What Can I Live Without?

One of the things Dan and I have been working toward in our homesteading is how to live with less money. While most people are investing furiously for their future retirement, we figured out a long time ago that this wasn’t a reality for us. We’ve always lived paycheck to paycheck on a modest income, because we didn’t want to sacrifice family in pursuit of wealth. We knew it would mean a lean “retirement” for us, with less money than our modest working income had provided, but we’ve been okay with that. The question was, how do we plan for it? The answer is to learn to live within whatever means we can manage by doing more for ourselves and relying less on the consumer system.

What have we done to work toward that goal? We’ve made upgrades and repairs to the house while learning to live with less electricity. We’ve learned to grow more of our food while making changes to our diet. We’ve worked to get our homestead infrastructure in place while we still had money for tools and materials. We’ve learned to ask, “do we really need that thing?” “Is there another way to accomplish the same goal?” And we’ve invested in low-tech equipment while learning how to use that equipment. For the most part, we seemed pretty much on track.

Then Dan had his accident. Long story short, “retirement” is now upon us several years earlier than we planned, and we suddenly find ourselves face to face with our new normal. Last month social security kicked in, so we have a new income level to adjust to. We’ve taken a hard look at our old budget to determine how we can adapt it. Can we cut back on utilities more than we have? Food budget? Phone? Internet? Do we really need two vehicles? What is a necessity and what can we live without?

When my computer’s hard drive died last yearI thought long and hard about whether or not we really needed one. Cutting out internet would certainly save quite a bit each month, but it’s also a valuable research tool. My old laptop came to the immediate rescue and eventually I was able to install a new hard drive in my desktop at a huge savings compared to buying a new computer. Then the view screen on my digital camera went out. But the view finder still works, and I can live with that. Now my 30-something-year-old washing machine is beginning to whine and I wonder how much longer we can keep nursing it along.

Keeping a little savings set aside is a need to consider for unexpected emergencies such as a dead washing machine or car repairs, and for expected expenses such as new eyeglasses from time to time. One savings is no longer having Dan’s work related expenses. Few people think about it, but having a job costs money: work clothes and shoes, transportation, meals, work related tools and equipment, and for many people, childcare. Have you ever stopped to consider how much it costs you to keep your job?

Also on the savings side is that the goats mostly pay for themselves. That’s a plus. The kids going to new homes next month will pay for whatever feed and supplies we can’t grow for ourselves this year. Another plus is the royalties from my books. Dan and I agreed to designate that money for “extras.” Long ago we heeded the advice to adjust our lifestyle to our primary income. That philosophy has served us very well. Too often couples take on a second income “just until thus-and-such is obtained or paid off.” The problem is that once that second income finds its way into the family lifestyle stream, it’s very difficult to go back. In our case, the book money is extremely variable. When we have it, we use it buy materials for projects and equipment.

I suppose most folks pin their hopes on their retirement investments, without keeping in mind that there is no guarantee on these. I remember my high school history teacher telling us that the Great Depression could never be repeated, because we had learned our lesson. Well, that generation learned the lesson, but the problem is that generational lessons never get passed on. What parent hasn’t lamented that their kids have to learn lessons they themselves had to learn as youngsters.

I have never second-guessed the decisions we have made and where they have brought us now. I have been tempted to worry: what if this happens? or what if that happens? But I have to agree with what I once heard, that worrying is like paying interest on a debt you don’t owe. The result is only more worrying, fretting, and discontent. The answer to it is always thankfulness. Because one can’t be thankful and worry at the same time. The result of thankfulness is contentment. Considering that no one can control the future anyway, I’d rather live with that.