Turtles-Paradise

Living a balanced life is something that I feel is they key to happiness. The growth of minimalism, the surge of interest in working for yourself as an online entrepreneur, the desire to live simply and connect with the people around – it all seems to be a reaction to a materialistic, and unbalanced life that has come to be seen as normal.

We are encouraged to believe that working relentlessly until we are 65 is what life is about. School has become increasingly like the world of work – where endless exams, projects, paperwork and uniforms take the place of play and exploration. Work has taken over more and more of our lives, with salaried workers regularly putting in more hours than contracted for, and those with part-time, minimum wage jobs frequently having to take on two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, the gap between the haves and the have-nots has widened so that in 2006 the top 2% of the world population owned more than half of the worlds wealth. In order to afford the ‘standard of life’ that advertisers tell us is both normal and desirable, we are forced to take on debt, work overtime, and pay most of our income towards the upkeep of an unsustainable lifestyle. A few talented people make millions, a few lucky people inherit millions, and the rest are left to lurch from financial crisis to financial crisis.

The other day, I had to repot some of my plants. I went to the garden centre, and I paid for a few sacks of dirt. Yes, dirt – the very stuff this planet is covered with. Others pay for bottled water. It won’t be long before someone figures out how to sell us oxygen.

My very simple solution is:

• Spend less.
• Work less.
• Have more fun.

Spend Less

Downsize your house. Better still, get rid of your house. Live out of a van, or a tent, or a spare room. Learn to see the true cost of things – a £200 washing machine is nearly 30 hours of work at £7 an hour. A £400 iPad is nearly 60. A £200,000 house is 3.2 years of non-stop, 24 hour work.

The places to cut your costs are the places where you spend the most. Your rent. Your food. Your entertainment splurges. Eat more lentils. Is that chicken tikka take-away really worth spending an extra hour at work?

Work Less

Once you’ve cut your costs to the bone, you can afford to work less. Take a single part-time job. Start a minimalist business. Work from home. The less you spend, the less you need to worry about earning.

Have more fun

When you’re not working, what are you going to do instead? You’ll finally have the time to travel. To learn new skills. To cook properly. To have long, silly conversations on the telephone. To take long walks. All the things that you don’t have time for now.

I should make it clear that I’m not there yet. Unlike the many people out there that have succeeded in quitting their full-time jobs and spend their time doing what they love I still work 37 hours a week or so, and I still have a large rent payment and a lot of stuff.

But I’m determined. I’ve spent the last year reading amazing blogs. I now know that it is possible. In a year, we’ll be heading to a place we don’t have to pay rent. In that year, I’m going to work on getting rid of as much of our belongings as possible, so that we don’t have to pay to move it or store it, and so we can start with the wonderful possibility that empty space creates.

I’m working towards a balanced life. What are you working towards?

My kettle has broken. My guess is that the heating element has burned out, and it being the dirt-cheap value-brand kettle purchased for less than a fiver, it’s not worth trying to get it fixed.

In considering replacement options, I considered getting another dirt-cheap one (easy on my pocket), or doing some research and getting a good kettle that would last. On the one hand, I wanted to be able to get rid of it easily in the event of our eventual move – I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into something that would only be used for a year or so. On the other hand, cheap disposable appliances use energy and materials in their creation and transport, and they frequently (not always) break down faster.

Then I realised there was a third option I hadn’t considered.

Not replacing it at all.

Here was a golden opportunity for clearing some counter-space, reducing the number of items in my kitchen, and solving both my ‘not spending a lot of money’ and ‘not buying cheap appliances’ problems in one swoop.

I don’t need a kettle. I have two other methods for boiling water – slowly, on the stove-top. And quickly, in the microwave. Do I really need a single-purpose item that does the same job?

The main thing I used the kettle for was making a cup of tea in the mornings. This morning I made it in the microwave. Easy!

The next time something of yours breaks down, ask yourself: do I really need to replace it? What else do I own that can do this job for me?

We’ll be back to the permaculture zones very soon, but I just wanted to say congratulations to my other half, who successfully landed two part-time jobs in the past couple of weeks. In ‘Let’s talk about Money‘ I told you we just about broke even. We’ll be in a much better place now. The important thing for us to remember:

• Not loosening up on the frugality side of things. It’s easy to not spend money when you don’t have money! But a lot harder to resist that urge when you do have that extra income. Both of us have the same goals of financial freedom in the long run, and neither of us want to achieve that by working stressful, high-powered careers. The only way to make it work will be to cut our living expenses to the bone.
• Sitting down after my other half goes through the next stage of his visa applications and discussing the next stage. For the past two and a half years the visa application and being secure in living together has been our top priority. I got an apartment, because it looked better for the visa application. We both delayed other life goals in order to make this happen. It cost us well over £2000 in fees and incidental expenses, and who knows how much we spent on plane tickets!

With less than two months to go before he is (hopefully) allowed to remain indefinitely with more-or-less the same rights and opportunities as a British Citizen we will now need to solidify what we want to do next in our joint lives. Of course, we know more-or-less, but we need to write down the exact figures and plans to make it happen.

Okay, enough about us! We’ll be back to permaculture in the next post.

There are a lot of minimalist blogs out there that talk about the joy of being location independent. Living – and working – from anywhere. Travelling the world.

I have a confession to make. I’ve already done that. I started in University, by taking advantage of an exchange program, and was immediately bitten by the travel bug. I spent around a year living out of what I could carry, making my own shampoo, and travelling on a shoe-string.

And, truthfully, it’s brilliant. It is easily possible to live on almost nothing, especially when you have a network of awesome friends who are happy to let you crash on their couch for a few days. I spent my days looking at some of the natural wonders of the USA – the Appalachian Trail, Red River Gorge, and the Florida Wetlands. I spent my nights writing the amazing novel that would take the world by storm.

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initial post: Gratitude Wave #01: Appreciating the Music of Life
in reply to: Gratitude Wave #01: Appreciating the Music of Life
rules: Write a blog post with seven things you’re grateful for today in response to the latest gratitude wave post that hits you, update the “in reply to” link, spread the word about your post, so others will reply and the wave travels as far as we can make it! Check back at the initial post to learn how far we’ve made it after 24 hours!

My seven statements of gratitude:

1. I am grateful for the many tools and techniques I have access to, that enable me to easily perform tasks that would otherwise be impossible. A good example today: using a Fork Lift Truck to shift over 100 compost bins from a large truck to a safe place.
2. I am grateful for the internet, and living in a digital era that enables everyone to have a voice, and allows groups to form in ways that are not limited by location.
3. I am grateful for being surrounded by a loving and generous network of friends and family. It’s cliché but it’s true. Without you I wouldn’t be half the person I am.
4. I am grateful that I was born into a temperate, modern, wealthy country and have all the advantages that generates.
5. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to travel extensively, and the amazing things I’ve seen as a result.
6. I am grateful for yoga.
7. I’m grateful for being born, for growing up, for being alive, healthy and happy.