LIMITS:
Personal
Ohli and I in Nepal
I've had a long break from being financially independent, and now its a strange feeling, not really knowing how to get back into something that used to be so normal to me pre-motherhood. I have very different limits now to what I can do to bring more money into my life. Remembering that my first priority will always be taking care of my son, I would like to consider this carefully before designing any work that will negatively impact my family life.
I also find that by not having a consistent base, and moving quite regularly it can be challenging to build up a network of contacts and work possibilities. Regularly coming into new situations, cultures, languages and environments I don't know creates some clear boundaries to exist within when thinking about work. When I do travel I usually do so without needing or spending much money, and instead move by work exchange and volunteering. Although this is a wonderful way to travel, and has completely opened up the world for me, I would like to be able to balance this with creating an income that could now support us financially.
If I choose to keep living this way then I would like to develop an income stream that will fit into this lifestyle and thrive on this influx of new environments. I do think this is possible, as well as this being a boundary this can also be a resource, possible linking into fair trade connections. (This also links in with plans for my project 4, although this is more of a long term plan as I still need to raise some start up funds.) I'll explore this more in the helps section.
I also find that by not having a consistent base, and moving quite regularly it can be challenging to build up a network of contacts and work possibilities. Regularly coming into new situations, cultures, languages and environments I don't know creates some clear boundaries to exist within when thinking about work. When I do travel I usually do so without needing or spending much money, and instead move by work exchange and volunteering. Although this is a wonderful way to travel, and has completely opened up the world for me, I would like to be able to balance this with creating an income that could now support us financially.
If I choose to keep living this way then I would like to develop an income stream that will fit into this lifestyle and thrive on this influx of new environments. I do think this is possible, as well as this being a boundary this can also be a resource, possible linking into fair trade connections. (This also links in with plans for my project 4, although this is more of a long term plan as I still need to raise some start up funds.) I'll explore this more in the helps section.
Social/cultural
I feel that the society that we live in here in the West makes it very challenging to live on a very small amount of money. I know it is possible to live cheaply, I've never had a great deal of money and have always found ways to manage, but to do this I have lived on waste food from skips thrown out from shopping centres, I very, very rarely buy anything that's not already second hand, and I take care of it as well as I can so that I can then sell it on again to buy whatever next it is I am needing. But just occasionally I find myself in the high street of a city, as I did last week (looking for my bank to pay in some earnings - easy to spot as its the biggest, shiniest building on the most expensive street in town... just why is that, I wonder?) and I notice that there are a huge amount of people carrying around multiple shopping bags from all the clothes stores around them.
The survival of our capitalist, consumerist culture depends on us buying and spending increasingly more. And this whole system of great abundance is for a select few, and is based upon unfair distribution of resources, unfair controls of standards of living and work, and unfair trade agreements. If this system could be redesigned using permaculture ethics and principles, it could create fair trade working systems that would benefit everybody involved, and create sustainable cycles that would thrive and last.
I feel that the society that we live in here in the West makes it very challenging to live on a very small amount of money. I know it is possible to live cheaply, I've never had a great deal of money and have always found ways to manage, but to do this I have lived on waste food from skips thrown out from shopping centres, I very, very rarely buy anything that's not already second hand, and I take care of it as well as I can so that I can then sell it on again to buy whatever next it is I am needing. But just occasionally I find myself in the high street of a city, as I did last week (looking for my bank to pay in some earnings - easy to spot as its the biggest, shiniest building on the most expensive street in town... just why is that, I wonder?) and I notice that there are a huge amount of people carrying around multiple shopping bags from all the clothes stores around them.
The survival of our capitalist, consumerist culture depends on us buying and spending increasingly more. And this whole system of great abundance is for a select few, and is based upon unfair distribution of resources, unfair controls of standards of living and work, and unfair trade agreements. If this system could be redesigned using permaculture ethics and principles, it could create fair trade working systems that would benefit everybody involved, and create sustainable cycles that would thrive and last.
The limitations of mainstream banking
I thought that it could be really beneficial for me to look into the 'nature' of banking (although they feel very much the wrong words to use together) and gain a better understanding of what is going on with my money, and generally all the money in our society. I have a feeling that this may help me to feel motivated to make some changes within my borrowing and spending habits.
I have collected together a range of documentaries based around finance and banking to try and accomplish this goal. As I work my way through them, I have to say some of this is pretty hard to get my head completely around, I have needed to watch some several times to fully grasp the ideas here. I've also found some of it to be quite dark. Some of these documentaries show very clearly how the current monetary system we are in has been created to serve only the very privileged few, and how unlikely it is that they may ever want to let go of that power.
I've spent quite some time writing about this in much more detail, you can find that writing on a separate page, follow the snail link below. I've also made a separate page with all of the links and descriptions of all the movies I've been watching. You can find those at the other link, see the dollar, also below. Some of the films are related to banking, some more on debt and the way it circulates around the world. They are all truly interesting, and I could talk for hours about the way they have made me feel. Better you just watch them if you can.
I have collected together a range of documentaries based around finance and banking to try and accomplish this goal. As I work my way through them, I have to say some of this is pretty hard to get my head completely around, I have needed to watch some several times to fully grasp the ideas here. I've also found some of it to be quite dark. Some of these documentaries show very clearly how the current monetary system we are in has been created to serve only the very privileged few, and how unlikely it is that they may ever want to let go of that power.
I've spent quite some time writing about this in much more detail, you can find that writing on a separate page, follow the snail link below. I've also made a separate page with all of the links and descriptions of all the movies I've been watching. You can find those at the other link, see the dollar, also below. Some of the films are related to banking, some more on debt and the way it circulates around the world. They are all truly interesting, and I could talk for hours about the way they have made me feel. Better you just watch them if you can.
ACTION:
I've transferred my bank accounts from Natwest to the Co-operative bank. Whilst Natwest has no transparent ethical policy on their investments, the Co-operative only invest their money in ethical ways, much the same as Triodos, who Oriol banks with. You can find more information on both of these below.
http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/
http://www.triodos.co.uk/
http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/
http://www.triodos.co.uk/
PRINCIPLES:
Limits to consumption (Fair shares)
Looking at my pattern of spending more than I have, the Fair shares ethic of permaculture echoes in my head. Setting limits to consumption - do I really need to be spending the money that I am? I'm sure that the answer is no. The true cost of the purchases I make is rarely reflected in the price that I pay, as further down the line others often pay by environmental degradation, poor working standards, resource depletion..
I'd like to also bring in the wisdom of the principle of catch and store energy here, as this applies very well to saving money for the times that it is needed more. Stopping before that purchase - do I really need this, and could I save this money for a time when it will be used for a greater benefit?
I'd like to also bring in the wisdom of the principle of catch and store energy here, as this applies very well to saving money for the times that it is needed more. Stopping before that purchase - do I really need this, and could I save this money for a time when it will be used for a greater benefit?
ACTION:
I started to keep a rough diary of the things I was spending money on, and found that I was spending a lot of money on food by buying things at the last minute from local, higher priced stores. I started making a menu plan for the week, which brought these costs down. I started putting more energy into skipping food whenever I had the opportunity, and also started volunteering on a local community allotment where I exchanged a few hours work for some organic veg.
move onto the next page here