I love salt

I put way too much salt on everything. I don't have any health problems from it yet, but I'm sure I will in time have problems with salt. When I make spaghetti, I put a whole bunch of salt in my sauce. I tend to like a salty spaghetti sauce rather than a sweet one. I will put a little bit of sugar in it but stick to a more salty sauce than a sugary one. I love putting salt on all of my meals. In fact, my favorite lunch meal is a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with salt on it. Sometimes people think I'm going to die young because of it but I don't really mind. It still tastes good.

Remnants of Things Past

I did a little time traveling yesterday, and I didn’t like it.

“I’m going to clean the workshop,” I announced at breakfast. “I know I should write or mow the lawn, but I’m going to clean the workshop.”

“Sounds good,” Kris said. She rarely argues when I have an urge to do some cleaning.

A glimpse at the past
When we first looked at this property five years ago, I was drawn to the outbuildings. I have fond memories of the outbuildings on my grandparents’ land, so I was excited that our new house would have a detached garage, two sheds, and a workshop.

For the first couple of years, I actually used the workshop for its intended purpose. It was the place I practiced my (very limited) handyman skills. I also used it to build computers for family and friends. In time, however, the building fell into disuse; it gradually turned to storage.

I gave a tour of our home to a visitor last month. When I showed the workshop, I was dismayed. I hadn’t really looked at it in months — or years. But when I saw it through the eyes of a stranger, it was clear that it had become a dumping ground for my cast off Stuff.

Back in time
I’ve written before about my battle with Stuff. In many ways, I’ve made great progress. I’m less acquisitive than I used to be, and I’ve sold most of the things that have value. But I still possess a great mass of Stuff.

As I began my cleaning project yesterday, the workshop was packed with:

• Old computer parts (Apple II, Macintosh SE, etc.)
• Vinyl record albums from my youth
• Compact discs
• Darkroom equipment
• Old books and comics
• Stacks and stacks of magazines
• Boxes and bags filled with miscellaneous junk
• Packaging materials from three years of purchases

Looking at this collection of Stuff — none of which I need or use anymore — I was overwhelmed. I felt sick. Did I really purchase all of this Stuff? Why? As I worked, I tried to answer that question.

Whenever I picked something up, I tried to remember how much I had paid for it and what had led me to buy it:

This voice recorder cost $59. I thought it would keep me from forgetting things, but I never remembered to use it. Not once. These photography books cost $20 each. I thought they’d help me make better photos, but I’m not sure I read any of them at all. I bought this old Apple II for $125 off of eBay because I wanted to play the games I remember from fifth and sixth grade. I used it for a couple of hours.

I took a trip through my past, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. All around me was evidence of my wasteful ways. For nearly 20 years, I had been in acquisition mode. I accumulated Stuff. My workshop was filled with the last remnants of this life.

One fundamental principle of frugality is to buy only things for which you have a use (even if that use is pleasure). The old J.D. wasn’t good at this. I bought a lot of stuff that I didn’t need — and barely wanted.

Now here I am at 40, and when I look at all of the things I own, I can’t help but wonder what my younger self was thinking. Buying this Stuff seemed like a good idea at one time, I know, but owning these things did not make me happy. It didn’t make me feel free. Quite the opposite, in fact. This Stuff is a burden, a physical and a mental barrier to the things that are actually important to me.

A dream of the future
Kris and I are in the very early stages of planning our vacation for next year, and we’re leaning towards a Rick Steves tour. Steves is a one-bag zealot: Participants are not allowed to bring more than a single carry-on suitcase, whether the tour lasts two days — or twenty.

This might seem limiting to some, but I find the one-bag philosophy liberating. When Kris’ parents took us to London and Dublin in 2007, I took a single carry-on bag. For three weeks, my entire world consisted solely of the possessions I could squeeze into this suitcase. It was awesome. I felt unburdened. When we returned from that trip, the one-bag experience prompted me to undergo a short phase during which I purged Stuff around the house — but I never finished the job.

As I continue to develop my personal and financial goals for the future, I want to focus less on Stuff. I’ve learned to guard against the invasion of Stuff, but I want to take it a step further. I want to eliminate more of the Stuff I already own. To that end, I’ve developed some personal guidelines to help me approach the task:

• Don’t overthink it. With so much Stuff to get rid of, it’s easy to make the project even better than it has to be. I’m tempted to draw up plans on paper or to simply re-arrange the Stuff into new piles. The key is to dispense with all this folderol and just get started.
• Focus on one item at a time. If I look at the entire project at once, I’m overwhelmed. How on earth will I ever clean the workshop? How will I ever find a place for all this Stuff? Instead, I concentrate on one thing at a time. Where does this photo enlarger go? And what about my old Tintin books? I break the project into smaller steps.
• Don’t get depressed. When I think about the time and money that this Stuff represents, I sometimes let it get me down. It seems like such a waste. But the past is the past, and I cannot change what I’ve done. All I can do is try to make smart choices going forward, to guard against the invasion of Stuff, and to get rid of the clutter that’s already in my life.
• Do some good with the Stuff you have. If I’m going to get rid of things, I might as well make the most of them. Sure, much of the Stuff is going to end up in the trash, but can some of the items be donated to a local thrift store? A school? In my case, I have darkroom equipment that somebody on Craigslist or Freecycle may want. My nephew would probably love the two boxes of model railroad parts I’ve acquired.
• Purge ruthlessly. When I sort through this Stuff, I have to turn off the emotional side of my brain. This can be difficult, but it’s necessary. Do I really need my high school newspapers? All of my old role-playing games? My boxes of common football cards? What about my cassette tapes from high school and college? The financial records for buying our first house in 1993? Everything has some sort of meaning; if I keep it all, I’m going to be buried in clutter.
• Remember how this feels. Though I’m doing much better at avoiding Stuff, I still have my weaknesses. I still bring home too many books. I’m still drawn to “free” stuff by the side of the road. Next week, I plan to attend an enormous neighborhood garage sale, and if I’m not careful, I could come home with even more Stuff. When I’m tempted in the future, I need to remind myself of what it feels like to dig through this crap.

I almost think that this project should make me feel happy and triumphant, not sad and mopey. Look how far I’ve come! Look at the smart choices I’m now able to make! And think of how much less cluttered my life will be once I purge all of this stuff!

I don’t feel triumphant yet, but maybe I’ll get there. For now, I’m hoping that my own experience can serve as an object lesson to others who might be acquisition mode. Buying Stuff (and getting Stuff for free) can seem like fun. It can seem like “winning”. It’s not. Don’t buy things for which you have no use; the value is in the using, not the having.

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Spain is such a beautiful country

I have been there only once. I love how their flag is three stripes with one stripe of yellow and red as the other two stripes. That's not the part I like though. I like the symbol that they have on the yellow stripe. It is the coat of arms in Spain. That's not the only thing I like about Spain of course. I also like lots of other things. They speak real Spanish. It isn't fake Spanish like they speak in Mexico. I love how beautiful it is too. The food is absolutely delicious. I can't wait until my next visit to Spain.

Changing my major

I remember when I was in college I changed my major about three times every year. It was only for those first two years that I continually changed my major. I couldn't decide what I was going to be happy doing for my whole life. It is a really hard decision to make. I knew I wanted to help others but most professions help others in one way or another so it didn't really narrow down my choices. I really liked psychology but was unwilling to go to that many years of schooling. I didn't want to spend my whole life trying to pay off my loans from college. I finally decided that teaching would be the right profession for me. I am glad that was the choice I made. I love my students.

Someone stole my Facebook

Today I went on my Facebook account just to realize someone had stolen my account. I was so mad. I had to go in and change my password and everything. I can't believe people are so bored that they have to mess with other people's lives. I don't see why people can't just stick to their own dramatic lives. I then had to go change my password to anything else that I had that was the same. My Myspace account had the same email and password on there so I had to go and change that one too. I was really upset that someone would do that. I don't know how they figured out my password.

I would love to work there

My sister and I just got back from watching Night at the Museum two, which was really good by the way, and it got me thinking about how awesome it would be to work in a museum where that would happen. I would love to work there. Sure it would be freaky at first and probably a little scary but after you learned the ropes it would be amazing. Watching everything come to life every night and interacting with them would be so much fun. It would be incredible learning all that they know and all that different culture from all around the world. But that’s just me; I would love to learn about different cultures directly from someone who has experienced them. It would also be interesting interacting with all those different animals and creatures, but I’m sure some of them would be hostile. Anyway, it’s a fun idea and a good movie.

Mint Goes to the Webby Awards

Last week I had the honor of representing Mint at the 13th Annual Webby Awards in New York City. I was there to accept two awards for Mint.com, one for Best Financial Services Website, and another, the People’s Voice award. Thanks, Webby people!

Mint is no stranger to the Webbys, having won two awards and an honorable mention last year. So I knew the pressure was on to deliver a killer five word speech. The event kicked off on Sunday evening with cocktails at Above Allen, a rooftop bar on the Lower East Side. I made the Mojito my brand-reinforcing drink of the evening until I ran the bar out of mint leaves. It was great to see faces light up when I mentioned Mint.com. The web crowd genuinely loves the application, though not so much the email reminders about overspending on [insert vice here]. We’re working on it, guys.

The real party commenced Monday night with the Webby gala itself, held at Cipriani on Wall Street – the heart of the financial district. As Seth Meyers noted in his opening speech, the Webbys are for people who wished the Oscars had more awards and less celebrities. Because there are so many winners, very few get to accept their awards on stage, and everyone is limited to five words, even stars like Jimmy Fallon. So my first order of business when arriving was to record my five word acceptance speech. Jimmy Fallon, you need Mint.com. Jimmy, we’re waiting for our seat on the coach. After my speech I was asked to pick a book, Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail style. Unfortunately I chose poorly and wasn't rewarded with eternal life, or the chance to present on stage.

As the host, Meyers was great and kept the laughs going. On the event’s financial district location, “because nothing says forward thinking and ingenuity quite like Wall Street… were there no rooms available in Detroit?” On the crowd, “Ashton Kutcher is not here, I just wish there was a way to know what he's doing…” There were also lots of very funny videos put together by the Webby people.

Some of the highlights of the evening that drew the most applause? The five word speech from Animoto, the marriage proposal, and for me, seeing some of the celebrities in attendance like Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, and Cameron Diaz.

Thanks to everyone who voted for us, and now it’s time for me to get back to work, recover from three open bars, and make our product even better so I can go back and do this again next year.

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