Downshifting
Were you aware that this is officially ? Do you care? Tracey Smith does. She is passionate about downshifting, and told us all about it in her Guerilla Report.
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( I didn't post this during the programme as I like to hang on every word, although I missed Will Self's very funny remark as my washing machine switched to loud spin at preCISely the moment he made it. But I digress before I have started..)
Complain about this postDownsizing, it's wonderful, we did it for years. As teachers with a mortgage & 2 young children,we ate home-grown stuff, lurked in charity shops for clothes, books & christmas presents, drove old bangers, rushed around through 45- hour weeks, cubs, piano lessons & seeing friends & relatives, camped in Cornwall.
A couple of promotions & Teacher's pay deals later, we were able to complete 25 years of mortgage & help the children through Uni, (the Full Grant rug that had enabled us to qualify for our glittering careers having been pulled from beneath them.) Tired of the rush, the Ofsted inspections & one neighbour, we decided to downsize, sold the owner-occupied- village-3-bed for what seemed like a lifetime of teacher's salaries & retired early.
We still eat home-grown stuff, but have French wine to drink with it. We buy new clothes occasionally. This year we got a digital camera, a new computer with broadband & an i-pod. ( & so I know, Fi, that if I download Dexy's Midnight Runners I will be offered the 'Artwork' & be able to view the photograph.) At the end of the month, a new car arrives - well I have had mine for 15 years, & we are starting to plan trips to the 10 Places I Have To See, Grand Canyon, Sydney Harbour, etc, which we will do with clear consciences as we are starting from carbon footprints of smaller than startrite proportions.
Downshifting? Highly recommended!
ps. I still buy 2nd hand books.
Fantastic to hear the passionate Tracey Smith, what an inspiration.
Complain about this postThe article in this weeks Saturday Live about the rich middle class family trying to live like poor pensioners, is chillingly reminiscent of late 1970's Britain....(remember "The Good Life"). Are these people researching poor lifestyles, simply acting as the storm troopers for the next wave of right wing ideology or the New Thatcherism? will "death to the welfare state" "abject poverty to the poor" follow this downshifting? I suppose one beneficial side effect will be that once most of the poor are dead it will lessen global warming slightly. Its just the jolly hockey sticks attitude these people employ that galls me. Just like their grand parents today's middle class English have yet again failed to lift the UK out of economic decline. So now they all want to run away or 'downshift' and hide.
But how does one downshift from poverty? Especially when Oxfam is going to be full of all these rich, fit, fat, middle class folk, like bizarre reverse Robin Hood characters. Saving their company pensions via thrift and ensuring their paid mortgage homes stay safe and full of useless old tat? Another program please!
Complain about this postMr Harrison, wake up and smell the coffee! How bitter and pessimistic can you get?
I am not a fat middle class person and have taken up downshifting to enrich my life. It has really made me proud of my efforts.
I am a council tenant, I am a house wife by my choosing to be at home for my kids. My husband is a lorry driver, so we aren't running away from anything. We recycle, have an organic veg box delivered, grow a few veg in the garden, try and save energy, use eco friendly cleaning products and bathroom stuff. We have done this a bit at a time and it's possible on a low income.
It's not all about selling your big city house and moving to the country. It's just living a better life for our families and the planet.
Complain about this postDear Mrs Yeates
My bitter and pessimism comes from being one of the educated poor and having lived most of my adult life surrounded by down-shifters, who on the whole are just drop outs, nothing more nothing less, just a trendier name.
My question still stands, are the new 'middle class' down-shifters just like their 1970's grand parents, dropping-out having yet again failed to lift the UK out of terminal economic decline? Is the environment taking the blame instead of the Unions this time?
I've also yet to visit a lorry drivers house that isn't full of knock-off....
Complain about this postSerendipity! This couldn't have been broadcast at a better time. You've really got me thinking now.
Complain about this postWorking on a plan already.
There you go, keep up the good work Fi.