Intentional Poor

[MikeK]

not sure of all the details but his water bill is like $10/year and the electricity is under $10/month. Remember there's no heating or air-conditioning costs here. He doesn't own and doesn't need a car (work is a 5min. walk away). I believe there's no property or income taxes.

A lot of Americans moving down here.

Interesting.

 

[Moonglow]

SteadyMercury,

Just like anything in life, true happiness lies in finding right balance. It is always a good idea to look for ways to cut down the cost of living. I am myself thinking of buying a land somewhere in the rural area and build a house and live there. My job takes me all over the places. I am away from my home most of the time. So why make California my home where cost of living is so high?

But yes, I would not go the extreme where I am living in a log cabin, etc. That is too much.

I have 43 acres for sale.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Interesting.

It is atypical.

Don't get me wrong, the cost of living can be a lot cheaper in Panama. However someone owning a home with five people in it spending less than a $1/month on water and $10/month on electricity is an extreme example.

If you think you'll move down there and be happy living on $400/month, even as a single guy, you'll very likely be in for a surprise.

 

[Samson]

Yes - the problem with 'stuff' is that it tends to breed while one's not looking, then you need more places to stash it, and more room and then you also think about things like insuring the stuff, and so on......

The one problem I see with the lifestyle in the OP example is that he has no ability to handle getting ill or having a accident. For a young, healthy, and single person, that's fine.

I do wonder about his two small children, though. I knew a woman whose husband divorced her and then refused to look for a job because he didn't want to pay child support. I just can't get behind any 'intentional poverty' that has such motivation.

When Thoreau did his 'Walden' thing, he didn't do it all on his own: his friends helped him build everything, and kept bringing him food and such...... Just in case people didn't know that.

I too noted the presence of wife and kids....at least as the narrative of the OP goes, this transformation happened 20 years ago: 1993, when the guy was 33, and moved the family to Oregon.

No doubt the "simplification" process got a LOT EASIER when the wife left him. I assume she took the kids, which also made life a helluva lot easier for this irresponsible bum, who at 53 will no doubt soon fall down in his "Hobbit Hole" and be unable to get up.

Thankfully, no one will notice.

Except for the pointed-head academic who seems to excuse Price as “looking for something real that goes beyond commodity,” said Karen Halnon, a sociology professor at Pennsylvania State University and author of "Consumption of Inequality."

Fortunately for Professor Halnon, there is no shortage of lazy lay-abouts on the planet that she can use to promote her stupid thesis.

 

[expat_panama]

...less than a $1/month on water and $10/month on electricity is an extreme example...

Hardly. Most people in the world get water out of a well next to the house and do very well thank you. Most people in the world now have electricity (quite a change from a hundred years ago when virtually NOBODY had it!) but the bulk of the populous wash clothes by hand, don't have a fridge, and cook over firewood. So if you only used your electricity for just a light bulb or two your bills would fall to $10/month as well.

...move down there and be happy living on $400/month, even as a single guy, you'll very likely be in for a surprise...

Depends on values. Them that can't live without daily Mall shopping and in-crowd nightlife would hate it here on $400/mo. Contrast that to others who like fishing while they're watching monkeys and hearing flocks of parrots in the orchids --they'd be fine.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Hardly. Most people in the world get water out of a well next to the house and do very well thank you.

Most people with an actual water bill, meaning they have water service with pipes running into their homes, pay more than $1/month in Panama.

Most people in the world now have electricity (quite a change from a hundred years ago when virtually NOBODY had it!) but the bulk of the populous wash clothes by hand, don't have a fridge, and cook over firewood. So if you only used your electricity for just a light bulb or two your bills would fall to $10/month as well.

Oh come off it I've traveled all over Panama most locals have things like TV, and far more people use propane than firewood to cook. You seriously think most people with electricity running in their 3 BR home to just have a couple light bulbs?

Depends on values. Them that can't live without daily Mall shopping and in-crowd nightlife would hate it here on $400/mo. Contrast that to others who like fishing while they're watching monkeys and hearing flocks of parrots in the orchids --they'd be fine.

Of course it depends on values, but you very well very few Americans who move to Panama would be happy on $400/month. You could say the same thing for dude in his Hobbit Hole at start of thread, he could spend all day fishing and hearing flocks of birds or whatever that doesn't mean many would find his lifestyle appealing.

 

[Vikrant]

SteadyMercury,

Just like anything in life, true happiness lies in finding right balance. It is always a good idea to look for ways to cut down the cost of living. I am myself thinking of buying a land somewhere in the rural area and build a house and live there. My job takes me all over the places. I am away from my home most of the time. So why make California my home where cost of living is so high?

But yes, I would not go the extreme where I am living in a log cabin, etc. That is too much.

I have 43 acres for sale.

Where?

 

[syrenn]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh-QWKGbm2Q]Pulp Fiction - Just be Jules - YouTube[/ame]

 

[jwoodie]

The irony of this story is that a family of four is entitled to over $40k per year in total welfare benefits.

 

[whitehall]

In the greatest Country in the world you can choose to live in a hole in the ground as long as you don't subject your kids to your schitzophrenic dreams.

 

[Michelle420]

I wonder how his kids felt that he dropped out and abandoned them and gave no support.

If his only responsibility was for himself that is a fine choice but I wonder if his ex wife and kids turned to welfare for help since he decided to live his own life selfishly and just leave them to deal with the decision.

 

[SteadyMercury]

In the greatest Country in the world you can choose to live in a hole in the ground as long as you don't subject your kids to your schitzophrenic dreams.

There is dude in the conspiracy forums (imagine that) who did that. He moved with his family to get away from society, he's a standard tin-hatter who argues via links to youtube videos. Sucks when the wife and kid have to suffer because of the mental illness of the father.

 

[Vikrant]

Yup that makes sense, if you don't use your home much because of career demands might as well make it cheap but accessible. My wife and I also make effort to cut down on cost of living, everything can be evaluated as what it is worth in terms of what it provides vs. what it costs. My current struggle is cable TV, that shit is expensive and more and more having a good internet connection seems like a reasonable substitute.

I think you are lucky that your wife is on board. My wife does not seem to get any of my money saving ideas.

Vikrant, I'm sorry for you. These things are much easier as a joint project. The easiest way to save, we found out 39 years ago, is to not 'take' all of any pay raise into one's budgeting. That is, if you get a $25/month raise (or find a $25/month savings, same thing!), you put 1/2 of it directly into savings FIRST. Payroll deductions or whatever, so it never even gets into your bank account to begin with.

Even when I use coupons, I put 1/2 the savings in cash into a 'splurge jar' .... Maybe you don't think that's much, but I get about 25% or more off any grocery bill. I shop the 'scratch 'n' dent' shelves routinely in the supermarket just like I did when husband was an E-4 (he's since retired)......

We spend a ridiculous amount on cable/internet - but then we don't go out for drinks, or to the movies more than a couple of times a year. We record entire miniseries and invite friends over for a show and potluck party about once a month.....

I wanted to expand a bit on your post.

There is a very subtle psychology behind people's desire to spend or rather over spend. It makes people feel successful. This is what drives people to get mortgages and car loans that they can barely afford. It does not make them more successful. It makes them disadvantaged because their excessive expenses makes them desperate for jobs. Desperation puts you in a position of weakness. You can never negotiate and protect your interests effectively from a position of weakness.

 

[Vikrant]

Pulp Fiction - Just be Jules - YouTube

[MENTION=23424]syrenn[/MENTION]

I listened to it again.

 

[syrenn]

Pulp Fiction - Just be Jules - YouTube

[MENTION=23424]syrenn[/MENTION]

I listened to it again.

LOL..... its what i thought of reading the op.

 

[Vikrant]

^ There are lots of people who are realizing that there has to be a balance between modern amenities and the prerequisite stress that is required to furnish those amenities. If you are constantly under stress trying to pay your mortgage, car loans and what not then you are missing out on life. Life goes much deeper than fancy cars, shopping malls and other material things. Life is first and foremost about loving and being loved.

 

[expat_panama]

...Life is first and foremost about loving and being loved.

Exactly.

Most people in the world live on less than $5K/year and know they're successful, while there are some making say, more than twice that and are angrily strutting their 'victimhood'. Money is nice but attitude is vital, and this is what a good parent understands in caring for the young.