Blunt Money

I first heard about the book How to Survive Without a Salary by Charles Long from a post on the Simple Living forums. The title alone sounded appealing — after all, isn’t that what I’d like to do? Live off interest income? But there was more to it than that.

The book is all about the “conserver lifestyle” — a lifestyle that involves stepping out of the consumer world and into a world where you’re focused on using less, enjoying what you do have more, being creative, and being a good steward. It’s about planning your life so that your monetary needs are reduced to the point where you need very little cash to have the things you want. So little cash, in fact, that you can live on the occasional odd job instead of needing to work at a job that pays a salary.

I really enjoyed his common-sense approach and straightforward way of writing. He talks about everything from budgeting and procrastination to the gross national product. Some of what he wrote about made me long for my childhood — I remember days spent at farm auctions fondly. Other parts weren’t quite for me — I don’t know if I’d like squab, for example. But mostly reading the book filled me with a sense of relief.

If you have any interest at all in stepping out of the consumer world, check out the book. (From the library, of course.)

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