After settling into our cozy Airbnb in the Shinjuku neighborhood, we ventured out for our first taste of Tokyo. Vending machines brightly advertising popular beverages and snacks on every street corner provided a quick pick-me-up as we made our way to the famous Shibuya Crossing.

As we emerged from the train station, we stopped and stared – even having seen images of this iconic scramble intersection before, it was mesmerizing to watch the choreographed chaos unfold. Hundreds of pedestrians streaming across zebra crosswalks from all directions when traffic lights cycle green, coming just inches from each other yet maintaining order amid the controlled collision course.

Recharged from people watching and photo snapping at Shibuya Crossing, we devoted the afternoon to Tokyo’s pop culture playground – Akihabara Electric Town. Flashing neon signs advertising the latest electronics, anime and manga stores stuffed to the brim with merchandise, cosplayers posing for pictures, arcade games beckoning from every corner; sensory overload didn’t begin to describe this geek paradise.

We geeked out browsing shelves, played crane games hoping for a rare plushy prize, gazed upward at the retro gaming arcades scaling skyscraper heights, and fully immersed ourselves in Japan’s famously offbeat and playful otaku subculture.

The next morning, we headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market, arriving in the wee hours of dawn to observe the famous tuna auctions. Bleary-eyed but determined, we watched burly fishermen haul in giant frozen tuna and market vendors begin transactions on these prized catches.

The frenetic energy as huge bundles of cash exchanged hands contrasted with the almost religious rituals of examining each fish’s quality was fascinating to behold even at 4 am. Following the auctions, we roamed the outer market stalls picking up sashimi straight from the source and street food stalls for an early breakfast.

The sweetest, fattiest tuna we’ve ever tasted paired with steaming hot tamagoyaki washed down by bracing cups of hot green tea – a quintessential Tsukiji experience.

In the afternoon, we walked through the nearby Hama Rikyu Gardens – an oasis of tranquility amidst Tokyo’s high octane speed. Strolling paths winding through manicured landscapes, ponds filled with koi whose sparkling scales glinted in the weak winter sunshine, stone bridges arching over inlets – we soaked in the serene atmosphere, which felt worlds away from the busy metropolis surrounding the garden walls.

After recharging our inner zen at Hama Rikyu, we took the train to Asakusa district to visit Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest and most significant Buddhist temple. Passing through the bright red Thunder Gate onto Nakamise Shopping Street, over 200 stalls flanked the path leading up to the main temple compound.

We couldn’t resist sampling various Japanese street food snacks like tempura, mochi, taiyaki stuffed with sweet bean paste, and traditional ningyo-yaki cakes molded into cute shapes while perusing the souvenir stalls.

Crossing the last stretch to the temple, we admired the vibrant statues flanking the pagoda entrance along with the smoking cauldron of incense wafting through the air. The eclectic combination of traditional Buddhist architecture set against a modern city background captured Tokyo’s skill blend of fast-paced urban identity grounded in centuries-old culture and customs.

No trip to Tokyo would be complete without paying our respects to the serene Meiji Jingu shrine set in an evergreen forest within lush Yoyogi Park – a relaxing escape from city life drawing locals and tourists alike. We approached the main temple building through a towering wooden torii gate, pausing first at the ritual cleansing fountain to purify ourselves before entering the sacred shrine.

We observed visitors quietly making offerings of coins, bowing in prayer, and showing divine respect while soaking up the tranquil atmosphere only disturbed by occasional chirps of wild birds in the dense foliage surrounding the shrine.

Back on the bustling city streets, we stopped for conveyor belt sushi to fuel up for a full night out in Shinjuku. The restaurant’s fast-paced atmosphere matched the vivacity we were starting to associate with Tokyo.

Plucking plates of nigiri and rolls in every shape, size and flavor off the circling conveyor belts, we witnessed firsthand the artistry of sushi preparation happening behind the counter. bellies satisfied with classic tuna, salmon, eel and roe options, we headed out towards the glowing Shinjuku skyscrapers dominating the night sky.

Spending an evening getting lost in the neon-lit alleyways and soaring towers of Shinjuku was a highlight. We soaked up the views from sky-high bars and restaurants, watched the coordinated light shows brightening up the city streets below, and explored narrow lanes revealing tiny yakitori joints, cozy jazz bars filled with salarymen unwinding after work, and even across some robot restaurant dancers to entice us inside for a kitschy experience. The nonstop energy and electricity vibrating through Shinjuku matched the kinetic pace Tokyo operated on.

On our final day, we checked off the last essential Tokyo must-see spots. We began at the Imperial Palace East Gardens – strolling through meticulously cultivated landscapes and soaking in views of the modern skyline juxtaposed behind moats and stone fortresses originally constructed to guard this historic seat of power.

Then a trip to Tokyo Station – this beautifully restored brick building served not just as a major transportation hub but as an architectural reminder of how Japan modernized and westernized to become the economic powerhouse it is today during the Meiji era.

Our last stop summarized the unique character of Tokyo – chaotic yet orderly, frenetic yet tranquil, deeply traditional yet fixated on all things modern and future-focused. A spiritual walk through the ancient Sensoji Temple complex in the morning followed by whiling away the afternoon in futuristic Odaiba district – home to rainbow lit bridges, human-sized mobile suit Gundam models, artificial beaches lined with palm trees along Tokyo Bay, and malls filled with kitschy toys and anime characters coming alive through virtual reality.

We explored both ends of Tokyo’s complex identity over delicious conveyor belt sushi watching the sunset over the Rainbow Bridge – a fitting farewell to our brief but action-packed time in this electrifying city that had truly captured our hearts after years spent dreaming of Japan.

The post Our Japan Trip Part 5 Tokyo appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

As we took off into the night sky, I gazed out the window watching the bright lights of LA shrink smaller and smaller. I tried to get some sleep since I had a full day of sightseeing ahead upon landing in Lima, but I was too keyed up. My mind raced thinking about the amazing sights, smells, and tastes that awaited me. The rich history of Machu Picchu, the rugged natural beauty of Rainbow Mountain, the fascinating culture of the Andean people – I couldn’t wait to experience it all firsthand.

Arriving in the Chaotic Capital

The next morning, I emerged bleary-eyed off the plane into the humid Lima air, ready to officially start my long-awaited Peruvian adventure. Lugging my overstuffed suitcase, I made my way through customs and hopped in one of the many yellow taxis waiting outside baggage claim. Zipping through the chaotic streets of Lima, I watched street vendors hawking goods, stray dogs roaming around, and crumbling Spanish colonial buildings covered in bright neon signs.

My taxi arrived in the touristy Miraflores neighborhood, where my hotel was located. After a quick shower and change of clothes, I was out the door ready to dive into Lima’s food scene. My first stop – the local market to try some fresh ceviche, Peru’s iconic raw fish dish. As I sampled the bright, citrusy flavors of the ceviche, the tangy lime juice dancing on my tongue, any lingering grogginess from my red-eye lifted. Fueled up on ceviche, I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through Miraflores, enjoying gorgeous ocean views along the clifftops dotted with parks.

Exploring the Historic Center

On my second day in Lima, I headed to the historic city center to explore well-preserved colonial buildings and squares. Stepping out of the taxi, the cacophony of car horns and street vendors overwhelmed my senses. As I approached the main plaza, kids played soccer while businessmen hurried past and street performers danced to live music. Green mountains rising up in the distance provided a dramatic backdrop.

Wandering narrow cobblestone streets packed with colonial mansions and intricately carved wooden balconies made me feel like I’d been transported back in time. I spent hours popping in and out of art galleries, museums, and the 16th century cathedral that held the remains of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro. Exiting the church, the sweet scent of grilled meat wafted through the air beckoning me. Following my nose through side alleys draped with strings of dried peppers and corn kernels, I arrived at a local grill churning out anticuchos – grilled beef hearts on a stick. Venturing well beyond my comfort zone, I took my first tentative bite of the smoky, rich meat. To my surprise, I loved it! Just another reminder not to judge a book by its cover when trying new foods.

With my stomach full of anticuchos, I hailed a taxi back to Miraflores. Gazing out the window at street art murals splash-painted across concrete walls, I couldn’t believe I still had nearly two more weeks to explore this amazing country that was already exceeding my high expectations.

Venturing Into the Andes Mountains

My third morning in Peru was an early one. Bleary-eyed, I gulped down a quick coffee before hopping in a van headed to the Andean village of Chinchero. I watched the bustling city transform into rolling green foothills as we steadily climbed up into the mountains. The fresh air and sweeping vistas were incredibly rejuvenating. I felt renewed energy and excitement for this new leg of my journey.

When we arrived in the sleepy village, our small group made our way to a compound owned by a local family who gave us a demonstration of traditional weaving using Alpaca wool. I was enthralled seeing the vibrant dyes made from natural ingredients and watching the intricate patterns emerge on looms made from sticks and rope. Next, we tried our hands at grinding corn using stone utensils, which was much harder than it looked! By the time we sat down to a homemade meal of potatoes, corn, cheese, and herbs picked straight from their farm accompanied by wood-fire baked rabbit, the family had a new crop of fans of their Andean culture and cooking.

On our winding drive back towards Cusco, we stopped at awesome photo vantage points overlooking the sprawling city nestled in a valley surrounded by rolling green mountains. The monumental fortress Sacsayhuaman, ancient Incan stonework, provided a dramatic foreground for selfies. With a light rain falling, we arrived back just in time for golden hour when the fading sun cast a magical glow over the city’s endless red rooftops. It was a picture-perfect end to an unforgettable introduction to the ancient allures of the Andes.

The post I Went on Vacation and You Didn’t – Peru Part 1 appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

Day 11: Flight back to New York

Day 5: Kyoto & Osaka

After the last entry’s cliffhanger, you must be wondering what we did on this morning that I was so looking forward to!

It’s the Fushimi Inari shrine!

If you zoom in close enough, you can read the banners they had lining the path to the shrine telling you that, according to TripAdvisor, Fushimi Inari was the most popular tourist attraction in Japan for two years running. So I guess we were just two of the many gaijin heading here.

Fushimi Inari is the head shrine of possibly 40,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. The shrine itself is spectacular and orange, but the real draw lies beyond the main buildings.

The torii gates are what Fushimi Inari is known for. There are 10,000 of these gates lining paths that traverse a mountain. They start out very large, as above, but soon decrease to human size. At the start of the trail, the torii are so tightly packed, you get the feeling that you are in an orange hallway.

You have to wake up pretty early in the morning to get photos devoid of people like that. By 8:00 AM, while we were on our way out, people were trying to get clear shots down the paths, and they couldn’t because of all the other people in the way.

The backside of the gates are painted with the names of Japanese businesses and people who have bought the gates. Purchasing a gate is thought to bring prosperity.

The trails that cover the mountain cover several miles. It’s steep, but not exhausting, to get to the top. Obviously, being hikers and completists, we had to do the entire hike. We made a good decision to get here early. It was peaceful, I’d say maybe the most tranquil place I’ve ever been in my life. All the way up the mountain, you encounter other small shrines off the path, and lots of fox sculptures, which is the kami for Fushimi Inari.

There are also refreshment shops on the way up the mountain. We were there early enough that they weren’t open yet, but the old folks who run them were getting them ready for the day. These shops would be super handy if you really wanted to make a day of visiting.

And at some point, we started finding lots of stray cats hanging out around the shrines and on the path. There was a woman putting food out for them at one of the shrines.

I found the  whole experience of walking through the gates strangely moving. Just the fact that there are so many of them, and the old ones get replaced… it’s kind of an overwhelming piece of communal work. I’d compare it to Opus 40, the enormous “environmental sculpture” built in Saugerties, NY, by one guy over the course of his life.

Oh, and if those gates look familiar to you, and you know you haven’t been to Japan, maybe you went to New York City in February of 2005…

That’s when Christo & Jean-Claude erected The Gates in Central Park. Marge and I went to see it, and I thought it was great. It has to be my favorite public art project. The orange gates with fabric draped on them lined all of the paths in the park. It really transformed the place in the dead of winter. Once I learned that The Gates was inspired by Fushimi Inari, I knew I had to visit the original eventually.

After Fushimi Inari, we had to get back to our inn, check out, and get on our next train to Osaka. Osaka is only 30 minutes away from Kyoto by train, and our hotel, the Intercontinental Osaka, is connected to the train station by a confusing series of walkways. We got there too early to check in, so we left our hefty backpacks at the desk for a bit and went exploring.

I knew Osaka was a business powerhouse in Japan and it was pretty commercialized, at least from where we stood. When you picture Japan looking like Times Square, Osaka is one of those places. Although I admit, we were right in the heart of it. We spent an hour or two exploring this bizarre mall (or malls) attached to the train station and office buildings. There was plenty of weirdly translated English signs. For the curious, Freak’s Store sold mostly outerwear. Nothing that interesting.

The malls are built vertically, not horizontally like in America, and they love their escalators. We finally got some cheap lunch in a food market in the basement.

When we returned to the hotel, this little check-in clerk said she would go get our bags. We assumed she was going to wheel them out on one of those luggage carts. But she returned  smiling with one backpack hanging off of each forearm! Marge and I rushed to take the bags away, because how was this tiny Japanese girl carrying these bags like that! It looked like they could break her arms!

Our hotel was nice. I think this was my favorite hotel we stayed in on this trip. The room was huge, the bed was perfect, there was a desk with a faux rock holding up one side, complimentary candy in a glass case, and a ridiculous bathroom.

The one place I wanted to visit in Osaka was Dotonbori, the entertainment district. We made the mistake of waiting until 5:00 to leave, because at that point, the subway system was a madhouse. And to get to it, we walked through this insanely brightly-lit tech store, full of people buying and hawking things like cell phone plans and phone covers. It was noisy and bright and closed-in and basically my version of hell.

Dotonbori is basically one street filled with restaurants, kareoke bars and people. I wasn’t sure if I was going to love Dotonbori or hate it, but we both ended up liking it. It has the packed, chaotic feeling of Times Square, but with the ordered friendliness of Disneyworld. Everyone was happy to be there.

The main thing you do on Dotonbori is eat. There is a lot of street food to try, and we had saved our appetites. The street is most famous for its takoyaki, or fried octopus balls.

We actually had that one serving, plus another from a second cart! Then came the katsukura (fried meat on a stick) and beer, and chicken skewers. Aside from all the food you can eat, there is no shortage of advertisements to admire.

Everyone’s favorite is the Glico man. Glico is some kind of candy company, and people love this advertisement so much, they pose in front of him, doing the Glico man pose.

Personally, I was more excited to see my patron saint of Japanese pop culture, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, advertising something called An, which at some point must’ve tied into her song, “Kyary Anan.”

Then there is the famous drumming clown. Does anyone know where the clown came from? Does anybody care? The clown slowly moves his head to and fro, flicks his eyebrows up and down, and very slowly and deliberately bangs that drum. WATCH MY VIDEO AND EXPERIENCE THE HORROR.

Day 6: Nara

A little backstory: We had planned on staying in the mountain town of Takayama for 2 nights for their famous autumn festival. But our AirB&B host backed out just before we were to leave for Japan. I had to reserve this place eight months in advance because Takayama’s hotels book up so far in advance of the autumn festival, and this was one of the last places available. Apparently, the AirB&B host got in trouble with her landlord for hosting people. Such is the world of AirB&B!

So before we left America, we scrambled to find another place to visit since Takayama, and everywhere around it, was completely booked. We settled on Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. We booked a standard Japanese apartment with sliding doors, low door frames and cushions for seats. It was owned by a woman named Hana, and in classic AirB&B fashion, if any neighbors asked who we were, we were supposed to say, “I am friend of Hana!”

When we reserved the apartment, we had to laugh at some of the instructions. It contained mysterious directions like “When you open the window, please use the net, otherwise cat is coming.” I pictured myself using a big butterfly net to catch a cat trying to break into the apartment. Actually, what she meant by “net” was the screen door.

When we got to the apartment, there were further instructions about the cat…

CAT IS COMING

Despite all these ominous warnings that “cat is coming,” Marge and I never saw a cat. Maybe the cat doesn’t even exist.

Like Kyoto, Nara has many temples. But unlike Kyoto, Nara has kept a huge swath of land undeveloped so you can see these temples in their original habitat. We didn’t have time to go deep into Nara Park on Thursday, but we did have time to meet these guys…

The other interesting thing about Nara Park is the deer. The deer in Nara have been protected because they are “messengers of the gods.” So they are basically allowed to run rampant and beg food off people. So if you’ve ever wanted to pet a deer, you need to go to Nara. Just watch them, though. They’ll try to eat your map.

By the time we got to Nara on Friday, it was almost dusk. Still, we spent an hour or so cavorting with these deer. Petting them was much like petting our greyhound Maeby. They’re about the same height and size.

For supper, we headed down one of those covered alley shopping streets and stopped in at least one restaurant that was actually closed. We ended up at a ramen place called Aoniyoshi.

This was my first time having real ramen after so many bad American packaged ramen experiences. What a cheap, delicious food. Super umami.

That’s basically it for today. Tune in next time when we explore Nara and… meet more deer!

The post Japan Trip, Part 3: Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

Ha-Ling Peak, Canmore

We haven’t paid for a flight since 2011 when we flew to Calgary and stayed in Canmore in the Rocky Mountains for a week. It shouldn’t surprise you that, even though we actually paid cash for our flight, we still didn’t pay for our hotel that week. It was a timeshare week that was gifted to us from a family member. Got to keep it frugal! Without the free accommodations, we probably wouldn’t have gone.

Andes, Peru

Just like earning miles, there is a method to the madness of spending them. You want to maximize their value. Different airlines are on different airline alliances, meaning you can use their miles on certain other airlines. So certain miles are better to redeem for some destinations than others. Airlines each have their own award charts showing how many miles it will take to fly to different regions. To make it even more complex, there are peak and off-peak awards, routing rules you can avoid or take advantage of, airlines that do or do not charge fuel surcharges depending on the points used… I won’t even start to get into it. There are entire blogs devoted just to redeeming awards. And even after so many flights, I think I’m only at an intermediate level of knowledge on all of it.

Don’t lean on the electric fance

The following flights are all for two tickets, except for the trip to Vienna and Skopje, Macedonia, which I made alone. The cash values I assign come directly from the airline’s website, so take that with a grain of salt. Probably you could find a cheaper version of the same flight if you searched around.

Flights

(RT) = Round Trip

That’s basically ten vacations without having to pay for flights. We’ve spent nearly 1 million miles on flights at this point.

Tokyo Conrad

Free Hotel Nights

To be honest, some of those hotel stays were not completely free. The ones where no points were used were “free nights” we received in exchange for paying a credit card’s annual fee, for example the Chase Hyatt card which gave us 2 free nights for the $79 annual fee in the first year, or the IHG card which gives us a free night annually for $49.

In addition to the points-only stays, most of the hotel chains offer “Points + Cash” deals which can be an even better use of hotel points than using only points.

For example, for a 3 night stay in a Long Island Holiday Inn, we could either pay $170 a night or 15,000 points per night, or the Points + Cash deal, $70 plus 5,000 points. Do the math out and the Points + Cash deal is much better. Spending the 5,000 points would save you $100. Spending the extra 10,000 points for the points-only stay would only save an additional $70.

Geneva Intercontinental

Discounted Hotel Nights

Holiday Inn, Skopje, Macedonia

Miles & Points Balance

What are those “other methods” we’ve used to earn miles? One is just normal credit card spending, then there are some weirder ones, like the times I opened up a bank account and an investment account for the bonus miles offers. Recently, there was an even weirder method for earning miles while I will be writing about on Monday.

Here’s another stat. The total Cash Value of miles and points spent above = $79,963

Using that as an average, our total balance remaining is worth $81,676 in travel! Clearly we have not been able to keep up with the amount of miles and points we’ve been earning, so we’ve got a lot of traveling left to do.

Join us… Join us… Join us in the frequent flyer mile cult!

The post How We’ve Spent Our Frequent Flyer Miles and Points appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

I let the axiom “buy used” extend to almost everything that costs more than $50. There are some things that I won’t buy used, (mattresses, for one) but things that either don’t wear out or can be repaired easily, those are no-brainers for buying used. My bicycle is used. It cost $140 and already rode like a dream. Now I put few dollars and some elbow grease into it every year to keep it in good shape. Here’s the main categories of stuff I always buy used.

Hobby Items

There are no better things to buy used than items you need to start a new hobby. If you’re looking to start exercising, learn an instrument, make jewelry, brew beer, etc., Craigslist is your best friend. America’s basements are the graveyard of good intentions. It’s where dreams go to die!

I can only imagine what the true percentage is, but let’s just invent a number and say that 80% of people trying out a new hobby give up within a year. All that new equipment they bought just goes into the basement to collect dust. That’s where you come in! When you decide to try out the same hobby, you get to profit from their laziness! That stuff they bought will eventually appear on Craigslist, and it will be at a deep discount just to get it out of the house. (You can thank our nation’s spouses for this part of the equation)

Take the home brew set-up I bought. After successfully making a few gallons of hard apple cider last fall, this spring I wanted to try brewing beer. This requires a big pot to brew in, so I went searching Craigslist for just a five gallon pot.

The only listing I found was a guy selling his entire home brew set-up. He tried brewing a few times, but the hobby didn’t stick, so he was selling it all. This set-up included everything. Two huge glass carboys, a five gallon pot, a bottling bucket, another bucket, tubing, a huge funnel, cleaning solution, a hydrometer… you can see it all above. And he only wanted 60 bucks for it!

Well, I couldn’t resist. Those glass carboys can go for $50 themselves!  So now I have about 40 bottles of porter aging in the basement. If the hobby ends up being a bust, I’ll just sell all of this stuff again for $60 and the ultimate out-of-pocket expense will be nothing, except for the ingredients used.

Another good example is exercise equipment. We are on our second treadmill, and we paid $0 for this one and for our first one. The first one was a hand-me-down from friends, and I think I actually sold it on Craigslist for a nominal amount, before getting the second treadmill as a hand-me-down from my parents. I actually made a profit from owning a treadmill. How many people can’t say that? If you have the capacity to move a treadmill out of someone’s house, you should never have to pay for one.

Also, weights. I have a barbell with over 200 pounds of weights. The price on Craigslist was $70, and I didn’t even take all of the weights the guy had listed. “I don’t think I’ll be needing the 50 lb plates, thank you very much.” Obviously, they are functionally identical to new weights, but cost 50-75% less.

Electronics

I bought three Apple devices new in my lifetime before coming to my senses. One, I actually got my first iPod (3rd gen) for free in college through a weird site where I completed surveys and things for points, and used those points to get the iPod. Two, I bought an iPod Nano at some point.

Three, I bought an iPod Touch  after lusting after them for years.  This was after Apple changed their stores to their current austere cash register-less environment. I was very embarrassed to ask one of their “geniuses,” “I want an iPod Touch. How do I buy it?”

These days I wouldn’t dream of buying new electronics. Have you seen how much those things cost?? Doesn’t the newest iPhone retail for a thousand dollars or something like that? Instead, I live perpetually behind the times by a few years. I buy a used item, keep it for a few years, replace it with a slightly newer item, and sell the old one.

Remember how you felt when the newest gadget came out four years ago? Well, basically I experience that today. Gadget-wise, I live behind the times, but since I never catch up to the present day, I never feel like I’m missing out, and I’m saving tons of cash.

For instance, I’m typing this on an iPad right now. Not the newest iPad, of course, but the fourth generation iPad which debuted in November 2012. It came with a $500 price tag, but I bought it for $76. I bought it to replace an Asus tablet which I also bought used for $80 in 2014. I’m now selling the Asus and will count its selling price against the cost of the iPad, so the net cost of the iPad will be less than the $76. See what I mean?

I’ve also discovered that when it comes to Apple products, people will even buy the broken ones! I assume they fix them and re-sell them. I’ve done the same thing with cameras, too. There’s a tiny scratch on my Canon Powershot SX260’s lens which has been bothering me for a year or two, so I might sell it and upgrade to a two-year old model soon before our next big international trip.

That’s a Barnes & Noble Nook, sold on eBay for $20, replaced with a more useful (and used) Amazon Kindle for the same price.

My favorite part of buying something used is that if you don’t want it anymore, sometimes you can sell it for exactly the same price as what you bought it! Then you’ve essentially spent zero dollars! I have no doubt that I could sell our two kayaks for $500, the same price we bought them for ten years ago.  The same goes for my used bicycle.

Clothing

I haven’t done this in a while since I haven’t needed to buy much new clothing in the past few years, and what I have needed I’ve been able to cover with Christmas gift cards, but yes, I will buy used clothing on eBay!

It’s very simple. For instance, since I have a brand and size of shirt that always fits me (JCrew, slim medium) I will set a Saved Search on eBay for that. Then eBay will send me an email with few new shirts for auction every day, and if I find anything that looks in good shape, I will set a maximum bid of $8 or $10.  (I almost always win because no one is bidding on used clothing.) Viola! That is an easy-as-pie wardrobe refresher.

Tools

If this all sounds familiar, maybe it’s because it was basically the theme of my third blog entry ever in 2014. I had bought some tools for putting in a fence and a paved patio, and was counting on selling the tools for what I paid for them to someone else who needs them, basically treating Craigslist like a tool library.

I never actually bothered to list these things for sale until last week, so I have $20 from selling the post hole digger and tamper, and a grading rake still collecting dust in the shed. I’ll be keeping the sledgehammer. If you’re a home DIYer, there are so many odd jobs that require a specific tool that you’ll only use once. Why not buy it used, then pass it on to the next person?

What are you favorite things to buy used?

The post These Are A Few of My Favorite Things… To Buy Used appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

A few years ago I was making green smoothies for breakfast every day. You know what green smoothies are: Lots of kale or spinach and lots of fruit crammed into one yogurt smoothie. It’s insanely healthy, but it’s also insanely expensive for a food you’re making at home.  So I started having oatmeal every day instead.

I basically eat this recipe every weekday at work. Since I have the day off, I was able to photograph it and bring it to you.  It is really delicious, and pretty frugal, but its true power lies in how filling it is. Oats, peanut butter, milk… Typically, I won’t be hungry for lunch after having this for breakfast.

Ingredients for PB Blueberry Oatmeal

I’ll explain you the recipe here, but it is pretty simple.

1. Pour the oats and milk in a bowl.  There should be enough milk to cover the oats.
2. Heat in a microwave for 60 seconds. Remove the bowl and stir.
3. Heat for another 30 seconds. Remove the bowl and stir.
4. Add the frozen blueberries. Heat for another 30 seconds. Now the oatmeal is hot and ready for your add-ins!
5. Break up the crunchy granola bar.** You’re going to need a hammer for this, goggles, and another person to spot you so you don’t get injured. Make sure your goggles are on tight so nothing gets in your eyes. Grip the hammer firmly in your hand and bring it down hard on the granola bar. You can hold one end of the granola bar with your other hand, but make sure not to bring the hammer down on your fingers! I’ve broken the same finger twice while doing this and it’s going to look weird and angular for the rest of my life. This part is difficult, but believe me, it will be worth it.
6. Repeatedly smash the granola bar with your hammer. Soon chunks of it will begin coming off. This whole process should take no more than ten minutes. Once the granola bar is completely broken down, put the chunks into the oatmeal.
7. Mix the peanut butter and granola chunks into the hot oatmeal so the peanut butter gets all melty and delicious.

Oh man, this is good. It’s like eating a big undercooked peanut butter and oatmeal cookie for breakfast! The cheapo granola bars add a nice crunch. Too bad blueberries are so expensive. I use the expensive “wild” blueberries from Wyman’s. With the blueberries, I give this breakfast a 7.5.

Without the blueberries, it’s still good, but it’s more like a big sticky mess and I don’t feel so good about eating it. Blueberries are a superfood, you know.  However, without blueberries the cost per serving drops to 55 cents, our cheapest recipe yet! Without blueberries, I’d rate it a 5.5.

Deliciousness Rating: 7.5

(Where 1 is gross, 5 is good, and 10 is Captain Parker’s clam chowder)

The standings so far:

* The stated deliciousness of each recipe is solely the opinion of the author. Cost is objective, but your tastes may vary.

** Omitting steps 5 and 6 and crumbling the granola bar with your fingers is allowed.

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I’ve told you about my trials and tribulations searching for tenants. It took a while, but we have tenants we love in both apartments now. I also told you about my experience using Cozy.co to vet tenants and collect rent online. Overall, the apartment rental scheme has had a few minor bumps, but it’s basically been pretty easy.

I’ve even run the optimistic return projections. But one thing I haven’t done is finish an actual income statement… until now!

The Numbers

I treat the rental property as its own entity, aside from our personal income and expenses, so I can see how it’s doing as its own business. Is it self-sustaining? Sure seems like it. I mean, I see the rent roll in each month, but what kind of profit is this place really making?

Even though we bought the place in July, I am counting from September 1 to March 31, since September is when we made our first mortgage payment.

Rental Income Apt 1: $2,981.94 (2 + 3/4 months) Apt 2: $5,209.68 (5 + 1/2 months)

Total Rental Income: $8,191.62

We were lucky enough to find tenants for Apt. 2 immediately after advertising it in September. Apartment 1 took some more time. We didn’t find tenants that we wanted until December, and they didn’t move in until January. So during the seven months, the units sat empty for a while.

Rental Expenses

After seven months
Rental Income: $8,191.62
Total Expenses: ($15,219.10)
Total Profit: ($10,282.72)

Well that’s not very encouraging! A ten thousand dollar loss so far?? Let me explain why we are showing a loss.

Maintenance – The biggest expense so far has been what I label “maintenance.” This includes many things that we had to get done before we could get tenants moved in.

Washer and dryer – We knew that when we bought the house, one unit had a washer and dryer in it. Well, apparently they were strictly for decoration, because there was no electrical hookup or plumbing hookup. Someone between our inspector, our realtor, and us, should have, but didn’t notice this. I only noticed it about a day after coming home from Japan, and the day before the tenants were going to move in!

As much as I would’ve loved to do everything DIY, there just wasn’t enough time.  We promised the tenants a working washer and dryer, and I had to scramble just to get an electrical contractor to put in the correct 220 volt outlet and a vent for the dryer, and a plumbing contractor to put in the washer and dryer connections. All told, our tenants were without a washer and dryer for a week and a half, but were very understanding about it.

Chimney – We’re lucky that our inspection went so well. We knew the house was in very good shape, and our inspector found nothing wrong with the house except for the hot water heater exhaust was clogged with dust from the chimney.  Long story short, we had to get the chimney re-lined, and that cost $1,805. We were happy to just get it done and not worry about it.

The other washer and dryer – Even though our first apartment was rented in a heartbeat, our second one sat on the market for weeks without an inquiry. We decided it was because there was no washer and dryer in the unit. What I thought would be a good way to attract two different types of tenants to the two different types of unit (one with w+d, and one without) didn’t work out. We spent $950 (after Lowes coupons) on a new washer and dryer and actually had our tenants agree to move in just based on the promise that the washer and dryer would be there by their move-in date.

Property Taxes – $3,606 is the bulk of our property taxes for the year.

Gas  – Since the heating is gas, and it is included in the rent, we pay for it. This statement covers the coldest months of the year. This should be much lower for the next five months. We’ll see how close my initial estimate of $100 on average per month will be.

Okay, so imagine that we drop all of the maintenance expenses ($5,317) and that the two units were occupied for all seven months (another $5,983 in rent), and suddenly we’ve turned a profit.

The good news is that, so far this year, we’ve made a profit in January and March, and probably will in April. The only reason February was not in the black is that part of our property taxes were due, and we bought that washer and dryer. I see our property turning a tidy profit soon. I’ll post another income statement after the first twelve months.

Any rough experiences out there for first time rental property owners?

The post Our Rental Property Income Statement, The First Seven Months appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

A little background. I have been bouncing around the idea of buying a rental property ever since we bought our house in 2008. Since then, I’ve probably bought four Rental Properties for Dummies-type books on the subject.

On the plus side, it would create a new income stream. It seems like everyone who is financially independent has rental income. On the negative side, things can go wrong. Owning a rental property means work. And the biggest of all, buying a rental property runs roughshod into my biggest financial goal: Destroy All Debt Forever.

See, the only way to make a good return on an investment property is to take out a mortgage, thereby establishing a cash flow with only a small down payment. If you were to pay cash for a building outright, the rental income would be the same, but ROI would suck.

So while I haven’t been super-serious about searching out rental properties, I have kept it in the back of my mind. I am really only interested if it meets my critera:

• Close to home, ideally within walking distance and the historic district.
• Between 2 and 4 apartments.
• Costs less than $50,000 per apartment.

Luckily, where we live, housing is affordable. Our 1,900 square foot house cost us $130,000 in 2008. Rental properties are even cheaper. Marge and I have even tossed around the idea of basically owning our entire block, a rental empire! At these prices, this is not so far-fetched. So I had an alert set up for multi-family homes in the area. It went off yesterday. Ding ding ding!

About the house: It is a two-family and lists under $100,000. Both apartments have two bedrooms and one bathroom. It’s a historic building that the listing claims was built in 1890, but from the outside at least, it looks just like our house built in 1860 which is just down the street. The outside is really pretty. Green painted brick with red accents. They even have a walled-in porch.  It doesn’t look like many abuses of history have occurred, like vinyl siding.

I can only speak to the outside, because there are no photos of the inside. A previous listing shows photos, but only odd fisheye lens photos with an HDR filter applied making it impossible to tell what size the rooms are, or even if those are stains on the carpet or just effects from the filter. Yes, this house was previously on the market last year for $10k more and didn’t move, which concerns me. Although this new listing says there is all new plumbing, carpet and paint.

A 30 year mortgage would probably mean monthly payments of $350, and a 15 year mortgage would mean payments of around $510. Not bad! Those crazy low payments of $350 are very appealing, but the rates on 15 year mortgages are under 3% right now and that’s even more appealing. Of course, I’m not sure if the rates for multi-families will be that good.  Property taxes are probably around $3,000 a year, and you have to add insurance.

If everything went right with this building, the return on the investment of our down payment could be 70%.  Of course, that’s given that the two apartments are both rented out, and there are no maintenance issues! I don’t see many empty apartments in our neighborhood, so I don’t forsee big vacancy issues. Apparently, the current owner is also an accountant who thought “the numbers looked good.” But he lives out of the area, had a bad tenant, and wants to get out badly. The real estate agent told us this. Is this house cursed for accountants who think the numbers look good? Uh oh.

But you see my point. Nowhere could you make a return like that on your $18,000 down payment investment. I even looked ahead to age 55 when I could begin to collect my pension, and a two-family rental would produce almost as much as the pension!  Meaning that a couple rentals like that and I wouldn’t even have to worry about how much my pension was.  And so I think I have to swallow the idea of Destroy All Debts Forever, shove it deep down inside for a while, and think about this cash flow.

Anyway, we’re going to look at the building in person tomorrow.  I guess I’m here to ask, does anyone have any tips on what to look for when inspecting this house? I mean, we should be the best judges since we live in a very similar house in the same neighborhood and would be familiar with the problems. It is totally vacant right now, so we should get a clear look at everything. I just have never looked at a rental before.

The post Rental Property Advice Emergency! appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

1. Sell my car by the end of 2015. I haven’t done this yet, but I want to get it done by the end of the summer. My idea was to sell my Honda Civic and use the proceeds to pay off the rest of the loan on Marge’s Toyota Corolla.

I’ve sort of forced my hand by paying almost the entire Corolla loan using a credit card in order to meet a, erm, minimum spending requirement… But don’t worry, I paid it all off immediately with cash from savings. So once the Civic is sold, those savings can be replaced.

Then we can reap the benefits of downsizing to one car: Over $600 a year saved just in car insurance, no more registration fee, a whole lot less in maintenance expenses, and a lump sum of money to invest somewhere productively.

How old is my car? So old that I took this photo of it with a film camera in 2005.

Fun fact: On the day this post goes live, July 27, we will be wrapping up our annual trip to the campsite seen above! And we will be driving that very car. The campground is in New York’s beautiful Thousand Islands region, and we’ve been visiting it every year since, yes, 2005.

2. Pay off Marge’s car by the end of 2015. See #1. There is about $988 left.

Squid chicharrons in Lima

3. A litany of 2015 Expense Category Goals. I wanted to spend less than $1,000 each for the year in gas, dining, takeout food and clothing.

Halfway through the year, those totals are $480.58, $555.31, $381.78, and $477.13, so we are on track with everything except dining. Dining expense normally wouldn’t be a problem to get under control, but we have a ten day trip to Japan in October, so that could be tough. There’s just so much sushi there!

4. Pay off our mortgage and student loans in 2017. This one has been massively re-thought.

At the beginning of the year, rental properties weren’t really on our mind. But at some point this year, it was all we thought about.  We made an offer, that offer got accepted, and apparently my last update about all that was back on May 19!

It’s a gorgeous two-family house that should be no problem to rent out. We haven’t closed on it yet, but our accepted offer was $134,000. To help finance the purchase, we took out a home equity line of credit because we didn’t have 25% of the price in liquid cash. Since we have paid off nearly 50% of our home mortgage, we could take out a sizable HELOC, $25,000, and avoid having a PITI party.

So, needless to say, with the addition a nearly $100,000 rental property mortgage, plus the $25,000 HELOC, debt priorities have changed. Add to that the fact that I will be re-prioritizing all of our savings towards maxing out retirement contributions before making any debt paydowns.

That said, after making the retirement contributions, I may either pay down the student loans or the HELOC first. The student loan balance is lowest, so it would provide the most immediate gratification to pay it off, but the interest rates aren’t the lowest, so we’ll see…

5. Retire by age 43 in 2025. We come back to the rental property topic again.

Previously I stipulated that retiring at age 43 would be ideal because I would have put in 20 years with my employer, and would get a jump in my pension up to 40% of my final salary. I’ve been running the numbers on rental properties, and while rental income can help to add to your net worth during your working years, where rental income really shines is during your retirement years.

Say your annual expenses are $50,000 in retirement. If you’re renting out just a couple apartments and clearing $1,000 profit a month, just that $12,000 a year makes a huge dent in your expenses. That $1,000 a month could easily flip an unfeasible retirement into a feasible one.

My point is, considering that my pension would already be taking a hit of around 27% if I started taking it at 55 instead of 62, just a few rental apartments could generate income equal to my pension! And rental income is (mostly) passive.

Playing with the numbers further, we could achieve QT (Quittin’ Time) at age 40 with this rental property. It would be even easier with a second property. Rentals seem to make a big difference. Of course, we actually have to close on this one and rent it out first to see how we like it.

How’s your year so far? Better than you expected? Or worse?

The post January’s Goals Revisited appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.

Before Marge & I even bought a rental property, I was looking into easy ways to collect rent. For me, the dream of owning a rental property is all about watching the monthly payments roll in. Instead of imagining all of the work that would go into running a property, instead I started investigating ways for tenants to pay rent online. Possibly, this is what all early retirement types fantasize about in their spare time. Passive income just showing up in the bank account.

There are some leaders in this online rent collection space who I won’t name, but overall, I was surprised that there wasn’t really one agreed upon website for processing tenant payments. After reading some positive reviews and seeing how they kept expanding their box of tools available to landlords, I decided to start an account with Cozy.co, a startup based in Portland, Oregon.

I initially wanted to join Cozy for the rental payment system. There’s no charge for collecting rent electronically, which is more than can be said about some of their competitors. But I also really liked the additional services they have set up before you even have tenants.

Firstly, and this is very recent, you can make a listing for your property online. Similar to other listing services, you can upload photos, write a description, put your contact information and check off the applicable amenities. That’s great. I don’t know how many people are finding listings on Cozy.co, so it’s definitely not a replacement for Craigslist or your favorite real estate listing website, but it’s nice that it’s there.

Then from the listing, prospective tenants can click through to go to an online application. You can also just straight up link to the application on Craigslist, which is where we’ve found all of our tenants. Cozy’s website is the only way I accept applications. I want to use as little paper as possible as a landlord. I am bound to just lose paper, forget to make copies of things I need, etc.

When people apply through Cozy’s rental application, I get an email alert, and their application appears on the website. This was also nice because I didn’t want to have to search for an example of a rental application to use. Their application includes spaces for a references, work history, contact information, and even a little bio which some of our tenants have filled out in rather adorable ways.

Also you’ll notice, one nice detail is that Cozy will calculate what percentage of the applicants’ income will be spent on your rent. This is an important metric to vet your tenants’ by. And as soon as you visit the site to see a new application, there is a nice percentage in the corner.

The number one best thing about the application process, though, is that you can require a credit and criminal background check before the application is submitted. I love this. I require both checks with any application, and applicants do it right through the Cozy website. Once someone applies and fills out the background and credit check, the application and credit check come in almost immediately. The background check sometimes takes an hour or two to come back. But I get everything and it’s all linked together with their application on the website.

What I don’t like is that Cozy kind of markets their credit and background check as free. Well, it’s free to you, because the tenant has to pay for it. It’s $34.95 to complete both. I don’t know how common it is to have your tenants pay to have these checks done. So I tell my applicants up front, if I accept you, I will refund you the $34.95. It’s definitely been worth it. I can even adjust the first month’s rent bill on the website so their bill is lower by $34.95.

Nice to see this

Basically the only thing I do outside of Cozy is verify employment. I require two weeks’ paystubs (this is too difficult for some people). Now wouldn’t that be great if an applicant could upload a photo of their paystub directly through Cozy’s mobile site? Then I’d be all set. I wouldn’t have to ask for anything. The website would be doing all the work! Uh, Cozy, is anyone listening?

Machines can do the work, so people can think. Which reminds me of one of my favorite videos…

Once you’ve approved someone, you can set up their lease on the website, and link your bank account to it. The tenant can then link up their bank account and either pay manually each month or set it to draw automatically. There are other options like not allowing partial payments, which is important because if you are thinking of evicting someone, if you accept even a partial payment, that can constitute your acceptance of it as a month’s rent in court.

The website keeps a ledger of payments. As you can see here, these tenants paid their security deposit and first month’s rent as money orders, so I created an Offline Payment to credit their balance on the website. Otherwise, this all happens automatically. Both of our apartments’ tenants pay through Cozy, and that has worked flawlessly, although the payments take 5 days to show up.

I am fairly lenient on payment dates. I have it in my lease that if they were sending a check, it would have to be postmarked by the 5th business day of the month. Similarly on Cozy, I want the payment made on their side by the 5th business day. The fact that it doesn’t actually hit my bank account for a week doesn’t bother me. So if immediate payment is an issue for you, you should know that your rent will not show up for a week. You can blame America’s antiquated ACH system for this more than you can blame Cozy.

So in short, so far my experience with Cozy has been great. It’s taken out a lot of the paperwork, footwork, and just plain work, from vetting tenants and accepting payments.

What about other rent collection services?

Cozy is far from the only landlording website. There’s Rentulations, TenantCloud, TurboTenant… I haven’t tried them, but lucky for you, Domenick at Accidental Rental has, and he’s done a bang-up comparison of all of these services so you can make an informed decision!

If you own a rental property, how do you collect rent and screen tenants? Do you hate paper as much as I do?

The post My Review of Cozy for Landlords appeared first on Ridinkulous.net.