One Thing After Another

The first year of law school is done! Unlike a lot of my friends, I jumped right into my summer internship without a break. In retrospect, I don't know what my hurry was, and I probably should have given myself a week to rest and recuperate, and to catch up on grown-up responsibilities. Lesson learned.

As you saw in the previous post, seeking out renter's insurance became a priority for us recently. I still haven't found the time to go into the insurance agent's office to set that up, but it's scheduled for Saturday. But when it rains, it pours (literally), and that wasn't the end of the plagues of Egypt around here.

The fire was massive, and destroyed a building with 16 apartments. Four fire trucks were spraying it down for hours just to put the fire out, and all of that water had to go somewhere. In this case, "somewhere" was the lowest point in our apartment complex, aka the storm drain in front of our building. Along with it, that water carried leaves and debris, and it clogged the storm drain. The next day, there was an unusually heavy rainstorm. We came home to find my husband's car halfway submerged in water.

Coincidentally, we were out at dinner talking about getting rid of the car while the flood was happening. We had gone car shopping the previous weekend (not with the intention of buying anything that day, but just to see what the options were). That same day, the check engine light came on, and the repairs were going to cost about $200 (on a car worth about $1200). We had concluded that we should just share a car for the rest of the summer and save up as much as we could. But carpooling didn't work so well. My car is a stick shift, which he isn't comfortable with driving, and I have to be at work before he does. As a result, I had to drop him off really early, and I still ended up being late. So we were stuck with the choice of fixing his car or purchasing a new one, and apparently the universe thought we needed a new car.

We went back to the dealership, and a new (used) Prius had just been traded in. Somebody had bought a new car, and given up this one which was less than a year old and had only 5,000 miles. It was the last day of the month and the dealership hadn't made many sales over Memorial Day weekend, so they were desperate to make a deal. We picked it up as a certified used for $3,000 under blue book. So far we've been enjoying the great gas mileage -- between 50 and 60 mpg on trips around town, high 40's on the interstate -- but every penny is going toward the payments. I paid off my last car in less than a year, and I intend to do the same thing here, even if we're down to ramen noodles for awhile.

Along with planning what we could afford, we had to look at finances. Another great coincidence -- my husband got a pretty nice raise the week we bought the car, so that will go a long way. But the other problem is his student loans. I didn't realize just how bad his loans were, but then we sat down and looked at it... are you ready for this... $149,000.  Crikey. He's looking for a public sector position (which he wanted anyway) so hopefully he'll have a new job that will qualify him for the public service loan forgiveness program by August when those come due.

How on earth did I get here? Five years ago I had no debt, a nice savings account, a growing Roth IRA, and everything I owned fit in my car. I love my husband, but he brought a giant pile of debt and crap with him. I'm back to the obsessive spreadsheet budget tracking that helped me pay off my car and grow my savings. We'll dig our way out. But it's going to take awhile.

I'm gaining a new appreciation for some of the old personal finance blogs that helped me. Man vs. Debt in particular is resonating with me lately, more so now that I have a household beyond just myself to maintain. I'm going to figure out how to put some sort of tracking app on this blog, for my own motivation if nothing else. But for now, this post has gotten way longer than I intended, so I'll end it here. Until next time.

You Don't Mean That

Quite often I hear people with junk-filled houses make navel-gazing comments about how they'd be better off if all of their stuff "just went away" or that a fire would be a blessing. I must admit that, sometimes when I look at the my apartment full of (husband's) junk and remember how free I was before I settled in and got married, I become wistful and start to have the same thoughts. Then one day last week, I came home to this:

That's not my apartment, although it very nearly was. That's the building adjacent to mine, and the fire was ignited by lightning. Sixteen apartments were destroyed, and sixteen families are now homeless. Renter's insurance here in the sunshine state has been hard to find since the catastrophic losses of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, and few if any of those affected here were covered. When I moved back here last summer, my insurer said they weren't writing any new policies and referred me to Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer of last resort often associated with those million-dollar mansions on the beach. After taking a look at all of the paperwork involved in their application I put it on the back burner and forgot about it, but of course I'm working on it now (even though they say lightning doesn't strike twice).

 I don't want to say that I'm "counting my blessings" because to me that seems to imply that I'm more deserving of a home than others, as if some magical force is protecting me. Random, horrible things happen, and virtue is no protection. Maybe this is one of those lessons about detachment and impermanence, I don't know. But right now, some quote from Tyler Durden is likely of little comfort to those people.

The apartment complex has started taking donations for our displaced neighbors, and I've been gathering all of our extra clothes and linens. They're in the slow process of tearing the building down, but for now it's just an eerie, burnt-out shell haunting me every time I step out the front door. I think I still need some time to process my emotions about how this relates to my philosophies on life and the things I own. But seriously, you don't want your house to burn down, even if it is full of junk.

I'm Not Dead Yet

I haven't posted in three months, but I swear I'm still alive (although sometimes I even begin to question it myself). Law school is a serious hamper on my life in general, and blogging takes a backseat to keeping up with school, trying to get enough sleep, and keeping my home clean enough for human habitation. (Yes that was an Oxford comma -- yet another terrible habit I've picked up that law school seems to encourage.) Finals begin in roughly three weeks, and I'm overwhelmed. I made the Dean's List in the fall, but I've been struggling to stay motivated this semester. Here's a brief rundown of what I've been up to since January:

• I made a New Year's resolution to work out more (yes, cliche, I know), and that lasted an entire week before I broke my toe and could barely walk. Fortunately I wasn't crippled for too long, and with a brand-new pair of stiff-soled sneakers I was back at it in a week. The toe still hurts a little bit, but it's healing.
• My grandmother passed away in February, which was somewhat of a relief for everybody. She had been declining for years, and after major surgery and a stroke in August, had been particularly miserable. Taking care of her was putting a major strain on my family, and I was home nearly every weekend to try and alleviate some of the burden. I still don't think I've finished processing all of my feelings about her death, and issues of aging in general. It's not necessarily death I fear so much, but the circumstances that surround it. Everybody I know who has died has gone one of two ways: either very suddenly, with no time for goodbyes, or after a long, protracted, expensive decline involving tremendous suffering and loss of dignity. All things being equal I suppose I prefer the former, but I don't know how much of that is actually up to me.
• Two days after the funeral (great timing, I know) we took a very belated honeymoon to Jamaica. Because we had gotten married only four days before I started law school there was no time before, but we welcomed the opportunity to get away for awhile. I've been there once before, and it's a beautiful place despite the crushing poverty. Husband and I have actually seriously started discussing retiring somewhere in the Caribbean (though that's a long way off since we're in our late 20's), so it at least gives us a long-term goal to look toward.
• Since the honeymoon I've been back to work at school. I've secured a position for the summer that's (mostly) in the field I'm hoping for. I've also applied for a very competitive and prestigious fellowship for next school year, so we'll see what happens with that.

As far as other things are concerned (veganism, spirituality, lifestyle stuff), it'll have to wait until after finals, because it's about time for me to go into crisis mode. I'm told that the first year of law school is the worst, and it's downhill from here. I certainly hope that's true. Once finals are over there will be time for all of these things. I'm also wanting to start on the 333 project (though I pretty much do this already), so one more thing to look forward to. Adios until early May.

2013: A Wrap-up

So it's already January 1, but I figured I'd still take a moment to review what I accomplished in 2013 to set the stage for my next post, goals for 2014. So first some of the successes

• I got married to my wonderful husband, who also had a big year: graduating from law school, passing the bar, and landing a challenging but not overwhelming new job at a small firm.
• I moved back home. Four years ago, when I ran away screaming from my home state, I would have never put moving back in the "successes" column. But now, a few years older and wiser, I've learned that the grass really isn't greener. As hard as I tried to make the northeast work for myself, I ultimately concluded that the lifestyle here is just better: people are nicer, the pace is more relaxed, and there's a lot more nature. Moreover, I'm close to my family. A few years ago, I never would have placed a priority on family, but planning the wedding got me thinking a lot more about the future, and raising kids, and wanting them to be close to their extended relatives.
• I finished my first semester of law school and gained a lot more insight about where I want my career to go. I've been thinking a lot about the kind of environment I want to work in, and how this will fit in with my plans for a family, and it's really focused my goals in a particular area.

In terms of external successes, 2013 was a banner year, perhaps the best I've ever had. But as for self-improvement, I made a lot less progress, largely because of all the time spent pursuing extrinsic markers of success.

• Veganism was a false start -- the husband made it impossible again. But I'm attacking it with a renewed effort in 2014.
• Spirituality hit a dead-end. This was largely because I spent the bulk of the year in the deep south, where it's Baptist or bust. But I know there are some other spiritual groups in the college town where I now live, so I need to take advantage of some of those opportunities.
• Fitness was a mixed result. From April until August, the job where I worked had a very affordable gym for employees. I worked out like a fiend in preparation for the wedding, often 2-3 hours a day. But since the wedding I haven't been to the gym once. Apart from the occasional long walk to clear my head, I don't get nearly enough exercise (there aren't any treadmills in the law library), so I need to work on taking advantage of the fitness facilities at my university.
• Simplicity was also a mixed result. In the mad rush to pack things and move across the country, I got rid of a lot of stuff (junk). My family and friends were very generous in giving us wedding gifts, almost entirely things from the registry that we can actually use. I'm grateful to have higher quality things that should last a lifetime, but it also means that I'm stuck with them now. I suppose it's time to admit that I'm settled down and starting a family, so it's okay to have some furniture, but I still harbor this secret desire to give it all away and backpack across Asia. 

So that was 2013. Later today I'll post a look ahead at 2014.

Where Am I Now?

Wow, what a rush the last month has been. Fiance took the bar exam at the end of July, and ten days later he became Husband. Four days after that, I started law school, and I've barely had time to look up from my books to even think about blogging. But it's Labor Day weekend, and since I've got one extra day to get stuff done (not to mention one less day of school this week!) I'm taking some time to do some serious updates.

Back in January, I sketched out a rough schedule of where I should be in general minimalism/life improvement projects. In the intervening months, so much has happened that not everything has gone according to plan. Here's an update:

January: I did indeed detox all of my cleaning products, and experimented with some new recipes for dish soap and laundry soap. Those didn't go so well, but since moving into the apartment I've stuck with only eco-friendly, basic cleaners.

February: Veganism hasn't been working out as well as I'd have liked. Husband is quite happy to eat vegetarian (he scarfed down 3 Boca Burgers for dinner) but he draws the line at vegan (by smothering them in cheese). I've been doing what I can to keep animal products at a minimum, particularly in my own diet, and I figure if I can stealthily transition to vegan, perhaps he won't notice.

March: Before moving back to Florida, I took the opportunity to seriously de-clutter the kitchen, getting rid of all the crappy plastic stuff and all the things that never get used. In their place, we received as wedding gifts some really nice cookware and flatware, that will last a lifetime. Our kitchen now is somewhat bigger than at the last apartment, but somehow has even less storage, so I'm grateful for the uncluttering efforts.

April: I've made minimal efforts in the area of decluttering my workspace. As a natural consequence of moving, I had to remove everything from my desk, and my new setup is pretty clear at the moment. We'll see if this stays. As for the email sorting system, I really need to get on that. My school email gets 20 to 30 messages a day, and the capacity isn't great.

May: The only real homemade beauty product I use is my baking soda exfoliant. I have recently redoubled my efforts to wean myself off of daily shampooing, after discovering that the Trader Joe's citrus shampoo and conditioner have parabens in them (stupid me for not reading labels). I'll keep an update on how that's going.

June: Raw foods? Yeah, not so much. Though I'm planning on joining a CSA, and I've recently started window box herb and spinach gardens, so I'm making more of an effort to incorporate fresh stuff into my diet. It's easier to do when you're living in a place with such a bounty of locally-grown produce.

July: That would be a negatory on the spirituality. There's a local Buddhist meditation group that I'd really like to visit, but for some reason I'm kinda scared? I don't know. I'll have to do some thinking on this one.

August: I've made a few friends in school, but to be honest most of them are so young, and from such a different background that I haven't found much in common with anybody. Most days I'm happy to come straight home after class and spend quality time alone with my husband.

And now we're into September. I'm supposed to be working on productivity hacks, which I have been incorporating into my studying routine (mostly in the form of to-do lists), but I'm going to explore this more in-depth in a post very soon.

I'm going to be updating this blog as frequently as law school allows. In the meantime, stay well and enjoy some free time for me.

I'm Back

A lot has happened in the last few months to distract me from blogging. Without any further ado or navel gazing, here's a brief rundown:

• We decided to move back to Florida. After a disappointing job search up north for Fiance, plus an extremely generous scholarship for me back in the Sunshine State, we weighed the options and decided we were better back here for now. Time will only tell what will happen to us in the future, and we don't really want to spend the rest of our lives here, but this works for now and we'll re-evaluate in three years when I graduate.
• My grandmother moved out of her house and into an assisted living facility, and she's adjusting very poorly. Originally the move back to Florida was planned for the end of July, but it got pushed up to mid-March when she moved. I'm staying with my parents for the time being.
• I started a job down here in Florida. It's only for the summer, but it pays pretty well and gives me lots of overtime. The work I'm doing will also look great on my resume and has also given me another direction to look in for a field of law.
• We moved the wedding up. And no, there aren't any little minimalists on the way anytime soon. Originally we were planning to do it in December, but after realizing that I just wouldn't have the time to plan an out-of-town wedding during my first semester of law school, we said screw it, let's do it in August.

All of these life events have conspired to keep me away from blogging and other optional pursuits. But this, along with my journaling (which I also recently restarted) are really necessary to keep me centered and on the right path. In my next post tomorrow, I'm going to re-evaluate where I am and where I want to be. Hasta luego...

Life Keeps Going

Life has a funny way of getting the best of us. I didn't realize it had been nearly five months since my last post, but I'm going to put something up later today with some updates. A lot has changed in my life (for the better I think) and I'm going to take some time to write about it properly. In the meantime, check out the awesome tofu truck! It almost makes me want to move to Japan.

Choked by Consumerism

Earlier this week I happened upon (ht: Becoming Minimalist) this wonderfully produced series of short videos about material goods and their stifling effect on the average middle-class American family. If you have six minutes, it's definitely worth a look.





It really got me to thinking about how most people live, and it's shocking that we take for granted having junk piled up everywhere. I don't think a lot of people even realize how much stuff they have because they're so used to it. Even if your house is more organized than the ones in the video, you probably have a lot more crap than you think. Never is this fact more obvious than on moving day, which unfortunately is far too infrequently for most people. This is exactly what I'm avoiding -- inflexibility, suffocation, entrapment. Look at the people and things in the video and ask yourself honestly: who owns whom?

Homemade Dish Soap: Lessons Learned

I'm on my third batch of homemade dish soap now. I'm still tweaking it, but I've learned a lot so far. The first thing I've learned is that most of the people who make up recipes for soap are full of crap. Rather than putting my chemistry degree to good use and coming up with my own recipe, I relied on the advice of others. Here, then, are the consequences of my trusting nature.

After the first batch, which was way too goopy and didn't want to come out of the bottle, I looked for other recipes. All of them suggested adding lemon juice or vinegar, because the acid "helps cut grease." With batch number two, the consistency was much better. I basically did the same thing, 1/4 cup of soap flakes and 2 cups water, only this time I added several teaspoons of lemon juice. After doing a load of dishes, I noticed that all of my glasses were covered in this greasy film, and no matter how much I scrubbed, it was still there.

It soon clicked in my brain: the lemon juice did it. Very simply, the soap I'm using is made by adding a strong base to vegetable oil. So, the equation goes something like this:

oil + base -> soap

Simple enough. But adding the acid sends the reaction in the reverse direction:

soap + acid -> oil

Duh! The oily film left behind was actually oil. The solution in the bottle even separated into two phases. So, lesson learned, don't add acid to soap. My four years behind a lab bench finally paid off!

My current batch is made from 1/2 cup of soap flakes, 2 cups water, and the zest from one tangerine. It smells absolutely lovely and leaves my dishes sparkling. The tangerine does add a bit more cost, but it's still far cheaper than a commercial dish soap. I'll continue experimenting, and post some results when I come up with an optimized recipe. 

February's Project: Gone Vegan

I've been vegetarian for the majority of my life now. I quit eating meat at the age of ten for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I just never liked it, so it's never been a big temptation. My decision to quit eating meat came in the mid '90s, at the height of the mad cow disease panic, and being a sensitive and thoughtful kid, I was worried about this and other food-borne diseases. On top of all that, I've always had a soft spot for animals, and the thought of something dying for my dinner just ruined my appetite.

Despite 17 years of vegetarianism, however, I've never been able to completely make the transition to vegan. Growing up in the deep south, it was tough enough eschewing meat, let alone dairy as well, and my already thin teenage self probably would have starved in that environment. Ever since then, it's been more an issue of convenience -- college cafeterias and boyfriends expecting "manly" meals are just not conducive to a vegan diet. I've managed to keep it up for several months at a time, but I've always returned to dairy. On top of all that, cheese is too damn tasty.

But years of reading about the consequences of the dairy industry have taken their toll, and I'm finally fed up. I've gone vegan, and this blog is my witness, the change is permanent. If it means going hungry sometimes, particularly when I go back home, so be it. Convincing the fiance to eat what I cook will be a challenge, but if I give him the option of eating this food or going hungry, I think he'll start to see things my way.

Making meals is going to require a bit more planning for the next few weeks while I adjust to this new routine, though not nearly as much as if I had been a meat-eater. Here are some meals I'm planning on making.

Breakfast

I've never been a big breakfast person, mostly because I'm not a morning person, and it's just not worth it to get up that much earlier. I know that breakfast is important, though, so I'm going to try and make something. I bought some oatmeal at the store today. I have some overripe bananas to eat with it, along with almond milk. As cold as it's been lately, it'll be nice to leave the house with something warm in my stomach. I'll also start making thermoses of green tea to take with me -- a cheaper and healthier alternative to my usual giant cup o' Dunkin.

Lunch

I had a tasty vegan lunch today that came from, of all places, 7-11. Because it's a store on a college campus, they have a much better selection of quality foods than the average convenience store. This particular one has a variety of vegan wraps and sandwiches, and I chose an "egg salad" sandwich. It never occurred to me before that tofu and boiled egg have almost the same consistency, and it was really convincing -- maybe even better than the real stuff. I'm going to look for a recipe to make my own, because at $4 apiece, these sandwiches would be much cheaper to make at home.

Dinner

This is where the big challenge is, because I have to cook something that will entice both of us. I picked up some Boca ground burger at the discount supermarket. I'm going to make a batch of chili that will hopefully satisfy the fiance. I usually make it in pretty big batches, so this should last most of the week.

Snacks

I've got several kinds of dried and fresh fruit in the pantry, and I bought a big bag of almonds. I also need to remember that I have about 5 bags of edamame in the freezer -- a vastly healthier alternative to chips when I want something salty and munchy.

For the purposes of motivation, I watched the documentary Vegucated on Netflix. It's really given me some encouragement, even when the going gets tough, to stick with it. I'll try to get the fiance to watch it too -- maybe it'll get him more on board with this lifestyle. As the weeks go by, I'll keep making updates with my progress, and any interesting meal ideas or recipes I stumble across. That's it for now. Go veg!