Personal Freedom – Why I Make What I Need

I am decycling my life and challenging myself to find alternative solutions to using money. I don’t want to rely on money any more than I have to. That is one of the reasons why I am learning how to make the things that I need. At the same time, I am also questioning the things I believe are essential to me because most of the things we deem essential aren’t.

I don’t like to rely on anything external for what I need, because external things such as material items can always break, be stolen or get lost. When/if that happens, I would be reliant on something I no longer have access to, and that would make my life a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

When I find that I am beginning to think, “I don’t know what I would do without this,” my new response is, “Let’s find out.” I challenge myself to stop using that item or service for some time to teach myself that yes, I would be okay without it. I prefer to have it in my life since it makes me feel a certain way, but now I also know that I would be fine if I lost access to it. That is a great comfort to me. I don’t want any kind of addictions in my life, nor do I want to depend on material means to make me feel a certain way. Everything I need in that area I want to be able to find within. I don’t want to look for it outside of myself. I won’t find it and I’ll only waste time and energy looking for it.

What do people spend money on and why?

I have been looking into that more and more lately. When I google it, most of the search results tell me either the general areas where people spend money or which luxuries people think they can’t live without. However, I am looking for an actual list stating the most common items and services that people spend their money each month. Both because I find it interesting, since the result would vary somewhat based on a person’s demographic, but also because I want to figure out how much of it I could get for free.

I also find it interesting that no matter what you search for, the result almost always shows what it is like in the US. As though the US represents the world and the rest is just… I don’t know. But I don’t live in the US, nor do I want to. Least of all now in the current political climate. And the way people live in the US is entirely different from how the rest of the world lives. Yet somehow, the US is always used as the default. Isn’t that interesting? The results also usually focus on the middle class and above in the US, but what about everyone else living there? The majority of the population is not middle class and above. But that’s not something the search engines want to show us. They want to sell the American dream when life in the US is starting to look more like the American nightmare.

I’m trying to find another search engine to see if the results are the same. And for my own research I tried to use a ChatGBT site to see if the answers it came up with also were centered around the US and low and behold, they were.

Now then, back to the topic on hand. What do people spend money on? Housing is the greatest expense people have these days, and food is a close second. According to some articles, housing is supposed to cost around 25% of a person’s income, but that just isn’t the case today. Many spend the majority of their income on housing and struggle to afford anything else.

Food is supposed to only take up a small portion of your income, but today you pay a whole lot of money for a mere bag’s worth of food. Many spend money on hygiene items such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, hair products, skin care products and so on. And even more people spend money on laundry detergent and other cleaning detergents and products. Some even have a detergent for each room or area of their homes. It’s excessive, expensive and most of these products aren’t harmful to our health.

Skin care and hair care

I make my own hair balm. I use combinations of baking soda, filtered water and apple cider vinegar to clean and condition my hair. I use the hair balm or some coconut oil to keep the moisture up, and salt water spray if I want to define my hair more. As for skin care, I have an oil based facial cleanser. It’s a bar and it lasts me a long time. I use a serum in the mornings with a crystal roller or gua sha, and I use a moisturiser with SPF. I make my facial masks, eye cream and my skin care oil myself. I do still buy deodorant about once a year when there’s a good discount, but it’s not much of a cost. I may decide to make my own in the future, but not right now.

I also make my own joint balm which I use when I have joint or muscle pain. It’s essentially a homemade tiger balm. I intend to make another one with devil’s claw and a few other ingredients this summer.

Occasionally I use moroccan clay to wash my hair and clean my skin. I bought one box a few years ago and I am still using the same one, so that is also something inexpensive that lasts a long time. You can make your own hair care products and skin care products with soap nuts as well.

Laundry detergent and other cleaning products

I have tried a few different alternatives to laundry detergent. I used soap nuts for many years and that worked really well for me.

For the last year or so, I have simplified my routine even further. I am currently living in a place that has an electric washer, so that’s what I use. I place baking soda in the drum and pour some homemade ACV where some place their softener. I now clean my clothes only using the shorter programs on a low temperature. They have never looked better and they always come out perfectly clean.

For stain removal I use an Aleppo-based bar that sort of mimics the effects of gallsoap, but it has been derived by plants instead of gall.

As far as other cleaning products go, I mainly use ACV, baking soda, filtered water and lemons. I do use a linseed oil soap for cleaning floors, but that’s it.

What else do people spend their money on?

Housing solutions

Let’s look into housing.

I currently pay €350 a month for my rental and that includes utilities, which is very good. However, the goal that I am working toward is to own or access a piece of land for free and create a home that runs itself. I may begin with a caravan or something like that, but an earthship home is probably the end goal.

I would collect rain water, filter them using a non-electric filter and have the filtered water directed to the taps in the home.

I want solar panels and back-up generators for the colder months. Possibly an old fashioned wood burning stove for food and warmth. I would likely have a gas stove that is run on gas from food- and garden waste. Such as a biogas stove.

I would grow a bit more food than I do now. I would use a composting toilet that separates the human waste. Faces can be composted and in a year’s time the compost can be used as humanure. Urine can be diluted and used as fertiliser.

I would not have any trash pick up service. I can use cardboard in the garden or to grow mushrooms. I avoid plastic as much as possible, but there are many projects you could do to use up your plastic waste as well. Glass can often be reused or turned into something else. For example, jars can be reused and repurposed. Bottles can be washed, sterilised and used when making homemade soda or beer. They can then be gifted to other people or kept in your own pantry. Metal… well that’s the most difficult one in my opinion. Still, there are various gardening tools that you can make from cans and whatnot, so that could work.

None of this would take much money to put together, but the result would be a home that runs itself and puts little to no strain on the environment. And if you want, you could connect to the grid and choose to only use that connection as a backup should you ever need to. Just as an insurance that you won’t ever be stranded without electricity or heating.

Food

On an average month, I spend less than €50 on food. If I needed to, I could get that number down to zero. But there are certain things that I purchase during the months when I can’t make my own. Such as fruit and vegetables during winter. There’s also a plant-based milk that I use for my coffee and to replace coconut milk, plant-based yoghurt or cooking cream in my meals. Still, those are more wants rather than needs. But right now I feel they improve my quality of life, so I don’t see any harm in acquiring them on a monthly basis.

Every year I get a little bit better at preserving enough food during the growing season to last me through the colder seasons. I am not self-sufficient yet, but I do grow and make a fair amount of what I need. And that’s on only 5 sqm of growing space.

One way for me to spend less money on fresh greens has been to grow my own sprouts and microgreens. It’s very easy, nutritious, and delicious. I’ve found that the best way of doing it is to start more microgreens/sprouts about once a week. That way you have microgreens in succession so you never have to go without. Though if you grow larger amounts each time, every other week should be fine.

I make most of my seasoning myself. I make soy sauce, pastes, dry seasoning and flakes. I grow, dehydrate and grind herbs to use as spices or as herbal mixtures. I use some of them to make salad dressing. I preserve food that I forage for every year. I grow a fair bit of my food and I have quite a few perennials that produce a decent amount of food every year.

Clothes and shoes

This is also something that people like to spend money on. Clothes are no longer made to last. They’re essentially made to be disposable and used only for a short time, but that just means that a great deal of the fashion that is produced globally ends up in landfills. People have forgotten how to make things last, how to mend and how to treasure what they own. We’re always encouraged to consume more and be more wasteful rather than mindful with our possessions.

Around eight years ago I decided to make sure my wardrobe is completely sustainable. Today everything in my wardrobe is either organic, recycled, purchased second hand or handmade. Several items are organic and were purchased second hand. I have a lot of linen clothes as that is my favourite material to wear all year round. The handmade clothes are either made of organic fabrics that I made from scraps that I purchased from fabric shops, or they’re handmade crochet pieces. I own a lot of handmade crochet clothes since I crochet a lot.

I mainly use one pair of shoes for the majority of the year. They’re a pair of barefoot shoes from Vivo Barefoot. I got them about five years ago. I do have some tall boots for winter and wellies for rainy days and gardening, but that’s it.

I have a winter coat that I’ve used for at least 4-5 years, probably more. My hats, mittens etc are all handmade.

This year I have begun making my own socks and underwear. Those were the last items on my list of clothing items that I wanted to learn how to make.

I love fashion, but I don’t have any craving to shop or buy things new anymore. And when it comes to second hand fashion, I’d rather get something from a friend or family member and possibly re-design it to make it work for my wardrobe. I prefer saving discarded materials and turning them into something new that I want to wear. I am currently on the lookout for denim from the nineties and early 2000s. After that, the quality went down. Today there are few differences between elastic fabrics like jersey and what currently passes as denim.

Home items

It seems to be very individual what people believe is included in this category. For me, I think it’s things like sheets, towels, furniture, decorations, curtains, mats and so on. Items for the home.

I purchased quality sheets in sustainable materials about four years ago, and I have no immediate plans to purchase any new ones.

A decade ago I received a set with two bath towels and two hand towels in my favourite colour, and I intend to keep them for as long as I possibly can. It’s been a decade and they still feel like I just bought them, so I have no intention of replacing them or purchasing other ones.

I have the decorations I want and I don’t want any more. Though if I was gifted another kokeshi doll, I wouldn’t turn it down. I really like them.

I have one curtain and I made it myself a few years back. I have no need for a new one at this point in time. I live in a furnished room, so I don’t need any furniture, mats or things like that. And when I do find my piece of land, I have a non-electric washer, so I’ll be all set.

Technology

If I need any tech stuff, I pay for it with gift certificates that I’ve earned from filling out surveys. And if I need something new, I first sell what I currently own to technology centred second hand shops. I don’t see myself needing anything in terms of technology for the forseeable future. If I do, it’ll be because I’ve decided to sell some of my more expensive items to buy something multipurpose.

And that’s about it.

The other things that people spend money on are healthcare/health and travel. I don’t spend any money on travel at this time. I do spend a little bit of money annually on supplements and the like, but healthcare is generally affordable here in Sweden. We only have to pay a predetermined sum each year and after that we have free meds/healthcare until a year has passed from our first purchase date/visit of the year. If your first visit was in March and you reached paid the predetermined sum by September, you’ll have free healthcare until next March.

What do you spend money on and what would you like to spend less on?

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