Decoupling Money from Needs and Wants

[livingdeb]

Brave New Life has a giveaway to encourage people to describe how they decouple money from their needs and wants. What a concept. To just not need money for some of your needs or wants?

I've decided there are several ways to do this.

Sponging

Eh, not always the most noble method, though sometimes it actually is noble. My favorite ways of sponging include:
* using the library (thanks, other taxpayers!)
* reading things online for free (thanks, bloggers!)
* public parks and trails for fun and exercise
* borrowing from friends, especially books and movies they recommend
* hand-me-ups (thanks, sister!)
* people giving away other stuff they don't want anymore
* taking the bus for free (work benefit)

Then I can also decouple some money from needs and wants by getting subsidized. Some of my favorite subsidies include:
* college grants
* sharing (yea for roommates!)
* thrift stores, pawn shops, people selling used cars

Do It Yourself

But with sponging, you're still dependent on others, just like when you need to get money. An even more intriguing way to decouple money from wants and needs is to take care of them yourself. I do actually do some things myself:
* cut my own hair (and other grooming)
* walk to places that are nearby
Okay, not that many. I don't grow my own food or my clothing fibers or have a house I built from, uh, clay and limestone. Oh, I do grow my own fingernails. (Hey, some people buy theirs.) Also, I can still do my own breathing without assistance. Because I am highly skilled like that.

You can also reduce costs by doing some of the work yourself. Some of my favorites:
* cooking food, grating cheese
* walking to the bus stop
* pumping my own gas (ha! remember when most people didn't?)
* doing my own financial planning
* mending clothing

Substituting

You can also reduce money dependence by substituting similar but less-expensive ways to achieve your goals for others. Some of my favorites:
* smaller house
* durable, reliable goods
* clothes that don't need dry cleaning
* things that need less or no energy/water/resources to run
* vegetarian proteins

Oh well

Most of my needs and wants are still highly coupled to money, though. Some of my favorites:
* food
* shelter
* entertainment transportation (yes, I'm talking about my car, but also airplanes, cruise ships)
* utilities (electricity, water, gas, trash, recycling, phone, internet)
* dance lessons
* tools
* doctor visits and medicine
* movies (yea Netflix and Alamo Drafthouse!)
* insurance (health and property/auto)
* donuts (oh, are those considered food?)