July 2015 – Frugal Living

Repointing a Basement Wall

July 29, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Our 1905 house has a brick foundation. Brick is a great building material that lasts for centuries, but it does require periodic maintenance. The mortar holding the bricks together is typically made of sand, cement, and lime. Old houses, pre 1900, had lime and sand mortars. Cement based mortars did not become mainstream until around 1930.

Due to water intrusion, some areas of the mortar have disintegrated. This happens because the water passes through the mortar and dissolves the lime bonding agent. What is left behind is just the sand and that can be raked out easily with ones finger.Removing the old mortar is not that difficult of a job. I used a 4 1/2″ angle grinder with a diamond tipped tuck pointing blade ($35 at Menards). Be sure to wear plenty of protective gear because it will be a dirty and loud job.

After doing a 3’x2′ test section of wall and switching out batteries 8-9 times, I ordered a corded grinder off CPOOutlet.com. You can get good deals on reconditioned tools that are just as good as brand new.

For the replacement mortar, I chose to mix up a type O mortar. The following table from lime.org shows the mortar specifications.

Type O mortar has less compressive strength than the other more popular mortar mixes (M, S, and N) because it has less portland cement and more lime in it. Lime fell out of favor with builders around 1930 because it took longer to cure than cement and it had lower compressive strength. Lime based mortars are more flexible, self healing, and direct water better than cement heavy mortars.

Big box stores do not carry Type O mortar, but you can make your own with three simple ingredients. Type S hydrated lime, portland cement, and masonry sand are the only ingredients that you need to make up any mortar mix.

I am happy with how this test section of wall turned out. With any luck, the new mortar will last 50 years before needing replacement.

I did not want to start another section of tuck pointing until the corded grinder arrives. I was able to cross another masonry job off my list by patching up the gaping hole left by a previous owner / HVAC contractor in the north wall.

Why they didn’t spend half an hour to make this look nice is beyond me.

[UPDATE]

After being gone for a long weekend we came back and noticed that the basement walls/floor in the north west corner were damp (as usual) except in the area that I repointed the mortar. That was bone dry!

Controlling the airwaves… sorta

July 24, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

About a month ago I was going through our mail and I spotted a Nielsen envelope. Giddy, I ripped into it like a kid on Christmas morning and freed the wrinkled single dollar bills from the envelope.

For those of you living under a rock and wondering what the hell I’m talking about, let me explain. Nielsen is the private company that is universally known for researching and compiling TV ratings. The process is pretty simple. They mail out diaries to random people and ask them to record what shows and movies they watch over the course of a week. Some of the diaries are mailed back and they compile all of the information and determine what’s popular and what’s not. They then sell that information to advertisers who use it to better target their ads to the proper demographics. Shows with low viewership, don’t attract many advertisers, and usually end up getting cancelled.

What I had received in the mail a month ago was a simple survey asking me if I wanted to do a week long viewing log/diary. Included in that initial survey was $2 in cash to encourage me that it was worth my time. Well, I spent all of 2 minutes filling out the survey online and went about my day.

Yesterday, I saw a thick Nielsen envelope in the mail. To my delight, there was $30 inside along with the extended survey forms. We could have tossed the forms in the trash and kept the $30, but a part of me cannot resist supporting (and crushing) certain tv shows. So if you are a fan of reality tv, you can blame me when your favorite shows get the ax.

Frugal Book Club #7 – The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches

July 17, 2015 by Andrew 1 Comment

It’s mid July and it is HOT. The obvious answer to escape the heat is to head on down to your public library, find a good book, and cross off some check boxes on your summer reading program.

I just finished, and Shae had finished before me, reading Jeff Yeager’s book, The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches, A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less.

The author, Mr Yeager, is a retired CEO of a nonprofit hostel organization. After spending a lifetime of working in the nonprofit space, Yeager understands a thing or two about squeezing every dollar. It follows that his take on personal finance ignores the income side of the equation and focuses purely on expenses.

The book centralizes around the concept of “money steps”. The example given early on is that of the typical teenager who works a job to afford the car that gets them to the job. Yeager argues that the teenager could just stay home sans car and skip earning money (and trading time in the process). If time is money, then surely money is time. We know that we have a finite amount of time on this earth, so why waste it trading it for money?

If you are familiar with Suze Orman then you will understand when I describe Yeager’s philosophies as the anti-Orman. If you are unfamiliar with her, then here is the quick rundown. Ms Orman has penned a number of successful personal finance books that encourage readers to give up small daily expenses, like the morning Starbucks coffee. By doing so, Orman hypothesizes that the savings will snowball and secure an easy retirement. Yeager pokes at this style of personal finance. He pokes hard at it (yes he also uses a lot of old man sexual innuendos in the book). Yeager’s argument in his book, where he calls her out by name several times, is that any small daily savings will simply be spent elsewhere in the day. Even if someone has enough control not to spend that money and put it in a savings account, it’ll likely be raided at the first sign of trouble. Instead, Yeager advocates pinching dollars, not pennies. Each chapter in the Cheapskate book focuses on a major line item in our lives.

Healthcare

Chapter 4, Warning: Money May Be Hazardous to Your Health, examines how many money steps the typical American goes through that end up destroying their health.

Work at job, earn money -> Eat out -> Get fat -> Work at job, earn money -> Get gym membership -> etc. etc.

I had never heard of it before, and maybe it is a Jeff Yeager original, but he details his way of grocery shopping. His one and very simple rule is to not spend more than a $1/pound on anything at the store. While it isn’t an unbreakable rule, the reasoning behind it is simple. The food pyramid and cost pyramid are inversely related. The grains, rice, and other bulk portions of your diet are easy to pick up for less than a dollar a pound. Fruit and veggies are similarly cheap. Red meat is a once in a while food.

As for staying fit, he writes that everybody should do as much as possible for themselves. The yard needs mowed, that’s a great workout. Home improvement list to knock out, that should burn off a few calories. Walking and biking instead of having other people shuttle you around is also beneficial to your health.

Housing

Buy a Home, Not a Castle, hits on two major points. GPS homes, a home that requires satellite positioning to navigate, are excessive and ‘starter’ homes are bunk.

Our grandparents didn’t buy a starter home, they bought one house and lived there all their lives. Today, many people climb the home ladder. Buy a starter home > live there for 5 years > buy a bigger home > repeat repeat repeat. Not only is there the financial loss (the first few years of a 30 year mortgage are primarily interest and you don’t build much equity) but there is also the societal problem of people not putting down roots and truly belonging to a community. Why invest the time to get to know your neighbors, volunteer at an organization, or participate in democracy, when you are going to pick up and leave for a bigger and ‘better’ home in a matter of months.

Transportation, Gadgets, Entertainment, and More

These are all topics that have their own chapters. I’d encourage you to pick the book up at your local library and read it yourself. The 230 page book is a quick read (and humorous if you are into old man sex jokes). Most of the points in the book, we had already been applying in our daily lives. I guess it was more of a reaffirmation of our own lifestyle. Yes, cheapskate can be cool and was once the norm!

Throwing an E-Yard Sale

July 8, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Growing up, I remember my parents doing one yard sale. They probably did a lot more than one, but only one made an impression. We set up every folding table we had in the yard. Laid boards between them to make extra space and labeled dozens of well-loved trinkets for sale. Bargain hunters trickled through and we sold a tiny portion of what we had set out. Then we had to haul it all back into the house where it sat and sat, and sat, and sat.

Somewhere in my life journey a switch flipped and the thought of clutter became unappealing. I grew up in a three bedroom house with five siblings. Clutter was unavoidable, but now that I have a choice in the matter, I am a clutter phobic. Thankfully, Shae is also a clutter phobic and we actively work to keep our house clutter free.

So what is clutter? My general rule of thumb is that every item must serve some purpose and have been used within the past year. If a box hasn’t been opened in over a year, its contents are clutter. The box itself is clutter. The whole shebang must go.

Last week we were both feeling a strong itch to clean out some of the detritus so I set aside an hour a night to go through a dresser (misc electronics, stationery, etc.) drawer by drawer. Shae went through several boxes in the attic.

I generally make four or five piles as I sort through a box.

Recycling
Give Away
Sell
Trash
Keep

If at all possible, I like the piles to go from largest to smallest in that order.

Recycling and giving away are nice because it diverts material from landfills. At the same time, I make a conscious effort not to bombard family and friends with stuff. Do my nieces and nephews really NEED temporary tattoos or 10 beanie babies. Probably not, that is just making more work for their parents. Some items are valuable but no longer used, I’ll get to that in a second. Finally there is always something that can be thrown away.

In the course of a week, we set aside a number of sellable items with the intention of having an E-Yard Sale. Shippable niche items were listed on eBay, the popular online auction site. Larger general items were listed locally on Craigslist.

On eBay, I sold 2/3 items that I listed. I sold an old graphics card for $59 and a set of RAM modules for $20. A brand new A/C pressure switch for our old Nissan Altima did not sell and was tossed in the trash at the conclusion of the sale.I sold 1/2 items listed on Craigslist. I had picked up a pair of end tables off the curb while walking around our neighborhood. I sold them for $35 to a woman who was ecstatic to get them at that price. The folding tv tray table has not sold yet, but Shae might have found a buyer through a different classifieds website.

All told, I made over $100 by cleaning out some clutter from our house. Shae has made over $40 so far and still has some big ticket items pending. We also have three large boxes of toys, books, and misc crud that we will be donating to charity.

It feels so good to clean out our house. Working through sentimental attachments can be difficult, but donating to charity makes it easier. Isn’t it better to let someone else enjoy an item than to let it sit unseen in a box or drawer for years? Focusing on selling only items worth $10 or more online is also easier than setting up an entire conventional yard sale. You can set up an E-Yard Sale in your underwear!

Epic Trip West – Part 3

July 6, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

After eating a picnic lunch at Walnut Canyon, we packed up and drove up and through Flagstaff to come back down on Lake Mary Road for, you guessed it, Lake Mary.

click on image for full size panoramic

Lake Mary is a reservoir that captures meltwater from Mt Humphreys. It serves as the primary supply for Flagstaff and is a popular fishing/recreation area for locals. Lower Lake Mary, pictured above, was mostly dry.

Without fishing poles, there wasn’t much to do so we moved on. Back in downtown Flag, we parked next to the library and forded over the mighty Rio de Flag (Flag River). You can see it in the background of this picture. Yep, it was also dry and is essentially a ditch.

Ed knew of a park nearby so we walked there along the river trail and waited for Frugal Boy’s cousin and parents to arrive via car from the Midwest.

With everyone together, snacked, and settled down, we hit a grocery store on our way out of town to stock up on dinner ingredients for the next few days.

If you are making the drive from Flag to the Grand Canyon or vice versa you can stop at Snowbowl, a winter sports mecca. The scenic drive up the mountain provides a sweeping vista of the surrounding area.

That night, Shae and I made fish tacos for the crowd. We’d need the energy for the next day’s hike down into the canyon with two one year olds!

The Grand Canyon isn’t my favorite hiking destination because the easiest part of the hike is first and the hardest part is last. Most hikes it is reversed and if the going gets too tough you can call it quits and stomp downhill. With the Grand Canyon though, you have to haul your butt out of whatever elevation drop you put yourself into. The one benefit of hiking up at the end is that it also cools off the closer to the rim you get.

Frugal Boy and his cousin (also in a backpack carrier) drew many remarks from fellow hikers about them having the best seats in the house. Later in the trip I used a ‘hiking’ carrier and found it to be much more uncomfortable than the Boba. The Boba distributes the weight better onto the hips and because it plasters FB across your back, the center of gravity is better than the taller carrier that my brother used to carry my niece.

Our hike below the rim was short by our standards, at a mere 3 miles round trip, but with the elevation change and little ones, it turned out to be just right.

what goes down MUST come up

After eating a picnic lunch at the top we took the free shuttle out to Hermit’s Rest. In February when I visited you could drive your own car out there and stop at the various overlooks along the way. Due to traffic, the road shuts down to all unauthorized vehicles during Spring, Summer, and Fall so you have to walk or ride the shuttle.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around Ed’s apartment. The south rim of the Grand Canyon houses around 2000 workers for the NPS and concessionaires (Xanterra being the largest). Most of the village is tucked away and not marked on visitors maps, and the labyrinth of roads, paved trails, and complexes can be quite confusing to navigate. Due to the lack of internet access, spotty cell coverage, and physical remoteness, the Grand Canyon Village feels like a world of its own.

Frugal Living

Indulging in life, financially responsible

Month: July 2015