I live without using many things. I had them from when I was married, but now I find that my happiness relies on my living my values. I live rurally. It's a simple but harder life. I try to grow as much of my food as possible, and yes I have a dryer and it's only used when my kids visit and use it. I'm nearing 70 and I use a stand mixer. I find kneading dough to be quite hard on my hand joints, but I still make my own bread and all other baked goods. No eating out, no buying coffee, no travelling, no money for wine, no 'shopping' as therapy. But I'm still happy. And it probably doesn't sync with what's 'normal' but I don't care. The more I'm not like the rest of society, the more I think I'm on the right track. I guess if I had the money, I'd like a glass of wine every now and then.
We drink out of repurposed glass spaghetti and jelly jars. Furniture is from the side of the road or thrift stores. But we have all the streaming services and a used dishwasher! Life is all about balance and finding joy - thanks for the great article!
Your loaf of sourdough looks amazing. Something you made is always better than something you bought, and even if it’s not, you can make it better next time. For me, no streaming, no TV, buy second hand when I can, repurpose what I have and generally just keep myself amused by making things. Cast iron is truly non-stick and lasts forever!
I have not had a dryer for most of my adult life, except a few years post-divorce when I lived in apartments (including when I was cloth diapering babies about a quarter of a century ago!) I have a line strung in my upstairs hallway above the stairwell and I hang everything there (and over the tops of doors, on radiators, over railings, and one drying rack). I bake most of our bread, except when life gets nuts. We love TV but only pay for one streaming service at a time. We have a van that we converted into a micro camper van that gets better mileage than our last car, and we go camping for all our vacations. It’s our only vehicle. I don’t buy clothes, I make them from thrifted fabric or upcycle from my own closet. I mostly use Libby for my books. I make art out of cardboard and old magazines and string and ends of paint cans and other found stuff.
There is no such thing as 'home delivery' for food when you live in the country. Even when we lived in Santa Fe we never used it. I used to hang my clothes out in Wisconsin during the summer. Can't do it where I live now or the clothes would be full of the dust coming down off the mountains.
I must confess we have Disney's streaming service - no cable out here, only satellite. We got it when our young grandsons were living with us during the pandemic. I do have lots of kitchen tools; kitchenmaid mixer, cuisinart food processor, food dehydrator and food saver. But then we cook at home 99% of the time, and freeze meals, breads, etc. It is easier to take it out of the freezer on those days that are just too hectic. I would love to have a bidet - but it will wait until we move back home.
I have never been one interested in 'keeping up' with the neighbors. What we have, we use all the time.
I can't say that I am a non-techie. We have the most common appliances and I subscribe to two streaming services, which we don't watch that much. I have lived in less austere conditions though. Right now, I choose to live in moderate comfort while I can. The one thing I do miss from my rural living days, are the clotheslines. I used to hang out my laundry in the late spring, summer and fall up until the temps dipped below freezing and stayed there for the winter. There's nothing like the smell of laundry after its been hanging on the line in the sun all day. I can't do that here in my senior, HOA managed, subdivision. I know my wife would be all over that if we could as she likes it as much as I do. As for the kitchen, we compromise. We hand wash a lot of things and only use the dishwasher once or twice a week. We use a gas oven range and have a medium sized refrigerator and upright freezer. My one concession to modernity is my Keurig coffee maker. I wasted so much coffee with a regular pour over maker that I finally gave in a couple of years ago and now only brew cups of coffee when I want, with no waste, other than the pods. Which I tried the recyclable ones but that turned out to be just a sales gimmick.
All in all, I think we are balanced to a degree. We have what we need to make life comfortable without going overboard. Our old washer/dryer machines became so old that I couldn't get parts for them anymore so I replaced them with more energy efficient units a couple of years ago.
I most certainly remember the old Maytag wringer machine my late mother had when I was a kid and I have no desire to go back to those days. I'm good with a comfortable balance in the later days of my life.
My wife also uses a fold up drying rack to get around the no clothesline issue. It works fine, inside or out. We do what we have to in this world to make things work.
Oh, I love this. My 14 year old car, my partially homemade wardrobe, my several pairs of resoled and re-heeled shoes, and my pantry storage that’s been in canning jars since decades before it was cool are right there with you. No Siri, no Alexa or Google Dot. I’ve never Doordashed or Grubhubbed or Lyfted though I think I once shared an Uber to get from an airport to a conference hotel. My household has a TV now because I am married to someone who loves TV, but from the late 1980s until about 8 years ago… nope. I’m not sure what streaming services we have or don’t, though I’m pretty sure we don’t currently have Netflix. I have an Instant Pot because my old pressure cooker lost the will to seal no matter how many times I replaced the gasket, but no air fryer, no toaster or toaster oven or countertop convection situation or any of that. I have a blender and a mixer and a 25-year-old food processor that gets a lot less use than my mortar and pestle. We have a cheapie microwave because it’s the quickest easiest way to reheat leftovers. I make my coffee in a stovetop moka pot and my tea in a lavender ceramic teapot and if I want cold brew of either one, I have quart jars. Some of my pillowcases are made from sheets that got worn enough to grow holes, but there was still plenty of good fabric. Many of my towels have been rehemmed when the edges started to fray because they were otherwise fine. I splurge here and there on certain things. Notebooks, the occasional high-end lipstick. I believe in buying good bras and good shoes and will pay for them because there are some things you don’t want to have let you down. If it’s an item that really matters to your life, I say cry once, buy the best and most durable version you can manage, and use it well.
We don’t eat out, so I have lots of kitchen appliances. A bread maker, since I make all our bread and have arthritis in my hands. The food processor I bought 35 years ago. Multiple instant pots, which I use many times each week. Good knives, also purchased decades ago. Lots of canning/dehydrating equipment.
I don’t have a coffee maker, a garbage disposal, or a TV. To me it’s not about minimalism per se, it’s about only spending time and money on things which make my life better.
Paper towels! One month it just wasn’t in the budget so I used rags, and I’ve never looked back! I steal a handful here and there when I’m out and about and keep them in case of super-gross messes (piss poo or vomit) but rags and towels work for everything else! Just wash them!
It’s fun to think about what small luxuries we need and those we can skip. No Twitter or Instagram or Door Dash here, either, and my books come from the library. Clothes from resale shops, which gives me joy. I do eat out, which I consider my entertainment. And charitable giving is important to me.
LOL so, I just stayed in an Airbnb last month that had a bidet and I just don't get it. I'll never get it. And I won't spell out my poop schedule here but suffice to say, it happens before I take a shower 😆😆😆 As for frugality, ex-single mom over here. I was the queen of hashbrown casseroles!
The one thing I can't really do successfully in Canada that I could in Jamaica is hang my laundry. It's winter 8 months a year here. Anyway, I'm a renter and appliances are always included.
You can dry clothes year round. I live in Canada and I had an outdoor clothesline for a decade that I used year-round. Things still dry in the winter, it just takes longer. In the winter, I would try to get stuff out on the line as early as possible and make sure I brought them in before dusk. At that point they were 98% dry. I would just drape them over everything for 20 minutes inside for the final dry and then put them away.
I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the time. Not nearly as cold as Calgary but WAY higher humidity! Ever hear of freezer burn? That's food drying out in your deep freezer, even in a sealed plastic bag! I wouldn't be surprised that clothes would dry better in a Calgary Winter than in a Nova Scotia winter. Freezing and drying happen simultaneously. As I said, cold slows down the process but it doesn't stop it.
I do have roughly the standard number of appliances, and my husband likes streaming services so... what I tend to NOT have are gadgets. You know, the single purpose things that help you chop up a hard boiled egg, or the ground beef in your skillet, etc. Sure, they often only cost a few dollars, but my big issue is CLUTTER. I don't have a lot of storage OR counter space in the kitchen so that limits both gadgets and small appliances. It seems like every time I turn around I'm being marketed some new gadget or appliance that will make things just a bit easier, a bit more perfect. (The latest? Some sort of portable air fryer thing that attaches to the top of the container and cooks the food...I think.)
I miss having a clothes line. I've been thinking lately about seeing if I can install a retractable line from the deck to the shed. My husband hates line dried clothes though.
I am always encouraged by your success in living well with less, Michelle. I have been putting off retirement because subtracting a full time steady income from my bank account is going to leave me scraping a bit. But I’m up for the challenge when the time is right, and I appreciate all the tips I can get!
Almost exactly 10 years ago, my job as editor of a small daily paper came to an end when they laid off a bunch of us. I never found a good, steady job again after that. So all the things I’d learned as a SAHM came in handy. Unless this Substack blows up, I’m not likely to ever have money. So it goes. I know how to make the best of things.
It's nice (if you like your job) to seriously ponder staying beyond retirement age. It is a decision that will affect the rest of your life. The pandemic wiped out my job; I was 63. I had privilege for real when a neighbor got me on staff at her nonprofit company. The first year was ok, then it all went downhill. I couldn't wait to leave. So you are right; we have to live on WAY less income. I'm doing it and trusting God. I've always been frugal and have been thinking lately (about finances) "this is a challenge and I'm killing it!!"
However, I prefer now to think I'm being clever!! Thanks to Michelle!
I hear you. There were ladies working at that nonprofit (it was an inner-city organization with multiple locations) who were in their 70's. I had planned to stay another year, but my mental health was suffering. I had to count the cost of leaving and just go. I was eligible for SS and Medicare already.
I hate what happened to local newspapers nationwide :(
Haven't had a television for...25 years. I don't watch (how the hell people have the time and patience to do that, I haven't a CLUE....) Busy living life!...I no longer have a breadmaker. I don't have a fancy mixer (one a very small one for pesto, etc.). I did just purchase a hand blender which I am finding I LOVE (for soups, smoothies, etc.).
I have a very similar frugality to you. And, like your husband, I absolutely love making things out of what other people would throw away. I turned our old backyard fence into a beautiful rooftop garden!
I think my biggest frugality ever was that I lived without a fridge for over a decade. I had a deep freezer and I used a cooler for a fridge (a deep freezer uses about 1/3 the amount of electricity that a fridge does and, in my opinion, is much more useful and versatile) I have a long list of frugality but that one was definitely a peak!
I'm 61 and at this point I think my average annual income over my whole working life is not much over $10,000. I have never been homeless, hungry or without friends. I am very grateful that I have been able to have a good life in this fashion but I always feel there is one EXTREMELY important aspect of my life that I never shy away from. CHOICE! I have always chosen to live the way I live. The vast majority of people who live in poverty did not choose that. To me, it is obvious and understandable why someone who grew up poor would not make these choices. Or even someone who didn't grow up poor but because of our shitty politics has never been able to reach any level of financial security. There is just no comparison between choosing something and being forced into something. This is why I feel strongly that inequality is likely the tap root cause of a vast majority of our problems. Capitalism and focus on growth depend on consumption. Climate change and environmental destruction is caused by excess consumption. And people are not going to either stop excess consumption or stop trying to get to a position where they can engage in excess consumption as long as such a huge amount of people with limited choice have to live surrounded by extreme materialism.
Sadly, one cannot share pictures here in the comments. Basically, I made High planter boxes out of scrap wood in which I put Rubbermaid containers to grow things in.
This post really resonated with me (almost 39 yo Brit here). The husband and I quite happily live without Netflix or live TV service (anything I want to watch on TV I just watch online via the relevant channel's catch up site - BBC IPlayer rules, lol!). I'm a keen gardener and grew up with family who always grew a lot of veg and fruit, so even in our (much smaller than theirs) garden I grow beans, leeks, beetroot, salad leaves, raspberries, strawberries, and have several fruit trees. There is literally nothing more decadent than picking eating your own fresh strawberries with cream...
Our washing machine has a dryer function, but I cannot remember the last time we used it - it's mainly just there as an emergency if an item of clothing was needed clean and dry asap. Otherwise we are air dryer people - our electricity bill thanks us!
I find myself more and more longing for the simpler days before smartphones... Remember the old Nokia bricks? Endless battery life, and all you could do was call or text... Bliss...
I have little space that’s sunny enough but many things I grow are connected with a memory.
I planted a Montmorency cherry tree to commemorate my sister because we had such a tree growing up and I have many memories of us picking and pitting the fruit. I still haven’t gotten a cherry from it but am hoping next year. I’ll definitely cry as I eat them from the tree.
I love this, I really hope you do get some cherries soon. I did something similar a few years ago and planted a little cordon-trained apple tree of the 'Sunset' variety (small eating apple related to the Cox's Orange Pippin) in memory of my dear late Grandma and the beautiful Sunset tree she had in her garden. She used to send me off to university with box-loads of these small, sweet apples, and I'd share them with my housemates. The first time I had fruit on it and tasted it I definitely shed a few tears. It's amazing how strongly the sense of taste can prompt memories! x
I live without using many things. I had them from when I was married, but now I find that my happiness relies on my living my values. I live rurally. It's a simple but harder life. I try to grow as much of my food as possible, and yes I have a dryer and it's only used when my kids visit and use it. I'm nearing 70 and I use a stand mixer. I find kneading dough to be quite hard on my hand joints, but I still make my own bread and all other baked goods. No eating out, no buying coffee, no travelling, no money for wine, no 'shopping' as therapy. But I'm still happy. And it probably doesn't sync with what's 'normal' but I don't care. The more I'm not like the rest of society, the more I think I'm on the right track. I guess if I had the money, I'd like a glass of wine every now and then.
If you’re ever in Central Illinois, I’ll pour you a glass of wine. I will take down the laundry first so we can enjoy it outdoors.
We drink out of repurposed glass spaghetti and jelly jars. Furniture is from the side of the road or thrift stores. But we have all the streaming services and a used dishwasher! Life is all about balance and finding joy - thanks for the great article!
Love that idea of balance...agree.
Your loaf of sourdough looks amazing. Something you made is always better than something you bought, and even if it’s not, you can make it better next time. For me, no streaming, no TV, buy second hand when I can, repurpose what I have and generally just keep myself amused by making things. Cast iron is truly non-stick and lasts forever!
I bake that type of bread in a cast iron Dutch oven!
I’ll have to give it a try.
I have not had a dryer for most of my adult life, except a few years post-divorce when I lived in apartments (including when I was cloth diapering babies about a quarter of a century ago!) I have a line strung in my upstairs hallway above the stairwell and I hang everything there (and over the tops of doors, on radiators, over railings, and one drying rack). I bake most of our bread, except when life gets nuts. We love TV but only pay for one streaming service at a time. We have a van that we converted into a micro camper van that gets better mileage than our last car, and we go camping for all our vacations. It’s our only vehicle. I don’t buy clothes, I make them from thrifted fabric or upcycle from my own closet. I mostly use Libby for my books. I make art out of cardboard and old magazines and string and ends of paint cans and other found stuff.
There is no such thing as 'home delivery' for food when you live in the country. Even when we lived in Santa Fe we never used it. I used to hang my clothes out in Wisconsin during the summer. Can't do it where I live now or the clothes would be full of the dust coming down off the mountains.
I must confess we have Disney's streaming service - no cable out here, only satellite. We got it when our young grandsons were living with us during the pandemic. I do have lots of kitchen tools; kitchenmaid mixer, cuisinart food processor, food dehydrator and food saver. But then we cook at home 99% of the time, and freeze meals, breads, etc. It is easier to take it out of the freezer on those days that are just too hectic. I would love to have a bidet - but it will wait until we move back home.
I have never been one interested in 'keeping up' with the neighbors. What we have, we use all the time.
I can't say that I am a non-techie. We have the most common appliances and I subscribe to two streaming services, which we don't watch that much. I have lived in less austere conditions though. Right now, I choose to live in moderate comfort while I can. The one thing I do miss from my rural living days, are the clotheslines. I used to hang out my laundry in the late spring, summer and fall up until the temps dipped below freezing and stayed there for the winter. There's nothing like the smell of laundry after its been hanging on the line in the sun all day. I can't do that here in my senior, HOA managed, subdivision. I know my wife would be all over that if we could as she likes it as much as I do. As for the kitchen, we compromise. We hand wash a lot of things and only use the dishwasher once or twice a week. We use a gas oven range and have a medium sized refrigerator and upright freezer. My one concession to modernity is my Keurig coffee maker. I wasted so much coffee with a regular pour over maker that I finally gave in a couple of years ago and now only brew cups of coffee when I want, with no waste, other than the pods. Which I tried the recyclable ones but that turned out to be just a sales gimmick.
All in all, I think we are balanced to a degree. We have what we need to make life comfortable without going overboard. Our old washer/dryer machines became so old that I couldn't get parts for them anymore so I replaced them with more energy efficient units a couple of years ago.
I most certainly remember the old Maytag wringer machine my late mother had when I was a kid and I have no desire to go back to those days. I'm good with a comfortable balance in the later days of my life.
Terrance, I can’t hang clothes outside, either, and have a drying rack indoors. Not great looking, and also fun to use.
I have a pulley clothesline that runs from my deck to the back fence. I stand on the deck and hang out a full load of laundry. It’s great!
Mmm…I’m a little jealous.
My wife also uses a fold up drying rack to get around the no clothesline issue. It works fine, inside or out. We do what we have to in this world to make things work.
Oh, I love this. My 14 year old car, my partially homemade wardrobe, my several pairs of resoled and re-heeled shoes, and my pantry storage that’s been in canning jars since decades before it was cool are right there with you. No Siri, no Alexa or Google Dot. I’ve never Doordashed or Grubhubbed or Lyfted though I think I once shared an Uber to get from an airport to a conference hotel. My household has a TV now because I am married to someone who loves TV, but from the late 1980s until about 8 years ago… nope. I’m not sure what streaming services we have or don’t, though I’m pretty sure we don’t currently have Netflix. I have an Instant Pot because my old pressure cooker lost the will to seal no matter how many times I replaced the gasket, but no air fryer, no toaster or toaster oven or countertop convection situation or any of that. I have a blender and a mixer and a 25-year-old food processor that gets a lot less use than my mortar and pestle. We have a cheapie microwave because it’s the quickest easiest way to reheat leftovers. I make my coffee in a stovetop moka pot and my tea in a lavender ceramic teapot and if I want cold brew of either one, I have quart jars. Some of my pillowcases are made from sheets that got worn enough to grow holes, but there was still plenty of good fabric. Many of my towels have been rehemmed when the edges started to fray because they were otherwise fine. I splurge here and there on certain things. Notebooks, the occasional high-end lipstick. I believe in buying good bras and good shoes and will pay for them because there are some things you don’t want to have let you down. If it’s an item that really matters to your life, I say cry once, buy the best and most durable version you can manage, and use it well.
Wonderful!
I don’t know how to use the TV. That’s my husband’s thing. I will not have one if he goes first.
We don’t eat out, so I have lots of kitchen appliances. A bread maker, since I make all our bread and have arthritis in my hands. The food processor I bought 35 years ago. Multiple instant pots, which I use many times each week. Good knives, also purchased decades ago. Lots of canning/dehydrating equipment.
I don’t have a coffee maker, a garbage disposal, or a TV. To me it’s not about minimalism per se, it’s about only spending time and money on things which make my life better.
That is exactly what it’s all about!
Paper towels! One month it just wasn’t in the budget so I used rags, and I’ve never looked back! I steal a handful here and there when I’m out and about and keep them in case of super-gross messes (piss poo or vomit) but rags and towels work for everything else! Just wash them!
It’s fun to think about what small luxuries we need and those we can skip. No Twitter or Instagram or Door Dash here, either, and my books come from the library. Clothes from resale shops, which gives me joy. I do eat out, which I consider my entertainment. And charitable giving is important to me.
I use my dishwasher to store my pots and pans. My splurge is a heated mattress pad that I use year round.
Whoa! I didn’t know this was a thing!
Yes it’s better than an electric blanket because it’s under the sheets.
LOL so, I just stayed in an Airbnb last month that had a bidet and I just don't get it. I'll never get it. And I won't spell out my poop schedule here but suffice to say, it happens before I take a shower 😆😆😆 As for frugality, ex-single mom over here. I was the queen of hashbrown casseroles!
The one thing I can't really do successfully in Canada that I could in Jamaica is hang my laundry. It's winter 8 months a year here. Anyway, I'm a renter and appliances are always included.
But … the 24/7 freshness!
But then you're all wet. Do you use a towel or what? It just sounds weird to me lol. I'm so basic 😆
It has a dryer. :)
Yes, I’m completely aware that I’m weird and inconsistent. Won’t put my sheets in the dryer, but my butt, sure!
(The bidet is especially nice for pre-menopausal women.)
LOL that reminds me of my homemade bidet after childbirth. A Gatorade squeeze bottle with warm water in it. 😆😆
That works! They gave me one after I gave birth! It works.
What type of bidet do you have? One that’s a fancy pants toilet seat or a stand alone? I’d love to get one but need to convince my husband.
Mine is an add-on. I absolutely love it!
You can dry clothes year round. I live in Canada and I had an outdoor clothesline for a decade that I used year-round. Things still dry in the winter, it just takes longer. In the winter, I would try to get stuff out on the line as early as possible and make sure I brought them in before dusk. At that point they were 98% dry. I would just drape them over everything for 20 minutes inside for the final dry and then put them away.
Lol where in Canada are you because in Calgary we drop down to -30s. Nothing would dry, it would just freeze.
I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the time. Not nearly as cold as Calgary but WAY higher humidity! Ever hear of freezer burn? That's food drying out in your deep freezer, even in a sealed plastic bag! I wouldn't be surprised that clothes would dry better in a Calgary Winter than in a Nova Scotia winter. Freezing and drying happen simultaneously. As I said, cold slows down the process but it doesn't stop it.
Hahaha well I won't be the one testing the theory. I wouldn't be able to touch wet clothes in -30.
Freeze-dried clothes! Like freeze-dried coffee!
Fair!
I do have roughly the standard number of appliances, and my husband likes streaming services so... what I tend to NOT have are gadgets. You know, the single purpose things that help you chop up a hard boiled egg, or the ground beef in your skillet, etc. Sure, they often only cost a few dollars, but my big issue is CLUTTER. I don't have a lot of storage OR counter space in the kitchen so that limits both gadgets and small appliances. It seems like every time I turn around I'm being marketed some new gadget or appliance that will make things just a bit easier, a bit more perfect. (The latest? Some sort of portable air fryer thing that attaches to the top of the container and cooks the food...I think.)
I miss having a clothes line. I've been thinking lately about seeing if I can install a retractable line from the deck to the shed. My husband hates line dried clothes though.
I am always encouraged by your success in living well with less, Michelle. I have been putting off retirement because subtracting a full time steady income from my bank account is going to leave me scraping a bit. But I’m up for the challenge when the time is right, and I appreciate all the tips I can get!
Almost exactly 10 years ago, my job as editor of a small daily paper came to an end when they laid off a bunch of us. I never found a good, steady job again after that. So all the things I’d learned as a SAHM came in handy. Unless this Substack blows up, I’m not likely to ever have money. So it goes. I know how to make the best of things.
It's nice (if you like your job) to seriously ponder staying beyond retirement age. It is a decision that will affect the rest of your life. The pandemic wiped out my job; I was 63. I had privilege for real when a neighbor got me on staff at her nonprofit company. The first year was ok, then it all went downhill. I couldn't wait to leave. So you are right; we have to live on WAY less income. I'm doing it and trusting God. I've always been frugal and have been thinking lately (about finances) "this is a challenge and I'm killing it!!"
However, I prefer now to think I'm being clever!! Thanks to Michelle!
I would have gladly kept working there until I died. Instead, I’m going this, Medium, books and freelance.
I hear you. There were ladies working at that nonprofit (it was an inner-city organization with multiple locations) who were in their 70's. I had planned to stay another year, but my mental health was suffering. I had to count the cost of leaving and just go. I was eligible for SS and Medicare already.
I hate what happened to local newspapers nationwide :(
Haven't had a television for...25 years. I don't watch (how the hell people have the time and patience to do that, I haven't a CLUE....) Busy living life!...I no longer have a breadmaker. I don't have a fancy mixer (one a very small one for pesto, etc.). I did just purchase a hand blender which I am finding I LOVE (for soups, smoothies, etc.).
Maybe it's the Chitown girly in me?
I have a very similar frugality to you. And, like your husband, I absolutely love making things out of what other people would throw away. I turned our old backyard fence into a beautiful rooftop garden!
I think my biggest frugality ever was that I lived without a fridge for over a decade. I had a deep freezer and I used a cooler for a fridge (a deep freezer uses about 1/3 the amount of electricity that a fridge does and, in my opinion, is much more useful and versatile) I have a long list of frugality but that one was definitely a peak!
I'm 61 and at this point I think my average annual income over my whole working life is not much over $10,000. I have never been homeless, hungry or without friends. I am very grateful that I have been able to have a good life in this fashion but I always feel there is one EXTREMELY important aspect of my life that I never shy away from. CHOICE! I have always chosen to live the way I live. The vast majority of people who live in poverty did not choose that. To me, it is obvious and understandable why someone who grew up poor would not make these choices. Or even someone who didn't grow up poor but because of our shitty politics has never been able to reach any level of financial security. There is just no comparison between choosing something and being forced into something. This is why I feel strongly that inequality is likely the tap root cause of a vast majority of our problems. Capitalism and focus on growth depend on consumption. Climate change and environmental destruction is caused by excess consumption. And people are not going to either stop excess consumption or stop trying to get to a position where they can engage in excess consumption as long as such a huge amount of people with limited choice have to live surrounded by extreme materialism.
Absolutely agree that inequality is at the root of many problems, which is why I focus on it.
I’d love to see pics of your garden!
Sadly, one cannot share pictures here in the comments. Basically, I made High planter boxes out of scrap wood in which I put Rubbermaid containers to grow things in.
This post really resonated with me (almost 39 yo Brit here). The husband and I quite happily live without Netflix or live TV service (anything I want to watch on TV I just watch online via the relevant channel's catch up site - BBC IPlayer rules, lol!). I'm a keen gardener and grew up with family who always grew a lot of veg and fruit, so even in our (much smaller than theirs) garden I grow beans, leeks, beetroot, salad leaves, raspberries, strawberries, and have several fruit trees. There is literally nothing more decadent than picking eating your own fresh strawberries with cream...
Our washing machine has a dryer function, but I cannot remember the last time we used it - it's mainly just there as an emergency if an item of clothing was needed clean and dry asap. Otherwise we are air dryer people - our electricity bill thanks us!
I find myself more and more longing for the simpler days before smartphones... Remember the old Nokia bricks? Endless battery life, and all you could do was call or text... Bliss...
I have little space that’s sunny enough but many things I grow are connected with a memory.
I planted a Montmorency cherry tree to commemorate my sister because we had such a tree growing up and I have many memories of us picking and pitting the fruit. I still haven’t gotten a cherry from it but am hoping next year. I’ll definitely cry as I eat them from the tree.
I love this, I really hope you do get some cherries soon. I did something similar a few years ago and planted a little cordon-trained apple tree of the 'Sunset' variety (small eating apple related to the Cox's Orange Pippin) in memory of my dear late Grandma and the beautiful Sunset tree she had in her garden. She used to send me off to university with box-loads of these small, sweet apples, and I'd share them with my housemates. The first time I had fruit on it and tasted it I definitely shed a few tears. It's amazing how strongly the sense of taste can prompt memories! x