[I_Like_Plants]

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/chartier6.html

Very very good observations here.

[smallpoxgirl]

Freaking brilliant! I love it!

[I_Like_Plants]

A very very tiny minority of the population has come to these conclusions, a few outliers like George Orwell, Thoreau, etc., but most just stick to the treadmill and work themselves to death.

[deMolay]

Here is a story of a woman who lives like a nomad in a VW camper. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/LivingInaVWvanagon.html

[Ludi]

I think reducing our need to earn (frugality and simplicity) is vital to being able to transition to a low energy way of life. Increased leisure, I hope, will be one of the results. Possibly not, though, as we may end up having to "slave in the fields."

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ere is a story of a woman who lives like a nomad in a VW camper. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/LivingInaVWvanagon.html

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ere is a story of a woman who lives like a nomad in a VW camper. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/LivingInaVWvanagon.html

[I_Like_Plants]

I agree because it presupposes you have a VW camper, van, etc. And that's expensive! And that lady is also a 20+ year retiree from the post office, she's probably getting a few grand a month - at least a couple.

I'd rather be back in the Bay Area with my music, sketching, etc skills together, renting a room for $500 a month and able to go all over, and make money having fun at the farmers' markets every day, than chugging all over the place in a breakdown-prone van.

[Revi]

I think I'd like to be a trader of some sort after I "retire" or my job disappears. I like bartering and I think it would be fun to do that. We'll see. We may all be "bums" soon enough. I figure the whole regular job thing will go away in a couple of years anyway.

[I_Like_Plants]

Yeah, I'm hoping to be capable of being nomadic, and making decent coin with skills that are NOT routine. The average person can't draw a face, or play a tune. But, I seem to have these skills/interests, so, well, somebody has to do it...

But when all's said and done, just being where you are, and trading stuff, growing what you can, etc can work out too.

[perdition79]

Plants, read a book called 'down and out in paris and london' by Orwell. I read it in college, it's about a guy forced into temporary poverty and becomes a bum.

[vision-master]

I lived in a van for 6 Months once - during the winter I might add. That's when I learned what black ice is and how to stand up in a horizontal position.

[Ebyss]

For the ultimate is frugal living (and EASY living) y'all gotta read Possum Living by Dolly Freed : Free online copy

It is short and sweet but absolutely packed full of advice on how to live, and live well, like a lazy bum for very little money.

[katkinkate]

I was thinking of becoming a vagrant for a little while. I'm quitting my job soon probably anyway and I was going to buy a second hand van turned into a camper van and travel a bit while I still can. Then buy a small piece of land somewhere and live in the van til I can get a house built or moved onto the land. I'm a bit scared of doing it though. It's a huge change in lifestyle and I'm not 100% sure I'd survive it. I'll probably end up running back to Brisbane and begging for my job back. But I've been joking for years that I want to quit my current life and live as a beach bum.

[lawnchair]

The anti-consumer in me is cynically very much in favor of Huckabee's "FairTax". Yes, it's regressive as hell. It concentrates wealth like nothing else. It would crash the economy as we know it. But...

It strongly tips the balance toward re-use over purchases. Havana-style cars, patched clothing, re-heeled shoes.

It tips the line further toward barter. "Can you help with my plumbing? I'll bake you bread."

People who can live like Dolly Freed (above, part inspiration for my avatar) can make out like bandits. Out here in rural Kansas, you can get non-trailer houses with garden space for $15,000. It should, with reasonable amounts of self-sufficiency, community, barter, and odd jobs be entirely possible to live on the "prebate". Eventually, they'll kick a non-working healthy childfree guy like me off of welfare. The prebate just keeps coming. Drop out and live!

So, thank you for the suggestion Rev. Huckabee. Hallelujah, I'm a bum!

[vision-master]

Tune in, turn on and drop out!

[frankthetank]

Vision-

In MSP you lived in a van? You're nuts! Those guys in that homeless park must be cold this winter.

[BigTex]

I lived in an RV off and on for a year or so when I was younger. It's awesome. The only problem is your neighbors can be a little rough around the edges.