The Frugal Life: frugal activities

Would you sign the Compact?

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:08:21 GMT

I stumbled across an interesting experiment recently that I wanted to tell you about and which seems particularly pertinent right now given the spiralling cost of living. I wondered if anyone else had come across it. It may sound a little extreme and perhaps impractical, but it’s thought-provoking anyway.

Back in 2006, a group of 10 friends in San Francisco fed-up with American consumerism and concerned about its effect on the planet, decided to take action by vowing to stop shopping for a whole year. They called themselves The Compact after the famous Mayflower Compact signed by the Pilgrim Fathers and laid out a set of ground rules. The members were only allowed to buy food, drink and necessary medicines (which apparently didn’t include Viagra or Botox!), necessary cleaning products, socks and underwear – which had to be ‘utilitarian’ (no Victoria’s Secret allowed) and “pyjamas for the children”. Everything else had to be borrowed or used.

Although strangely enough, buying magazines was allowed, however, and the use of services such as plumbers and ‘recreational services’.

The Compact members had a number of grand designs. They wanted to reduce the damage inflicted on the environment and society by consumerism, resist big business and support local firms, get rid of clutter in their homes and generally simplify their lives. Quickly the group ended up with a huge following its email subscription, with 8,000 members all over the world. But it has also attracted strong criticism from people who felt that refusing to shop and support the economy was ‘un-American’. Some critics also pointed out that spending on ‘recreational activities’ and air travel by the Compacters was allowed.

Almost harking back to the Mayflower Compact, there seems to have been a slightly religious or spiritual element to it all too. Supporting the Compact is the anti-consumerism ‘church’ – the Church of Stop Shopping, which boasts the Reverend Billy at its helm. Reverend Billy is known to preach at various consumer events in the US, urging shoppers to give up their wicked ways. He even has a choir called the Stop Shopping Choir. Only in America!

The experiment is still going today. I recently signed up to the Compact email out of interest, and every day my inbox is flooded with messages, such as one today from one Compacter advising another to save paper towel waste by cutting them in half, and others on cheap hobbies that don’t conflict with a Compact lifestyle. I’m not sure if I could face going as far as the Compact members, but it has certainly given me food for thought.

Thanks very much for all the frugal gardening tips, by the way. I think cuttings – especially taking cheeky ones while out for a walk (preferably when unsuspecting neighbours/gardeners aren’t looking) are the way forward. And apparently DJ’s mum has been doing this for years and embarrassing the heck out of him when they go out somewhere!

What do you think about the Compact? Would you like to stop shopping if you could? Or do you feel it’s important to support the UK’s businesses?

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Dreaming of the beach

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:05:25 GMT

I’ve just been reading all the fascinating comments left on the ‘Carry On Abroad’ blog entry from people who’ve retired to all kinds of exotic places, not just Spain, which has long been popular, but Mumbai in India, Thailand and the Philippines. Wow. What an amazing experience that must be. And the encouragement I took from the comments was that while there might be challenges and it might not be for everyone, most of you are all having a great time. Good luck to you and keep the comments coming.

An exciting exotic retirement contrasts hugely with the grey English skies outside my window. Where has the freak February sunshine gone? It’s naughty, but I have to confess that the lousy weather and tales of retirement in the sun have me dreaming of going on holiday. But if you’re living frugally, how can you? Even staying somewhere in the UK costs almost as much as going abroad these days. At least there’s only the two of us – I don’t know how families manage. Holidays must cost a fortune when there are children too, especially if you can only go during school holidays. And according to Age Concern one in five pensioners haven't been on holiday in five years.

Camping is one faint possibility. DJ likes walking and has been trying to get me to go camping with him for years, but I can’t say I’m keen. I’ve got a dodgy back and don’t relish spending the night sleeping on bumpy ground. I went to Glastonbury a few years ago – I’m sure purists would say it’s not proper camping – and took an inflatable mattress with me! But maybe I should give it another chance.

An alternative could be staying with friends or family. I remember when I was ten and we’d just moved house and my parents were pretty skint, Philip, a family friend who lived in Norfolk, did us a great kindness – he stayed with a friend and let us borrow his house by the seaside for free for a week. What a kind thing to do. I remember it was so clean and tidy - we were terrified we’d drop something on the immaculate carpets!

Of course we could just take a week off work at home and potter around doing things. DJ & I did that a few years ago – we pretended to be tourists in London, visiting Kew Gardens, Greenwich, the Cabinet War Rooms and going on tour buses, but it wasn’t all that cheap and it’s not quite the same as getting away from it all and relaxing on a beach somewhere.

Then again, there’s the guy who’s walking to India without any money and plans to work in exchange for food and help along the way. A wonderful idea but not sure my control-freak nature could handle that though!

Are you going on holiday this year or are the costs simply too much? Any ideas for a frugal break?

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Cheap and cheerful

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:07:41 GMT

Who says you have to spend a lot of money to have a good time? I was a bit worried about our weekend away in the Cotswolds. DJ’s mate James and his wife had invited us along with other friends up to a cottage they’d rented for the weekend . And I was a bit concerned that with peer pressure I could wind up spending more cash than I’d like on meals out and other activities.

The weather and traffic certainly didn’t augur well. We both had to work on Friday and so stupidly didn’t hit the road until about 4.30pm. So of course we hit the rush hour on M25 and then at Oxford too. The weather was apocalyptic - I’ve never seen so much rain - and it was so dark it was like the middle of winter. Plus every slow moving vehicle in the countryside seemed to hone in on us. In the end it took us four hours (it took three on the way back), and after getting lost in the pitch black country roads we weren’t in the best of moods. But the cottage was gorgeous and all my money worries soon went out the window. James and Emma had generously laid on a tasty buffet which we tucked into along with copious amounts of beer and wine - luckily James works for a wine company which helps!

On Saturday my fears we would spend the day propping up some expensive country pub were also dispelled. Thankfully the awful weather had disappeared and the sun shone like it was the summer again. So Matt - another of James and DJ’s mates - along with DJ led us on what is probably one of the cheapest activities in the Cotswolds - hiking. For hours the seven of us trudged through fields, dales and forests chewing the fat and dodging a few rather overly friendly horses we encountered on some of the paths (one kept following me and head-nudging me!), then briefly stopping for a quick drink in Naunton before trudging back. My feet and thighs certainly hurt after about five hours hiking but my wallet was happy.

But the best was yet to come. James cooked a delicious chorizo and bean stew for us in the evening and we guzzled some more wine before turning to Marianne’s murder mystery board game which she’d brought along. Although the pathetic cassette tape which introduced the game - ‘oh dear, I think Rex is dead’ - was pretty lame, after a few drinks the guys’ amateur dramatics skills more than made up for the game‘s inadequacies. As Minnie and Gracie - two characters in the game - Matt and James were like a pair of coquettish pantomime dames in lipstick, eyeliner and apples shoved up their t-shirts. On Matt’s advice DJ painted a moustache on me by burning the end of a cork and then rubbing the charcoal on my face, which Matt then admitted was really difficult to get off (fortunately it came off easily with face wipes). And Amy was outstanding, playing two characters with lipstick on one side of her face and a moustache on the other.

Admittedly, we did spend some of the evening playing James’ new wii game and nearly punching the 17^th century ceiling with the hand controls. But the two most frugal activities - the murder mystery game and the walk - were some of the best fun I’ve had for ages. So while we spent about £80 on our share of the cottage hire and £26 on a tank of petrol to get there, it was a pretty cheap trip altogether. Phew!