Have also sold old appliances on Craigslist, paid for some dinners out...

I sold a bulding like that to a client of mine in Hawaiiand he has not been to the property in 3 years now.. he used to come couple times a year  ( we were building a few housing communities together here in Portland ) so we would just swing by and look at his MF.. it was mainly go to dinner have fun with the PM etc.. combo of those things would work.. then you have private capital be the bank which you again need to choose wisely of course.

I drove a 1990 Ford Tempo before and all through law school (2012-2015), split $650 rent with three other guys, ate frozen dinners, and was able to avoid taking out any student loans.

Dinner's on me!"

That would REQUIRE you to make dinner five night/week, and as a consumer, I would not want to be told what I'm having for dinner every night. 

Last winter my wife and I spent countless hours hanging drywall, and eating fast food for dinner for almost 4 whole months.

Spoil your wife with a dinner out.

There's one strip I was interested in, I watched the restaurant at different times, ate there dinner time. 

Think of it as going out for a nice dinner vs fast food, they both will feed you but you paid more to enjoy the nice dinner.

Mine is dinner with a mentor (a BP meet up its on meetup as well) 2nd wed of the month the other is last thursday of the month St.