The Accountant
for Physical Goods.

Earthly Abode is not a blog. It is a forensic database designed to answer one question: "What is the mathematical cost of ownership?"

The Lead Curator

I am J.T. Lewis, the Lead Curator. I am not a CPA, nor a materials engineer. I am a consumer who got tired of buying the same "durable" boots every two years.

I realized that the marketing department had better data than I did. They knew exactly when their product would fail. I built Earthly Abode to level the playing field.

For inquiries, you can reach me at curator@earthlyabode.com.

How Audits Are Produced

Every product in the database goes through a structured research process before publication. I review manufacturer technical documentation, long-term owner reports from communities like Reddit's r/BuyItForLife, warranty claim histories, and material science data to establish the failure profile and realistic lifespan.

The financial model — CPY, NPV, 20-year TCO — is standardized and applied identically to every product so comparisons are apples-to-apples. No audit is published until I've personally reviewed the failure points, verified the math, and confirmed the baseline comparison is a product a normal person would actually buy.

I built this because I wanted the data I couldn't find anywhere else. The marketing department knows exactly when their product will fail. Now you do too.

The Methodology

We define "Value" strictly through Net Present Value (NPV) and Cost Per Year (CPY). We cap all product lifespans at 100 years for audit purposes, and we assume a conservative 3% discount rate on your capital.

We do not accept payments for favorable reviews. We are funded by readers via affiliate links, which allows us to remain independent of manufacturer sponsorship.