well, it seems we've reached the end. this has already gone on at least a week longer than we anticipated. we've shared a lot of special times - that time with the turtle cake where i both laughed and cried pretty much covers the extremes. thank you for your clicks, friends. especially that one hit we got from niger - that was great.
goodbye forever, internet! if you want to continue to follow our adventures, laura will be going to china in august and might blog about that or something. i'm either going to kenya or el salvador and may also blog about that. remember, nowhere is cheaper than the developing world.
we are the cheapions
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
let's go pick some liberries
thanks to my librarian cousin once removed, i bring you something that is too fun not to share.
way too fun.
library savings calculator.
i was displeased to see that there was a category for "puppets borrowed" and i'm glad my library would never set such monsters loose in my neighborhood.
the calculator says i save $719.40 per month. while i am indeed an avid borrower of books, movies, and CDs, that seems high. however, i am pretty chummy with more than one librarian.
way too fun.
library savings calculator.
i was displeased to see that there was a category for "puppets borrowed" and i'm glad my library would never set such monsters loose in my neighborhood.
the calculator says i save $719.40 per month. while i am indeed an avid borrower of books, movies, and CDs, that seems high. however, i am pretty chummy with more than one librarian.
freexercising, exercising with freon
some people pay gym memberships. me, i don't like that. laura joined the jcc when they had a deal where you pay your age and that is your monthly fee. too bad she's 45.
the best way to exercise is to not own a car. if i take the bus to work, i walk 10 min to the bus and 10 min from the bus. that is 40 min of built-in walking every day. if i bike, it is a 40 min ride there and 30ish back. when your transportation is self-powered, you are exercising and getting between places for free (or bus fare, which is free for me).
this is rather general. some people like to "get a workout," sometimes me too. i go running in the night, when it is cool out and the world is smaller (like running through a hallway, only the hallway is the world). i go to the drum circle and dance for 2 hours and sweat like peach, if that's a phrase. next week i am going to do a free 7 day trial at the LA fitness next to my work. many gyms and yoga studios have free trials or introductory offers. once you are introduced, break it off, as you don't want to be the sugar mama in the relationship. the problem is that you may have to endure a sales pitch, sort of a blind date where you can't leave. i plan to show up at 8:20 on monday morning and say that i hoped to make the 8:30 yoga class and when they see the hope in my eyes they will say "we'd love to give you a tour when you're done," and i'll say sure but then just sneak out. this must work.
additionally, dc and other large cities abound with free public pools. swim in them. but definitely shower afterward.
there is free yoga in dupont circle on wednesdays at 6:30. there is a free capoeira class every sunday at 11 on U st. sure, if you are into it and want to study capoeira, sign up for an actual class and support the school.
and always remember that the most satisfying workout is dancing alone in your room to ABBA. if you change your mind on the first in line, honey i'm still free, dancing alone in my room.
the best way to exercise is to not own a car. if i take the bus to work, i walk 10 min to the bus and 10 min from the bus. that is 40 min of built-in walking every day. if i bike, it is a 40 min ride there and 30ish back. when your transportation is self-powered, you are exercising and getting between places for free (or bus fare, which is free for me).
this is rather general. some people like to "get a workout," sometimes me too. i go running in the night, when it is cool out and the world is smaller (like running through a hallway, only the hallway is the world). i go to the drum circle and dance for 2 hours and sweat like peach, if that's a phrase. next week i am going to do a free 7 day trial at the LA fitness next to my work. many gyms and yoga studios have free trials or introductory offers. once you are introduced, break it off, as you don't want to be the sugar mama in the relationship. the problem is that you may have to endure a sales pitch, sort of a blind date where you can't leave. i plan to show up at 8:20 on monday morning and say that i hoped to make the 8:30 yoga class and when they see the hope in my eyes they will say "we'd love to give you a tour when you're done," and i'll say sure but then just sneak out. this must work.
additionally, dc and other large cities abound with free public pools. swim in them. but definitely shower afterward.
there is free yoga in dupont circle on wednesdays at 6:30. there is a free capoeira class every sunday at 11 on U st. sure, if you are into it and want to study capoeira, sign up for an actual class and support the school.
and always remember that the most satisfying workout is dancing alone in your room to ABBA. if you change your mind on the first in line, honey i'm still free, dancing alone in my room.
I got a flucky!
Getting "a flucky" is a Silver-ism for "I got a great deal!"-- it is derived from "getting off lucky" and it can be blamed entirely on my father, as can most of the strange (read: bad) jokes or sayings I know.
Anyway, my flucky was that I went to Giant with a coworker and when we were checking out I noted a container of cupcakes that had mangled icing but that was otherwise intact and in packaging. I commented that those cupcakes looked sad and then asked what they do with goods like that. She said throw them out. The horrors! I love cupcakes and could not let that occur. I asked if I could have them instead and she said yes. I am now the proud owner of 6 delicious Giant cupcakes. They just wanted to be loved, not trashed, and I can do that for them.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Fair o' Free
Here's a tip: if there is an event of some sort that you want to go to that costs money, see if you can volunteer instead. I did that this weekend-- I volunteered to ride a segway around and to do information at the Celebrate Fairfax country fair. In fairness (ha!), I actually volunteered because I wanted to ride the segway, not because I was seeking free admission to the fair, but I'm pleased on both counts. For a few hours of riding the segway I got a weekend of free food (they had so many things that should have been submitted to This Is Why I'm Fat the blog- chocolate covered cheese cake on a stick? Really?), a fancy hotel room to myself, and a chance to see all of the concerts for free. Sugar Hill Gang has been reduced to playing country fairs, but man was it hilarious.
Oh, and most importantly-- I got to play with sugar gliders. They are being sold as pets and Caitlin wants to get one and name it Johannes Kepler. They are amazing. Look them up and then purchase them and keep them in your pocket. I was unsuccessful at getting any for free-- that was a cheapion fail of the weekend, but it's ok. All things considered, the weekend went quite well.
Addendum: Caitlin requested/demanded a picture of a sugar glider be added and I am happy to oblige. Also, the hotel had a closet full of snacks that you could take for free- Jake and I left w/ a purse full o' candy bars, drinks, and chips. They are now in our cabinets at home. Foard, please note that this means that we have snacks in the house right now-- and that they arrived for free. Count it.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
yard sale valhalla
this weekend all of the houses in dc vomited up their lesser used contents and put tiny price tags on them, or didn't. i don't really need anything as i am moving out in july and leaving the country. however, at the top of my block i saw a dude sitting in his yard surrounded by stuff and i asked if he was moving out very slowly or having a yard sale. yard sale!
i took his 3'x3' mounted cloth painting of shiva the destroyer. i took his double airbed with pump. i took his two fancy moleskine notebooks, empty except for a few lines of arabic. i asked him why he was getting rid of a a pack of 12 AA batteries minus 1 battery. he said he didn't have anything that required batteries. i took them. for these items i gave him $20.
2 hours later (strategy) i returned to fetch the airbed cord. he was packing up and told me i could have whatever. i took a mostly full box of nyquil. i took a mostly full stack of DVDRs. i took a dvd player. i took a calculator, a bunch of drill bits, and a fancy liquid hot/cold my-neck-is-sore pack. for these items i gave him a nice smile.
do i need all of these things? no, definitely not, except for shiva the destroyer being the first thing i see when i wake up. the rest of the stuff i can distribute amongst family and friends who are in want of them.
come get your nyquil! (on closer examination also contains dayquil and mucinex. trifecta achieved)
today i made bread. like the hippo cake that wanted to be a turtle cake, it turned out the bread wanted to be flatbread. i had to yield. oh well still bread.
i took his 3'x3' mounted cloth painting of shiva the destroyer. i took his double airbed with pump. i took his two fancy moleskine notebooks, empty except for a few lines of arabic. i asked him why he was getting rid of a a pack of 12 AA batteries minus 1 battery. he said he didn't have anything that required batteries. i took them. for these items i gave him $20.
2 hours later (strategy) i returned to fetch the airbed cord. he was packing up and told me i could have whatever. i took a mostly full box of nyquil. i took a mostly full stack of DVDRs. i took a dvd player. i took a calculator, a bunch of drill bits, and a fancy liquid hot/cold my-neck-is-sore pack. for these items i gave him a nice smile.
do i need all of these things? no, definitely not, except for shiva the destroyer being the first thing i see when i wake up. the rest of the stuff i can distribute amongst family and friends who are in want of them.
come get your nyquil! (on closer examination also contains dayquil and mucinex. trifecta achieved)
today i made bread. like the hippo cake that wanted to be a turtle cake, it turned out the bread wanted to be flatbread. i had to yield. oh well still bread.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
recipes are nice suggestions
when you follow recipes exactly, delicious viands result. laura and i never do this. i am currently learning how to make bread by trial and error. thanks to the healing power of yeast, most of my errors (didn't come home one night and bread rose for a total of 36 hours) turn out to be bread anyway. here's how we might use a recipe.
me: laura, i just cooked 3 pounds of canary beans
laura: what are canary beans
me: i don't know let's go to the internet
google.com: "creamy canary beans curry"
me: click
website: "recipes from a vegan kitchen"
me: uh oh vegan almost unclick but there are nice pictures, scroll
website: "dissolve creamily in your mouth"
laura: mmm?
website: use one cup of canary beans
me: we'll round up to 3 pounds
website: onions turmeric coriander cumin garlic ginger chilies coconut milk lemon
me: let's go to bestway and get coconut milk (my favorite ingredient) and 12 lemons for $1
laura: i don't feel like going, it's night
me: i don't care
voila. more than 3 pounds of curry. maybe we'd make some rice too even though laura always whines about it. anyway, if you have a good set of spices and always have onions and garlic around, you are set. our house came furnished and one spice left in the drawer was slap ya mama. it was love at first slap. we ate it on everything until it recently ran out. we just ordered 12 8 oz canisters. this was $35. they are not all for laura and me, but i think this intense financial commitment will signal to you how important this spice is to us.
also, i actually do have some dried canary beans - wanna make curry laura?
one more gem for yall if you haven't seen it: depression cooking with clara
me: laura, i just cooked 3 pounds of canary beans
laura: what are canary beans
me: i don't know let's go to the internet
google.com: "creamy canary beans curry"
me: click
website: "recipes from a vegan kitchen"
me: uh oh vegan almost unclick but there are nice pictures, scroll
website: "dissolve creamily in your mouth"
laura: mmm?
website: use one cup of canary beans
me: we'll round up to 3 pounds
website: onions turmeric coriander cumin garlic ginger chilies coconut milk lemon
me: let's go to bestway and get coconut milk (my favorite ingredient) and 12 lemons for $1
laura: i don't feel like going, it's night
me: i don't care
voila. more than 3 pounds of curry. maybe we'd make some rice too even though laura always whines about it. anyway, if you have a good set of spices and always have onions and garlic around, you are set. our house came furnished and one spice left in the drawer was slap ya mama. it was love at first slap. we ate it on everything until it recently ran out. we just ordered 12 8 oz canisters. this was $35. they are not all for laura and me, but i think this intense financial commitment will signal to you how important this spice is to us.
also, i actually do have some dried canary beans - wanna make curry laura?
one more gem for yall if you haven't seen it: depression cooking with clara
Monday, June 1, 2009
Other boons
Caitlin actually free-cycled dirt this weekend. I think that should be mentioned here. We took a lovely walk through rock creek park and stopped to look at free things on the way. At one house she saw a dead plant in the street, noted it to be dead, and almost kept walking-- until she realized that she could rip the plant out and take the plant's dirt home. This is important for two reasons:
1) It seems stupid to buy dirt. It just does. Even if you need it for gardening, you're still paying for dirt
2) We walked by some chumps who were unloading all of their expensive (and purchased) garden items when she was carrying her bucket full of free dirt. She felt smug.
We did a pretty solid job on Friday making a cheap pizza dinner. The doughs that are available at Giant or Trader Joe's are both delightful and cheap (and usually there is a whole wheat variety). Plus, Emma left an enormous thing of half-and-half in our fridge and we managed to use a lot of it to make it into a cake-- and the cake was all the richer for it.
a possibly useful list
this list from the simple dollar shows where to get free equivalents of popular software. the most interesting ones (to me) are the programs for taxes and language learning.
i am glad to see many open source options on there! the economist also has a feature section on open source software in the latest edition. i have had ubuntu for a year or so and i like it a great deal. i also use picasa, open office, AVG, GIMP and audacity.
my dear brother bryan is in india right now converting the Microinsurance Academy to open source software, starting with open office. check out his blog here.
i am glad to see many open source options on there! the economist also has a feature section on open source software in the latest edition. i have had ubuntu for a year or so and i like it a great deal. i also use picasa, open office, AVG, GIMP and audacity.
my dear brother bryan is in india right now converting the Microinsurance Academy to open source software, starting with open office. check out his blog here.
stop smiling it is time to clog
you know what was awesome about this weekend? EVERYTHING.
you know what was costly about this weekend? NOTHING.
the folk festival was overwhelmingly fabulous. get yourself on the google and find one near you, they tend to be free and wholesome and unique. i'm thinking about the july 24-26th one in Lowell, MA. this weekend i saw Berber music, West African music/dance, a 4 year old playing the bones while his dad accompanied on guitar, honky tonk, zydeco, smile-less clogging, Bulgarianpalooza, a great Townes Van Zandt cover by a string band, what didn't i see is more like it. it was ideal in all ways. the smithsonian folklife festival is also coming up in dc, GET PSYCHED FOLKS
another great feature of the weekend was a barbecue/clothing swap. everybody cleaned out their closets and brought huge bags of clothes/shoes/a gold belt. after eating a glorious barbecue feast, we organized clothing by type (top/pant/dress/skirt) and size (roughly) and then everyone did a rough survey and picked out their top choices. to pick, we played it like a football draft, except not boring. then we counted off 1-11. each person went through and picked an item. when #11 had gone, the order reversed and the 2nd round started with #11, snake-style. this frenzy of trying-on and seeing other people wear your clothes better than you went on until we grew quite exhausted. the leftovers will be donated to dc's dress for success or goodwill. do this with your friends, you probably already do it with your family. it is great fun and immensely useful....and also free. my coworker called it a frock swap. that is funnier.
by the way, i have heard the rumors that this blog "is good advice maybe if you're a hobo" and i resent that, and also appreciate it.
you know what was costly about this weekend? NOTHING.
the folk festival was overwhelmingly fabulous. get yourself on the google and find one near you, they tend to be free and wholesome and unique. i'm thinking about the july 24-26th one in Lowell, MA. this weekend i saw Berber music, West African music/dance, a 4 year old playing the bones while his dad accompanied on guitar, honky tonk, zydeco, smile-less clogging, Bulgarianpalooza, a great Townes Van Zandt cover by a string band, what didn't i see is more like it. it was ideal in all ways. the smithsonian folklife festival is also coming up in dc, GET PSYCHED FOLKS
another great feature of the weekend was a barbecue/clothing swap. everybody cleaned out their closets and brought huge bags of clothes/shoes/a gold belt. after eating a glorious barbecue feast, we organized clothing by type (top/pant/dress/skirt) and size (roughly) and then everyone did a rough survey and picked out their top choices. to pick, we played it like a football draft, except not boring. then we counted off 1-11. each person went through and picked an item. when #11 had gone, the order reversed and the 2nd round started with #11, snake-style. this frenzy of trying-on and seeing other people wear your clothes better than you went on until we grew quite exhausted. the leftovers will be donated to dc's dress for success or goodwill. do this with your friends, you probably already do it with your family. it is great fun and immensely useful....and also free. my coworker called it a frock swap. that is funnier.
by the way, i have heard the rumors that this blog "is good advice maybe if you're a hobo" and i resent that, and also appreciate it.
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