Reply #20: 15 months and counting [View All]

[Warpy]

I'm living on savings and I've got about a year to go before I have to throw myself on the mercy of Walmart.

I don't drink or smoke. I buy a lot of food in bulk at the local co-op and I know how to cook it. I heat with a wood stove. My only luxury is cheap DSL that QWest grandfathered me into for about what regular AOHELL used to cost. I was on 10 prescription drugs a year ago (a clue to why I remain unemployed) and now I'm down to 2 I take every day and another 2 I take when I get desperate. They are all generics. My mortgage payment is a little less than renting an apartment in an equivalent neighborhood would be. If something breaks, I check out thrift shops for replacements, make it myself, or I do without.

I've still got my 15 year old pickup truck on the road, but I do most short trips on an electric moped at half a cent a mile. If my health permitted, I'd use a bicycle for those.

That's how I survive. Barely. How about you?