Sunday, March 09, 2008
More on living frugally...
I realized in my last post I more or less got off topic. While introducing the books was my aim, I didn't cover the main point I wished to make. I wanted to examine the notion of living frugally and why more people do not embrace it. Also, I wanted to know why people can seemingly embrace it when not living in the United States. One of the recurring themes I find when reading expat blogs and other such web sites is the notion of simplicity. However, the articles really don't mean simple living, they mean cheap living. It's important to differentiate between the two, since what I mean is that these articles, depending on the writer, will either talk about their lifestyle or how to obtain said lifestyle. Articles about obtaining a life outside the USA are normally written by companies or individuals with something to sell, such as a book, magazine subscription, a service, or even a house. For example, Nicaragua's beach front property is a huge favorite among expat publications such as International Living. This ardor has cooled somewhat since the election of Daniel Ortega, but there are many other expat havens pushed by these businesses.
One of the draws of these places is the comparative affordability, and that certainly plays a role in moving to a less developed nation, but the falling dollar may put a dent in such plans. More to the point, many of articles put forth a cost fairly similar to what I pay to live in Westchester, so why go through all the trouble? Perhaps I'm not searching hard enough or truly comparing my cost of living with that of, say, Panama City. Udon Thani, which was home to an R&R camp and Air Force base in rural Thailand during Vietnam, boasts an insanely low cost of living. The budget (including smokes and beer) totaled around 4800 per year. This was in 2005 dollars, so adjusted for inflation and the falling greenback, the new amount should be around 6,000. This is shockingly low, but I'll take their word for it.
Obviously, I could never live on that little here, but do I have to live in rural Thailand? Note that the area in question is not that nice. It's said to be similar to Oklahoma, so we're not discussing a tropical paradise. It is also said to be a bustling city and province, so I can't accuse it of being boring, but you could probably have the same lifestyle near the same price in rural Florida. Let's say you could buy a small condo in Port St Lucie for 56K. The payment would be 256 a month with the standard 20% down, and with the new Florida homestead law, your taxes and maintenance would be maybe an additional 250. Note this is a retirement community, but effectively so is Udon. Add utilities and insurance, and that will average to an additional 125 per month. Food costs are tricky, as are medical costs. Let's assume Medicare and a simple but balanced diet. We'll use $300.00, including the cost of medications via Wal-Mart and Medicare part D. Cable, Internet, and phone would be a $100 flat rate. An automobile is not included in the Udon Thani budget, so I won't include it here. Beer and cigarettes? That's where the sticker shock kicks in. At $5 a pack and $7 per six-pack, at 1 pack per day and 1 six-pack per week, we're now adding an additional $178.oo. Taxes hurt Florida's case, but to make the comparison legit, all entries must be included. Total cost? 14,508, or . True, this more than double, but is the additional expense worth it? Is avoiding the language difficulties, red tape of living in another country, distance from family and friends, and culture shock worth $8,500? Perhaps it is better to ask if the hassles listed are worth saving the money.
For some then answer is yes, and it's easy to dismiss the aging GI's living in Udon as relics from America's troubled recent past. That may be true, but that cannot apply to all those living there. Others may be simply lost, and ended up in UT simply by chance, while others may be involved in the craft trade of the area, where you can buy silk parasols for almost nothing, then sell them in the USA for 10 times the price. Others may be looking for Thai women, and marry and have late-life families. Other examples can be found in other countries, but most are touted as a simpler (i.e., cheaper...) with more affordable housing, medical care, etc. It is even implied you will be comparatively wealthy enough to afford a maid and (not or) gardener.
With that small statement we've stumbled upon a theme. As a function of society, wealth is a measuring stick for you to compare yourselves with others, and vice versa. People find it very strange I do not own a television, but my friends know it is not as a result of being too poor to buy one. A friend did offer to give me one, and I certainly appreciate the offer, but I hate TV. I detest the thought of even owning one. I'm afraid I'll sit in front of the idiot box allowing my brain to rot. Say what you will about Warcraft, but at least it's interactive. I'll buy a TV and PlayStation 3 when Grand Theft Auto 4 comes out and get my gaming fix that way. Then I might get basic cable, or I might not. I get better porn on the 'Net anyway, so I don't need HBO. Am I damaging my social standing by not owning a TV? Perhaps. It is difficult for people to accept, so I have to tell them that I never watched the TV I did own. In fact, it wasn't even plugged in. When my mom needed a new TV, my response was immediate; she could have mine. I'm happy to report she loves the picture.
All this shoulder-patting is meant to show my lack of a TV is a personal choice, and not indicative of poverty nor my shaking my fist at the system. I'm not broke and I don't hate America. I just hate TV. Still, others seem to think I cannot afford a boob tube, and their reaction to such assumed fiscal distress is one of discomfort or sympathy or even hostility. If I gave a shit, I'd be put-off by these reactions. Now if you are truly in such dire financial straights that you could not afford to replace a busted TV, it could hurt to have family and friends judge your personal worth by your lack of financial worth. Imagine too, how the person himself must feel. Living in a small village where you only get 20 channels with cable makes that sting less painful. Ergo, someone just scraping by on a fixed pension may see the cheap housing in Costa Rica and think he could live there in a much better lifestyle for the same price he's paying now. As mentioned above, I don't automatically agree, but some places are much cheaper than America. The notion that you get what you pay for is simply part of the risk.
Still, I cannot help but believe the measurements used by American society are so severe and unforgiving that having a simple lifestyle is so venomously judged that people feel the need to adapt or flee. Please note I said lifestyle and not money or wealth. One of the lies of the era now ending is that people could have wonderful toys and homes and cars and vacations and all other expensive goods and services without having the money to pay for them. Credit was used to pay for all these wastes of economic energy, and we don't have ability to pay them back. Furthermore, America seems to be turning a psychological corner. Finally faced with the horrid notion that wants and needs are not the same, we have begun cutting back a bit. I wonder if this is self-initiated, but I won't be negative. I only hope that this trend lasts, and those who cannot afford to keep up with their neighbors will not feel the need to drive themselves into punishing debt, and those who have money will stop engaging in ridiculous consumption just to mark their standing.
These transitions are painful, and the high we receive from our new toys masks our other deficiencies. We may not be around for our kids, but they have all the lessons, games, and cell phones they could possibly want. Now we can't afford these baubles, and we feel worse then if never supplied them in the first place. I don't have any purpose to life and spend all my time indulging my baser nature, but I have this great house (bought with a negative amortization mortgage) that I can flip in two years at a huge profit. I was a success in everone's eyes (except perhaps my own) and I could always laugh at those who did not or could not match my standard of living. Now I'm renting a studio and trying to rebuild my credit. Are all my fair weather friends still calling? Probably not. Do the people I snubbed when I was playing the big shot want me around? That's even less likely.
I would like to close this essay with a statement about the simple joys and getting back to what is really valuble, but it would sound cheesy. Instead, I think of a single mom who finally took out a student loan after from much prodding from yours truly. When I broke down the refund amount, she realized she could fufill her needs, such as gas, supplies, and even include a trip to the salon. Is she confusing wants vs. needs? I say no. She wasn't hitting some swank salon to have her roots redone; she needed a cut. The look of relief she had was priceless, and one of the reason I can survive the ups and downs of this job. She knows what is truly important, and it begins with the little girl she brings into my office. I ask the good Lord she may always know.
One of the draws of these places is the comparative affordability, and that certainly plays a role in moving to a less developed nation, but the falling dollar may put a dent in such plans. More to the point, many of articles put forth a cost fairly similar to what I pay to live in Westchester, so why go through all the trouble? Perhaps I'm not searching hard enough or truly comparing my cost of living with that of, say, Panama City. Udon Thani, which was home to an R&R camp and Air Force base in rural Thailand during Vietnam, boasts an insanely low cost of living. The budget (including smokes and beer) totaled around 4800 per year. This was in 2005 dollars, so adjusted for inflation and the falling greenback, the new amount should be around 6,000. This is shockingly low, but I'll take their word for it.
Obviously, I could never live on that little here, but do I have to live in rural Thailand? Note that the area in question is not that nice. It's said to be similar to Oklahoma, so we're not discussing a tropical paradise. It is also said to be a bustling city and province, so I can't accuse it of being boring, but you could probably have the same lifestyle near the same price in rural Florida. Let's say you could buy a small condo in Port St Lucie for 56K. The payment would be 256 a month with the standard 20% down, and with the new Florida homestead law, your taxes and maintenance would be maybe an additional 250. Note this is a retirement community, but effectively so is Udon. Add utilities and insurance, and that will average to an additional 125 per month. Food costs are tricky, as are medical costs. Let's assume Medicare and a simple but balanced diet. We'll use $300.00, including the cost of medications via Wal-Mart and Medicare part D. Cable, Internet, and phone would be a $100 flat rate. An automobile is not included in the Udon Thani budget, so I won't include it here. Beer and cigarettes? That's where the sticker shock kicks in. At $5 a pack and $7 per six-pack, at 1 pack per day and 1 six-pack per week, we're now adding an additional $178.oo. Taxes hurt Florida's case, but to make the comparison legit, all entries must be included. Total cost? 14,508, or . True, this more than double, but is the additional expense worth it? Is avoiding the language difficulties, red tape of living in another country, distance from family and friends, and culture shock worth $8,500? Perhaps it is better to ask if the hassles listed are worth saving the money.
For some then answer is yes, and it's easy to dismiss the aging GI's living in Udon as relics from America's troubled recent past. That may be true, but that cannot apply to all those living there. Others may be simply lost, and ended up in UT simply by chance, while others may be involved in the craft trade of the area, where you can buy silk parasols for almost nothing, then sell them in the USA for 10 times the price. Others may be looking for Thai women, and marry and have late-life families. Other examples can be found in other countries, but most are touted as a simpler (i.e., cheaper...) with more affordable housing, medical care, etc. It is even implied you will be comparatively wealthy enough to afford a maid and (not or) gardener.
With that small statement we've stumbled upon a theme. As a function of society, wealth is a measuring stick for you to compare yourselves with others, and vice versa. People find it very strange I do not own a television, but my friends know it is not as a result of being too poor to buy one. A friend did offer to give me one, and I certainly appreciate the offer, but I hate TV. I detest the thought of even owning one. I'm afraid I'll sit in front of the idiot box allowing my brain to rot. Say what you will about Warcraft, but at least it's interactive. I'll buy a TV and PlayStation 3 when Grand Theft Auto 4 comes out and get my gaming fix that way. Then I might get basic cable, or I might not. I get better porn on the 'Net anyway, so I don't need HBO. Am I damaging my social standing by not owning a TV? Perhaps. It is difficult for people to accept, so I have to tell them that I never watched the TV I did own. In fact, it wasn't even plugged in. When my mom needed a new TV, my response was immediate; she could have mine. I'm happy to report she loves the picture.
All this shoulder-patting is meant to show my lack of a TV is a personal choice, and not indicative of poverty nor my shaking my fist at the system. I'm not broke and I don't hate America. I just hate TV. Still, others seem to think I cannot afford a boob tube, and their reaction to such assumed fiscal distress is one of discomfort or sympathy or even hostility. If I gave a shit, I'd be put-off by these reactions. Now if you are truly in such dire financial straights that you could not afford to replace a busted TV, it could hurt to have family and friends judge your personal worth by your lack of financial worth. Imagine too, how the person himself must feel. Living in a small village where you only get 20 channels with cable makes that sting less painful. Ergo, someone just scraping by on a fixed pension may see the cheap housing in Costa Rica and think he could live there in a much better lifestyle for the same price he's paying now. As mentioned above, I don't automatically agree, but some places are much cheaper than America. The notion that you get what you pay for is simply part of the risk.
Still, I cannot help but believe the measurements used by American society are so severe and unforgiving that having a simple lifestyle is so venomously judged that people feel the need to adapt or flee. Please note I said lifestyle and not money or wealth. One of the lies of the era now ending is that people could have wonderful toys and homes and cars and vacations and all other expensive goods and services without having the money to pay for them. Credit was used to pay for all these wastes of economic energy, and we don't have ability to pay them back. Furthermore, America seems to be turning a psychological corner. Finally faced with the horrid notion that wants and needs are not the same, we have begun cutting back a bit. I wonder if this is self-initiated, but I won't be negative. I only hope that this trend lasts, and those who cannot afford to keep up with their neighbors will not feel the need to drive themselves into punishing debt, and those who have money will stop engaging in ridiculous consumption just to mark their standing.
These transitions are painful, and the high we receive from our new toys masks our other deficiencies. We may not be around for our kids, but they have all the lessons, games, and cell phones they could possibly want. Now we can't afford these baubles, and we feel worse then if never supplied them in the first place. I don't have any purpose to life and spend all my time indulging my baser nature, but I have this great house (bought with a negative amortization mortgage) that I can flip in two years at a huge profit. I was a success in everone's eyes (except perhaps my own) and I could always laugh at those who did not or could not match my standard of living. Now I'm renting a studio and trying to rebuild my credit. Are all my fair weather friends still calling? Probably not. Do the people I snubbed when I was playing the big shot want me around? That's even less likely.
I would like to close this essay with a statement about the simple joys and getting back to what is really valuble, but it would sound cheesy. Instead, I think of a single mom who finally took out a student loan after from much prodding from yours truly. When I broke down the refund amount, she realized she could fufill her needs, such as gas, supplies, and even include a trip to the salon. Is she confusing wants vs. needs? I say no. She wasn't hitting some swank salon to have her roots redone; she needed a cut. The look of relief she had was priceless, and one of the reason I can survive the ups and downs of this job. She knows what is truly important, and it begins with the little girl she brings into my office. I ask the good Lord she may always know.
