National downshifting week

[mimififi]

Hi there

Just wondered if anyone out here has done the fasionable 'downshifting' thing and what are your experiences?

Apparently it is coined "Voluntary simplicity" and NOT poverty.

So anyone done it, or anyone wanna?

love
mimi

[ashblonde]

i allways put my rubbish in the dust bin!

[saxy_jag]

In which case I have been voluntarily simple for most of my working life.

[naz_nomad]

I think people that invent words like 'downshift' should upshut

[crete]

am i the only one who is totally perplexed by this question ?

[Scarlett]

Well I plan to do it next year.
I am going to get rid of all my junk, hoarded over years and years, and rent my house out, and live like a student again, in a shared house. I find that I have no life cos all I do is work, in order to pay my mortgage and bills. I am never in the black, and all I have to show for it is a house. I am wasting my life in a job I hate, and so the only way to change this is to give up the job, and give up everything I am having to pay for.
I will be voluntarily living on the bread line!

[dot.hawkes]

so what you mean is a poor mans minimalism , instead of a large room with a plasma screen TV and large leather chestefield being the only furniture, you mean a chess board on an orange crate and a deck chair.

[twain11]

Just be a good, honest, hardworking British citizen, then you will know what it feels like to be really downshafted.

[orange-gnome]

Sounds interesting Scarlett! Hope you enjoy it!

I am with you 100% twain11 !!

[mimififi]

i would love to do it. give up life as a city wife, spend more time with my husband. Live in a much smaller house, spend more time having fun, grow my own stuff and be as self sufficient as poss....

only problem is, buying a run down cottage in order to be self reliant is so blooming expensive!!!!!

[shaneystar2]

It needn't be expensive ...we downshifted from London to the Norfolk coast ...alright we made a handsome profit on our London house ..but decided to take early retirement and stop lining the Chancellors pockets and chasing money until our sixties and dropping dead from exhaustion.
We have a bigger house and garden ..time to "grow our own" and pursue other interests and hobbies .We do not have a huge income any more and what we have saved is for our old age and our children.We manage on what we have and don't feel the need to have tall the latest gizmos and fads.
If anyone can opt out of the ratrace by whatever means then good luck to them.

[alijangra]

Nah sorry I love having a big house, fancy car and big plasma screen, eating out and drinking fine wine. I must be a bad person.

[mimififi]

Then I guess we'd live in a much cleaner, more energy efficient less capatalistic society. And anyway, everyone wouldn't adopt this lifestyle as the post above yours shows. Which is fine. It's a free country (for now!)

[WendyS]

I'm afraid that now I've retired Gordon Brown and his tax regime are ensuring that I'm downshifting in my spending habits, whether I want to or not.

So it's probably just as well that we've always been financially prudent in terms of not wanting to live "the high life", growing our own vegetables, cooking meals from scratch rather than buying expensive ready-made supermarket meals, being happy to buy clothes from charity shops, etc.

If you're interested in this topic, do try and read "Hovel in the Hills" and "Garden in the Hills" by Elizabeth West. They're about a couple who downsized & did the Good Life up in the Welsh hills, living outside the ocnventional system. . They were published around 1990 so may be hard to get now, but are very enjoyable reading about their experiences.

[gordyagusta]

Downshifting...?? never heard of 'it' until reading your question, but its made me aware that this is something i have been doing for the last 4 years since I split with my ex, I was with her for 18 years. Now.. no mortgage- I'm happy renting. Car.?.. paid in full. No major loans or debts, no HP everything i have i own... I'm not that superficial where i feel the need to express myself through what top end of the market goodies i own... HD tv's... Laser this... wifi that .... I got a TV, DVD HIFI, CD Player, PS2, PC, etc etc...they mean nothing to me, purely entertainment when nothing else real is happening to attract my attention. I gave up watching TV, reading newspapers, etc...I'm earning more now than i ever was while i was with my ex, now I got the freedom to go where I want, when I want and with whom I want... I recently got told by a palm reader (not something I tend to believe in) that my life was 'simple and easy' and on reflection I can understand what they mean.... Cut all the cr*p from your life, all the daily ties that endure you to the hamster wheel that is everyday life for most people.. it is possible to exist along side these people and not feel as though you are being dragged into the quagmire that is their ho hum life styles.... I think downshifting is the wrong name for such an approch to things... more like parallel living...

[mimififi]

oh that's ok Mdoo98, I didn't mean to come across as curt as it sounded. I wasn't attacking you.

Wouldn't it be lovely if noone took any finance and we all saved up for he things we wanted/needed or helped each other out when the chips were down. We could run those finance sharks who charge 13% interest outa town, Ye Hah!