The Frug: Live Lean. Work Lean. Travel Lean.

The One-Box Challenge: A Simple Trick for a Clutter-Free Life

Getting started is the key. It’s where all great journeys begin. If you’ve been following my blog, you’re aware that I’ve embarked on a personal “War on Stuff.” The motivation behind it is quite simple: stuff can be a tremendous time-waster. Think about it – storing stuff, cleaning stuff, buying more stuff to clean your stuff, hunting for stuff, and endlessly shopping for even more stuff. The list seems never-ending.

For a good laugh and a spot-on perspective on the subject, I highly recommend watching George Carlin’s hilarious take on stuff.

If you’re interested in decluttering your life but find it challenging to get started, I’ve devised a straightforward method to keep you on track every day. We’ve placed a sizable cardboard box in our hallway, right next to the hamper. Anytime Kelly or I stumble upon something we no longer use or want, it finds a new home in this box. Typically, after about a month, the box is nearly full, and it’s time to swiftly pack it up and transport it to Goodwill. Alternatively, we call Purple Heart, and they graciously pick up our donations. You can also consider reaching out to the Lupus Foundation, which offers at-home pickup services in many cities.

The box also proves invaluable for spur-of-the-moment decluttering sessions. It’s perfect for tossing in old baby books, toys, and even videotapes – as long as it’s something someone else might find useful. Admittedly, I’m not entirely sure who might be in the market for a cassette tape of “The Big Chill” soundtrack, but I’ll leave that judgment to the individuals sorting through our treasures. Don’t fret too much about the quality or age of the items you’re passing along, as long as they’re clean. If they don’t meet Goodwill’s standards (yes, there are standards), they typically end up in rag stock or get recycled – a far better fate than winding up in a landfill.

If your box isn’t filling up as quickly as you’d like, consider scheduling about 30 minutes of decluttering per week. If even just one or two family members or roommates join in, that box will fill up rapidly. This becomes especially important as the winter months approach when shelters are in dire need of old sweaters, jackets, coats, and anything warm. Don’t wait until spring cleaning season rolls around. It’s time to part ways with that excess stuff now!

The Frug

Beyond the Obvious: A Dive into Abstract Photography

01/23 by The Frug Leave a Comment

I’ve been meaning to share more photography here. It took me a while to get around to this, because other than sharing some frugal travel tips and photographs from recent trips I hadn’t found a great way to share some of the other photographs I’ve created. I’ve created quite a few of them as part of a quest to publish over 10,000 photos from 1000 places in at least 100 different cities over 10 years. I’m halfway there after six years at it.

The idea behind this is to make an effort to master something. In my mind, this comes after many years of steadily working on it. To publish 10,000 photos I’ll probably have to take 100,000 photos because many of them are crap. Especially early on.

While working on my quest I’ve become especially interested in abstract photography. I look at it as wandering through city streets looking for found art. Fascinating combinations of peeling paint, torn posters, graffiti, and decals all converge to create something different.

The other challenge I’ve had is getting around to describing found art and abstract photography. And for that, I found one of the most interesting solutions I’ve come across in quite a while. I’ve been playing with ChatGPT the (still experimental) artificial intelligence site that you can ask to do many things.

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The Freedom of Limited Options

07/22 by The Frug 2 Comments

By Brad Beckstrom

I’ve been busy lately, limiting my options. Nope, not talking about stock options. I’m pursuing a simpler lifestyle built around fewer possessions and more time to enjoy what I already have.

The idea is simple, stop spending time and money accumulating, storing, and caring for stuff. Give it away, starting with the small stuff, knickknacks, unused toys and clothing. Later move on to larger items, eventually cars and houses. With each box of things we get rid of, each closet we empty out, there’s a sense of lightness. With each thing we wear out, then don’t replace, there is a feeling of freedom.

The closer you move to this limited lifestyle, the more things improve. If you limit your wardrobe, you’ll spend less time picking out what to wear every day, less time in the store replacing cheap sweaters and shoes. If you limit your diet to exclude crap foods and monster menu items, the payoffs include your finances and your health. Those “vintage” clothes will fit better.

Even the best restaurants serve crap food. If they don’t get you with the heavy-handed ingredients, they will get you with the portions. I do miss my weekly visits to the local BBQ joint with 100 different sauces. Now, when I stop in, maybe every few months, it’s more of an event, something I look forward to. My gut has not missed the weekly three meat platter at all.

Limiting options does not just apply to clothing, diet, or the number of cars you own. It’s something you can apply to any part of your life with benefits. I’ve learned to master investing by knowing less about stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and more about simplified lean index investing.

I’ve gone on a high quality, low information diet by using tools like Feedly and Flipboard to follow the best and most trusted writers I can find. Anytime I add a new source I see if there is one I can prune.

Time

How to Banish Worry and be Thankful Everyday.

03/22 by The Frug 1 Comment

By Brad Beckstrom

Everybody’s got stuff. Not the stuff you might be thinking, like knickknacks, or closets full of junk. I’m talking about the stuff in your head. It’s something we all have. Those thoughts and worries that creep in. They can keep you up at night or distract you during the day. This stuff is not unique to people based on age, race, marital status, or station in life. In fact, it can be argued that the healthy and the wealthy often have even more of this stuff. As rapper notorious B.I.G. famously said “Mo Money = Mo Problems.” He had them both, and he was dead at 25.

Sometimes I’ll be on a great walk listening to a podcast or an audiobook and find that I missed entire parts of it as my mind wanders off and goes to this “stuff.” Sometimes other people’s stuff creeps into my head. Things I have absolutely no control over, but there they are, pissing me off.

One thing that makes me feel better is understanding that everybody has this stuff in their head, worrying about a family member, their health, some work-related issue, or something that popped up in a random tweet. You know the feeling, “WTF, that can’t be true, how can they do that! Let me see that link, let’s dive in so we can worry more about this.” [Read more…] about How to Banish Worry and be Thankful Everyday.

10 Frugal travel hacks we used for our week in Portugal.

12/21 by The Frug Leave a Comment

In October, Kelly and I went on a quick super frugal six-day, five-night journey to Porto, Portugal. The trip was a bit of an experiment as we’ve never done a “quick trip” to Europe together. Usually, due to the cost of airfare and traveling with the family, trips to Europe in the past were generally two weeks long, even before we had kids.

This time, because it was just us traveling, and we were able to find some good quality low-cost flights to Europe ($342 each on United) we decided to give it a shot. These low airfares were the first travel hack we used on the trip. Since airfare is usually the most expensive part of the trip, we use the best-priced tickets in helping us decide where to go.

Here’s how we did it:

Getting low airfare to a place you’d like to visit. The first thing I do is let others do the searching for me. I sign up for free email updates from Scott’s Cheap Flights and Dollar Flight Club. Both of these services scour the web to find low prices on flights from your home airports. They both offer premium versions of the free service but I’ve been able to find some great deals without signing up for premium. For instance, just today I saw flights to Paris and London for as low as $400. In shoulder seasons.

Shoulder seasons. This is where the best deals on airfare are but that’s not to say you can’t find some good ones during prime months. By avoiding summer months in Europe we’ve gotten much better deals. If you have a specific week or month in mind you can also use Kayak Explore or Google Flights Explore. Just put in your dates to see the cheapest places to fly. Currently we are looking at some spring break destinations and Cartagena, Colombia showed up with some sub $300 fares. You can also limit the number of stops and layover times which are very important when looking at discounted airfares. If you find a destination with great fare and you’re not ready to purchase right away, simply click on “watch this fare” and you’ll get email updates.

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Frugal versus Cheap

11/21 by The Frug 3 Comments

Frugal versus Cheap

Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, and the most successful investor of the 20th century still lives in the home he purchased in 1957 for $31,000. At the same time, he’s pledged billions, billions with an (s) to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Warren Buffett is frugal but not cheap. Frugal people (or Frugs) are sometimes called cheap because they wear older clothing, drive old cars, skip expensive luxuries. I believe there are a few key differences between being frugal and being cheap. Here they are:

Frugal people are not afraid to spend on others.

Someone who’s cheap may shortchange someone on something as simple as a well-deserved tip. Sometimes the bellman, the excellent server, or the maids that cleaned your hotel room are the people who need that tip the most. Always tip generously for good service. Cheap people may skip a charitable donation or ignore others in need. Saving, so there’s more to spend on others, is one of the most rewarding parts of being frugal.

Frugs don’t buy cheap stuff or sacrifice quality to save a buck.

Cheap people often buy cheap stuff, on SALE. Walk into any big box store and you’ll see some of the most beautifully packaged and presented junk anywhere this side of the western hemisphere. To be truly frugal, don’t replace anything until it’s worn out or unrepairable. When the time does come to replace that necessary appliance etc., search for quality and value. Who knows, in your search you may find you don’t need that new item at all. At the very least, you’ll want to find something you know will last for years and avoid the hassle of having to replace it or repair it in the near future.

Frugs don’t have FOMO

This is what I call it the “think it over skill” that Frugs have. A cheap person may snatch up a sale item for FOMO. Fear of missing out on the deal without thinking about the real cost of every item you add to your pile of stuff.

If you don’t have the “think it over” skill, here’s a quick remedy that really works. When making a significant purchase, just wait 1 day. One day. You may find the impulse to purchase it goes away or the sale will be over and you won’t want to buy it at all. That’s it, just wait one day. If after thinking about it and looking at options (like what is already in your closet) then buy something that will last a decade.

A frugal person would not skip necessities.

Someone who is cheap may skip an important doctor’s appointment or drive around on bald and dangerous tires to save a buck. Part of the benefit of being frugal is saving to assure necessities for you and your family are met. A garage and basement full of stuff won’t do you any good from a hospital bed.

Speaking of hospital beds, a Frug sees the benefits of living lean, like avoiding the 99 cent value menu because there is really not much value there at all.

In many ways, making health a top priority (yes, even over work) pays great dividends. Fitness is a great substitute for the latest styles. For years, I thought replacing perfectly good clothing going from a 32 waist to a 36 was just part of the aging process. A frugal person will be able to replace something when it’s truly worn out versus getting rid of clothes that just don’t fit anymore. I’ve decided to stop at 36 or maybe even go backward a bit. Everyone is different but adding, long term financial benefits to fitness helps motivate me.

Frugal people or (Frugs) look at the real cost of ownership versus buying something just because it’s a great deal.

Another benefit of living lean. Time. The more cheap stuff we bring into our lives, the more time we need to spend repairing it, storing it, cleaning it, shopping for it, and finally getting rid of it. A Frug understands the value in not owning something at all, and the freedom of living lean, freeing up time for a more experiential lifestyle.

Frugal people practice moderation and understand the virtues of delayed gratification.

Fugal people aren’t afraid to spend on experiences they’ve saved for. They understand that experiences have far more value than stuff. While a cheap person may skip travel or a nice meal in a restaurant altogether, a frugal person understands that by saving on life’s everyday expenses, they are pursuing a goal of adventure and experiences.

Cheat sheet for being Frugal versus Cheap.

Frugal people are not afraid to spend on others.
Frugal people (Frugs) look at the real cost of ownership versus buying something just because it’s a great deal.
Don’t buy cheap stuff or sacrifice quality to save a buck.
Frugs don’t skip necessities like healthy food, medical treatment or important repairs.
Frugal people practice moderation and understand the virtues of delayed gratification.

The Frug