Our 1996 Volvo station wagon costs us roughly $1000 per year in repairs and maintenance. This is not much less than what we could sell the car for.

I take the car in religiously for service and ask for a thorough "trip check" before our annual driving vacation. I'd be lying if I said it didn't pain me to shell out for a new serpentine belt, a new windshield wiper arm, a set of tires, a new gasket thingy, or a bearing, but my pain has become considerably less since I decided to get smart (duh!) and set aside about $80 per month toward car maintenance. This year at our annual trip check I learned that we needed new shocks in the back and new brakes all around. I even took it for a second opinion, but the second party agreed. Oh well--at least we had the funds.

I contrast the cost of this vehicle with what we might otherwise shell out each year to cover an auto loan, higher insurance rates, and taxes on a newer car. As it stands now, we have zero car payment, a very low insurance premium, and pay just $35 for taxes. We occasionally consider buying a second vehicle, but we're going to keep on keeping on for the near future.

I like the relatively low cost, and I get satisfaction from making do with less than what our culture says is necessary or desirable.

We opted for a very small fridge/freezer when buying a new model a couple years ago. It's so energy efficient that it can run off solar power--even though the freezer section is a deep freeze (which I LOVE).

I have posted about my fridge before. Suffice it to say that when I measured our actual usage of space in our old fridge, we weren't filling more than a few cubic feet with *fresh, unspoiled* food. The rest was filled with old leftovers and nearly empty bottles. Every time I start having a hard time fitting stuff into my fridge (see below). . .




. . . I clean it out and find that I've been storing out-of-date food again. I have plenty of room in this thing. The produce drawers on not in this pic, and the cheese and butter containers are in the door, along with the condiment bottles and more egg storage. And of course, the freezer section is not pictured here. Last year we easily stored 40 pounds of fish in the deep freeze, along with ice cream, meatballs and a few other things.



We are aware that if we sell this house, it will be hard to convince prospective buyers that a 10 cubic foot fridge/freezer is sufficient, so we left room next to the fridge for under-the-counter refrigerator drawers (way cool). When we go to sell the house, we'll probably install them first thing.

Right now I like knowing that if we transition to some solar power (a real possibility), our dishwasher, fridge, and washer/dryer use so little electricity as to be solar friendly.