<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="
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<title>Gopher.ICU - Money-saving-and-minimalism</title>
<updated>2025-11-13T00:09:38+00:00</updated>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog</id>
<author>
<name>IanJ</name>
</author>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog"/>
<entry>
<title>Handkerchiefs</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Handkerchiefs.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Handkerchiefs.md</id>
<updated>2022-08-05T16:57:57+02:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Handkerchief - Save the planet and your money
One article I read states that we cut down 27,000 trees every day to
satisfy our need for tissues. [1]
Personally I have an allergy to dust and find that many, if not all,
paper tissues release dust which made my symptoms worse!
## The cost
On average we pay between 1.00 and 1.75 GBP per box of tissues which
contain between 64 and 72 sheets. With two adults in our household we
were using around 2 boxes every 3 weeks. That's 35 boxes per year and
a minimum of 35 GBP spent on just tissues.
Then of course there's the cost to the environment, 27,000 trees per
day! I can't even begin to imagine that, but what I can imagine is
how long those trees took to grow...
## Conclusion
Before we were all carried away on the convenient disposable
lifestyle, we used handkerchiefs. These would be thrown in with the
normal clothes washing when they became dirty and reused.
Back in the day things were sustainable through necessity, now there
is a necessity for us to live sustainably and with the cost of living
increasing as it is, more frugally.
Buy yourself some good quality handkerchiefs!
[1](
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/27000-trees-cut-down-every-20858878)]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Disposables</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Disposables.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Disposables.md</id>
<updated>2020-11-25T02:01:07+01:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Disposables
Limited and single use items are a massive waste of resources which
we should consider alternatives to:
- Razors > Replacable blade type razors (preferably a safety razor)
- Pens > Fountain / refillable Pens
- Nappies > Traditional washable
- Tissues > Handkerchief
- Lighters
- Bags
- Gloves
- Aprons
- Food containers
- Plates, Cups and other cutlery > Traditional crockery and cutlery
(plates, cups, knives, forks, spoons, napkins, straws)
There is no such thing as an 'eco-friendly' disposable. The energy
used to produce an item and recycle, where the material is reusable
is not eco-friendly. Biodegradable materials like wood may end up as
compost, but we're consuming trees to provide this resource.]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Spring-Onions</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Spring-Onions.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Spring-Onions.md</id>
<updated>2021-08-31T00:01:23+02:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Spring Onions
If you buy spring onions then it's possible, like us, that you buy
them in a bundle and end up with half of them drying out in the
refrigerator.
Well, you can prolong their life by keeping them growing.
## Method
Get a glass jar and place the onions inside (root down). Fill the jar
with enough water to cover 3 inches or so of the onions. Place the
jar on a window ledge and leave for a 3 to 5 days. After this time
you should start to notice the roots growing back (if they have been
trimmed). Once the roots have grown 20mm or so you can plant them in
soil outdoors and they will continue to grow until you need them.
This same method should also work for leeks.]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Safety-Razor</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Safety-Razor.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Safety-Razor.md</id>
<updated>2020-11-25T02:01:07+01:00</updated>
<content><]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>A-Penny-Saved</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/A-Penny-Saved.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/A-Penny-Saved.md</id>
<updated>2021-06-23T00:29:29+02:00</updated>
<content><
Seeing as electricity is the most expensive of the utilities I started
there. You can see from the above charts that I made a focused effort
to reduce consumption since 2019. I practically halved our electricity
usage in a year.
Let me help you save some money with some easily achievable changes.
## LED bulbs
An easy retrofit solution, most common bulb types are available off
the shelf and available cheaply.
As a brief savings example, we have two light fittings in our kitchen.
Each had 4x G10 50w halogen bulbs. That's 400w burning every time we
switched them on. If we ran them just 2 hours a day, at the UK average
for electricity (17.9p/kWH), that would be 52.27 per anum for one room.
When we changed those bulbs to an equivalent LED, at 4.5w per bulb the
yearly cost drops to 4.70. A yearly saving of 47.57!
## 24/7 electric devices
This is a broad category but bear with me as there are big savings to
be had with anything that's running 24/7.
The key to this is having a plug in meter to measure how much power a
device is consuming.
I had a web-server running from home which I calculated was costing
98.57 per anum. I looked into a small VPS, which was more than
adequate for my needs. The cost of which is 54.80, a saving of 43.77.
I found some devices that were using quite a bit of electric while on
standby. This promtped me to either unplug them when not in use or
get rid of them altogether.
Some suggestions:
- Fridge / Freezer
- TV
- TV boxes / DVD players
- Chargers for phones / laptops
- Computers & monitors
- Game consoles
As a result of this testing I unplugged a number of devices which
consumed up to 5w while on standby and replaced a monitor which was
drawing 27w with an equivalent that only drew 13w. I also stopped
using a second computer and connected a monitor to use the same file
server that was already running 24/7.
## Whistling kettle (gas stove)
An odd move you may think as it's probably more efficient to heat water
using an electric kettle. The problem, we found, was that we frequently
left it boiling and forgot, causing us to re-boil. With a whistling
kettle it screamed until we dealt with it and made the tea.
It may not be as energy efficient, but gas is cheaper per unit and
the kettle only ever gets boiled once to make tea.
## Insulation
If you can save the heat escaping from your home then you don't need
to burn the fuel to heat it. The recommended loft insulation depth
here in the UK is now at 300mm. Most houses built in the last 50 years
are insulated but probably only with 100mm.
When we moved into our current home there was 100mm. I have recently
purchased another 200mm layer to put atop and I'm waiting to see how
much gas we save this winter.
## Heating
Another tip for saving energy is to only heat the areas of your home
that you are using and when you're using them. Most homes are fitted
with a single thermostat, usually in a hallway, which is inefficient.
Our routine and rooms that we use are fairly consistent. We mainly
use the small living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The other rooms
we have turned off the radiators to save heat being disipated there.
The high tech, and quite expensive, solution to this heating problem
are zoned heating systems, with electronic TRV valves, which can
activate the boiler on an individual room/zone basis.]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Make-a-pledge</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Make-a-pledge.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Make-a-pledge.md</id>
<updated>2023-06-23T17:39:50+02:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Make a pledge
> A serious or formal promise, especially one to give money or to be
> a friend, or something that you give as a sign that you will keep a
> promise.
## Stuff
In the modern age we have little attachment to our possessions
because we are becoming used to owning them for an ever decreasing
amount of time. This is due to a number of factors:
* FOMO (fear of missing out) on some new feature
* low cost of replacement
* poor quality materials (It breaks too easily.)
* bad manufacturing practices (You can't fix it.)
* planned obsolescence[1] (Manufacturer decides when you replace it.)
Their disposable nature only helps us to detach ourselves from giving
them any true meaning or value.
Contrast that with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum[2] I've owned since I was
a child. It was an expensive purchase for the time, memories of
playing games, first attempts at programming. I've restored, modified
and upgraded it with my own hands and I have new memories associated
with it. My young niece likes to play on it with me, many hours have
been spent playing 'Super Off Road'[3] together. I couldn't just toss
it out, I'd be mortified! When I'm gone I'll leave it to her so she
can continue to enjoy it and remember those times too...
Which leads to the question - How is it that my 1985 personal
computer works as well today as it did when my parents bought it, but
my 4 year old android tablet is about as useful as a paperweight[4]?
Surely something, somewhere has gone horribly wrong ...
## What can I do about it?
I have been thinking recently that sometimes the things we don't do
can be just as powerful as the things that we do.
With this in mind, I ask you to make a pledge: to stop buying from a
company or brand that you don't agree with their business practices
or direction they are taking their products. Then let us know what it
is so we can hold you accountable! Pledges will be added to the
bottom of this post for all to see.
I figure the most powerful thing I can do as an individual, and
consumer, is stop buying their products. Production ceases where
there is no demand. Collectively we have the power to starve these
giants of their life-blood, our money.
## Pledges
IanJ - I pledge never to purchase another Google|Amazon|Sony|Apple
product!
[1](
gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Planned%20obsolescence)
[2](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/Sinclair-ZX-Spectrum-48k.md)
[3](
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=vW-qMqQNvD4)
[4](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/Stop-IT-waste.md)]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Year-end-2023</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Year-end-2023.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Year-end-2023.md</id>
<updated>2024-01-01T12:15:57+01:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Year end 2023
It's hasn't been the best year and I don't feel that I have made much
progress. Below is a summary of what I feel have been the most
significant points of the year.
## Stuff
I managed to get rid of some, but nowhere near enough, of my hoard of
old computer parts and electronic relics via Ebay. Fortunately I
recovered more money than expected on some of the items.
Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to advertising the bigger
items, which I will make an effort to do in the new year.
## Computing
There have been quite a few changes:
* Migrated all my systems to OpenBSD
* Migrated linux VPS and services from home to OpenBSD.amsterdam[1]
* Migrated to a low power (16w) i386 atom PC[2] as my daily driver
* Migrated from fibre broadband to 4G broadband[3]
Not running a computer 24/7 and switching off all the networking gear
every night has made a noticeable saving on electricity[4]. The
change from our previous broadband provider to the current 4G sim has
also saved us an additional 16.00 GBP a month since October.
I also made an attempt to further reduce my software footprint[5]
after switching to running OpenBSD on my daily driver.
## Phone
I had incorrectly assumed that PAYG was good value, as I only paid
for what I used when I used it and I rarely used it.
However, when I downloaded my card statements and did some awk maths
to add up what I'd spent on various things, the sum of the 10 GBP
phone top-ups was 80 GBP for the year. When you're pre-paying 10 GBP
here and there you never really think to add it up! The result is
that I've now changed network and will pay 2 GBP per month for 100
minutes, 100 texts and 750 MB data. 24 GBP per year is a bit
different to 80!
## Gardening
Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and beetroot were a success. Unfortunately
half of the potato crop got some kind of blight and were unusable.
[1](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/openbsd.amsterdam-vps.md)
[2](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/Low-power-computing.md)
[3](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/4G-Challenge.md)
[4](
gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/energy/energy_usage.png)
[5](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/Do-more-with-less.md)]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>The-humble-pencil</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/The-humble-pencil.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/The-humble-pencil.md</id>
<updated>2024-05-16T19:13:14+02:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# The humble pencil
It's interesting how sometimes an unrelated conversation can yield
some past wisdom. Talking on the radio earlier, the contact was a
little flustered and preoccupied that they couldn't find their
pencil. "Pencil, why a pencil?", I asked. And it was explained to me,
why they preferred to use a pencil.
## Why a pencil?
You always knew how much of it you had left, it wouldn't just
randomly stop working half way through writing some important
information and you could easily sharpen it up a bit with a blade,
sharpener or some abrasive surface, should it become dull.
The graphite from the pencil on paper isn't affected by water or UV
light and will remain readable as long as the paper retains its
integrity.
## Conclusion
I keep a paper logbook, which has a lot of wasted space. Callsigns I
have written and been unable to make the contact so had to cross out.
With a pencil and eraser I can prevent a lot of wasted paper and keep
a much neater account of my contacts.
*Notes:* Avoid round ones, they roll away. HB is the best grade for
writing.
> A short pencil is better than a long memory!]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Year-end-2024</title>
<link href="
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Year-end-2024.md"/>
<id>
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Money-saving-and-minimalism/Year-end-2024.md</id>
<updated>2024-12-31T18:38:10+01:00</updated>
<content><![CDATA[# Year end 2024
Similar story to last year really, I don't feel I have made much
progress in anything of real significance. Several negative life
events have robbed me of a lot of motivation but still, it's not been
all bad.
## Stuff
I've managed to sell a few more unused items. Unfortunately several
new items have been acquired due to entering into amateur radio. I
guess I am a bit of a hoarder and have way too much stuff I don't
actually use. It has been gradually accumulated over the years and
various hobbies, maybe too many. Some of it is now of some value due
to its age and rarity, other parts are pretty worthless. The problem
is it takes time to sort, value and sell. Maybe more time than I have
and I don't want to leave a legacy of crap for my family to deal with
when I exit() this mortal coil.
## Amateur radio
I passed my foundation exam in February and have been fairly active
on the air since. Mostly 2m FM and 40m, but I have been active on
most HF bands.
I've not been interested in chasing DX or contesting, honestly the
contesting just creates noise and many contesters appear to have no
manners. Not checking frequencies are in use before keying up, using
huge power and splattering all over adjacent stations with no
consideration whatever and for what? "You're 5+9, thanks, QRZ". It
has all the appeal of collecting stamps to me.
Every hobby is full of rabbit holes, areas of interest within it.
Amateur radio has many and I have tried to keep my rabbit-holing to a
minimum by keeping my computers and radios air gapped and sticking
for the most part with analogue.
If you are going to use the internet to make contacts then you might
as well just use a video calling application, for which you need no
license. It also doesn't serve as an alternative communication
medium.
CW has been a really challenging mode which I am enjoying. It's still
very early days for me with CW but I am at the point where I can
scrape my way through the odd QSO. I am finding it very rewarding as
it requires physical involvement and skill on the part of the
operator, unlike data modes.
For me the essence of radio is analogue simplex communication, radio
to radio with no infrastructure in between.
## Computing
Not many changes this year but a continuation of the power saving[1]
and computing minimalism theme. The only significant change was
replacing the Asus B202[2] with a HP T620[3]. I have already written
a more comprehensive summary[4] of the computing year, so I won't
repeat it here.
## Gardening
Gardening got off to a fairly good start but yields this year have
been poor:
* Beetroot were a total fail, very few grew to a usable size.
* Carrots were fairly good but were being eaten by slugs.
* Potatoes grew poorly and when cooked dissolved into the water,
resulting in mush-potato rather than mashed-potato
* Tomatoes were slow growing and many hadn't ripened when the cold
weather came
* We had our first coxes orange pippin apples!
* We had a reasonable yield from our transplanted raspberry canes
* Only a handful of strawberries
* Blackberries did ok
## Activities
Unfortunately I haven't gotten out as much as I would have liked this
year.
I started to get back into cycling before the weather turned, but it
has been pretty dank and miserable for weeks at a time.
I took part in a radio club special event field day, although there
were only two of us that turned up at the start and operated through
the day. I have also taken my dual band hand held radio with me on a
couple of occasions to locations on higher ground to work portable
and see if I could work stations other than the usual local ones.
More recently I have taken to walking a couple of times during the
week, to get out of the house, get some exercise and fresh air.
Sometimes I take my dual band hand held radio along with me.
At the end of the summer I did level one of the RYA (Royal Yachting
Association) training to achieve my first level certificate in
sailing. Myself and my brother did this two day course at Lake
Bala[5]. I had never been there before, what a magnificent place it
is! Hopefully I will be returning next year to complete level 2.
We camped over night at one of the sites around the edge of the lake
and a very nice campsite it was too. I still have vivid memories from
some grotty campsites we visited with our parents on various holidays
as kids. This place by comparison had very modern and clean amenities
and was a pleasure to stay at.
I hope to do more camping this coming year but I am getting to an age
where I like my creature comforts. Maybe I can mix some of my hobbies
and ride/drive to some places where I can camp over night on some
peak somewhere and see what radio contacts I can make...
About all that remains is for me to wish you all a happy and healthy
new year. Stay well and stay safe!
[1](
gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/energy/energy_usage.png)
[2](
gopher://gopher.icu/I/images/asus3.jpg)
[3](
https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/hp/t620/)
[4](
gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Computing/Computing-in-2024-Review.md)
[5](
https://visitbala.org.uk)]]></content>
<author><name></name></author>
</entry>
</feed>
