Simplify

No Hilton in sight...

Wed 11 Nov - Day 3

So I’ve been living the Simple life for three days now and no, Paris Hilton has not suddenly made a sparkling entrance into my life. Simplify may sound glamorous, but believe me in real life its hard work!

 

In truth so far things have been quite easy. I seem to be a lucky man when it comes expenses. Unlike one of my colleagues who had a major accidental expense on day one, I have managed to get away with spending precisely £3 so far this week. On half a cheesecake for my church group – only the essentials for me! When a man can’t afford bread then let him eat cake!

 

Despite not advertising Simplify much, I seem to be getting free meals whichever way I look. Meals at work, a flatmate cooking, cooking at church, even sweeties at meetings. I’m not sure how long it can last but whilst it does I’m going to ride the wave – it may crash on me in a few weeks! Watch me flounder in the riptide!

 

There have been small, medium and large temptations. On the small side the temptation to stop at my favourite corner café to buy a roll of fruit pastels. Successfully resisted. Its great to break bad habits. When it comes to medium temptations the London jazz festival starts this week. I soooo want to buy tickets but have passed on that – but with some research I did find that they are having some free performances so am hoping to head to one of those on my bike. On the large side, a very close friend invited me to her 30^th birthday party in Munich in January – and insisted that I buy a ticket today. Normally I would do so without thinking, but now I can’t. She tried to get me to cheat and even offered a ticket as a gift.

 

The thing with doing this just for a month is that it feels a bit hollow because I can just buy the ticket in December (ironically probably for more money). But Simplify has at least caused me to think about the choice. Weighing up my increased carbon footprint against the good that £60 could do for charity versus honouring a friendship of over a decade I will still go for the friendship. I guess that is just a function of my priorities.

 

Some of my fears for the week haven’t been realized. For example my breath no longer condenses when sitting in my lounge. Fergus managed to get the heating fixed. All it took was plugging it back in – its still relatively chilly but at least we’re making an effort. But tomorrow my friend is coming over from South Africa to stay the night and I have to provide him with a decent meal as well as a warm bed! And then I have a friend celebrating his 25^th birthday on Friday – cash intensive bowling in elephant and castle.

 

I have definitely saved enough these first few days to be able to provide some culinary offering and not break the tradition of hospitality. However, my Simplify challenge of the week is to enjoy a birthday party with no cash without causing any social embarrassment. Come back next week to find out whether I succeed!

Finally I begin!

Sunday Nov 8 - Day 0

It’s Sunday night and the time of reckoning has finally come! Members of the Evangelical Alliance have been doing simplify for the past two months and finally it is my turn! My plan is to take it a week at a time. At the moment I am split between online shopping for bargains at the beginning of the week or drawing £5 cash per day, hiding my plastic and going foraging for the cheapest deals I can find! I’ll start with the cash and see.

But before redemption, first my confession. The past two months have certainly been one of my most decadent periods of my life on record thus far. I have just returned from an expensive trip to New York and have attended something like four concerts in the last month and traveled to three countries in the past two months.

So on one level I am quite looking forward to this.

 

I need to slow down, use my money more wisely, take time to think and pray more and connect with my friends here in the local community of Battersea. In moments of optimism I even think that slowing down might, just might, give me some time to organise my mind and ensure that some of those big thoughts that so often escape into the ether are captured on paper or pixels.

Simplify will also help me to identify with people on my estate. In my area there are many living on benefits. Some may think that benefits are the easy option, but I suspect that it won’t be quite so cushy living at these levels.

But I do have my worries.

 

My dad is known to say, “you and your mother spend money like water”. I could blame my mom, but I’m 30-something and, like Adam in Eden’s garden, I guess I need to take some responsibility. Being single and more or less responsibility free means that I have never had to budget very tightly. I know the broad categories where my money goes, but don’t bother drilling down into the detail, which would take time I don’t have.

However, with the exception of travel and entertainment I do live a fairly frugal life – I ride my bike most places and like most men wear my clothes until and beyond the holy stage (amen brother!). But this is London. Travel, entertainment and shopping are the triathlon of the future Olympic capital, and so I suspect I will have to change my ways this month. 

I wonder what will happen to my social life. Will I be bored, will friendships suffer, what will people think when I miss their cash intensive birthday bash? Being single means that a night at home is not as exciting for me as for the marrieds amongst us – and I don’t mean to take anything away from dear Fergus my flatmate. His barrister stories of London street crime are enough to persuade anyone to stay at home - day and night. But I am more accustomed to varied and exciting nights out with a 2am bedtime, than a staying in with the television.  (And its too late to buy scrabble now – can’t afford it).

Finally I live in a large old and cold house and I have guests this week from the South African springtime and the heating is broken! I want to be able to look after them as well as I can, but I suspect that fixing the heating might cost quite a lot. If some of my short term heating fixes like changing the curtains or adding cellophane to the windows won’t work, I may be forced to go out and get a loan to cover the costs of fixing the place. Of course around here the loans are at exorbitant rates and penalties for missed payments include broken legs. But that is the reality for most people living on the breadline.

This really isn’t a joke after all. I wonder what God will teach me this month?

So in Conclusion.....

So the 31st October finally arrived. I did it! I survived with a few £pounds left over. I always knew I would need some 'savings' because this was the part fo the month I knew was unrealistic. In the other 11 months of the year would fall many bigger bills for items I could survive without for a month. It is a shock how little I had left over when I was so hard on myself.

It was certainly a journey I wanted to be on. I am glad I have done it. I will sort of miss it and the discipline to life it brought. That's why I won't simply slip back into the old routines this week.

To finish off the experience I was lined up for a last interview. The Independent Diary had almost been complimentary for a cynical newspaper! But on Sunday evening I nervously sat by the phone at 11.30pm. I had been lined up with much urgency and great authority to appear on the Stephen Nolan show on Radio 5 Live to talk about Simplify. I know his reputation so I was expecting the obvious if somewhat boring and predictable link to expenses. What I had only half expected came true. Other stories takeover and we were running late. Five minutes to midnight and eventually the phone rings. Three minutes later it's all over. I had been squeezed out by a story about fat bus drivers and a very passionate debate he couldn't stop. I ad several conversations with BBC Researchers to line up the interview. They all got it and wanted to seriously know more. I am not so sure about Nolan.

And so now I return to normal life. What will I do. Well for a start I won't just revert back to normal. I will only build back into life what I really want above the £5 limit. So I will start playing 5 a side and going down to the gym again. They are quality bits of my life that cost money. But there is little else I have missed. I have learned to borrow and beg. I don't feel the need to 'own'. I have found time in my day - especially around cycling in the constituency even more. I HAVE to slow down between meetings. I need 20-30 minutes between everything. That has been liberating.

So 'Thank you' to Simplify I have physically done what I have been edging towards for the last 4 years. It has made me simplify and take action not just think about it. I am now healthier, happier, live a more sustainable lifestyle and enjoyed the experience. I have been able to talk to hundreds of people about this and I get a real sense people would love to try if only they weren't busy this week!! Setting the goal to do it for a month in a shared experience could be the time your life changed for the better. Just do it.