frugal

Six Things Eric Kim (Photographer, Philosopher) Can Teach You About Living Well

1. Hedonic adaptation

The human bias is that we get easily bored with our material possessions, and we always want to upgrade.

2. Living below your means

The secret that has worked for me is,

Live below your mans. Use shittier stuff than you can afford.

3. Lag on adopting new technologies.

4. Do not own more than one of any specific thing

5. Live ascetic

Adopting a life of “voluntary poverty”: You realize if you can live like a broke college student (or better yet, broke high school student) and if your earnings outstrip your meager expenses, you’re balling!

Easier to reduce your expenses than to increase your earnings. Best ways to save money include getting rid of Amazon prime (less tempted to buy superfluous things), to unsubscribe from services like Evernote/Spotify/Netflix (or any services which cost a monthly fee), getting rid of your car (no car payments, insurance, parking, gas, maintenance).

6. Live in play

I don\'t think you need to buy toys for children. Better to give them a few sticks, cardboard boxes, then to watch them CREATE their own toys!

Playing is good.

Can we as adults create our own toys? Not sure– but we can certainly play!

For myself, I play when I am writing or blogging, I play when I am making photos, making videos, writing poetry, making rhymes, making music, etc.

gear save on taxes

Some excerpts from various areas online:

Save money buying gear by shopping in low sales tax states

Summary:

Buy things in Oregon, Alaska, New Hampshire, Delaware, Montana

Minnesota

clothing is tax exempt in minnesota
groceries

Lowest States

Rounding out the top 15 states with the lowest sales tax rates—all under 5 percent—are Colorado at 2.9 percent and Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, New York, and Wyoming, all at 4 percent. Missouri taxes at 4.225 percent, South Dakota and Oklahoma at 4.5 percent, and North Carolina at 4.75 percent.

Highest States

California has the dubious honor of having the highest statewide sales tax rate at 7.25 percent. Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Tennessee all have a 7 percent sales tax. They tie for second place. Minnesota trails right behind at 6.875 percent, followed by Nevada at 6.85 percent, New Jersey at 6.625 percent, and Washington, Arkansas, and Kansas at 6.5 percent.

Links

https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2019-09/FS105.pdf

https://www.areavibes.com/library/states-with-lowest-income-and-tax/

https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/taxes/T054-S001-10-most-tax-friendly-states-in-the-u-s-2019/index.html

What is a life well lived? Goodlife series

What is a life well lived?
Here I raise the question, but end up with more questions than answers.

the person that dies with the most friends, wins

A portion of the truth must be that there are people who are good people, who had good stories, who did good in the world, had a positive impact.

There have been movements indicating too much stuff. This could be a sign that we are at a peak of production. The general feeling is that we have too much stuff.

We see this in different movements like minimalism, anti-consumerism, permaculture. Off the grid living forums, while they do talk about having a lot of new gear, there is there even an element of paring down to the essentials. Tiny house movements. Boat living. The tech nomad...which was maybe 15 years ago back in the early 2000s. I mean even recent culture traces that to the movie Fight Club. I imagine the era of Maslow's Hierachy of Needs had similar sentiments. Long distance camping and backpacking. Adventure around the world.

They all have their own kind of spin on it, but one commonality is that increasing consumption of material goods, of stuff, is not the answer to increased happiness.

We already have enough stuff.

If we have enough stuff, then why do we feel unhappy?

  • Do we not have the right stuff? -> heritage, recycled, contribute to cancer fund
  • Need better stuff? -> same, but more features
  • Or is the answer not stuff at all? -> experiences? oh okay, like purchase a vacation?

Eventually, you figure that there are things that are non-monetary.

Some people chase status, which is also incomplete.
Freedom
Relationships
Stories

These last three might be closer to the truth. Like any complex issue, there are multiple potential things going wrong, perhaps you are buying the wrong stuff (salad spinners, single use kitchen items, an upgraded mouse), and need to buy not stuff (save for a vacation, put money towards starting a business, a weekend cabin trip with family you like, friends).

How did we get here?

I am not writing an article about why that is stupid though. It actually does make sense. If going from no money to some money was good, going to a lot of money is better and going to even more money must be better still right? Similarly, if having no food was bad, having some food, now having better food, maybe even the best kinds of artistically created food is even better.

Buying more stuff does improve life satisfaction to a point, but when you are beyond that point, spending even more becomes both ineffective and wasteful.

You can imagine at some point, we go from manufactured fast food, to whole foods, to designer meals (blue apron?), to full artistic meal experiences (fun), but at some point the nutrition was increasing, reached a peak, and then the rest of the money was going to just branding, marketing, and emotion.

Meal experience --like happiness in life-- are available without a ton of money.

At some point, expense no longer remains the driver of quality of experience.

experiences > things

stories > expenses

active > passive

ride up grades > upgrades

types of products – progression from borrowing or meeting the need to good tool to art

When you have a problem, usually the first impulse is to buy a solution. That's not the best way to go. It might be just to bodge a solution, or borrow. I noticed that if you look at a complete line-up of a product, there are certain categories of products that are created. Some of them are good, some are wastes of money, here's a rough draft of the observations.

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why you should ride an old bike

the project. take a classic road bike bought at a garage sale for $85, bring it up to working order, use that bike to complete your first century bike ride (100 miles). for extra fun, keep the bike as classic as possible, and do the century on gravel that requires a lot of climbing.

explanation. I have been of the mindset that you can do lots of things on bikes. i do not like the idea that you need a special specific thing. the thing i do not like about bike riding is the hierarchy. the focus on gear. i come from a running background, where, sure you have people that skip practice and eat poorly and perform, but those people do not last. the ones that come back year after year put in the work. and there is no way around it. you cannot buy better gear and get faster. that is what i do not like about biking, that you can buy better stuff and get faster.

I also do not think it is true. i think at a certain level, for certain things, people just have to be better or faster to be better or faster, so I understand that.

so this project is just reaffirming the theory that you do not need special gear, and putting the focus back on doing the work.

old bikes have a few things to consider
the parts are cheaper. the hard part is finding them, so you need to find a good bike shop, or figure it out yourself. every bike shop should have one person that is a good mechanic. if they do not, you need to find a new bike shop. i have seen good mechanics even at pawn shops and second hand sporting goods stores, i've seen them at walmart even.
they were likely built to be repaired. the most common example i can think of is the bottom bracket or headset. in old quill and stem, bikes, you can buy $2 worth of bearings and some grease and have a new functioning headset or bottom bracket. in a new bike, you're looking at a $40 part that needs even more specialized equipment to put in and take out. when it comes to function, i think most people are not limited by the type of headset or bottom bracket they are running.
the geometries are not as dialed, so they are more all-arounders. there was a move to get things specialized, but it is nice to have a more comfortable frame, that can take larger tires, and has mounts for racks. they are coming back, but now called gravel bikes or adventure bikes, as if touring bikes did not exist, or just 'bikes' before mountain and race bikes came around.
you can leave them. even if they have a high emotional value, they are often not as much of a target for financial flipping stealing. so ride it to the bar and lock it up nice, but you don't have to be worried about it getting a scratch or whatever.

Bikes built in the 70s were good, some in the 80s, 90s were a crapshoot. Look for good quality steel if you're looking at an older bike. You are also upcycling which is nice. And they are a good chance to learn new skills.

bike lights – bright cheap bike light that runs off a powerbank. What is a good commuter bike light?

I've been looking for a good solution for lighting during night rides. Choices abound, and lumens are not a reliable way to judge brightness. Furthermore, reviews are pretty difficult. One person says they ride at night all winter, and they have some little flashlight they use. Only to realize that they are riding on city streets and the winter temps don't drop below 40F.
Pretty different if you are riding in 10F with ice and snow on unlit roads.
Or if you are riding in those conditions on singletrack.

If you want just a quick way to go, I would go with the knog microchip. For $50, you get a bright light, in a compact format, that works for nighttime commuting. Or a cygolite 600, also for about $50. These are widely available and so can be purchased from a local bike shop (preferable) or online, and likely returned if not functioning

Another way to go is what I did: tape your backpacking headlamp to your helmet.

Having found that I want something on my handlebars for the winter, I entered research mode again for something that was better and cheaper.

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Frugal displays of wealth

The common displays of wealth are things like a nice house, a car, and Veblen goods. The next displays of wealth are things like careers. I want to come up with a better vision of what matters. Of the things of value.

healthy body
happiness
the pursuit of your calling
friendship
mobility of time
comfortable in your own skin

purchase your freedom

these are available, but do require work.

the minimal bike corral

I have an idea of the bikes I want.

Well, I really want a steel bike that can ride fixed or geared. I would likely leave it fixed most of the time.

Well, what I am saying is that I would like a fixed gear bicycle. One in a road geometry. Or cyclocross.

Then I would want a mountain bike. And frankly, if that mountain bike could take 3 inch tires it could do all the snow.

So now that means a surly crosscheck as one bike and a troll/ogre/karate monkey. And just be done with it.

The other thing I want is well, what do I have and what can I do with what I have?

Now I also have a fat bike.
I have a fixed gear sole that my friend gave to me.
I have a fixed gear track bike that I bought.
I have a raleigh grand sports that I am fixing up.
I have a specialized rockhopper mountain bike that I bought.
I have a diamond back rigid mountain bike singlespeed.

Now for the other bikes
There is a specialized frame that is too small for my wife.
There is a bridgestone kabuki which is really cool and too small.

For reasonable weather (above 20F) I think two bikes would be a good compromise. A road style bike for the good weather and summer. And a mountain bike style bike for the crud in the winter.

You could expand from this framework or tweak it. For example: a road style bike could be a full on race bike, a fixed gear bike, a cyclocross bike, or even a touring bike. These would depend on your needs: go fast, extremely low maintenance, a little off road ability and versatility, or ultimate in hauling ability. For the mountain bike it could range from a proper fat bike with 26x4+ tires, a 29er, or even a 26inch steel hardtail. This could be riding in mostly fresh snow, taking the trade-off of lots of fresh snow for lighter and faster, or even a mountain bike for extra fun times during the summer.

Right now, I have too many bikes, for doing too many things, and frankly, I could just have an extra wheelset and cover it, but they 1) work well and 2) were acquired for low prices and 3) would sell for low prices as well. The studded, 26er, rigid mtb is the epitome of that approach in that, well, it was $25 at a university bike sale, and purpose built it to be a winter bike. It has studded tires, cantilever brakes with tons of clearance for muck, is fully rigid and single speed for low maintenance in the winter. Fewer parts for salt, mud, muck, and snow to mess up. For a few months out of the year, some of the parts are encased in ice. The fat bike is something that could potentially sell for a good price, but I get use out of it still and for snowy days or when the road is sketchy, there isn't much that it can't do. Now that there are 29er bikes, I might go with a 29+ bike, but I do not know that market currently. The true fat bike does allow me to ride all around and I have done a few races where only fat bikes are allowed. The downside is that I cannot put it on a bus, but other than that, I can bring it on the train no problem.
The fixed gear is my favorite for summer and actually most general commuting...with a front brake. My current fixed gear does not have a front brake and that makes me not want to ride it as much.
The raleigh could replace that bike if I converted it...which I might do this afternoon.

Thoughts on bike fit

Sure, bike fit is important, and I do not want anyone to get hurt. I just mean, I have seen little kids learning on adult bikes and they get along fine. I mean there weren’t even really children’s bikes. Kids would ride just whatever bikes were available. But I am not asking a kid to ride a bike for 24 hours in a Day across Minnesota. Bike fit can be important in preventing injury and increasing enjoyment, but there are the questions of how much knowledge do you need, how do you go about getting a fit, and how else can you prevent injury and increase enjoyment.

What is the concise summary?
Go to a bike shop, get a basic bike sizing, get on a bike that works for you, and then buy the bike from the bike shop. Done, a good shop will get you sorted. The Walmart that my parents bought my first bike at got us sorted. A real bike shop will do better and have better quality stuff, but hey, I want everyone to ride bikes, not just people who think that $200 is not enough money to buy a first bike.

The other way to go is to learn. This is the path I chose and bike fit necessitates being on the bike and feeling what a bike that fits feels like. Often in life there are trade-offs: spend money or time, spend time or be more skilled, gain knowledge or hire experience. I spent time and less money figuring it out on my own by riding different bikes, all kinds of geometries and sizes and set ups, reading everything I could, researching in my special way, and seeing what I liked, what feels good, why a 120mm stem on a bike can feel weird, or can be useful for a roadie on mountain descents riding an intentionally undersized frame, why a quill stem is can be both beautiful and cumbersome, why they should make step thru men’s frames.

If you are riding enough and listening to your body and paying attention, I mean a bike is almost the opposite of a black box. It is all there for you to see.

How should you approach bike fit?
So you could spend in a few different ways, up front by hiring expertise, or with your time and effort. I think that long term, the experience is an investment if you want to eventually be able to buy used, save money, and figure things out yourself. If you are just starting out, just get something that feels kind of right, at a lower price and ride that a lot, until you decide, hey I want something nice and from all that riding, I have an idea what I want. Then go to a bike shop for a sweet, sweet ride.

The main thing is to ride bikes. They are freedom. They are health. And one or two should really cover it. Sell the rest.

One bike life

First off, I have too many bikes. Like actually. At least I can recognize the problem?

10 bikes for 2 people...
Well it's 2 bikes for one person (reasonable), 5 bikes for me (ehhhh), 2 bikes that are to be sold. So I'm the glutton.

How did it come to this? What happened to my glorious one-bike life?

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