The Right Stuff

A few years ago, probably December and maybe 2022, I wrote a piece elsewhere called Cold Storage Plus the Means to Cook. Below is an abbreviated version of that post. It's the origin of some of my mental models for a middle class kitchen and middle class lifestyle.

Today, I am basically broke but I am okay for TODAY because I moved into a studio apartment with a real kitchen. I have a big refrigerator and a range. I bought a single glass oven pan and a few other minimal essentials.

The few dollars we have had so far this month have gone further than we expected them to in part because life is just overall better here and in part because we have both a fridge and the means to cook.

If my finances had improved immediately upon moving, I wouldn't be noticing that. I would just think "It's nice to have money."

But I'm still having a lot of financial stress and yet I'm eating a lot better because I have better housing and a full-service kitchen for the first time in a decade.

I was homeless for nearly six years and then I was in poverty housing without a kitchen. Without a fridge, I had to go shopping or to pick up take out every single day. I had no means to buy ahead on meal-type foods, though I did keep shelf stable snacks and drinks on hand.

For the first time in a decade, I can shop ahead, store what I need and cook the next day and I can sometimes skip going out shopping for a day.

For today, there is something clear in my mind about the importance and value of having both cold storage and the means to cook. There is something clear in my mind about how critical that is to a middle class lifestyle where the essentials are not crazy expensive and there is something clear in my mind about how big a difference decent housing makes for health and overall welfare.