Whereas in most of the FI community, most of us just want... Good enough.
Freegan living is like living as a pauper?
Now my regular readers know I talk about a Freegan mentality which leads closer to a Freegan lifestyle.
So I try not to spend money if I can get something for free.
I wonder what this commenter meant by FATFIRE. Cos... How many people are expecting to FIRE and own a luxury boat, or travel everyday, or eat at fine dining restaurants everyday?
Most of the people I know in the early retirement community are humble and live a frugal life. Even if they have not retired yet, they don't spend much and they eat and buy normal things. They just don't buy frivolous purchases. They like to have the option to go out and eat or travel but they still don't go and spend recklessly.
Now, when I compare my freegan lifestyle to them, I wonder, how much am I worse off them them? Or even versus a normal working Singaporean?
Most people don't eat out everyday. They eat meat, veges, rice, noodles, etc...
Well, I eat the same things. Except I get them for free. The problem is, I get so much free food on a regular basis that I can't find space in my fridge to put anymore.
So yes, I think I am suffering. I stress on how to handle so much food everyday of the week. Many of us who get free food suffer this way regularly.
Most people in this community wouldn't be drinking Starbucks or fancy coffee. They would likely drink coffee from the hawker center or instant coffee... Yes I don't have this luxury. I drink coffee from a coffee machine. I have to load the machine with beans, the machine will grind the beans and drip the coffee into a cup. After that I have to clean the machine. It's tough work just for a cup of coffee, it's unfortunate, but I have to do it.
Most of them have water and electricity and WiFi at home.
I have my utilities and WiFi at home.
So ok, I'm not suffering here. Thank goodness.
Those who haven't retired are working. So they are actively engaged in their work. Some have retired and have too much free time. So we have so much free time that we have to think of things to do, like go to Malaysia for day trips on weekdays, go and take even more free food and give it out to the needy, hanging out at someone's house and chatting and eating for free... Yes I agree it's hard to do this on a daily basis. Going out everyday is tough and tiring. Working to get rich and retire with more money is definitely easier.
And in the evening, most people would relax on the couch watching TV or some form of relaxing activity. After a long day of going out and doing stuff with them, I also need my relaxing time.
But the stress doesn't end for me. I go to my 2 cartons of Japanese potato chips of assorted flavours and I can't decide which of the 20 different flavours to eat. And after a full 2 minutes of deliberate contemplation I make my choice and walk over to my carton of craft beers, and once again I need to decide out of the 5 different flavours available. It would have been so much easier to buy a carton of Tiger or Heineken then I wouldn't need to be stuck making decisions on what to drink. It's tough living such a lifestyle.
And I'll get down to the worst thing about the Freegan lifestyle. It's the people. Everyone is so free. They have nothing better to do and they call me to go out with them to take more free food! This adds on to my stress of a full fridge. Don't they know I'm very busy doing nothing. Can't they be more understanding and even if they are free, can't they also do nothing as well? How do they find the time to go out so much. Maybe we should all go back to work then at least we wouldn't have so much free time.
Can you imagine, someone even called me to go out at around 9pm to eat free sushi and sashimi. I mean... Come on man! I need to sleep early like everyone else. I'm busy the next day. How inconsiderate! How could they even suggest such a thing.
Just the other day, I managed to get my grubby hands on some free Japanese apples and musk melon. The apples retailed at $5 each and the musk melon is approximately $40. And let me tell you... I almost died eating those. I had a feeling like I was going to get diabetes the next day. It's unfortunate, but I have to live life on the edge due to my freegan lifestyle.
Yes it's quite sad really... This freegan lifestyle really makes me feel like a pauper. I suffer everyday. Why couldn't I have a more normal life like most other Singaporeans. At least they get to work everyday and strive hard for FATFIRE.
At least their lifestyle allows them less free time and less stress and they will also have friends with less free time to disturb them.
I'm sure that FATFIRE is a worthy goal. With my current lifestyle, I get to have free time since I was 35 years old but I have to live like a pauper. Imagine if I'd have worked and strived to save more for FATFIRE. I'd be actively engaged til around 50-60 years old and then I'll be able to live like a rich man for the rest of my life.
I cannot imagine what I was thinking when I started on this journey. Maybe I need to reassess my options.
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