Living with less money

[Raeven]

I don't know... there's nothing very simple about the simple life.

My late husband and I were "back-to-the-landers" when we sold up in California and moved to Oregon to become as self-sufficient as possible. First thing you learn when you buy land is, you need a truck. Not always and not every day, but there's no way I'm hauling hay, straw, wood, goats or pigs in my regular vehicle.

I grow most of my own food between the garden and livestock. But there's still sugar, flour, coffee, salt, spices, citrus, etc.... all the things people traded for back in the day. I don't produce those myself and would find it difficult to do without them -- although I could if I had to. I almost never eat out. It's a rare treat when I find someplace that can prepare food better than I can. I like good wines and good coffee, those are my primary "vices." I, too, make many of my own clothes. I still needed a sewing machine, threads, measuring tools, stuff to lay out materials, materials, etc. Not sure I became less of a consumer because of that.

I work from home, only need to go to town once or twice a month. So I've reduced my "footprint" enormously from when I used to commute to and from work where I used to live. But since my husband passed, I jump into town more frequently than I used to, because it gets lonely out here. And since I'm home alone so much, I haven't stinted on toys. I don't have to, because I make a decent living out of what I do. And I like my electronics. There are big screen TVs and a fine sound system, and I replace my primary laptop computer every three years without fail. But I live on one-third of what my husband and I used to make put together, so I'm making do with much less money than I used to. I could grow my business but I choose not to as I prefer to not to wrangle with employees, and I prefer also having a lot of free time to do as I please. Sometimes I like to travel. I could certainly do without it, but I don't wish to. If this is the only life I get -- and it is -- then I aspire to see as much of this world we live in as I possibly can.

I don't buy useless crap and I detest commercialism. If I give gifts, they are invariably homemade and consumable: Liqueurs, candles, jams, candies, like that.

So again, I don't know... I live better than most people, and I know it. I'm self-sufficient, but I don't "make do" much. And I'm pretty sure I don't fit within the OP's definition of someone who is living a more frugal life. But I am. It's not really that easy of a question, is it?

[houseofcantor]

I like how it's I cannot consider you poor and you need to live on less money so we can produce a sustainable society... I mean, there's some kind of psychology there; some kind of witchcraft where the author contrasts the sanctity of self to the sins of others in order to propose a communal salvation where he is messiah.

hallelujah!

I don't really make anything. I'm a government sponsored psychopath; they pay me a stipend so I don't become tempted to watch the world burn. I could be considered a burden on society, but that would be technically incorrect. I'm that which they point to when they wish to display their compassion, their responsibility to those less fortunate when they, like you, seek a stirrup to mount their moral high horse. And I am true to their intent, that their stipend does not ennoble an untouchable, but rather is immediately returned to the consumerist carnivore, with this iPad, that big ol' TV, the Xbox 360; through which I indulge in the mass delusion of The Vampire Diaries, satiated on a virtual utopia rather than cast my eyes outside and across the decaying remains of their industrial wastelands.

That I am not tempted to be

a messiah.

[Captain Colostomy]

Ouch!

[Zazzy]

I think some people are getting a little carried away with their interpretation of what I'm saying.

My interpretation is that you accused me of things I did not do, ignored my salient comments on your OP, judged me inaccurately, and now are pretending it didn't happen.

Trying to take money from the rich is just another form of greed.

Why? I am rich, and not because of hard work. I inherited it. People are always trying to get money out of me. Why shouldn't they? I can say yes or no, but it's not exactly a crime to ask people with more than their fair share- like me- to help others.

Cue the requests for money.

[Captain Colostomy]

Cue the requests for money.

I would never do that. My wife, OTOH, wants to know if you would buy her a bowling ball with my initials on it.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I make jewelry from bone, stones, metal, feathers, plants.

Yes, but have you any jewelry made from your OWN bones? I recently had a lumbar laminectomy, and I've having the bones that were removed silver-plated for the necklace I mentioned.

Boru

[Tiberius]

I could afford to live in a much better place than I currently do (single room in a shared house in lower middle class area). So in that respect I do live with less money than I earn. Most of it goes towards savings, trips to see my girlfriend, and charity.

I see it as more of a safety net. If you choose to live on $3,000 a year, what happens when you suddenly have a large bill to pay?

[Rahul]

I spent some time researching homelessness in America. I even joined a forum about homelessness on the nets. Sucks to be homeless. Dangerous, dirty, living hand to mouth.

I've researched poverty too. That sucks. In the projects down here they don't have AC. Texas gets so hot that they sit outside their houses under trees until after midnight when it finally cools down enough to go inside to sleep. Fuck that.

I'd rather live in a decent neighborhood, with central AC, cable TV, a nice computer, all the comforts of home.

I'm not rich at all. But I'm solidly middle class.

I used to work in the oilfields and in warehouses sweating my ass off for crap pay, worthless health insurance, and no real benefits. I decided pretty quick that I didn't want to be doing that for the rest of my life.

Now I sit at a desk and don't sweat at all for work, make a hell of a lot more money, with really good health insurance, 401k, all that good stuff.

Being poor is not something I'd prefer to do.

When the kids grow up and leave though I'd like to build a small home outside of town somewhere. Something only a fraction the size of our current house.

[Minimalist]

I'm not rich at all. But I'm solidly middle class.

You are what the upper .1% is attacking. They don't worry much about the poor. They have already trashed them.

[Cinjin]

If you choose to live on $3,000 a year, what happens when you suddenly have a large bill to pay?

You have the government make all of us pay for it.