Personal resources in financially challenging times

 Because of how things are rolling at the moment — political ideologies, geo-political tensions, etc — there is a constant undercurrent of uncertainty about food security, energy security and supplies.

When government wants to alter our way of living, the first method is usually to apply financial pressure, mixed in with information pointing us in a particular direction. So I assume we can expect that the cost of living will further increase with a particular squeeze on the more nutritious foods.

This in turn means that we have to adjust downwards to stay solvent.

Since the whole of my life from childhood to the present day has been characterised by having a small disposable income, I thought it might help to share some of the approach I've found useful.

The first thing is to stay out of, or get free of, debt. This is an often overlooked New Testament principle, arising from the teaching of Jesus and of St Paul. The New Testament recognises that freedom is essential in determining, and putting into action, life choices, and recommends believers to protect that freedom by staying free of debt and being cautious about commitments and entanglements. 

After that, the next step is to evaluate one's resources. These broadly fall into three categories — time, energy and money. Most people are not rich in all three, but recognising that they are equally valuable helps in forming a strategy. If an example helps, think of my mother. She chose to be a stay-at-home mother, and my father's income was low. So we were not money-rich. But she had plenty of energy, and because she stayed home to raise her family, she had not sold her time, she still had it. She used her time and energy to grow our food — vegetables, fruit, hens for eggs, and later sheep as well (obtained cheaply by taking on orphaned lambs and growing them on). This may not apply to you in an urban setting, it's just an instance of identifying which of the 3 resources you have, and putting them to good use.

You may not have a garden as we did in my childhood, but if you have time and energy you can learn about wild food and forage it. In the town where I live, there is enough wild fruit (blackberries, and self-seeded apples or unwanted pears/apples dropped on the ground from people who have trees), and greens (dandelions, nettles, ramsens and tri-cornered leek or whitebells), and mushrooms, that if I had the time and the energy I could cover my fruit/veg requirements without money. Plus in the summer people put out on their garden walls unwanted produce from their gardens (zucchini/courgettes especially).

People have started fly-tipping a lot, for reasons I won't go into here, but it's allowed me to scavenge a fair few non-food items like furniture and household items. 

So the triad of time, money and energy is important to consider and evaluate how it applies to you.

The next thing is to recognise that relying on capital is dangerous, in that it creates a false sense of security. It goes faster than you think, and then what? So it's important to place an emphasis on income rather than capital — and reduced expenditure is in a sense a form of income.

A good use of capital at the present time (in my opinion) is to create a bulwark — so, to clear debts, and then to create some prepper resources like solar panels or a power station (eg a Bluetti or Jackery, like people who live in RVs have) or plant a garden, or get in a sensible (not massive, don't go mad) stock of supplements/meds, toiletries, tinned foods etc, so you are covered for power outages and supply disruptions. 

Then there's another important thing — adjustment of expectations.

We have adjusted up to a very consumerist society, where leisure and making a purchase are almost inextricably linked. Gone are the days when all hospitality required was a pack of cards and the makings of a cup of tea, or a piano in the living room. Going for a walk together is not most people's idea of a jaunt.

As the cost of living rises, it's helpful to adjust down our expectations rather than increasing our debts. This adjustment isn't quick to do, because habits are so ingrained we don't notice we have them. The objective is to ensure that income covers outgoings and leaves something over to set aside for inevitable unforeseen costs.

Our decisions (life choices) develop our habits, and our habits develop our expectations, and our expectations drive our costs.

So to adjust down for reduced circumstances, it's imperative to begin noticing our habits (carefully track and review expenditure), and then interrupt this cycle. 

Here are some of my life choices:

YES to 

• certain supplements for protecting and repairing my health
• high quality food
• food sourced from British farms, bought directly as much as possible to protect national food security from our short-sighted government
• church collection, Christmas and birthday gifts for my children and grandchildren, support for my Carthusian friends

NO to

• holidays
• meals out
• subscriptions — gym, journals, online Substack etc

SOMETIMES (monthly financial limit) to

• 2nd-hand clothes from eBay
• books
• a coffee in town
• ticket to a concert where family members are performing

I track all expenditure and we save monthly amounts to cover annual or occasional costs like car servicing, boiler servicing, house insurance, automobile recovery, window-cleaner, etc. I have two separate ledgers, one for my personal expenditure and one for household expenditure. We (me and my husband) put a monthly amount into a household account to cover all outgoings and generate a modest surplus to cover occasional unbudgeted bills as they come up.

So the life choices are made on the basis of how much money is available, on the Mr Micawber principle (see footnote below).

From our life choices our habits develop, so the life choice is our point of intervention/alteration/adjustment. It's normal and human to need some fun, something to cheer us up, something to look forward to.

As consumerism (a life choice) has gradually increased (and become a habit), many of us have developed the expectation/assumption that 'fun' equals 'a purchase'. But it need not. The task is to redefine 'fun'. 

So, if 'fun' means going out somewhere, that can be a walk in the woods or by the sea, or a coffee with a neighbour, or a game of cards or watching a movie on the TV together — rather than a takeaway meal or a cinema trip or a visit to the garden centre (with associated purchases) or a stately home (with entrance fee).

At first, this is hard (and lonely, while others are still taking the money route). The expectations we have developed from our habits mean we reflexively turn to occupations with associated costs. By not joining in with a family meal out this last week, not buying anyone Easter eggs or cards, not going to the garden centre for some plants for the garden, and not renewing my choir membership, I think I have saved at least £150. And that's just one week.

Those were not easy choices and involved some heart-searching and conversation. But it is by making such choices that new habits are formed and affordable expectations developed, keeping one financially safe as costs of living rise.

The choices I made instead, were to visit with different family members with whom I chatted and watched a movie on telly, to just make Easter about going to church not buying chocolate, to get new plants by taking cuttings from friends' established plants, and to sing hymns by myself at home (singing with family round the piano would be even better, and I request that sometimes but they do have busy lives).

There comes a point where a collapsing economy takes us past what our personal strategies can cover. Even so, if we are used to adjusting down, making choices that develop new habits that shape different expectations, then we will have laid down a track to follow in even the toughest times.

I hope all that may be food for thought, and I'd be most interested to read anyone's related observations in the comments. 

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FOOTNOTE

The Mr. Micawber principle, from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, defines financial success as spending slightly less than one's income, and misery as spending slightly more. It highlights that living within your means leads to happiness, while debt leads to misery. The principle emphasises that small financial actions have significant consequences over time. 

Core Components of the Micawber Principle: 

• The Formula: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six [19s 6d], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and six [20s 6d], result misery".
• Significance: It is considered a foundational principle of personal finance, focusing on discipline and managing the gap between income and expenses.
• Source: Named after Wilkins Micawber, a character known for extreme optimism, who often says "something will turn up". 

Key Takeaways: 

• Discipline: The principle warns that if you continually spend more than you earn, you will face financial ruin.
• Proactive Management: It suggests that financial success is built on small, consistent, and positive financial choices.