Frugal February Day 29

No spending today!  Let's do a monthly wrap-up.  Overall, I would like to say that I did not experience any hardship as a result of this endeavor.  The "worst thing" was when I was invited out or to get take out food and I had to turn that down.  I never went hungry.  I ended up making conscious decisions to drive my car just to keep the seals wet.  I still have 10 gallons left.

I think this was a really successful experiment and I think I'll do it again some time.  Maybe I'll do Mizer May or Stingy September (or both!).

I spent $238.62.  If you exclude purchases from grocery stores ($108.72) and bills like utilities ($119.28) , then I only spent $10.62, of which all but two dollars was for valentine's day.  The only place I could really have cut expenditures are:  1. stop buying renewable energy credits and 2. be a bit more frugal at Publix.  I bought $5 eye drops one day (I could have used my reserve of artificial tears, but I'd have to buy more soon anyway) and I spent $10 on four 12-packs of soda...it was a good price so I stocked up.

I had 19 days with no spending.  If you exclude paying bills, then I have 22 days with no spending.

I've done a pretty good job of eating cheaply.  I've eaten some of the food that's been in my house for a long time.  I did save a bunch of money by not eating out or drinking out at the invitation of friends.  I only had a couple beers (maybe 3 or 4??) at my house and I might have made one mixed drink with the alcohol I had on hand.

It's a good thing FF is coming to an end because I'm getting some serious work done on my house and my tail light battery died for my bike.  I'm going to upgrade to the DiNotte XML-3 and get a new battery.  I also need to buy some dielectric grease (which should be cheap).

Frugal February Day 28

No spending today.

On my way to school, the left crank arm on my Kona Kahuna 29er started to come loose.  I noticed that there was a problem when I couldn't shift into the big chain ring.  I was too far from home to go back & trade bikes because I had to get to school on time.  A quick roadside repair was good enough to get me to school and back home again.  I noticed that my tail light didn't work this morning and it was because of a battery problem. I grabbed my charger and plugged it in at school.  The battery hadn't charged after about 5 hours and I began to suspect something was up. It won't even power the tail light in flash mode. I have to call DiNotte Lighting tomorrow to see if they can help me figure things out.

Frugal February Day 27

Got up & it was raining today.  Decided to ride my 29er with disc brakes and new fender.  I stayed pretty dry.

Felt unmotivated for the first hour at school.  Went to see the classroom I'm teaching in over the summer then to meet with my major professor, but he was in a meeting.  Ran into Sam and had a good chat about my options after graduation.  He said that good liberal arts colleges emphasize teaching and research about the same.  I'll have to keep some of those on my radar.  Sam also suggested some publication outlets for my walkability paper.

Met with major professor later.  There's a lot going on with potential projects.  I proposed that we table the difficult stuff maybe even until after I graduate.  Worked the rest of the school day on some stuff for a publication with him/my dissertation.

Did some walkability stuff when I got home.

Didn't spend any money today.

Frugal February Day 26

Did not want to get out of bed this morning.  It was a little chilly and I was sore and tired.  I had to get up to open Krank It Up!.  I was a bit ahead of schedule and stopped by to watch some of the bicycle polo tournament.  Not much action at the bike shop.  I watched some more of the tournament after I finished my shift.  I came home and passed out for an hour and a half.

Didn't spend any money today, but Erin did show me a nice looking watch.  I've been thinking about getting a new watch since the clasp on my old one broke.  I know I could just fix the clasp which is cheaper and probably more practical.  I like my current watch and I've had it for about 10 years.  I have mixed feelings about getting a new one, but check out the model I think is the front runner.  The one in the picture has a black face, but it should be grey.  Any opinions?

Frugal February Day 25

Woke up early to go shovel dirt at the Boys & Girls Club's baseball field.  Some clown had dumped and spread clay all over the outfield so we tried to rake it off the top of the grass and shovel it into a wheelbarrow or truck for relocation behind the backstop.  I estimate it was over 30 cubic yards of dirt.  Some kids just don't know how to run a shovel.  Very inefficient practices/lazy volunteers.  I wasn't slacking and I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  Good thing I brought my work gloves or I know I'd have blisters.  I'm Mr. Softhands these days.

Next went to Damn Good Bikes.  The shop got rearranged today.  Looks way different.  We added a checkout counter and repair area near the front of the shop plus reorganized the retail accessories.  I was exhausted by the time I got there but still managed to be productive.  I picked up the fender that I had ordered in early January that somehow just came in.

When I got home, I replaced my 29er's left crank arm and put on the new fender.  Now that bike's ready for the rain!  Next, I checked my email and my major professor had given me some feedback about my side research on walkability.  I checked into his concerns and I think that my data's fine.  I wrote a few more pages on walkability.  Erin said something about "quality over quantity" and I told her that tonight's work was good.

Got a credit card bill today.  It was for a $12.50 recurring charge I have for renewable energy credits.  I buy 450KWH of credits each month of the "Tallahassee Blend" which includes hydro, solar, and a tiny share of wind.  As such, it's not really a discretionary expenditure as far as FF is concerned.  I realize that it is discretionary in the bigger picture.  I support the idea of alternative energy (if it can be produced efficiently) so I think putting my money where my mouth is is a good way to support progress in this industry.

Frugal February Day 24

Forgot to mention yesterday that I paid my share of the utilities.  I was going to leave it out because it's not discretionary.  See all expenditures for the month on my spreadsheet.  I drove Nat to Checkers for a late night snack.  I have 10 or 11 gallons left.  I started the month with 13 or 14.  No spending today.

I got some awesome work done on walkability.  I had a hypothesis that I showed to be worthwhile today.  I wrote up a few pages, sent to my coauthors, and I think the case is closed from the data perspective.  Now we just have to finish the writing and seal the deal.

Pick #282

M.I.A. - Bad Girls

You don't really get the effect without the video...
Also, check out the Noisey channel...it's run by Vice.