Blog Move Number 2!

Hi all,

I moved my blog for probably the last time to this address: www.notabigspender.wordpress.com

Come check it out!

Blog is moving!

I'm moving my blog over to Tumblr. Needed a change and I think it will suit me well! Follow me here: http://notabigspender.tumblr.com/

Ride 'til you slide... off your bike

I like to bike. Biking is fun. It allows me to get an hour of exercise a day just getting to work and back. And although I fully support using public transportation, it is faster to bike. And it's free.

It's also sometimes terrifying. You have to be vigilant because it can be dangerous if you don't pay attention or obey the rules. I wouldn't recommend copying this crazy dude:

Common sense also plays a part. I had an accident (my only serious one so far) last December that I felt could have been avoided by common sense. I was biking on H Street, the only street in DC with streetcar tracks installed. It was raining and I was trying to keep up with traffic. I felt uncomfortable being so close to the cars, so I tried to move over, thinking I could bike in the middle of the tracks. My tire didn't like this idea as much as I did, and jammed unfortunately well into the track, causing me to fly off my bike and take a hard fall on my knee.

I was lucky I didn't hurtle into traffic, but my banged-up knee cost me a doctor's visit and lots of pain and annoyance. I still have a scar and don't have much feeling in my kneecap now.


So, like I said, I felt like common sense should have guided me better. But then I read this article on DCist that comments on the frequency of this happening to other bikers. It says, "unless you're riding a mountain bike or a Capital Bikeshare bike, it's bound to happen to everyone."


What a relief! It's not me being an idiot, it's poor planning. There is no option for the biker who doesn't feel comfortable riding in a car lane- the tracks are directly beside the car lane followed by car parking on the other side with no room in between. And not to mention there isn't a single sign warning of potential danger. 


I can avoid H Street easily enough, even though I live four blocks from it, but there are plans to build a lot more of these streetcars in the future. City planners can't ignore the fact that they could be making a lot of streets in this city un-bikeable. 


According to the DCist article, Councilmember Mary Cheh wants to look into it, which I appreciate. Also, the inital report by the DC Office of Planning does make some suggestions.

• One-way streets can accommodate bicycle lanes on one side of the street and streetcar tracks on the other. 
• Bike routes can be designated on streets parallel to streetcar routes. 
• Several cities have developed coordinated lane markings for bikes and streetcars that could serve as a model for the District.

I suggest our planners also work with the non-profit organization Bikeable Communities.

Biking is enough of a thrill without the poorly thought-out obstacle courses built into our path. And come on, us bikers need our Sticky Rice.

Budgeting, shmudgeting

I now have a home. It's amazing to be financially supporting myself 100%. And to have a home. It's also the reason I haven't written in a while. I suddenly have a life.

I also now have rent. And I'm low on essential life supplies. One of my few pairs of shoes was accidentally donated to charity by my roommate last week, I've biked a hole into one of my three pairs of pants, and I need to gear up for a long winter of biking. Not to mention my new room is begging for a little TLC.

Needless to say, I need to start budgeting.

To be fair, I've had an imaginary "Oh yeah, I'll get around to following that" budget for a while now- let's call it a shmudget- but I need to come up with something more substantial. Having a life tempts me to spend lots of money, but the time has come.

Yet I first I have to ask myself if it even possible to stick to a budget in this day and age. Everyone is so scatter-brained they can't remember what month it is, let alone how much they spent at Chipotle. You can even swipe your card without having to look at the total bill. The other day I was distracted, handed over my card and left the store with no receipt or idea how much money I had spent. Talk about shmudgeting.

I've been using Mint.com for a while now. There are parts of the site I like:

• All of your accounts are shown together
• You can see in chart form how you spend your money
• You can set up budgets or future goals

There are a few problems:

• It is possible to set up way too many budgets. I have around 20 listed- Housing, Utilities, Public Transportation, Groceries, Restaurants, etc- and can still think of more categories. It is not possible to keep track of all of these. Technically Mint does that for me, but what about the book I bought for enjoyment? I could put that under entertainment or shopping or "amusement". A lot of things are amusing. Or the craft project to make a mirror for my room? It could go under home or personal care. Oh, the ambiguity!
• You can't budget for future expenses. I know I have to spend X-amount every month on rent, bills, etc. but Mint doesn't let you input those unless you have an account (such as a student loan account) to link to. It makes budgeting practically impossible if you can't plan for your expenses.
• I feel guilty every time I log in. Not Mint's fault, but it's true.

I've mulled over different budgeting techniques. I could only use cash, except that I would have to manually track my expenses. I could sit down once a week and plan ahead, like my friend who plans all his meals for the week every Saturday, except weekly plans and I don't get along well. I stop after the first week.

Maybe I'll have to turn my 30-Day-Challenge into a Life Challenge. Or shmudget it is.

Also, for those in the DC area, most theaters have a pay-what-you-can night for the opening act, and tomorrow night is the opening of the comedy show Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies at Woolly Mammoth Theater. Tickets go on sale at 6pm, and I'm sure they'll try to guilt-trip everyone into paying full price anyway, but I'm planning to pay $5-10. You should all go!

I'll take some health in my health food, please

I went home to Indiana a few weeks ago and the difference between there and DC is amazing. Indiana has loads of corn, a wonderful fall smell in the air, and cows hanging out in a field 30 feet from the local Dollar General (there are Dollar Generals, too).

The culture also differs from the one in DC, especially when it comes to consumption. In Indiana, people go to Wal-Mart regularly. There aren't even any Wal-Marts in the District (for now anyway). Hoosiers tend to value quantity (Family Size!) over quality, where I've noticed DC is the opposite. That "go big or go home" Midwest culture allows manufacturers and grocery stores to totally mislead its customers.

Take muesli for example. For those who aren't familiar, muesli (as defined by Wikipedia) is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. Below are two versions of muesli. The first, I bought at Whole Foods in DC. The second, my mom bought from a big Midwest grocery store called Kroger.

    Muesli #1: DC                       Muesli #2: Indiana

Notice the difference? The Whole Foods version, albeit a bit more expensive, is oat-based and has nuts and fruit, aka the exact definition of muesli. The Indiana version is a mixture of corn flakes and bran flakes with a few oats thrown in. There might be a raisin and an almond or two as well.

Talk about false advertising. This cereal is clearly not muesli. How is it possible that these two are being sold as the same thing?


My theory is that the Indiana consumer doesn't complain because it's cheap. It's not enough to have a healthy option if the customer has to pay more. Instead, stores convince people that they can eat wholesome food while paying the same amount as a box of corn flakes would cost, even if that is what they are actually buying. People in DC are too okay with over-spending, but I appreciate that nutrition level isn't based on income level. 


Even my friends with hourly wages eat well because it is possible to do so cheaply- check out this recipe for Curry Chicken Tacos at $1.25 a serving (and all her other awesome tips and tricks) on the blog Poor Girl Eats Well. It just takes more energy.


And according to this New York Times article, energy is something poor people don't have in the grocery store.

"Shopping can be especially tiring for the poor, who have to struggle continually with trade-offs... Spears and other researchers argue that this sort of decision fatigue is a major — and hitherto ignored — factor in trapping people in poverty. Because their financial situation forces them to make so many trade-offs, they have less willpower to devote to school, work and other activities that might get them into the middle class. "

These days, most people have to be frugal, but we need to make sure that our choices aren't affecting our quality of life. A box of cheap "muesli" is one thing. Lack of awareness of what we eat is another.

iPhone update: I've felt overwhelmed a few times knowing that anyone can contact me in any way at any time and they know it. In a sense, it's created more stress for me because I have no excuse for not responding immediately. I miss the privacy that being a technological laggard allowed me. It is oh-so-satisfying though when I am oh-so-lost and my phone helps me out of that mess. 

Home Sweet Home!

Funny how opposite this title is from my last post.

But a quick update: I found a home in DC. And I'm so relieved. It's affordable and in an awesome area called Capitol Hill, near the Capitol Building. My question still remains from my last post- is it worth it? I think it will be. We'll see.

I'm also in Indiana for the next few days and the differences between the consumer societies of Indiana and DC are already pretty apparent:

 

"Roadhouse Coffee $.99"

"Cowboys welcome." Oh, Indiana I love you.

Speeding ticket update: I haven't received it yet. I'm still scared.

I'd be more likely to find a room in Narnia

Housing is the worst.

My mom asked me today how my DC housing search was going, and I said I couldn't handle talking about it. She could read my blog instead.

It fell to an all-time low a few days ago when I was biking through a pretty dodgy neighborhood, going out of my way to see a room. The cold wind in my hair, the chaos of rush hour traffic, the creep on the corner trying to make conversation, life was just great. I realized I'd seen a house in the area before, which was strange since it was the middle of nowhere. I turned onto a small street that I recognized. Double strange, that other house was on the exact same... oh my god. As soon as I saw a too-familiar dog and his owner coming down the front steps a block away, I wheeled my bike around and zoomed off the other way. I'd already seen the place two weeks ago.

This is what it's come to.

Finding a room in DC is ridiculously difficult. My epic search began in early August and, being that it is now October, has taken me to over 20 different places. I can't add up the amount of hours I've spent traveling around the city, shmoozing people at open houses by putting my best face forward, only to get rejected over and over again.

A few weeks ago, I spent three hours at an "open house party" because the roommates said they would only remember the people who stayed until the end. I stayed out of defiance and got called back, only to spend another two hours in a forced hang-out session. Five hours total and did I get the room? Nope.

At another place, I endured an hour-long group interrogation with 20 other potentials, before we were even shown the room. The current housemates asked us questions like, "Why would you be a good roommate?" and "What would you bring to the house?", with notes taken of our responses. It was brutal. I cried when I left. And I found out later from one of the roommates that came into my coffeeshop that their original roommate decided to stay. THERE WASN'T EVEN A ROOM.

I have been offered a few places, but they've been in less-than-ideal situations. At one house, I was greeted by a 41-year-old balding man who was my potential new roomie. No thanks. Another house was so deeply under construction that the kitchen didn't have running water, a sink or countertops installed (ironically this is the house that I went to twice). Other rooms were literal closets, or had no door but instead an open space with a piece of fabric tacked up, or was a bedroom shared with someone else. The girl in the shared room even chose another girl over me. No joke.

All of this has me asking myself- is this worth it? Is it worth the endless hits to my self-esteem by people who don't even know me? Or the time, energy and effort taken away from other parts of my life? Or the $700+ a month I'll have to spend once I do find a place that's liveable?

As Thoreau says in Walden:

"And when the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him... for our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad neighborhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves."

Mom, if you're reading this, send me a tent.