Early Retirement Extreme

Financial independence, frugality, self-sufficiency, ecology, capitalism, and voluntary simplicity

On cars and jitneys

Published in June 9th, 2008

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Carpooling has been suggested as a solution to alleviate increasing gas prices. The problem is that finding someone to carpool with is a difficult task requiring much research into whether the driver is dependable, etc. Except for major cities [...]

Bicycle riders on the freeway

Published in May 12th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in transport

10 Comments

Maybe when oil reaches $200 in a few years as predicted by the same Goldman-Sachs analyst that predicted $105 dollar oil by 2009, part of the freeway system, which is now overpopulated by cars and SUVs(*), will be converted into bicycle paths. One can dream, right?
(*) I can’t help but compute (with a certain schadenfreude) [...]

My commute is awesome

Published in February 24th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in transport

8 Comments

I have the best commute in the world. I travel at top speed and I am rarely bothered by slower people in front of me since I always pass them without considering oncoming traffic in the other lane. Some times there are faster people on the road. This is fun as we can start racing [...]

Bicycle commuting: Needs vs wants.

Published in February 15th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, clothing, fitness, transport

No Comments

Lately I have been lusting for some winter/fall season cycling clothes so I have been trying to invent all sorts of excuses to justify my sudden need(*). I need a jacket because my tex jacket has this thick collar that makes it hard to see around, also it flaps a bit in the wind. I [...]

Dollar cost averaging at the pump for cheaper gas

Published in January 18th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in budgeting, expenses, freebies, transport

1 Comment

This may be taking it to extremes, but try dollar cost averaging at the pump for cheaper gas. Obviously this does not work if you have to detour to get gas, but if the gas station is on your route and you merely have to pull over, do this. Instead of filling the tank up, [...]

Bicycle commuting

Published in January 4th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, fitness, transport

3 Comments

The past year I have been commuting by bike on most work days. The distance is about 6.2 miles and my odomoter shows 1736 miles for the year. Granted, I have done some recreational riding as well including a half-century, that is 50 miles, on some particularly crazy Saturday, but I doubt that totals more [...]