Andy Hough

Frugality is Not “Not”!

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Many who have a negative opinion of frugality see it as “not” having a big house, “not” driving a big car, “not” going out to eat, etc. Viewed that way it is no wonder that they have a negative opinion of frugality. Frugality, like many things, can be defined by what it is not but that isn’t the best way to define it.

One way to define frugality is that it is about making choices. For example driving a small, fuel-efficient car rather than a big SUV so that you will have more money for retirement. Or living in a small house rather than a large house so you can put more in your children’s college fund. That is a better definition but still not ideal because it is making your choices look like sacrifices.

The best way of viewing frugality is realizing that the frugal choice can be the preferable choice. For example, your small car saves you money on gas, contributes less pollution to the environment, and is easier to park. The small home is easier to maintain,easier to clean, and cozy. Cooking at home can provide you with better tasting and more nutritious food. Plus when you do eat out it is a treat not just a boring routine.

Less is more. Frugal is better.

Getting Rid of Stuff

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I don’t own a lot of stuff. Everything I own could fit in my Toyota Camry. I might not be able to safely drive with all of that stuff crammed in there but I could make it fit. That being said I still own too much stuff.

Baker of Man vs. Debt lists all of his stuff and many people participate in the 100 Things Challenge. Compared to them I have a lot of stuff.

In order to reduce my possessions I will be taking advantage of Ebay’s five free listings a month. In addition I will sell stuff locally, give stuff away, or throw stuff away as needed. Even doing that I don’t think I will get down to 100 things unless I’m loose with what I count as an item. If I counted all my books as one item and all my clothes as another item I could probably get down to 100 things but I would consider that cheating.

Instead of setting a goal of 100 items I am going to set a goal of having everything I own fit in the trunk of my Camry. That will be enough of a challenge and at that point I don’t think I will feel like I have too much stuff.

My Plans for 2010 – So Far

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My plans for this year are not too definite yet. For now I am working full-time at my non-profit job. This job is one I can tolerate but it doesn’t pay much. It does at least count towards my ten years of public service that would allow my student loans to be forgiven.

I’m not looking for a more permanent job right now because I plan to hike the Appalachian Trail this year. Hiking the trail is something I feel like I need to do or it is just going to be bugging me that I haven’t done it. This year it will finally get done one way or another.

I’m not sure when I will leave for my hike since my apartment lease isn’t over until the end of May. I might leave before then and just pay rent on my vacant apartment. After my lease is over I am going to put all my stuff in storage and go without an apartment for the rest of the year. That should save me some money.

These plans will be updated and more detail provided as they get put into action. If you have any feedback on my plans I would like to hear it.

Applying for a 2010 Census Job

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There has been a lot of talk in the media about the Census hiring hundreds of thousands of people. I decided to apply for a Census job and am sharing my application experience in this post.

Applying for the Census is pretty easy. All you need to do is call 1-866-861-2010 and they will put you through to your local office. Alternatively, you can contact your local census office by locating it on the local census office map page. I called my local office and was scheduled to take the census test just a couple days later. In my area they have multiple tests per week in different areas of the city so it is easy to schedule a test.

After arriving for the test you have to first fill out some paperwork. There are just a couple pages of paperwork and it is very simple but they go through it in excruciatingly slow detail. Even then some people had a hard time keeping up. The test itself is 30 minutes long and very easy. If you have basic reading and math skills and can locate places on a map you should have no problem. Somehow I managed to miss two questions but apparently that is good enough. About half of the people I was testing with were planning on taking the test again, presumably due to a poor result. There appears to be a lot of competition for Census jobs but a lot of the competition appears pretty weak.

If you are wondering how much a Census job pays that varies by region. In Kansas City the jobs pay $15.50 per hour but in other areas of Missouri the pay is as little as $10.50 per hour. You will also receive mileage reimbursement for the use of your car.

This probably varies by region but I was told they would begin calling people for employment in March. They also expected that the jobs would not last more than two months. A Census job could be a nice bit of extra money but for those in search of steady income it probably wouldn’t be much help.

2009 Income – $15277.99

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After adding up all my sources of income in 2009 I came up with a total income of $15,277.99 for the year. This might not seem like much but I’m happy with it. Especially considering I was in school for the first few months of the year and never had a full-time job during the year. My only employment income was from working part-time during the month of December.

My expenses for 2009 were only $12,090.99* giving me a surplus of $3187 for the year. I felt like I was mostly living off my savings in 2009. It was a nice surprise to see I actually made more than I spent. Since I didn’t include the purchase price of my car or the cost of buying My Retirement Blog in my expenses I actually had a small deficit for the year but I’m ok with that.

My income goal for 2010 was originally going to be to make more than in 2009. I plan to spend several months doing a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail which will make achieving that goal difficult. Therefore, I am setting a backup goal of making more than I spend in 2010.

I hope this blog shows that you can live pretty well on a small income. I managed to travel to 6 foreign countries, spend a week hiking on the AT, went to the movies about 50 times, and did lots more last year. Being frugal and living on a relatively small income doesn’t mean you have to stay home and watch TV all the time.

*I found it a strange coincidence that both my total income and total expenses ended in 99 cents.