What can you live without?

[miss_thenorth]

When I think of what I could live without, oddly, it is not material things that come to mind. I could not live without the love of my family.

I could live without lies, deceit, gossip, pettiness, simplemindedness, and the list of horrible personal attributes could go on and on. Yes, I have not had a good week. Someone on BYC had a sig line that went something like--the more I know people, the more I like my chickens. I know that isn't the correct line, but that is how I feel.

When I think in terms of being 'self'sufficient, survivalist, frugal etc. I would have to critique the word "can" in the subject line. I can live without pretty much everything, exceptions being water, and to a certain degree, food, minimal clothing and shelter.

I "have lived", by choice, without electricity, running water, etc, in the past, and I did enjoy it, and also took from it that we do not "need" alot.

Needs and wants are different, and so are can't and won't.

Right now, we live within our means. We live frugally, by choice. We don't need brand new vehicles, we don't need designer clothes, heck--we don't need paper towels.

If our financial situation changed--as in got bad--we would adapt easily.


i can honestly say, that I woldn't want to give up toilet paper though.

 

[ticks]

I can live without paper towels.

 

[patandchickens]

Needs and wants are different, and so are can't and won't.<snip>If our financial situation changed--as in got bad--we would adapt easily.

Very well said - that was what I was trying to get at in my earlier post, sorry I apparently offended some people.

The "can vs prefer" and "need vs want" thing is just a real sore spot to me, partly b/c my husband and my sister are both just *terrible* about that and it comes up SO often and just drives me NUTS. Especially when there are so many people in the world who don't have the luxury of indulging preferences and wants.

I just think it's a really really important distinction to preserve. And when it breaks down, it tends to lead to all the sorts of NON self sufficient behaviors that are complained of in many other threads on this site.

Sorry.

i can honestly say, that I wouldn't want to give up toilet paper though.

LOL - as long as there was scrap paper or leaves around, I would give up toilet paper long before I would give up a proper mattress, or elastic, or sneaker-type shoes

(Funny story- in grad school our lab stayed for a couple nights (on a collecting trip) at the rather remote and primitive mountain cabin of an emeritus biology professor. Hanging inside the outhouse, instead of the stereotypical sears catalog, was a draft copy of the doctoral dissertation of his last grad student, with the first half or so of the pages missing, and yes, indeed that's why. Apparently the former grad student knew about this and found it extremely amusing )


Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

-----------------------------as long as there was scrap paper or leaves around----------------------Tried those before--still want my TP. But yes-- a good mattress is also important.

 

[sweetproserpina]

Sweetproserpina...THAT WAS IT!! lol Thanx for expounding on it for me

Hehe, You're welcome pioneergirl!

Your question reminds me of another instance on 1900 House. They were willing to give everything a-go.. but they did cheat a little. No matter what they tried, they really wanted their modern shampoo and conditioner back and sneaked out and bought some. It's not that they needed it, but it was something from the modern world that they felt they couldn't live without comfortably. I didn't think they were copping out on the project, they were just being honest about it.

I think we all have things like that. The things we could do easily without, others would rather keep and choose to instead give something else up. For example I could do without pop, and coffee, but I'd like to keep my tea, thank you very much but some folks would give up a lot just to keep that morning cup of java. It's all relative.

The fella and I have old cars - 1983 and 1964. And we like'em a lot. They are paid for, get relatively good mileage, and can be fixed easily and cheaply by the fella. We never ever have to worry about payments or hefty mechanics bills, or what in the world that little flashy light means on the dashboard, lol. Is giving up buying a new car a sacrifice for us? Nope, they are just not important to us.

As I get more into the self-sufficient and simple lifestyle, I find more stuff that we don't need, or can be made at home instead. It's a process, and I'm sure there's a lot of modern conveniences we'll never give up

patandchickens- now that's a great professor...

 

[pioneergirl]

A little OT but...can you imagine how hard it must have been, for the women, with all that hair and not washing for several days/weeks? I used to have super long hair, and want it back (long story with that lol) and I could go 3 or 4 days without washing. And although I have never tried the alternatives to 'modern' shampoo, I often wonder how these women coped with it.

*Anyway*

Ok, I agree that 'need' vs 'want' are indeed 2 different things, and the internet offers only a black and white world, so maybe without facial expression or voice fluxuation, the premise wasn't clear. Maybe I should type this:

Could you live like the early Pioneers???? If it really came down to it, could you live exactly as they did back then? No shampoo, no dishwasher, cooking, cleaning, working constantly? Could you live without what you have around you? Could you live in a 1 or 2 room cabin with a dirt floor??

I sometimes think I could, if I was so busy all the time, I wouldn't thnk about my computer, or my cell phone, or my car. I wouldn't wonder about the crime in Chicago, or the rapid spread of polution, etc. If our world suddenly stopped where it was, and we had to live as they did in the past, I think I could do it. I think I could live without many things around me. I have them because I WANT them, not necessarily because I NEED them.....ah well, it was an interesting thought, even if I'm the only one who thought so...rofl

 

[patandchickens]

A little OT but...can you imagine how hard it must have been, for the women, with all that hair and not washing for several days/weeks? I used to have super long hair, and want it back (long story with that lol) and I could go 3 or 4 days without washing.

This is probably a large part of why women used to put their hair up, and often under a cap or bonnet as well

Could you live like the early Pioneers???? If it really came down to it, could you live exactly as they did back then? No shampoo, no dishwasher, cooking, cleaning, working constantly? Could you live without what you have around you? Could you live in a 1 or 2 room cabin with a dirt floor??

I very very very sincerely doubt that, if circumstances forced people to do this, that more than a handful would just curl up and die. Not even the ones who these days are all "oh, I just couldn't live without my soda pop and shampoo and BlackBerry".

Some undoubtedly would be lost from *ignorance*, like from drinking unsanitary water or failing to provision sufficiently for winter or from felling trees onto themselves. Is *that* what you're really asking about - the KNOWLEDGE to smoothly transition into that kind of a lifestyle??

But in terms of intestinal fortitude so to speak, people do this all the time all over the world -- and more people than you might think actually *do* experience the transition you're describing, often due to war -- so of *course* I could. If I had to.

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

Pat made a great point in this thread
I surely could survive if "I had to"
I am not a city type that can't boil water, skin a critter for roasting, kill a critter, build a shelter, build a fire etc. etc....

I would be a survivor vs. many.

Us "type" could do it......don't want too..LOL--but I could.

Going from living without "extra" jewelry to having to survive is a far reach......but us on this board....we would make it! :}

 

[pioneergirl]

For crying out loud, I had no idea this was going to be so over-analyzed.

Tell ya what, thanx to everyone who posted, but evidently I didn't explain it very clearly, so I'm just gonna drop it. I didn't think it was that hard to understand.

Oh well.

 

[FarmerChick]

pioneergirl
this is a fun post!--good thread!
over analyzed is what most women do.
HA HA HA HA HA
I enjoy this thread!