Hello from London, England

[Ogriv]

Hi there
I first read 'your money or your life' when I was about 24... and I knew it was meaningful. Now I'm 40 and I'm only now ready to really make those changes. I guess I've always had the same values, but my relationship with myself and society was such that I couldn't live by them until now. :treadmill:

Anyhow, good to join you all.

PS Does anyone know of any Voluntary Simplicity movement here in London?

Cheers
Ogriv

[Tussiemussies]

Hi Ogriv,

So nice to have you here! Think you will really find here a lot of people that are following the principles from the book you read. Don't know of any group in England -- maybe someone else will know...

Chris

[try2bfrugal]

Welcome, Ogriv. I also read the YMOYL book quite some time before we really took the message to heart.

[fidgiegirl]

Welcome, Ogriv, jump right in.

What would you say is speaking to you most loudly from YMOYL?

[razz]

:welcome:
We all come to SL when we are ready and you at the age to gain great benefit.
Some of the sites in Britain and info about SL type of projects have been at http://www.resilience.org/ You might want to explore there as well.

[SteveinMN]

Hello! I'm looking forward to seeing more posts from you.

[Tradd]

Hello, Og!

[puglogic]

Welcome, Ogriv! You are fortunate...I did not read YMOYL until I was 40 or even older. I am glad you are here.

[Ogriv]

Thanks very much for the link to the Resilience site - it might help me find likeminded people over here.

[Ogriv]

Hi there fidgiegirl
I think it's the idea that I could spend time doing stuff I believe in rather than waiting to see if someone will pay me to do it for a living. That is, we can become activists or crafters or comedians or whatever in our spare time and that might actually be more important to our identity than what we do for work. And also the hope of spending less time at work if one does not need to finance a shopping habit.

[Ogriv]

... and also I'm really really interested in what kinds of pastimes we might all find that can give us whatever shopping gave us. I sometimes think that shopping for things can be part of a yearning for creativity and individuality... how might we as individuals make the move towards more creativity and individuality with the experiences we have and the things we do?

[sweetana3]

I don't know of any movement in London but I read a fantastic simple living blog out of Cornwall. http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/

I think you would enjoy it. She and her husband had bought a gorgeous home but then wanted out and could not qualify for a lower interest loan. They had over 45,000 pounds of consumer debt. They changed their lifestyle and paid it off and she explains how to do it.

They have just now sold up the old huge home and are moving to a tiny house that will allow savings and retirement. Lots of ideas.

[Ogriv]

Thanks, sweetana.

That sounds good - I'm going to check it out now!

Sandra

[Selah]

Hi, Ogriv! I lived in London for several years as a student, and it can be challenging to live simply in one of the most exciting and interesting cities in the world! YMOYL had a huge impact on me, too, especially the part about calculating my real hourly wage and what type of life energy I was "spending" to have that cash. Ms. Jack Monroe, of Southend, has a great blog, too, on frugal eating, as well as exceedingly incisive analysis about poverty in "Austerity Britain." Welcome!

[try2bfrugal]

... and also I'm really really interested in what kinds of pastimes we might all find that can give us whatever shopping gave us. I sometimes think that shopping for things can be part of a yearning for creativity and individuality... how might we as individuals make the move towards more creativity and individuality with the experiences we have and the things we do?

I sometimes wonder if the shopping bug was left over from successful hunter gatherers. I don't really like shopping so maybe my family would have starved in another era if they had to rely on my gathering skills for food. :)

I did give up mineral collecting because of the expense and clutter. I still collect books but I buy them cheap mostly at library sales, and most of them have to do with topics that save money - cook books to make interesting food at home, container gardening, investing, and simple living. I sell them when I am done so it is a pretty much a net zero cost hobby.

My main creative hobby is trying to have a fun and sustainable life without spending a lot of money, and trying to find ways to replace all the commercial products we used to use and buy with things that are free, inexpensive, resuseable, home made, and/or tax payer supported (gardens, parks and libraries).

[Ogriv]

Hi Selah - London's my home city and I've never had lots of money, but I've had to be even more frugal since I started doing a PhD these last few years (one year left). I hear the cost of living has rocketed in Israel...

try2bfrugal - yes, I've thought that we must have inherited the urge from the hunter-gatherers too. I think the actual shopping urge can partly be replaced by being clever and thrifty as that's still about gathering and using resources wisely.
But what the shopping objects give us - e.g. home decor; clothing.... we can probably achieve the same feelings by making things ourselves.

I think there's another hobby thread elsewhere, so I won't say too much here, other than that I enjoy hula-hooping and walking; and am about to get back into improv which I used to do obsessively.

[try2bfrugal]

try2bfrugal - yes, I've thought that we must have inherited the urge from the hunter-gatherers too. I think the actual shopping urge can partly be replaced by being clever and thrifty as that's still about gathering and using resources wisely.
But what the shopping objects give us - e.g. home decor; clothing.... we can probably achieve the same feelings by making things ourselves.

I think there's another hobby thread elsewhere, so I won't say too much here, other than that I enjoy hula-hooping and walking; and am about to get back into improv which I used to do obsessively.

The home decor topic is interesting. One kiddo is a photographer. At his work place they blew up his photos and had them framed for wall art. I'm his mom - why didn't I think to do that at our house? I am just way too used to going out and buying everything we need.

For clothes I grew sewing most of my own clothes. Even coats, business suits, button down shirts and purses. I really lost touch with all that when I started working full time. I have been thinking of getting back into that.

[Marion]

Hi Ogriv,
I live in Paris but I've always dreamed of settling down in London someday :)
Looking forward to reading your posts.
Marion