Freddie and Franny Footprint stood in front of the smoldering remains of their apartment, too numb to make any plans about what to do next. Everything they owned had just gone up in flames. Neither had any relatives left and their close friends were all on the west coast. They had $200 in the bank and an invitation to spend a week at the house of a recent acquaintance from Freddie's new job. Fortunately, with the two of them working, there should be enough money coming in to get them back on their feet if they were frugal, but it would certainly be a challenge. They took the small amount of cash they had with them, went to a neighborhood food market for sandwiches, and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon brainstorming about their options.
Freddie began: "You know how we've been talking about sustainable living in an urban environment, but never got around to doing anything about it? I think that our new circumstances have given us just the incentive we need."
Franny brightened at the prospect. "You are absolutely right. I'll bet we can take our $200 and set up a sustainable household. The pay period for my job ends tomorrow and yours ends on Friday. If we put our two paychecks together next week, we should be able to rent a small apartment with at least one sunny window and get started right away."
"Let's head over to Allan and Debbie's and start making a list of what we will need. If we do this right, we won't have to use any of our pay check money. It's about time we used our earnings for investing in the future. One of the first things I think we should do is to set up an emergency fund, so we will never get stuck like this again!"
Freddie began: "You know how we've been talking about sustainable living in an urban environment, but never got around to doing anything about it? I think that our new circumstances have given us just the incentive we need."
Franny brightened at the prospect. "You are absolutely right. I'll bet we can take our $200 and set up a sustainable household. The pay period for my job ends tomorrow and yours ends on Friday. If we put our two paychecks together next week, we should be able to rent a small apartment with at least one sunny window and get started right away."
"Let's head over to Allan and Debbie's and start making a list of what we will need. If we do this right, we won't have to use any of our pay check money. It's about time we used our earnings for investing in the future. One of the first things I think we should do is to set up an emergency fund, so we will never get stuck like this again!"
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Challenge for Chapter 1: What items do Freddie and Franny need to get their sustainable household started? Don't forget--They have only $200 to spend.
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2 comments:
great idea! i'm totally out of the loop concerning costs, and it depends on where they get their apartment - will they be able to use solar panels for example, will they have access to an outdoor space? but i would say LED lights and a bucket would be among my first purchases
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Great suggestions, Ancel. I'm going to do a post on solar LED lights, to get us started. I am thinking that the Footprint family will have 2 sunny windows but no big area for solar panels. In most urban areas, there is a community garden, so that is a possibility. They probably should start with their own apartment first, though.
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