Self-Sufficiency in Style
going for broke
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Self-Sufficiency in Style going for broke
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What if we have no money at all?
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Well it's simply not as bad as it seems.
The truth is that you don't need to have vast reserves of capital to make a self sufficient life. Energy and intelligence are of much more importance - and it can actually be an advantage to be broke. |
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Ah! The reader can be heard saying, "It's alright for him, he has a lovely cottage in an idyllic location..." That is all true, of course, but it is far from being the whole truth. There are many situations where a lack of funds can be an advantage and self-sufficiency is all about making the best of your lot, not grizzling about it. People who have a lot of the world's wealth become very conservative and protective about what they own. They are hardly likely to throw away an affluent lifestyle for a few acres of mud in the back-of-beyond....which is simply another way of looking at a cottage set in a rural location. It is all a question of what you want in life. You, who presumably have little in the way of assets, have little to
lose. You can afford to be adventurous. |
The worst business dispute the writer was ever involved in was with a man with no money. The writer lost, not because his cause was wrong, but because circumstances meant that he was bearing all the risks and expense; his opponent had nothing...
and it did not reach Court for that reason. But the writer didn't really lose - he learned something too - A man or woman with no money can take enormous risks, they have nothing to lose. |
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Even a
bad back can be an opportunity |
Modern
society gives many situations that lead to lifestyle destruction coupled
with a lack of cash:
Marriage breakdown, Early redundancy, Ill health are obvious examples. All are tricky and unpleasant situations, but all can provide an opportunity to create a new and exciting life from the embers of the old. |
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a start, you don't need to buy a house. You can rent one. It is an obvious
statement, but not something that occurs to everyone.
There is nothing wrong with renting. The writer, in his time, has been both landlord and tenant: both at the same time. This does shows a distressing lack of organisation, he will admit. |
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Quite a cosy option. |
In fact, you don't even need a
house. The writer once spent much of a winter in the Welsh mountains in a
tiny caravan with his wife. It was fine.
True, it is not the ideal place to bring up a tribe of small children, although they might enjoy the experience, but for a couple living undemandingly and sensibly, it is perfectly satisfactory. Mrs P enjoyed the absence of housework. A caravan or mobile home might well suit someone less than 100 percent fit and mobile. |
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You could renovate an existing building, convert a barn or even build a
new house.
You can look at situations unattractive for families but comfortable for you. All these are ways of making a little money go a lot further. |
Working your passage |
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Lack of funds may not be the disadvantage you had thought. Inheritance offers more ideas. Finding a Place might help and Income may answer more questions. |
You can rent the land.
There are lots of situations where a farmer or landowner does not want to sell, but is happy to rent land to reliable people. They want someone nice living next door and don't want to relinquish all control by selling. Land needs looking after and can't just be abandoned. It may be quite possible to obtain the use of small parcels for quite nominal sums, or in exchange for some small maintenance services and peace of mind to the owner. |
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"a few acres of mud in the back-of-beyond." one way of describing the impossibly named Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner. |
