I'm hungry.

According to a report in August of 2013 by the National Resources Defense Council, the average American tosses about 25 percent of food and beverages purchased.

That's just gross. Wait. How much do I toss out? Hopefully not that much but as soon as you start thinking about waste, you start noticing just how wasteful you are. In fact, 40% of all edible food in the United States gets tossed. Brian and I are determined to minimal-ize our garbage! Here's how we just eat it.

Where does one obtain all this excess food? Ah yes. The grocery store. Before we go grocery shopping we take of stock of what we have. That means opening the fridge (and freezer), and all of the cupboards that house food items. (CONFESSION: we only have two said cupboards, making inventory easy).

Also we eat a meal before leaving for the grocery store. That way we (let's say Brian) avoid overbuying foods that we (let's say Josey) won't even eat before they spoil. Avoiding impulse buying we also make it a priority to buy smarter. Smarter means a little bit of prep work and a lot a bit of self-control. Make a list and stick to it OR make a budget and stick to it. We don't like to spend over 50$ when visiting the store, so we make cuts if our bill is adding up. We buy the things that we actually are going to eat that day, or before the end of the week. If you think you already do this then keep track of things that you don't tend to eat but just like buying. You'll know you don't tend to eat them if they are in the garbage. enough said.

Buying or cooking in bulk? Make sure that you actually have mouths to eat your feast OR use your freezer - just be sure to eat what's in your freezer. Before you move to a new house is preferable.

Planning out your meals for the week doesn't have to be some obsessive points-counting, diet crashing-endeavor. Just say to yourself (before you go to the grocery store), "what might I eat this week?" Think about when you'll be home and for which meals and stick to it.

Need a challenge to kick start your food-wasting-minimalism? Try these:

1. Don't go shopping until you're out of food. It's called a challenge for a reason. That doesn't include condiments or spices, but your not allowed to buy those items either until you use up what you have.
2. Keep a list of the items you throw out. That means anytime you don't make it into the Clean Plate Club it gets written down. We keep our list on the fridge, as an omen- I mean, reminder. 
3. Try to go three months spending ONLY $100 per person in your household on groceries. Eating out at restaurants is what cheating looks like, just sayin'.
4. Watch the documentary Just Eat It. (trailer below)

Need not,
Brian and Josey

Vacation for minimalists!

CONFESSION: This photo is from last year but that cactus still exists. so...

I know we just got back from vacation, but we would like to go on another one, soon. In fact we don't think we can wait until next year, we have just self-proclaimed ourselves a multiple-vacation-per-year couple. In order to get better at vacationing on a dime we have made the executive decision to go on another trip before the end of the year. After all practice makes perfect.

Vacation can mean a lot of things, but to us it means getting on a plane and staying away from home for at least a week (though it would be splendid to eventually increase that number to double digit days of vacation). Vacation also means indulgence, and if you read the previous post you know that my indulgence is also a bit delusional, i.e. it involves lots of exercise, visiting a grocery store, and finding as many free/dirt cheap events and excursions as possible. But back to the point. wait. what is the point?

Ah yes. Vacation minimalist style. Here are our top 6 suggestions for cutting corners and allowing yourself to vacation as much as possible within limits of course, we still have to maintain relations with our family and friends, and a job. duh.

1. Before the vacation it all starts with priorities. We want to travel therefore we save up for it, instead of spending money on eating out, movies, and other American culture necessities, we save up for trips - planning well in advance so that we know how much money we will need and reminding ourselves, every time we are tempted to overindulge in the extras of daily living, that a penny saved is a penny earned. or whatever.
2. Cheap flights. Not quite yet an extinct idea. We recently traveled on Spirit airlines, bare minimum tickets (no checked baggage, peanuts, sodas or leg room. seriously.). But since airfare can chew into your budget immensely, and I have short legs, it pays to shop around and be patient for low fares. Also, when sitting on your (delayed) flight, thirsty, and suffering from salt withdrawal, remind yourself that it will all be worth it when you get to your exotic  destination, like South Carolina.
3. Staying in a hostel. Okay, we admit it, there may be a slightly negative connotation with this option, but having both stayed in them we strongly disagree. Besides the fact that it will encourage you to get out of your room and explore the city you may be visiting (that's pretty much the whole point of going there, i think), it is a much more cost effective option. Be adventurous, stay in a hostel and really indulge yourself in the culture of vacationing. so exotic.
4. Skip the week long vacation. I know I said at least a week, but sometimes just a few-days-get-away is enough to recharge and refuel so that you can get back to regular life with more zest and pip and zeal and maybe even... a tan.
5. Experience the culture of wherever you go. Ditch the tourist traps and go for what the locals do. This has been made much easier with the advent of blogs. Do a quick google or pinterest search to find what exotic South Carolinians think is the best museum, the best historical sites, the best restaurants etc. and do those things (or at the very least pick from that list of things you would like to do). Maybe you really want to go to those commercial sites (usually they surround food) and that's okay too. But plan ahead and budget out what your priorities are.
6. BUDGET! ARGGGG!!! Okay so $1000, including airfare, hotel, food and excursions. That's maximum. Usually it would be nice to keep that number under $600, but it is only realistic if you are incredibly savvy or if you know people with extra rooms in every exotic place you would like to travel to (also you have to feel okay with mooching off of said persons). Perhaps this seems easy to you, and if so kudos! If not I challenge you to indulge in a minimalist vacation for yourself! P.S. If you are a part of an average American couple this can be easily saved up by:

• Not going out to eat for lunch for 6 months
• Give up your starbs coffee for 5 months
• No new clothes (Gasp!) for 6 whole months (that includes dry cleaning)
• Just plain not spending excess money (pay your bills and grocery shop. how do we even survive?)

So since we are desperate for more vacations, we will continue our minimalist lifestyle, shunning our friends offers to hang out, selling all of our possessions, and of course working and saving our money. We're kidding of course, we only shun our friends 6 months out of the year.


Need not,
Brian and Josey