Mark Frauenfelder Won’t Kill Chickens

In 2003, Mark Frauenfelder and his wife Carla decided to do something a little crazy. They decided to ditch their lives as freelancers in Los Angeles, following a slowdown in the media business, and move themselves and their two kids (a six-year-old and an infant) to a remote island in the south pacific where the couple had spent a blissful week six years earlier. OK, maybe a lot crazy. The move to the island of Rarotonga didn’t exactly work out as planned and the family returned after a few months to the wilds of Los Angeles, though Mark will be the first to tell you that it had a profound impact on his life.

In addition to being a Credit.com contributor, Mark is one of the founders of the popular blog BoingBoing, he’s the editor-in-chief of Make magazine, and he is the author of “Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World.” The book is just out in paperback and begins with the family’s decision to move to Rarotonga. It’s the kind of all encompassing lifestyle transition that causes people to examine the more nuanced details of how they live, and for Mark, it was the beginning of his journey into the world of do-it-yourself. His book documents that journey, in which he spent a year working on a number of interesting DIY projects, including beekeeping, raising chickens (for eggs, not meat, as you’ll read below), and making guitars out of cigar boxes, among many other things. I asked him about his journey into the world of DIY in the Q&A that follows … and even if we here at Credit.com didn’t already really like Mark, we’d still think the book was worth the read.

[Article: How Mark Boyle Lives on $0 a Year]

But if you don’t believe us, check out Mark with Steven Colbert, when the book first came out (he plays the cigar box guitar in the video!). My Q&A with Mark follows.

[Resource: Get your free Credit Report Card]

Mike: Have you ever lived off credit cards or had a relationship with credit that wasn’t healthy?

Mark: I haven’t actually lived off of credit cards to pay for necessities such as rent and groceries, but I have abused my credit cards in other ways. When my wife and I were younger we would use credit cards to buy clothing, furniture, vacations and other luxury items without really thinking about how we were going to pay the bill later. I still struggle with credit cards from time to time, but I am much more responsible than I was 20 years ago.

Mike: The reason why I asked is because the story you wrote about in the introduction to your book—when your family dropped out and moved to the South Pacific—it seemed to me like a pretty bold rejection of the classic American consumer lifestyle, a lifestyle which many would argue is fueled by the use and misuse of readily available credit. Were you and your wife thinking along those lines at the time?

Mark:  Yes, we were thinking about our lifestyle, and the fact that our reduced income would soon tempt us to start pulling out our credit card to maintain our lifestyle. Our solution—moving to a tiny island in the South Pacific—actually worked, but it brought with it a different problems: mainly social isolation and a lack of healthcare.

[Featured Product: Looking for your credit report?]

Q & A with Mark Frauenfelder (cont.) »

Mike: The DIY lifestyle that grew out of that experience, in its purest form, is also a rejection of crass consumerism. But you’ve said you still struggle with credit cards from time to time, so I’m guessing you live somewhere in the middle. How would you describe your lifestyle now?

Mark: Here’s my problem, and it’s stupid, because I’m sure there’s an easy solution: I put all of my business travel expenses on a certain credit card. Then, I procrastinate on turning in my expense report. So I end up paying the minimum amount due on the cards for a while, until I get around to filing the expense reports. And then when I get the reimbursement check, I deposit it into my checking account and tell myself I will use it to pay off the credit card. But again, I often procrastinate, and end up using the money on other things instead of paying off the credit card.  It’s not a big deal, but it’s big enough that it annoys me, because I hate carrying a balance.

[Article: A Smart Read – Managing Debt for Dummies Smart Read: Managing Debt for Dummies]

Mike: I’m right there with you. I’ve got a year of cell phone expenses due to me and it’s all because I’m too lazy to print out the bills. But I digress. Do you think the DIY life saves you money in the end, or is it more of a hobby that costs money? (One of my best buddies, Gordy, made the cigar box guitar too!)

Mark: That’s really cool that your friend makes cigarbox guitars! To answer your question, DIY costs money and saves money at the same time. What I mean is, the tools, floor space, time, materials, etc. can cost a lot of money. In terms of materials and time, making your own sweater probably costs more than buying one from Walmart. And some DIY projects can be really expensive, such as making and flying remote control quadracopters with video cameras mounted on them. But, if you become passionate about making things, you might end up spending less time going to shopping malls, nightclubs, expensive restaurants, vacation resorts, etc., because you are engaged in a fulfilling and rewarding activity at home, and you don’t need to buy diversions to keep you happy.

Mike: I was also wondering if you follow the collaborative consumption movement—also known as the sharing economy? Do you see it aligned with the DIY movement?

Mark:  I don’t really follow the collaborative consumption movement per se. But I am very interested in the “hackerspace” movement.  All over the world, people are chipping in to pay rent on spaces where they can work together on DIY  projects.  These places have soldering irons, oscilloscopes, 3-D printers, laser cutters, CNC shop tools, etc.  They are great places to make things, and great places to meet other makers. People often end up collaborating with each other on stuff.

[Free Tool: Obtain your Identity Risk Score from Credit.com]

Mike: Do you have a favorite project from the book?

Mark: My favorite project was raising chickens. Every aspect was enjoyable: building a chicken coop, raising the baby chicks, watching my kids play with the chickens and care for them, and collecting the amazing eggs that they laid. I wish that the new house we moved into didn’t have so many coyotes, raccoons, eagles and bobcats or I would keep a ton of chickens around.

Mike: Do you eat the chickens too?

Mark: I eat chicken, but I could not bring myself to kill and eat our hens. They became pets, and it would have been like eating our cats. I know I am a hypocrite, but I love eating chicken too much to give it up! (I’m making chicken soup in the Crockpot right now.)

Mike: Cat is delicious.

Mark: 🙂

[Featured Product: Need credit monitoring options?]