Epitome of Frugal

I really hope med school doesn't drive me to such despair.

"My House is Smaller Than a Parking Lot": Jamie Joseph and her husband downsized from huge apartment and two cars to a tiny 128 square feet house and no cars.  Few snippets:

• Nutty: When we first started, a lot of our friends and family–including my mother–thought we were nuts. Now, after seeing how satisfied we are, they think we’re at the head of the pack.
• Premise:  I lived in Davis, California, where I was commuting two hours a day, stuck in traffic, saddled with $30,000 of debt–mostly from student loans–and constantly stressed. I started using shopping as an outlet for my emotions. Instant gratification! When I shopped, I felt better and didn’t have to deal with whatever else was on my mind.
• Effect:  One of the biggest effects of having less stuff and spending less was I didn’t need to work at a job that made me unhappy!... When it comes down to it, Logan and I aren’t really about austerity, but we want to spend on experiences rather than things. We save a lot, but are also able to spend extra income on going out to eat, biking, camping and traveling. I’m much more aware of my community and my environment–I notice the seasons change and participate in my community more. Not to mention with biking, walking and eating right, I feel so much healthier.
• Take home message:  I’ve learned that stuff doesn’t matter in the long run … it’s people you’ll never get back. I want to make him proud.

"Extreme Cheapskates Spill Their Secret":  "Reusable toilet paper? 

The subjects of the TLC special, "Extreme Cheapskates," go to great lengths not to spend money—whether by using cloth toilet paper, eating unorthodox cuts of meat (i.e. goats' heads) or foraging food from strangers' plates at restaurants.  ...
These happily married "fiscal fasters" travel the world, get creative with cooking and saved enough to put a child in the Philippines through college. "
As a med student gaining debt exponentially, I'm highly tempted to consider some of these things sometimes...

"I Ate Out of a Dumpster: Night as a Freegan": "I ate food out of a dumpster. And so are increasing numbers of educated, employed and perfectly sane people. 

The movement is called freeganism, and to protest what they perceive as society's wastefulness, its adherents use unconventional methods to get things for free. Especially food.   

To find out whether a person could actually get a balanced diet from dumpsters—or if freeganism is just idealism gone awry—I attended a freegan trash tour to see what kind of food a typical night of dumpster diving yields.  "

Yup, the new anthropological study - Freegans.

Freegan-fest