*It's All About the Money

Droughts and floods are effecting food production in South Africa and all over the world leading to food shortages and price hikes and the South African Rand is in the toilet. Everything is getting more expensive and prices are predicted to keep rise until well into 2017.  No matter how hard you work or what job you’re in things are going to get tight for everyone.

I don’t make a load of money. I’m just not that person. Working for myself making upcycled creations it’s always feast or famine and much to many people’s horror, I am ok with that. I don’t fit into any of the regular type of jobs or professions. The only employment I could get in these times is a minimum wage job and even those are scarce. So I’d rather live the way I do than spend hours doing something I hate - being a slave to a 9-5 job that gives me no satisfaction and getting home exhausted and demoralized every evening only to earn a minimum salary that at the end of the day is probably less than my average earned for my creative work anyway. I don’t need a lot of things. I would rather do without if it means I am a little more free from the strangling need to make more money. I really am, I’m not just saying that to justify my choices or to sound like an airy-fairy hippy. I know it’s weird but I have spent a long time soul searching and thinking on it from every angle and I really don’t like money. The more you have the more you worry about losing it.

We went through some hard times when I was growing up and the thing I remember from then is how easy it was to be happy. As a treat, Mom would buy a chocolate on the way home after school and we’d cut it into three pieces for me, my sister and my Mom. Happiness. No matter how hard times got my sister and I always got our pocket money. I could buy a bottle of coke. Happiness. We got home-cooked everything because it was cheaper and even though we didn’t have much money, we lived on a farm and ours was still the place all the kids came to visit and Mom would feed them all with vetkoek and mince and homemade biscuits and cakes. Happiness.

I am so lucky to be blessed with an amazing husband who supports and encourages me every day even though I know he would really be quite happy if we had a little more money coming in every month. Tom has a day job as Curator of Exhibitions at the National English Literary Museum. He writes, which is his passion and is what he’d really like to do all day long. His comedy novel ‘Midnight’s Chicken’ is set in a book shop and is about working in retail and why you shouldn’t take up terrorism as a hobby. He loves photography, and has just signed up to do a PhD.

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So it is  obvious I am not good at acquiring money but I am fabulously good at not spending it. So I aim to prove I can make money by not spending it. I know this is possible, it was something that was made clear to us when I moved from working at home to my shop/studio and our home expenses noticeably rose and our quality of life deteriorated when I was not able do all the little things at home that I had done. Working at home simply works for me, I can do so much more in a day. I like to do a blend of work and home chores and I know all the ‘work at home’ gurus, articles and Internet advice say you should separate your work from your home stuff - but that’s what works for them, not me.

The basics of my plan is to make more of our own stuff. Food, cleaning solutions, toiletries even, thereby saving on all the stuff one buys because it is easy. Homemade stuff is usually a bit more expensive to start with but it lasts a lot longer because it is of better quality and when you make it yourself you’re less inclined to waste anything. It also reduces the amount of products you have to buy - vinegar and bicarbonate of soda will pretty much take the place of window cleaner, bath cleaner, counter top cleaner, stove and oven cleaner … you get the picture. I’ll be trying out all the Internet recipes and advice on these things and let you know what works for me. In this way you won’t have to do all that for yourself. So many of the recipes are written in other countries and have to be ‘translated’ into South African measurements and products.

We have already saved some money by cancelling our satellite TV. Now don’t get me wrong - we didn’t give up TV altogether! We love our TV, a little too much maybe. Instead we have signed up for the Internet with Imaginet who offer brilliant service. They are super friendly and helpful and they are local. We have also signed up with ShowMax a streaming website. With ShowMax you pay a monthly fee of R99 and you can watch anything on their site. You pay for the data to stream the show you want to watch but you can choose how much you want to watch instead of paying R800 or more for satellite TV whether you watch it or not. And we needed the Internet at home anyway. I think this will reduce the amount of time we sit in front of the TV randomly surfing channels, wasting time, just because it’s there. That in itself will save money as it frees up time to do something more useful or more time to sit on the stoep with a glass of wine and watch the sun go down. Which is really the desired end result of all of going to work in the first place isn't it?

 I hope to find more ways to save money that can be just as easily implemented in a household run by two working people. Most of the money saving changes – like any changes we make – are mostly about changing habits. Like the way the car just takes you straight to the supermarket instead of the local little fruit and veg shop you have vowed to support as they sell all the best local produce and even have farm-fresh free range eggs! Or the bag of bread rolls you buy even though there are homemade bread rolls in the freezer. Habit. Or plonking down in front of the TV and flipping through channels only to land on something that ‘will do’ and letting it suck up hours of your life. Habit. Let’s make new ones.

I do feel that I have to at least attempt to make my own veggie garden. Again. I am a terrible, terrible gardener but I feel if I am going to talk about home sustainability I have to at least try one more time. We have a new community group on facebook group for the people of Grahamstown to share and sell their excess produce so it would be great if I could get my garden going soon. If anyone has any advice on growing vegetables please do share, I’m going to need all the help I can get. Just so you know, though, I am a terrible gardener but an amazing bottler so if you live in Grahamstown and have extra fresh fruit or veg I’d gladly make pickle, sauces or jams and trade you for your excess produce. Deal?

*Life Goes On

It’s been a while, I know. I do apologize, I was so hoping to start my new installment with “The house is officially sold and we’re on our way!” But this is not to be the case, as it turns out having a willing buyer is only a small step in the sale process. The bank has all the say and our buyers’ bond wasn’t approved. So we start all over again. House selling is not for sissies. 

But life goes on. As Christmas creeps nearer I am drowning in orders, mostly wholesale at the moment so each order is large. Which is good. Every hour of every day is full up with cutting and stitching and communicating with clients, while keeping the shop going at the same time. If I was ever unsure if closing the shop was the right thing to do, I am now convinced I can’t do it all. It doesn’t leave much time for living at all let alone living lightly. And really, what is the point then?I have got a little bartering done since last we chatted. It is a hard thing to get one’s head around, especially trying to make sure the trades are fair. The way I see it, as long as both parties are happy your trade is a success. First I traded a bunch of fresh beetroot from one of my fellow Nitarah veg box customers for a bottle of pickled beetroot. Then I traded with Siobhan at Wimze - two old printer’s trays and a couple of craft mags for chain and charms for a new project I have planned for next year. I also traded a bespoke Kisma Kreative handmade folder for a stash of bits and pieces of jewellery from Sarah at      G-Town Gems. These will be used for the same project. Intrigued? Good. You should be. Watch this space!

I’m getting the hang of it but it is sometimes awkward to suggest trading to people. Not everyone gets it and would prefer the black and white simplicity of cold hard cash. If anyone in Grahamstown has green thumbs 

and you have too many potatoes, tomatoes or onions I’d gladly discuss trading for preserves, pickles, or maybe a trade from my veg box? Beetroot for onions, etc? Or maybe there’s a Kisma Kreative design you have your eye on? Let’s chat. 

I’d best get back to it. So many orders, so little time. Have a beautiful day and remember to smile - it’s contagious!

*PS - I’m Just Like You

I feel the need to tell you a little bit more about myself. I need you to understand that I am by no means the most perfect greenie or eco-friendly person out there.

I want to be. I think about it a lot. I mean to be. But I still buy chips in plastic foil bags made with Amazon-destroying Palm oil when I can’t fight the urge. I might buy veggies in sea-creature-strangling plastic when I’m in a hurry. I will buy loose potatoes and then pop them in a million-year-to-biodegrade plastic bag because I still haven’t made the reusable net ones I have in my mind. I mean to eat beans and tofu instead of chops and chicken legs. But I don’t. I want to recycle but sho - it’s so difficult to get to the recycling drop offs on time - maybe next week. We did start a compost heap - but that’s just what it is, a heap at the top of the garden. It’s very natural. Just doesn’t have fancy worms or a tap were you can run off … whatever it is you run off of a proper compost system. I know solar is good, and expensive, but I’ll read up on it when I have time. I try to remember to turn the geyser off – but I always forget to turn it back on.

I don’t plan on giving up TV, Wi-Fi or good food. But I am hoping to find a practical way to live better, more consciously and with less stress within this mad, mad world we call home. I’m going with a ‘less is more’ philosophy. The less you have, the less you have to be worried about - right? Home-grown, home-made, less preservatives, fewer ingredients I don’t understand, less stuff from far, far away and origins unknown, back to basics, within reason. Does that make any sense? I’m like you, I want to be less selfish and demanding of the planet but I don’t want to live in the dark ages either. Surely we can find a practical, happy medium? That’s my goal right there I think. A practical and happy medium to Living Lightly in the real world.

As I am moving my studio back home and my work hours become more flexitime I will be able to test out all the recipes, building plans, suggested alternatives and green options out there. I hope to figure out what is practical, affordable and what will make an actual difference, no matter how small, as opposed to the crackpot plans that are out there on the net. Electricity from a coke can or Internet out of old CDs? I dunno, maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I have come to the conclusion that I am limited in the amount of income I can bring in doing what I do so another part of the experiment is to discover how much I can save by living lightly - and in this way contribute to the household income. We all know the economy is wobbly in the world and especially in South Africa just now. Nothing is for sure at the moment. This is my backup plan. A lifestyle that is efficient, less stressful, more healthy, economical, and planet friendly. I mean, isn’t that what we all want?

I hope you’ll follow my journey and help out where you can. I’m sure there is a wealth of knowledge between us - things you didn’t even know you knew, things you didn’t think had any value. Things you forgot you knew. I’ll be needing your advice and help along the way - it’s going to be easy to get lost in this story.

*Live Lightly

Hi there. My name is Tracy and I’m a closet tree-hugging, barefoot, hippy creative. Last month I turned 40. ‘The Big Four Oh’. ‘Life begins ... ,’ and all that.

Now, I’m not one to worry about getting old and I’m not prone to major epiphanies and the like, but something about this birthday has set me thinking about life, the world and my place in it. Do I really want what I think I want, or do I want it because I’m supposed to? I must want these things because that’s the way it is and you have to work many, many hours, make some money and live in a 3-bedroom house with two children, two dogs, a cat and a bond - regardless of what it will cost you, your children, your neighbors or the Earth.

Well, I don’t want that. As it turns out I want to live simply. I need to live lightly.

My husband Tom and I already try to be careful about bringing home plastic shopping bags, we turn off lights when we leave a room and we compost our perishables. We talk about taking our own containers to the butcher, or getting another bin so we can separate recyclables easily, but never really get there. I want to see if we can do more, so I am starting an experiment to find out:
Is is viable, affordable, healthy and sustainable to live lightly in the real world?

What do I mean by live lightly? The main idea is to have as little negative impact on the world as possible. We will try to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. We will make do and mend. We will try to support local business if we have to buy new.  We will try to buy only fresh local farm produce instead of  shipped-in, plastic-covered, factory-made perishables. We will try to find alternate energy-saving sources of power (we don’t have much of a choice with this one anyway, what with load shedding every other month). We will try to live in a way that works for us, the planet, and our community even if it goes against the accepted norm of things. That’s kind of the fun part.

We are planning a few big changes to start with. I have no doubt it will be hard and we will cheat a bit along the way, maybe even come close to giving up. I hope not. I look forward to the challenge and hope you’ll come along with us on this adventure.