Selfsufficientish.com

Saw this on another site. Thought it was quite interesting, although difficult to do unless you live in a city and have the sort of job that gives you the opportunity for the free lunches and things. Which somehow strikes me as really weird.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/601 ... d-loves-it

Seems a bit strange to me, and for a whole year too...She must have some will power! I have had about that amount a day in the past, and it was not easy

I think you're right about it being more applicable in a bigger place, she talks about going to art galleries & such like for the free buffet (not sure I could live off the kind of food normally on offer for free).

And if you have to pay for any transport costs, it would be hard not to spend more than a pound a day, just on that...

Picking up loose change was interesting, over £100 in the year (mind you, my husband picked up a £10 note recently )

She's obviously got some guts, Iwouldn't go hitchhiking alone , even though my mum used to do it back in the sixties.

I read that article a while back - she's got a book out now hasn't she?

It's probably a lot easier for a single city person to do it than one with dependants. I'd love to be able to live on a pound a day but the animals cost £3 a day as it is and then there's me, hubby and baby!

I saw her interviewed on the tv. The one thing she didn't say was how much food she had in the larder to start with. I bet I could make the contents of my freezer last at least a month if I tried hard. It might get a bit boring after a while.
Also, her rent and utilities weren't included. It would be a much better test to see how little you could live on if you included your heating and lighting.

Zoe

I do think it's easier to be frugal when one is alone. Otherwise, there is always the urge to get that someone "just that little/certain something". It threatens the frugal intentions. I think the adage about two living as cheaply as one would take much discipline.

This wasn't a new item - last month I think, but even though it's a bit dubious it still got me a bit riled.

I know she paid her rent and utilities in advance - no idea what food she had in but she obviously spent more than a pound but made it last. She did say it got a bit boring!

I think what flummoxed me most was that I had the notion that working at home (shop at other end of corridor), growing many of my own veg etc, only shopping once a month (with a pretty fixed budget), making any cakes and treat type stuff (which to be honest means we don't get them often) and socialising within the village (no more taxis home etc) and it turns out I could live cheaper in a city where just about everything is drafted in!

Hey ho, good job cheaper is not my reason for being here eh!

She started with a drunken bet. It was a bit of a lark for her, according to the article.

Being self-sufficient is based on principles, not trying to see how much one can get away with.

All types and sorts are being promoted these days. There's a lot of getting-fever around: those who want to "get" customers, and those who want to "get" what they can.

GreenAura, I'm sure I'd rather read a book you write about your journey in life!

Green Aura wrote:This wasn't a new item - last month I think, but even though it's a bit dubious it still got me a bit riled.

I know she paid her rent and utilities in advance - no idea what food she had in but she obviously spent more than a pound but made it last. She did say it got a bit boring!

I think what flummoxed me most was that I had the notion that working at home (shop at other end of corridor), growing many of my own veg etc, only shopping once a month (with a pretty fixed budget), making any cakes and treat type stuff (which to be honest means we don't get them often) and socialising within the village (no more taxis home etc) and it turns out I could live cheaper in a city where just about everything is drafted in!

Hey ho, good job cheaper is not my reason for being here eh!

I agree - if you take off utilities and rent/mortgage and B****y council tax - it might be do able for one - but I think its possible in a small town too - just not sustainable really. It would only cover food and very basics - atr galleries would be replaced by long walks for example.
Clothing would be out of the question - and what of personal toiletries? Not cheap and have you seen the prices Oxfam are charging in the cities?

She might have managed on only a pound a day excluding bills but by eating other people's food and using other people's petrol all she did was transfer her cost of living to somebody else! I thought the whole point of living a self sufficient lifestyle was sharing what we have with other people so we can all gain the benefits!

You're absolutely right - she paid for everything in advance and then freeloaded as much as possible. Not much of an achievement really - except in blagging maybe. Now she wants people to reward her by buying her book! I don't think so.

It would be a real challenge to see just how little someone could live on - but the only thing which can really be cut back on are consumables and entertainment etc. We have (I feel) little control over other elements of spending - rent/ mortgage etc - unless we downsize or live in a yurt!
Tempting though - once the teenagers have gone...........

Invisiblepiper, I think the downsizing is a great idea. It amazes me how easy it is to collect things.

I'm in the process of going thru every room, every nook and cranny, and cleaning out. Am taking books to church libraries, giving household items to neighbors, etc. I need breathing space.

I sometimes look longingly at the travel trailers some folks live in full time. There's absolutely no room to collect anything in them.

LBR wrote: I'm in the process of going thru every room, every nook and cranny, and cleaning out.

When you've finished, could you come over and clean out my house?

But hands off the books!!! And I do need all those empty jam jars!!!!!!!

Ina - I can identify with that comment - me next!!!!!

LBR - Is Andrew Jackson your local candidate?

Ina, and InvisiblePiper, I'd love to come visit you all in Scotland. But, downsizing does, indeed, mean taking books out of the house. And I have been giving jars away. I fill them with good stuff and give them to a very sweet man. (They usually get PG Tips in them, which I buy at an East Indian shop.)

I actually mostly like the way my kitchen looks now. Am working on the bookshelves. My goal is to have all the books on shelves, and no more books on the floor, or stacked on top of my desk because there's no room on the shelves.

InvisiblePiper, I wish Andrew Jackson were a local candidate; local, as in up for re-election! Mr. Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. In 1832, he stopped the bankers from ruining America. Not, only did he veto the private bankers, he was re-elected! The bankers didn't give up, though. In 1910, the bankers then created the Federal Reserve Bank, and have been controlling everything for a hundred years now. More info on Pres. Jackson here: http://www.thehermitage.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=92