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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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 Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:37 pm Post subject: Living with no money for a year |
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..is possible.
My free and easy life
When Katharine Hibbert lost her job and her flat she didn't just downsize � she decided to dispense with money altogether, living on the stuff the rest of us throw away
"the longer I went without buying things, the fewer things I wanted".
"I had set out to live for free for 12 months, but when my time was up I had no desire to stop. The flat I lived in was comfortable, and my flatmates and I had been in it for months with no threat of eviction. Finding food was no hassle. I slept as much as I liked, read as much as I liked and went out, walking in the park or visiting galleries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/02/katherine-hibbert-living-without-money |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:51 pm Post subject: Re: Living with no money for a year |
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| nautilus wrote: |
..is possible.
My free and easy life
When Katharine Hibbert lost her job and her flat she didn't just downsize � she decided to dispense with money altogether, living on the stuff the rest of us throw away
"the longer I went without buying things, the fewer things I wanted".
"I had set out to live for free for 12 months, but when my time was up I had no desire to stop. The flat I lived in was comfortable, and my flatmates and I had been in it for months with no threat of eviction. Finding food was no hassle. I slept as much as I liked, read as much as I liked and went out, walking in the park or visiting galleries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/02/katherine-hibbert-living-without-money |
Trying to live without money in the USA is different from that in England. In Albuquerque you could always find food with uncertain quality at the missions, but you would have to deal with the professional bums that depended on the missions for a good reason, they,re rude, antinsocial, and unemployable. Another thing the missions are policed by the few professional bums lucky enough to get a job at the mission, if you can believe that. But what I wonder is what about rent for the flat and money for necessities? As for as staying in a shelter, because of no money for a flat, there was always a place for the women to stay in Albuquerque, but for the men only in the winter. |
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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the question is: Would you want to live without money for a year in London? Sounds terrible. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the whole Into The Wild thing. Living in a remote place for a year without money would be interesting (as long as you didn't die). But cities like London, Seoul, New York, etc.....being with no money doesn't sound terribly good. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
| But cities like London, Seoul, New York, etc.....being with no money doesn't sound terribly good. |
Seoul would probably be impossible. No vacant properties to squat in.
Somewhere like London or NY sounds fairly easy though once you had gotten a routine. Scavenge a few blankets etc off the tip, live in an empty building, find a restaurant that throws out untouched food every day.
This guy has it down to a fine art:
My year of living without money
Is it possible to live without spending any cash whatsoever? After becoming disillusioned with consumer society, one man decided to give it a try
For heating I installed a wood-burner I'd converted from an old gas bottle, using a flue pipe I had salvaged from the skip.
I wash in a river or under a solar shower (better in the summer), and rarely use soap, but if I do I go for home-grown soapwort. For toothpaste I use a mixture of cuttlefish bone, which gets washed up on the UK's shores, and wild fennel seeds.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/09/mark-boyle-money |
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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| nautilus- for some reason the Guardian website is blocked by my school. Where is this guy living? |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
| nautilus- for some reason the Guardian website is blocked by my school. Where is this guy living? |
UK....
| young_Clinton wrote: |
| Trying to live without money in the USA is different from that in England. |
Surely any first world throw-away society has enough surplus to feed and shelter someone for a year. I mean, most people have far more than they need and throw away even more than that...
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| I believe the key reason for so many problems in the world today is the fact we no longer have to see directly the repercussions of our actions. The degrees of separation between the consumer and the consumed have increased so much that people are completely unaware of the levels of destruction and suffering involved in the production of the food and other "stuff" we buy. The tool that has enabled this disconnection is money |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/09/mark-boyle-money |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| This is definitely possible in the United States as well. It has a certain appeal to it, honestly; the life of a well educated pauper is not necessarily a bad one. |
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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Where in the UK was the dude living? Seems like it might be more enjoyable in a smaller setting rather than a city. |
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PeteJB
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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| An elitist bum. Who'd have thought. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Hmmm... was she REALLY squatting, or just doing it so she could write a book? |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| If I were going to live without money for a year in Korea I'd just be a monk at a temple |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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| A lot of bums in the U.S. eat food that is thrown out of restaurants. They know what time these places throw out the leftovers. And they eat GOOD too. Especially the ones that hang out in back of the better, high end restaurants. |
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lizlemon
Joined: 05 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 12:13 am Post subject: |
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Am I the only one who is FURIOUS after reading that? I may have a chemical imbalance because my blood is boiling. Her complaints about unused apartments and houses are ridiculous:
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| But the circumstances that made it possible for me to live this way also made me angry... Flats and houses are boarded up or deliberately rendered uninhabitable. Anyone who tries to move in can expect to be evicted, only for the building to remain empty. |
ANGRY? Sorry lady, I'm the one who is angry here. If anyone really feels like they deserve to live in someone else's property and complains about its owners trying to protect it, they need not live in a capitalist society. I'm sorry that not everyone can afford a place to live while others have many, but I'm not sorry when a 25 year old who gives up on life after being laid off once whines about it.
Her point about waste management taxes is excellent, but where would she be with them? Likely forced to get a job and contribute to society. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:54 am Post subject: |
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| lizlemon wrote: |
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| Flats and houses are boarded up or deliberately rendered uninhabitable. Anyone who tries to move in can expect to be evicted, only for the building to remain empty. |
ANGRY? Sorry lady, I'm the one who is angry here. If anyone really feels like they deserve to live in someone else's property and complains about its owners trying to protect it, they need not live in a capitalist society. |
In capitalist society a lot of food is wasted- and by her account it is also deliberately spoiled to prevent the homeless enjoying it.
I have no sympathy for her in particular, as she was squatting out of choice: however there are many who are involuntarily homeless and it seems obscene that Britain has a vast number of properties standing empty- who's owners still bar the destitute and needy from using them.
The second guy has a lot more ethical and philosophical credibility. However he is still lucky enough to enjoy a situation that not everyone could: he owns land and grows his own vegetables. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:36 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
| however there are many who are involuntarily homeless and it seems obscene that Britain has a vast number of properties standing empty- who's owners still bar the destitute and needy from using them. |
The destitute and needy probably wouldn't treat the property very well. |
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