This one was given to me.
http://www.weber.com/explore/grills/charcoal-series/performer

Here is the chimney.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q0B5WW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000WEOQV8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EKPQY29Z2QHBRJF5QWY

Here are the baskets.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WEMGM4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000WEOQV8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EKPQY29Z2QHBRJF5QWY

There is an incredible surge in people wanting to opt out?no? I have maybe caught the ERE bug too late….

This too is my favourite post

Sushi made with canned tuna and mayonnaise was a favorite of a Japanese friend of mine. Easy to make and really tasty.

Flash forward to where I am now a single mother trying to pay off the huge debt he left me with (fairly sure we’ll ever see any of the $200/mo of child support he was told to pay). Paid off the credit cards and had to sign another contract with the Army to get them to help me with the student loans (well truly didn’t HAVE to I guess, but its sure tempting when they tell me they will pay it all off for me over 6 years not the 20 direct loans told me it would take).

I really think student loans arn’t all that bad, especaily the subsidized ones. The problem is that you have to have the responsiblity and maturity to manage your money. I only make $10/hr at home and while some things were a stretch I was able to support myself and a child. Having banked enough here in the desert to buy a small condo, we will be doing very well when I get home (Getting SOOOOO close can’t wait!!!).

Kevin – My aunt was also a “professional student” she couldn’t find a good job after graduation so she took 2 classes a semester to keep from having to start repayment. I took a similar route, but started graduate school because the more I learned the more I wanted to learn.

That’s right. From my monthly spending almost nothing goes to ‘stuff’. I basically spend one half on food/rent and the other half on social activities/trips/travel. Yes those can be expensive if you do a lot of them!

The answer is that they liberally waste it. Let me introduce you to my sister, turning age 57 this month:

1) Returned to college in fall of 2007 for the first time since she graduated from junior college when she was 26. She has recently been fired from a telephone solicitation job for being late too many times and telling off a contact. Reasons for returning? Get a student loan and financial aid so that she can ostensibly “make a good wage”… would have liked 87 yr-old mom to supply the money, but since mom is in deficit spending due to necessary elder care, she could only co-sign the student loan in winter 2008 after boyfriend’s green card is discovered “missing” and he can’t support her. He believes his green card will be reissued in June 2008.

2) Agreement with family is that student loan of $30,000 is to pay for living expenses for the next 2+ years since financial aid is paying for tuition (and possibly slightly more). Apartment she is renting costs about $800/mo, though there are cheaper ones of similar size.

3) Upon getting the money, sister buys new furniture and two computers for her 2 bedroom apartment (boyfriend who has no money and no job is living with her, so ostensibly she “needs” 2 bedrooms). Never mind that she was getting along without the furniture for 6 months and they could have shared one computer.

4) The boyfriend’s $500 car continues to break down. They ignore my suggestions to ditch the car (bus is available) as she’s a student with no income. They also ignore my next suggestion to get another $500 car and ditch this junker. Instead, they spend $3,000 in multiple repairs to make it “dependable” and thus worth about $800. Did I mention that they had to rip the carpet out of the car when someone spilled milk on the floor and didn’t clean it up?

5) She can’t find any classes to take in summer 2008. Instead of finding a summer job, she decides she will take the summer as vacation and help her boyfriend with his green card status since there’s another hangup.

6) The friend she left her two toy poodles with in fall 2007 cannot take them on the next journey of his life, so she takes them back in late June 2008. Her lease (yes, like all poor people, she signed a lease) allows 2 pets total, but only in the form of 1 cat & 1 dog. Landlord lets her know she is in violation of her lease and fines her $500. Rather than find a home for the dogs, she instead breaks her lease ($2,000!!!) and finds another apartment on the other side of town from the college. First month, last month, and deposit on the new apartment are another $2,500(?). Plus she paid movers to haul all that new furniture ($200?).

7) The student loan year-end statement arrives for mom. Examining it provides a good picture of the financial future for my sister. Knowing that my sister hates figuring out math and finances, I relay what the costs of this student loan will be and how much inheiritance she can expect if she’s anticipating using that for loan repayment. Sister thanks me and says all is well.

No bad news comes out of my sister until earlier this week. While my retired 65-yr-old brother is visiting from out-of-state, she calls and says she needs money for the electric bill. No, it’s not just the regular monthly bill because they’re going to shut it off… which tells me she hasn’t paid her bill in a couple months. Brother is here to visit family, so we drive 2 hours to visit her. While we’re there, the landlord serves a 72-hour eviction notice, thus confirming that she’s totally out of money already, 14 months after getting a $30,000 student loan for living expenses.

9) Mom bailed her out this month, just to take the pressure off and let her finish finals. However, I don’t know what she’s going to do next month. She had asked for $3,000 to get her through the summer and “then she’ll have a part time job teaching Hebrew because she can finish the class this summer and her boyfriend will have his green card”, but she’s burned all her financial goodwill from the family, so I don’t know what she’ll do. Ironically, when she spurned my emailed short list of cheaper apartments from craigslist, she’s worried about breaking her lease!

Basics of it involve voluntarily reducing ones consumption of interest, becoming a society free agent as much as possible (paid for home, modest car/truck or best a bike, a garden) make what you need to substain the minimum needs, stop watching and responding to media ad hypes.

Living a good life on $10 to $15 grand a year is alot more freer/easier lifestyle than those who make and have to substain a six/seven figure living expense.

All comes down to figuring out for onesself that in order to live a good life, to be able to pursue Universal happiness – your freedom, dignity and value as a human is not tied to the money machine and will no longer be considered a commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder.

Keep the good articles up…

I’d have a hard time getting rid of my truck, for one thing, I’m still WAY upside down on it, and another, I love to build/fly model airplanes if large sizes (yes, small ones too) and I need the space. Plus, even if you use Craigslist and FreeCycle a lot, you need something to haul home the goodies, yes?

Also, without a truck/mega-car, how do you move the RV you’re living in? I’d hate to depend on others to get me moved. Maybe that is an issue in itself, I’m awfully self-dependent. If I can’t do it myself, I usually don’t…

I also agree on the expensive bicycle thing. I just can’t see folks dropping $2500 just to save 5 lbs. and get the latest composites, unless it’s mainly for bragging rights, which I suspect it is. I’m totally happy on a used $100 mountain bike or classic ten-speed.

I wish-wish-wish I could talk my family (wife) into getting super simple and debt-free like you have done. To her, 2000 sq.ft. is a Minimum to hold all her, her mothers, AND grandmothers stuff. Plus, well, we’re both book hounds, and we have a spare room with nothing but book shelves and the computers. We’re literally killing ourselves to maintain a lifestyle that, frankly, I’m sick of.

Maybe one day, if I don’t die first…

Thanks again for your daily writing. I visit all the time.

I also agree with Scott about the grilling – esp if you’re grilling meat – that’s a huge expense to avoid – money and health-wise.

I mentioned this on another post, but the book How to Live Well Without Owning A Car by Chris Balish is a great book that breaks down the details of the cost of car ownership. Bet it’s at the library. If not ask the staff if they’ll get it.

But I have to agree with “Frugal in Europe” and say that sushi is really easy to make and you save a lot of money. We usually make sushi almost every weekend. Our futomaki with crispy bacon, egg salad made with home made mayo and cucumber is famous among our friends.