coming to terms with the fact that, to be the person I want to be, I have to embrace my mechanical side. I regret not riding every single day, but slowing down to master some mad hex key skills is obviously a necessary step in my personal evolution.
I totally forgot about the veganism thing, to be honest. Between the cycling and the commute and adjusting to a new job, not eating dairy fell pretty low on my priorities. Being away from my kitchen 10-12 hours a day five days a week is an incredible challenge. Finding any type of food that is nutritional, easy to transport, will be delicious after a long hot bus ride, does not make me look like a complete nerd at work, and can be thrown together in six minutes has been fairly stressful. Though, come to think of it, most of my successful lunch boxes have actually been vegan. So maybe I've been more successful than I give myself credit for. I'll start paying attention again.
I'm still tracking my money and creating my monthly tabulations, but still haven't moved onto the next step of the Your Money Or Your Life plan. I have to create and mount a sort of chart to gauge my success over the next five years or so. I've never been good at visual aids and the very sight of poster board brings to mind haunting memories of science fairs past. However, I'm pretty sure the next step of the plan is basically: Be Frugal. So, if I can get past this little fear-of-wall-charts thing, the next step will be crazy simple and jibe nicely with my 10 Month Spending Fast.
And I was fairly good at keeping them for a long while. Then...well, I obviously stopped mentioning them. It was Beanie's recent post on our car-free challenge that reminded me to fess up.
So, car free? Not so much. I posted early on about my first several snags. Getting across town to babysit Baby O on MLK day was my first ride of the year, I think. Remember that day I shared a glue trap with a rat and then discovered the trains weren't running? Crap way to start the year. February I borrowed a car from Bo to do the house shopping, got trapped in South By Southwest downtown traffic, and got rear-ended. Not long after I shared a ride to the liquor store with her and then a bottle of whiskey. By my Mom's visit in March I no longer had the energy to resist her request to drive her around the city, though I was still shaken from the last time I got behind the wheel. By April I took for granted that I'd end up in a car to buy emergency provisions (meat) for my family to eat at my birthday barbecue. And by May I pretty much let the matter drop.
What have I learned? Darling and I choose to live car free, and I really think that if we moved to a new town (or back to Virginia), we'd have no problem going a year without metal coffins. However, we live in my hometown,where not only do we know a dozen people who want to see us regularly, but they all live at least an hour's ride away from us. By not owning a car (among other "alternative" lifestyle choices) we're able to live in an absurdly expensive area of an already pricey city. My friends, in turn, have chosen to live in the suburbs. Eventually we will all have to make difficult choices about where we choose to live and whom we get to hang out with as a result of those choices, but we might as well enjoy our mobility while gas is affordable (if gas wasn't affordable, people wouldn't drive SUVs).
As for riding the bike every single day, I crapped out on my 26th birthday, which also happens to be the hundredth day of the year. So I rode my bike for ninety-nine days in a row, a little further every week than the week before. To be fair, that first day I missed was also the weekend of my longest ride, well over thirty miles. I only realized that I went a full twenty-four hours without riding in reflection.
I kept riding daily for a few weeks longer, then I got sick. After pedaling an evening or two in a sickly haze, I gave it up for about a week. Then one day I went to grab Mimi's bike and it was not available. That was the same week I was offered a new job eight miles away. You guys should be able to recall easily enough what's been up since then.
Is this a fail? Maybe. I personally don't think so. I got enough riding in to feel like a true cyclist. I made trips to doctor offices and to campsites several towns away. I rode on dirt roads and highways. I rode to see my Godbaby in the hospital twice in the first two days of his life. And I built a foundation for future cycling. I knew before signing on the dotted line that riding eight miles home from work would be a breeze, even when most of my friends and family could only relate to the route as a hour-and-a-half-stuck-in-traffic trip. I learned some basic bike repair and am coming to terms with the fact that, to be the person I want to be, I have to embrace my mechanical side. I regret not riding every single day, but slowing down to master some mad hex key skills is obviously a necessary step in my personal evolution.
I totally forgot about the veganism thing, to be honest. Between the cycling and the commute and adjusting to a new job, not eating dairy fell pretty low on my priorities. Being away from my kitchen 10-12 hours a day five days a week is an incredible challenge. Finding any type of food that is nutritional, easy to transport, will be delicious after a long hot bus ride, does not make me look like a complete nerd at work, and can be thrown together in six minutes has been fairly stressful. Though, come to think of it, most of my successful lunch boxes have actually been vegan. So maybe I've been more successful than I give myself credit for. I'll start paying attention again.
I'm still tracking my money and creating my monthly tabulations, but still haven't moved onto the next step of the Your Money Or Your Life plan. I have to create and mount a sort of chart to gauge my success over the next five years or so. I've never been good at visual aids and the very sight of poster board brings to mind haunting memories of science fairs past. However, I'm pretty sure the next step of the plan is basically: Be Frugal. So, if I can get past this little fear-of-wall-charts thing, the next step will be crazy simple and jibe nicely with my 10 Month Spending Fast.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
July Tabulations
My real hourly wage for June was $8.45. I'm expecting slightly larger paychecks in July, and riding the bike should cut my commute by several hours a week, so hopefully that will improve.
I spent about 114 hours on rent, 23 on debt, and 14 on "extra" food and drink out with friends and on the go. I kind of can't believe that, broke as we seemed to be last month, we spent so much on beer and snacks. It adds up so quickly! And while I do love eating out, experiencing new restaurants, and not having to wash dishes, a lot of last month's eating out was really dissapointing. Darling and I spent $33 on a date to a favorite restaurant we neglected for a year, and the food was terrible. That was the biggest chunk of change, and the biggest letdown, but ultimately I'm looking foward to denying that vice for ten months.
Lizzie wondered if I ought to list all my expenditures on my blog for thirty days, which seems fair enough, since I'm claiming a spending fast. On the first of July Darling went to the bank and metro station to buy me a $30 thirty-day bus pass. Confused, he came home with a $20 seven-day bus and train pass. Frustrating as that is, thank God he didn't waste $80 on the 30-day bus and train pass. I'm wondering if this is a sign that I should start really relying on my bike to get to and from work. Tallying my hours worked for my monthly tabulations shows that the week I commuted by train and pedal-power, I saved roughly 5 hours of time.
That same day I did the house shopping, spending $2 on a bus and $21 on a cab in the proccess. Thankfully we have a new housemate who owns a car, so there will be less pressure on me to take up that chore.
We also paid $600 of our rent. Which means on day one we spent a total of $643. Not what I would call a massive success for day one, but whatever. Yesterday I spent no money.
I spent about 114 hours on rent, 23 on debt, and 14 on "extra" food and drink out with friends and on the go. I kind of can't believe that, broke as we seemed to be last month, we spent so much on beer and snacks. It adds up so quickly! And while I do love eating out, experiencing new restaurants, and not having to wash dishes, a lot of last month's eating out was really dissapointing. Darling and I spent $33 on a date to a favorite restaurant we neglected for a year, and the food was terrible. That was the biggest chunk of change, and the biggest letdown, but ultimately I'm looking foward to denying that vice for ten months.
Lizzie wondered if I ought to list all my expenditures on my blog for thirty days, which seems fair enough, since I'm claiming a spending fast. On the first of July Darling went to the bank and metro station to buy me a $30 thirty-day bus pass. Confused, he came home with a $20 seven-day bus and train pass. Frustrating as that is, thank God he didn't waste $80 on the 30-day bus and train pass. I'm wondering if this is a sign that I should start really relying on my bike to get to and from work. Tallying my hours worked for my monthly tabulations shows that the week I commuted by train and pedal-power, I saved roughly 5 hours of time.
That same day I did the house shopping, spending $2 on a bus and $21 on a cab in the proccess. Thankfully we have a new housemate who owns a car, so there will be less pressure on me to take up that chore.
We also paid $600 of our rent. Which means on day one we spent a total of $643. Not what I would call a massive success for day one, but whatever. Yesterday I spent no money.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
July 2011 Net Worth
My total assets amount to $2,165.42.
We spent this month trying to catch up. I got a sort of mini-paycheck on the first that barely put a dent in our situation, and then a full check on the fifteenth to pay the rest of June's rent with. My most recent check covered most of July's rent, but it won't be until my next check that I'll be able to say we're totally out of the hole. That knocks our current debt up to $10,527.04 .
Our net worth is now -$8,361.62. That's the lowest it's been since January, and $2,000 more than our record low! On the bright side, my upcoming paycheck is going almost totally to debt, so that should help get us back on track. That and the long-term spending fast we officially started yesterday.
We spent this month trying to catch up. I got a sort of mini-paycheck on the first that barely put a dent in our situation, and then a full check on the fifteenth to pay the rest of June's rent with. My most recent check covered most of July's rent, but it won't be until my next check that I'll be able to say we're totally out of the hole. That knocks our current debt up to $10,527.04 .
Our net worth is now -$8,361.62. That's the lowest it's been since January, and $2,000 more than our record low! On the bright side, my upcoming paycheck is going almost totally to debt, so that should help get us back on track. That and the long-term spending fast we officially started yesterday.
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