Juanita Turns 200,000

 Miles that is...

Juanita being the Honda I bought in early 2021, like February or something.  I could look that up but I can't be arsed. 

Here's the blog post where I talked about it:

https://simplicityandfrugality.blogspot.com/2021/03/brand-new-extremely-used-car.html

SO...yesterday I had extra running around to do after work, which wasn't frugal but crap comes up sometimes and there you go.

Headed to Moscow and noticed that Juanita was at 199,982 a bit south of my place (which is north of Moscow).  Cool.  By the time I left Moscow, where the aforementioned run-aroundery took place, I was nearly at the big 200k.

Here are actual before and after photos: 

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's how she looks as of earlier this week

Note the new sticker...bit small but makes her look large and in charge

Closer view of the sticker:

I put one on each front door.  They look like the real agency stickers but smaller and with more 'sqatch.

I have had the vehicle for 19 months and put 34,000 miles on it.  That is an average of 1789miles per month, give or take.  About normal for me.  I used to average 30,000/year.  This would be 21,500 per year.   A few more on on the pick up, but with a busted odometer, no one knows how many.  

ANYWAY:  5000$ purchase price.  About 1200$ in tires and repairs (tune up earlier and brakes recently).  6200$ for 34000 miles...  Ownership and major repair costs as of now:  16cents/mile

IF she goes to 300,000 miles, assuming I will need more brakes and something else, and tires that would end up at about 7500$ total (because I did pads and rotors this time, rotors should last so next brake job should be less)  for 134,000 miles is 5.6cents per mile...nice!  We'll see if that happens.

Incidental Frugality

 I'm doing a month of "no industrial bread type products" as a diet experiment.  I do like my diet experiments...this one did NOT result in intestinal distress.   Suddenly-Keto...that one went bad on me. Oops!

Anyway, this month has been no industrially produced bread, wraps, tortillas, chips, pasta, etc.  No carby things from big factories.  I am buying a bit of bread and maybe a 1x per week sugary treat from local bakers at a farmers market.  As a result, the salt and the processed food are way lower.

As a side effect...my grocery costs are WAY down.

The grainy-carby things I have at home are whole dried hominy and chicos (corn stuff) from a past trip to Santa Fe, some wheat berries (the stuff that comes off the wheat plant before it is ground up into flour), and I recently added some millet because it was cheap and I wanted to try it.

I've been canning dry black beans with the hominy and/or chicos.  EXCELLENT!  It takes the same amount of time and butane to can 4 pints of beans an corn as it would to cook a meal's worth.  I end up with 4 instant meals.  So far I haven't even heated them up.  Just eaten right out of the jar.  I may try it with wheat berries too.  

Lots of lentils with wheat berries.  Cook up in about 30 min and then I take it to work the next day.

Breakfasts have been eggs.  Lately with grated carrot or kohlrabi thrown in and fried up together into sort of a hash thing.   Good.  

I bought a grain mill, manual and small, from thrift a while back and busted that out a couple of days ago.  Turned wheat berries into course whole wheat flour (it's not a great mill but it works and was cheapish).  I added some to a breakfast carrot hash and it made it into more of a fritter.  Then I mixed the rest up like a biscuit dough and slow fried it over a very low flame.  Brought it to work and it was a fine biscuit if a bit heavy.  I'll get better.

The possible downside...is...well...ENORMOUS amounts of fiber.  This is healthy.  And gassy.  Win win??  Not for my colleagues.  But I'm not hungry all the time.

It's making me eat mostly what I cook.  Think before going to a restaurant because there is crappy industrial bread everywhere.  And it's making me really appreciate the local bread makers, especially my favorite guy with his long ferment sourdoughs.  I'm only buying a bit since even artisanal bread is super salty. 

The few times I've eaten at restaurants I've gotten in the habit of going for salad, no croutons.  Then just ignoring any rolls or bread on the side.  Mostly it makes me think before I even go to a restaurant.   A brunch meeting for work was ok. I picked the veggie omelette and skipped the biscuit (those are usually gross anyway).  

My grocery bill is coming in on budget so far and I'd lowered the budget considerably to make room for the increased gas costs.

Good Lord! Food Costs!!!

 So I went in a regular grocery store for the first time in ages.  

And HOLY COW!   $9.19 for a 42oz (not even 4lbs) of quaker rolled oats.

I was going to drop some $$ for the tiny food pantry but not those $$.

Instead, I went to Winco, an employee owned chain with better prices.  Got bulk rolled oats for 1$/lb.  WAY better than those quakers at about $3.5/lb. 

What if I a) didn't have a decent income and b) didn't have access to multiple grocery options c) didn't have transportation to said stores???

I'd have to pay whatever was charged and apparently go broke.  Criminitly.

And watch those quantities on your food containers, and other packaging, for this nutso shrinkflation.  The container appeared to be the same size as the old 4lb one, which I also would not pay that much for, but must have had empty space.  I'm not spending my money to check the empty space quantity.

My weekly exercise of reviewing the grocery store flyers I can't seem to prevent from jamming my mailbox (my actual physical one) to see what I would be eating using the "dollar a pound all year round" guideline.  It can still be done.  If one had a freezer, and power and etc to keep it going, one could save a boatload stocking up on loss leader sales of meat (mostly chicken parts and pork) when it hits 1$ or less per lb.  There is usually basic veg (potatoes, onions, carrots) for that.  And a bit of fruit.  I also know that NOT in the flyer are the regular things like bananas that are generally under the price guideline and past-the prime fruit and veg at good prices.  The "reduced for quicksale meat also often hits that.

You have to work for it, but it can be done if you have some infrastructure.

Canned beans are close most weeks, dry beans usually, and given that they cook up to 2x the dry quantity, are always a better deal than canned (also no salt on the dry ones...) if you have a cooking method available.

Anyway, I'm sorry to those with fewer options, in food deserts, and in urban areas without decent stores and transportation. I will be seeing if my donating or activisming could address the issue in some small way.