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Doing some cleaning downstairs, looking at my rusty fridge, I figured out I spend under 15% of my income a year on rent and utilities

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Doing some cleaning downstairs, looking at my rusty fridge, I figured out I spend under 15% of my income a year on rent and utilities… 🏡

I can’t complain too much about that these days, but that’s because I still have the same run down apartment from when I first graduated 🎓 from college and I’ve made more money at work 💼 and rent increases have been fairly modest. Rent is about 14% of my income, utilities are low because I leave the heat low most of the year, don’t use air conditioning, don’t have a lot of electronics and all my light bulbs are energy efficient. 💡Granted maybe if you count my $500 a year smartphone bill that’s another half of percent 📱 but I refuse to have internet at home and take my bottles and cans to the recycling center ♻ myself rather than pay for trash pickup. 

It’s by no means my dream home – I don’t have a big backyard ⛲ or a gun range 🔫 or livestock out back 🐐 – but it’s decent enough and it’s on two bus lines 🚍 for easy commutes to work. And it’s allowing me to save for my off grid property and a secure retirement 👴 so I can enjoy better things in the future. 

I Hate Cleaning.

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One thing I hate is how much time I spend cleaning, and how unsatisfactory my results often are. It’s really hard to keep up with dust and dirt, I track a lot of it coming back in from the woods and wilderness. Soap scum and dust build up on everything. It helps when I remember to leave a few hours each week to do some cleaning, but it’s still difficult to keep up.

When I eventually own land and an off-grid house, I am going to go for hardened tile and other “bare” floors that I can sweep, scrape, and wash the mud and muck off of. I might try to take my boots off more before coming inside, and make sure to have and use a muck scraper near my door, but I’m sure it will still come in.

Riding the Excerise Bike.

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I find myself riding the exercise bike more and more in my apartment as it’s an easy way to get some exercise while watching a Youtube video or listening to a podcast.

I’ve never been one for idling staring at a screen, although in recent years I’ve gotten more and more into watching Youtube videos I’ve downloaded, but I like to do something while I’m watching them. There is no better way to pass the time on a bike then watching the videos, from the comfort of my bedroom in the winter. It’s a great way to learn, while getting some exercise too.

Normans Kill Watershed

I can put on some music, and old dash cam videos and instantly transported back to West Virginia or some wild lands I was in a few summers back. It’s kind of nice how for the price of a few half pennies of electricity, I can be brought back to places I’ve been to before.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be in the wilderness, but if I can be burning some calories — while learning or relaxing — from the comfort of my home, that’s great too. There is so much interesting content I can download and watch from home, all while keeping my legs strong and ready for summer’s adventures.

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