Why I’m choosing to live cheaply

(As originally published in the Lake Oswego Review newspaper in March 2010)...
My dad once said something that I found quite clever and right on the money. He said, “In life, there are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who say, ‘what happened?’”
My entire life, I’ve been trying to make things happen. So, what happened, huh?
Reality.
With a degree in media and film — (am I nuts?) — and a handful of years working at a local newspaper, I have come to the re- alization that in order to be able to buy a house I need to save every penny I can for a down payment. And the only way to save money in this business is to decrease living expenses and skip unnec- essary coffee outings.
Growing up in a family of real estate agents — a.k.a. people livin’ the good life — has me thinking I’ve got to step it up a notch. I want to be a homeowner. I want to be able to play the music I write as loud as I want, whenever I want, without a landlord knocking. I want to be happy when my neighbors have a baby, not cringing because the cries are from on the other side of my wall. And I want to be able to have more than five friends over because that’s all that will fit.
And in order to do that, I’ve done the unthinkable: I’ve rented a 690-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, sold half the furniture I own, given a third of my wardrobe to friends and skipped signing up for cable. Yes, it’s apart- ment living, but I’ll be saving money, and hopefully it’s not for long.
With every move in the Portland area since college — my band’s house, mom’s house, Lake Oswego town- house, Tualatin apartment on a lake and now my “dorm” in the trees — I’ve learned a few things:
---As my boyfriend lugged two huge boxes filled with CDs down many, many steps, he said something so logi- cal: “You know, I can save these songs on your computer and iPod and you can throw away this 20 pounds of plastic.” Makes sense. But I know I’ll never get rid of my CDs. I’ll just get someone else to carry them and hide them from him.
---I have the best intentions for completing a scrap- book. I really do. But I know that deep-down I’d have to take a week off work to piece together all the thousands of concert stubs, photos with celebrities and favorite writings through the years into something that’s pretty and makes sense.
For now, most of the photos sit in boxes in my outdoor storage closet, while some celebrity photos — like the ones with David Spade, Mandy Moore, Jay Leno, Gene Simmons and Dave Coulier — are displayed on the mantle like I’m part of some weird family.
---I want to learn how to cook. I knew I needed some guidance around the kitchen, but when my co-worker had to print directions to explain how to make fried eggs I realized the magnitude of my problem. And by cooking more, I’ll be learning more recipes and saving money by not buying all those lunches on the go. I suggest all my neighbors make sure their smoke detectors are properly working.
As I sit here, surrounded by boxes and empty hangers I have to say, I feel pretty good about all these changes.
Nothing in life is handed to us. I’ve been working hard my whole life and now more than ever — as a full-time journalist, host and producer of the TV show Portland Liv- ing and preparing for a summer release of my first solo album. Good things are in store this year, and if they’re not, well, at least I got rid of a lot of crap. And eating eggs is pretty cheap.