Life has been really fun hanging with the freegans/food rescuers.
And this has kinda warped my perception of reality. You see, when we hang around a community too much, it's pretty much self confirmation bias. We see "everyone" is into this activity and that's your "reality". It's easy to think that the rest of the world is similar...
Living has become almost free for me. If I minus out my wife's expenses, like car, travel, eating out, etc... Besides all the fixed expenses such as insurance, town council, utilities, I require very little to live on. Typically food and transport. Food is free, transport is a couple of bucks.
So when I walk around town, or when my wife asks to take a walk around Vivo, I wonder why do people spend so much, why do they buy so much, cos to me, there's nothing to buy. And within the community, there are many people who also have reduced expenses like me, but there are also folks who continue to spend like everyone else.
But because I'm living comfortably, free food, drink, and good company with low expenses... It starts getting hard to relate to the mainstream way society works.
Ok, of course I understand that my current lifestyle is due to many decisions I've made.
Low spending in my early working years, saving heavily to pay off my house quickly, having a wife who is willing to have a low spending lifestyle with me, always finding ways to save more, being willing to be involved in the freegan/food rescue community.
And most importantly, we are both happy with such a lifestyle.
Overall, all these has been an extremely easy switch for me, cos I've been living quite a simple low expense lifestyle and getting free stuff is just another step up.
Until recently, another friend in the community told me that it's easy for me cos I've always been having a simple low cost lifestyle and I don't go out and play much with other friends and spend money.
Cos the thing is, this friend feels it's hard to transition to the freegan lifestyle. Cos, there are always gatherings to go to, other new food to try, places to go, etc. So there's always ways to spend money, and to my friend, following the freegan life is tantamount to breaking away from society.
I didn't understand this at first... Only after thinking about it for awhile then I got it...
The thing is... For my whole life, I was already living a life which was "breaking away from society" so the switch from cheap to free, had no impact to me. I didn't like going for many friend gatherings, parties, etc. I liked to stay at home and hang with my family. During weekends I just visit my parents and chat a bit and have dinner... I've always had a simple life.
And that's when I also realized... I've never had a normal life.
Most people don't do this. Most people go out and play and spend a lot of money. People like to buy stuff, if they have more money, they like to buy more stuff or try new things, new food, new experiences, etc.
And I question myself... Why? Why do so many people have difficulty living a simple life? People like to buy new things for no good reason, like I know someone who has a coffee table and decided to throw it away just to buy a new one, cos this person wanted a change... Many people like to go out a lot... I used to wonder why...
And I think a lot of these habits go back to childhood. When I was younger, I used to stay at home on weekends to play mahjong with my family. I learnt it from an early age and played with my parents and other relatives through my teens. So staying at home is normal for me.
My parents never changed the furniture at home unless they were spoilt. So I don't have the... I want a new "feel" kind of feeling.
My dad taught me to save at a very young age. It was always "if you don't use it now, you will be able to use it when you really need it in future".
So I've come to understand that my normal life... Is very different from a real normal life. And when I see people do "strange" things like spending money on "unnecessary" things... I now have a better understanding of it... Cos... Probably, since young, they got used to doing something, or they saw their parents doing something, and it takes a big effort to make a change, cos... There's no real need to change. Most people can afford it... Do they need it? Probably no, but there's a kind of fun in buying something, throwing away and getting a new one, trying new things, etc...
And then I realize... I've been living in my own self constructed reality. And you probably are too.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right.