Daniel has been interviewed by a number of media outlets so every time he does a segment, the community sees a jump in numbers.
I think it's really attractive to be getting stuff free. So it's pretty Singaporean to want to join such a community to get stuff for free. So when people hear about it in the media, they join the community to get free stuff or to learn how to get free stuff. But not everyone joins the closer networks, so many people just follow the Facebook page.
The founders of the Singaporean Facebook Freegan community live on really small amounts of cash every year and they advocate getting stuff for free... cos... why pay when you can get stuff for free.
And I agree with them.
However, I had a chat with reader, Robin, and he mentioned that freegan living only works when the individual has sufficiently planned his finances and is already more or less financially free. Basically, housing and medical insurance should already be settled for the rest of a person's life. Only then can the person move towards freegan living and get his usual necessities from the dumpster or any other methods.
I agree with him.
For the financially educated, this should be a given. We learn about finance, many of us plan our insurance, savings, investments, etc. And I had assumed that it was common knowledge. However, it is NOT.
The freegan Facebook page or community has no obligation to mention financial planning to the members. Cos it is a freegan page, not a financial planning page. So the topics are all around freegan living. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
This MIGHT, give members the idea that absolute freegan living is possible. They might think that all they need in their lives can be found in the dumpster. Food, clothing, etc.
We do live in a very realistic Singapore. And many things cannot be found in a dumpster. The founders of the Facebook page both have their finances planned out pretty nicely so they don't really need to think too much about money in future.
But I do wonder, are there, or how many, people have joined the freegan community with false hopes. That they can quit their jobs and freegan living will provide for all their needs.
Now, I'm not blaming the community or the founders. Cos it's not their responsibility to educate everyone financially.
I'm just putting across the idea that there may be people who are so attracted by this lifestyle that they fail to plan their finances properly, especially in their later years. They may do fine from now til they are 60 years old and if they fall seriously ill, they may not have adequate financial foundation to support themselves, and by then, it may be too late.
This is when the phrase... "Common sense isn't so common" comes about.
So if someone joins the freegan community hoping to get some free stuff and learn how to reduce expenses by getting some stuff free, but generally, they carry on with their normal lives and save and plan their finances as per normal... that's all fine. No issues here.
Or if someone who already has sufficient financial foundation and has nothing better to do and wants to reduce expenses further or drop their spending to $100 per month, etc... That's great as well. Cos this person is prepared...
However, if there is someone who doesn't have a job, is young, has low financial foundation, and hopes that he can freegan his way til 80 years old... I think this person needs to get a reality check.
Considering that most people will need a home to stay in, or medical insurance, or savings for emergencies, they may want to get married and have kids, a whole bunch of other stuff that normal people do. Even if the individual doesn't want to get married or have kids, they will likely need medical insurance, a place to stay and an emergency fund.
Well, they COULD still continue to live with their parents and all that... but then I think that's not fair to be called a freegan, cos, if we go by that kind of freegan, then might as well the person just lives off the parents for everything and then anyone could be a freegan in that sense.
So I do think that the freegan community MAY give some people a false sense of hope and courage. Cos most people plan for their retirement in their middle years, pretty much during 40-55 years old. But if someone doesn't have savings or a career, they wouldn't have the chance to even do their planning and if they freegan from 30-45, without building their financial foundation, then they might be severely unprepared for their later years.
Once again, I will say, I do not blame the freegan founders or community for this. I do not expect to find financial planning info in a shopping page or credit card page, etc. Activity pages are meant to be for the specific activity so the freegan pages has no need to put up financial planning information.
I'm just putting across the possibility that some individuals might think that such a lifestyle is entirely possible without looking at the underlying foundations or risks that they may need to consider.
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