Freeconomy Blog
Thu
26 Feb
A few lessons on living without money so far...
| 5 comments |
In a few days time I'll have reached the three month mark in my year without money - over a quarter of the way there. I hope that doesn't sound like I am wishing my life away; I'm not, I actually see it as a trial run for the rest of my life. It is just one of those landmarks stages that makes you a bit reflective about things.
And reflective I have been. One of the main things I already knew, but have had positive reinforcement off since I started living without money, is the fact that if you don't worry where all your needs are going to come from and just concentrate on what you know is the most positive thing to do at any given moment, not only do your needs get met in often inexplicable ways, but also that everything works out just as it needs to in order for you to learn and progress in life. This doesn't always feel like it at the time; but if you can view everything, even the disasters, as a learning experience, you'll always see the real point of all that happens to you.
Take this for example. Because I've had to do a lot of cycling, my back tyre wore down much faster than I expected. Not having money, I wasn't sure of what to do. Once it wears down badly you get punctures every second day, and that would pose even more problems for me. So I decided not to worry about it. Shortly afterwards I was walking through a council estate in Bristol and low and behold, abandoned in a pile of junk on the side of a hill beside the footpath, was a perfectly good tyre that was just about the right size for my wheel.
About six weeks earlier I had given my two solar jars to my neighbour Martin, who lives in a yurt and is also off-grid, as he still hadn't sorted out any means of lighting. I had a LED running of solar already anyway, so his need was much greater than mine. A couple of weeks later my computer breaks down and again I have no idea what to do. But it just so happens Martin had an old laptop he doesn't use anymore, which is a bit slow and has very little RAM, but was more than happy for me to have it.
I love when things organically flow like this, and all it requires is some faith and trust and a willingness to share whatever you have without whoever needs it, especially when their needs are greater than yours.
This has happened to me in the past – I once sold my old houseboat to pay for this website to be set-up, without worrying about having to go back into the renting game again. A year later, when I've no money left and need somewhere to live off-grid, the universe gives me a free caravan through Freecycle, which isn't quite as nice as the boat but which has really become my home and is more than enough for my needs!
I've also made mistakes, though admittedly most were in my preparation for the year and so far have been nothing major. My three biggest mistakes, so far, I reckon are these -
1.Not getting a sustainable method of shaving such as a cutthroat or wind-up razor. My hair is the longest it has been since I was fifteen and my beard is at its longest ever. Which is great in the winter, especially the one we have just had, but as it is getting warmer I am increasingly feeling the need to be almost bald again. Having said that, I've just had five responses from people of freeconomy who are willing to show me how to use a cutthroat, so there could be a solution anyway
2.Not getting a (bush buddy). These things look great and would have given me a lot of freedom to go walkabout in the summer.
3.Not getting a solar panel with a bit more wattage. The days are getting longer and there will be more sunshine so this could remedy itself before long.
Just on solar - my freeloader, the thing that powers my mobile, isn't working brilliantly. Granted it is winter. However these days I can leave it out for the whole day and it only gives me one bar of charge on the phone. All the calls I receive on it now start with the words 'sorry, my battery could run out at any minute!', and I need to limit all conversations on it which can be frustrating.
The mouse (that seems to have uninvitingly become a lodger in my caravan) and I have seemed to come to some sort of unofficial, unspoken agreement – my fellow earthling is still around, but is not causing any havoc anymore. Not only was killing it not even remotely an option, I didn't even want to catch it in a humane trap and bring it a few miles away, just in case the little creature had some offsprings left behind; how cruel would that be? We just seemed to organically find some sort of harmony over the months. The mouse lives here, but doesn't eat my food anymore. Thats perfect for me, I can't live under the floor boards anyway so the mouse may as well make the most if it.
What else? Time – never enough of it, though it is getting easier as I find myself getting more efficient at the things I do. I'm an early bird so I've recently got back into the habit of getting up at 4am-5am and getting ahead of myself for the day – this is advice given by characters such as Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi. It doesn't come any more diverse than that, but getting up early is something even they had in common. And it really helps – it takes the stress out of the day for me and as everything goes much smoother when you're not stressed, you save even more time. It wasn't so easy to do this a few months ago however when my duvet was frozen and it didn't get bright until 8am.
If any of you have any advice by the way, please feel free to share it here, especially if you think it is of use to myself or anyone reading it. This is unchartered territory and I am trying to find my feet as I go, and so any useful tips are always greatly appreciated. Over the coming weeks I will try to share as many of my lessons and experiences with you too, and hopefully we can all learn something of each other.
THE FREECONOMY BLOG is written by Mark Boyle, founder member of The Freeconomy Community. If you want to respond, debate or ask questions, please just comment below; you will have to sign in first.
Comment on this Post:
Dushyant Dave comments ...
Hi Mark,
I am a new member but regular reader of your blog. It is really amazing to see you living without movey in today's world. I have one question though. How you can live such life with family and kids specially with 5 -6 years old ? Kids have their own demands. We have one resturant called Seva Cafe for noble cause in Ahmedabad India. ( http://www.sevacafe.org/ahmedabad.html ) They always give a bill with 0 amount after your finish your dinner (they only serves 60 customers a day). Its upto the customer what they want to pay. Food can be free it you choose not to pay anything. This Seva Cafe Restaurant run by volunteers.
Mark Boyle comments ...
*To Dushyant Dave*
It is a tough one, but I think community is the key. Bring them up in a community where everyone is living without money, where everyone is a teacher, and where they are so happy and free they don't have so much need for the material things.
I think it would be extremely difficult for a family to do it the way I have had to. In a small'ish community I would see it as a great start to life for any child.
The full answer however is very long!
ashutosh comments ...
To Dushyant Dave,
To live such a life, you need to have a community, a group of like minded people exhibiting same kind of behavior and philosophy. Think of it other way round. Had this world been a money-less place, how difficult it would be for a person of today's time to survive there. We are able to live in this society only because others have same attitude towards life.
If, slowly and gradually, we are able to build a community based on principles of free economy, it wouldn't be at all difficult to raise your family in that environment. But to have such a community in place, we need to step forward and take action on same lines.
Rik comments ...
I'm new to your endeavour, and am skimming thru some of your blogs... the mouse dilema made me smile, tho because i too had a 'humane' approach to them when i first started living in the country, closer to nature. After they eat your food/walls/wires or leave deposits in kitchen etc. natural selection takes over! Maybe get a cat and leave them to do what comes devastatingly natural. Great blog, well done!
Rik comments ...
I'm new to your endeavour, and am skimming thru some of your blogs... the mouse dilema made me smile, tho because i too had a 'humane' approach to them when i first started living in the country, closer to nature. After they eat your food/walls/wires or leave deposits in kitchen etc. natural selection takes over! Maybe get a cat and leave them to do what comes devastatingly natural. Great blog, well done!
