Frugal inspirations

Part of figuring out the whole simple living thing is deciding on which things to do without, and which things are worth working for. As I triangulate in on my personal sweet spot, I've found it helpful to look at examples of simple lifestyles for comparison.

Some are fictional characters:

• The main characters of The Riches - a family of grifters that's accustomed to living in an RV
• Various characters in reruns of Northern Exposure
• Luke Danes, the owner/operator of the diner in Gilmore Girls

Others are real people:

• Jacob at the Early Retirement Extreme blog
• Homesteaders Matt and AJ of the Downshiftme podcast
• The families featured in the documentary Home Movie, notably the houseboat guy, jungle treehouse lady, and nuclear missile silo family
• The case studies in The Simple Living Guide
  

All of these people have adopted standards of living that are simpler than mine, in different ways. I find it helpful to imagine myself in their place, and think about what I'd like and what I wouldn't, or what possessions or resources I'd miss, and which I wouldn't.

So far these thought exercises have helped me change my mind about some things that I used to consider necessary: a cellular phone, and living in an urban environment, for instance. They've also helped me figure out where my boundaries are. As frugal as it would be, I don't think I could handle living on a free Alaskan land grant that's only accessible by charter plane. I think it's safe to say Amanda would agree on that point.

I think eventually we'll end up in a lifestyle somewhere in between these sorts of extremes and a conventional American suburban standard of living. Looking at examples like these for inspiration is really helpful in figuring out exactly where our compromise lies.

One nice thing about media PCs

We use "media PCs" -- regular computers in the role of media appliances -- instead of conventional electronics like TVs, DVD players, and TiVo boxes. I'll probably describe our whole setup in a future post, as well as sketch out the trials and tribulations of running a multi-node MythTV setup.

Recently the DVD drive in our living room computer has had trouble reading a lot of discs. I think it's worn out. I tried rummaging for a DVD drive in our housing complex's electronics recycling pile but didn't find anything, so I'll probably order the cheapest drive I can find on Newegg.

This made me realize a hidden benefit to using media PCs instead of consumer electronics: it's possible to repair and upgrade computers. Consumer electronics like DVD players are not designed to be serviced and replacement parts are not available, so if we owned a regular DVD player instead of our media PC we'd have to throw the whole thing away and buy a whole new DVD player (about $75 new). Instead we only have to discard a 5.25" DVD drive and buy a new one (about $20 new, and easy to find used or even free).

When I set up our media PCs it seemed like a pure extravagance, but it turns out that we exchanged a need for "throwaway" products for equipment that can be maintained easily and cheaply. So maybe using maintainable equipment like old PCs is defensible even when it's overkill for the task at hand.

I wonder if this is true in other areas -- for instance, using an industrial-grade stove or clothes washer that's designed to be kept in service for a long time.