I've been getting free food in Paris... I think I've written about it before. Sometimes I get more, sometimes I get less within a 1 hour period. I don't go and collect food for the whole day.
After I get food, I clean it up, cook, preserve, freeze, etc...
Then I realized... how "similar" my life is to everyone else...
You see, when I was working, or when most people work, they are somewhat financially insecure. People work for more years, save more, cos... they don't know how much they need in the future. They keep on working and saving more. Even though they may already have a few million in assets.
I realized... I also have this mindset here in Paris, if we look at my "work" as collecting food.
I keep collecting it. Even though I don't need to. Every few days, the market opens and I can take enough for a few days. I can eat it and by then the market will reopen and I can get more food.
But when I collect, I take enough for 3-4 days. More than enough. I already have stocks of salmon, vegetables for 2 weeks even if I don't go and collect more food.
So I end up freezing an additional 1-2 days worth of food every time I go and collect food.
Of course, this is not sustainable, cos I don't have unlimited fridge space.
And I realize this is a similar insecurity as financial insecurity.
Ok... I COULD... Just go and use money to buy food, so there's no real insecurity.
But ever since I've started getting free food, I have no real drive to go to spend money on groceries. What for spend money when I can get food for free? The only convenience of the supermarket is that I can get EXACTLY what I want when I want. But for free food, I can get whatever is available, and I don't get to choose. But that's ok with me.
Anyway, back to topic.
The idea is, here in Paris, I don't really have food security as much as I have in Singapore. In Singapore, there is a whole community of food sharers and there are operations in place for regular food collection. Whereas in Paris, I don't get the same amount all the time, I don't get meat often, I may get a lot of carrots on one day, and little of other stuff, or I may get a lot of tomatoes on another day and little of other stuff. So, the mentality is that, I don't know what's going to happen in the next 2 months, I don't know what kinds of food I will get, etc...
Similar insecurity to when I was working... I don't know what will happen when I leave my job, I don't know how much I need, what if I run out of money, etc etc...
Is it the same kind of insecurity? Not sure...
But it stems from the same place in my mind...
A human fear of the unknown. The unknown future...
Furthermore, it's the summer holidays now, and 70% of the local market is closed. So I don't get as much food as one month ago. But I get different items cos the seasons change.
And when I thought about this, I found it really interesting.
(If we remove the fact that actually I could just use money and buy the food from the supermarket...)
But the mindset that I do feel a sense of insecurity that I might not be able to have enough food for the future, or that *GASP* I may need to spend MONEY to buy food! The horror of that thought!
And so... I do what most people do... I hoard... well... actually, I just freeze food so that I can use the food for the other days when I have less food.
And that's what savings are for. We save money so that when we need it in future, we can use it.
There's some difference. Like there isn't any limit to saving money. We can keep saving cos the money can be kept in the bank. Whereas for food, I can't keep freezing, cos I'll run out of fridge space.
Also, for food, I can only eat around 300gms per meal, so there is a limit to my total consumption in my whole lifetime. But for money, there really isn't a limit to how much someone can/would want to spend.
So what are we saving for? Are we saving for food and living expenses? Or are we saving for lifestyle?
Cos lifestyle is expensive to save for. Whereas if we are saving for food and a life of simple living...
Then... the answer is quite simple... Cos... how much can we eat?
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After I get food, I clean it up, cook, preserve, freeze, etc...
Then I realized... how "similar" my life is to everyone else...
You see, when I was working, or when most people work, they are somewhat financially insecure. People work for more years, save more, cos... they don't know how much they need in the future. They keep on working and saving more. Even though they may already have a few million in assets.
I realized... I also have this mindset here in Paris, if we look at my "work" as collecting food.
I keep collecting it. Even though I don't need to. Every few days, the market opens and I can take enough for a few days. I can eat it and by then the market will reopen and I can get more food.
But when I collect, I take enough for 3-4 days. More than enough. I already have stocks of salmon, vegetables for 2 weeks even if I don't go and collect more food.
So I end up freezing an additional 1-2 days worth of food every time I go and collect food.
Of course, this is not sustainable, cos I don't have unlimited fridge space.
And I realize this is a similar insecurity as financial insecurity.
Ok... I COULD... Just go and use money to buy food, so there's no real insecurity.
But ever since I've started getting free food, I have no real drive to go to spend money on groceries. What for spend money when I can get food for free? The only convenience of the supermarket is that I can get EXACTLY what I want when I want. But for free food, I can get whatever is available, and I don't get to choose. But that's ok with me.
Anyway, back to topic.
The idea is, here in Paris, I don't really have food security as much as I have in Singapore. In Singapore, there is a whole community of food sharers and there are operations in place for regular food collection. Whereas in Paris, I don't get the same amount all the time, I don't get meat often, I may get a lot of carrots on one day, and little of other stuff, or I may get a lot of tomatoes on another day and little of other stuff. So, the mentality is that, I don't know what's going to happen in the next 2 months, I don't know what kinds of food I will get, etc...
Similar insecurity to when I was working... I don't know what will happen when I leave my job, I don't know how much I need, what if I run out of money, etc etc...
Is it the same kind of insecurity? Not sure...
But it stems from the same place in my mind...
A human fear of the unknown. The unknown future...
Furthermore, it's the summer holidays now, and 70% of the local market is closed. So I don't get as much food as one month ago. But I get different items cos the seasons change.
And when I thought about this, I found it really interesting.
(If we remove the fact that actually I could just use money and buy the food from the supermarket...)
But the mindset that I do feel a sense of insecurity that I might not be able to have enough food for the future, or that *GASP* I may need to spend MONEY to buy food! The horror of that thought!
And so... I do what most people do... I hoard... well... actually, I just freeze food so that I can use the food for the other days when I have less food.
And that's what savings are for. We save money so that when we need it in future, we can use it.
There's some difference. Like there isn't any limit to saving money. We can keep saving cos the money can be kept in the bank. Whereas for food, I can't keep freezing, cos I'll run out of fridge space.
Also, for food, I can only eat around 300gms per meal, so there is a limit to my total consumption in my whole lifetime. But for money, there really isn't a limit to how much someone can/would want to spend.
So what are we saving for? Are we saving for food and living expenses? Or are we saving for lifestyle?
Cos lifestyle is expensive to save for. Whereas if we are saving for food and a life of simple living...
Then... the answer is quite simple... Cos... how much can we eat?
<<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.
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