Q: What about your mail?
A: I have very few bills, which means I have very little mail. I have no mortgage or utility payments. Other than food, occasional motel/hotel rooms, gasoline, surf wax, and laundromat quarters, I have few extraordinary travel costs. I also have a storage bay in which some of my leftovers from the sale of the house are kept and a safe deposit box at a bank for my wife's jewelry and important papers. I pay for those annually. I have truck insurance, which is paid annually, and health insurance that is paid quarterly, and a monthly credit card bill. For those, I maintain a post office box in the town where I used to live. At least once a month I stop by and toss out the standard [aka junk] mail and see what else is in there. I always use the occasion to put flowers on my wife's grave, even in winter.
[Once I had a notice for jury duty, which I honored, but I was dismissed rather quickly. Too bad, as I thought I was perfect, given that I rarely read newspapers or watch the TV news, which meant I had no prior knowledge of the case. Unfortunately, I have a Ph.D., so that meant I might have an original thought or two, which is the last thing attorneys want in a jury. It also means they don't know how narrow-minded and conventional people with doctorates are with their thinking.]
I rely on free wi-fi for much of what I do online, either from hospitable coffee shops, fast food restaurants, or the motels and campgrounds at which I stay. I use my university e-mail address, which I am allowed to keep, for electronic correspondence. That's paid for as part of my retirement plan.
It works rather well, especially since all of my bills save for health insurance I can pay online. It's also remarkable how cheaply one may live. One of my former students asked me if I was one of those "off the grid" people and I'm beginning to wonder.
