The idea of Downshifting has really appealed to me (and now my family) for a couple of years. Why Downshifting though…
Well, simply put, life’s rat-race (as we commonly call it these days) is becoming less enjoyable, more costly (in so many ways) and we’re getting nothing really better for us while enriching the pockets of the credit and financial industry overall. This doesn’t seem right or fair. So, what to do about this; well as noted above, incomes the idea of downshifting. I’m going to provide some reasons that many would see as advantages and disadvantages of the downshifting lifestyle and try to address each; so, here goes:
-
Advantages
- Greater connection to ones life
- Slower pace of life
- More time to spend with family
- Better quality of life
-
Disadvantages
- Likely reduction in pay
- not having the latest and greatest in technology and stuff
So, having noted some of the issues on both sides, I’m going to pick each apart now:
Advantages
- By downshifting, you are forced (I would suggest) to live a life that is more in tune with and in step with yourself, your desires, dreams and ability to act on things.
- The slowing of the pace of life means that you spend more time on one activity, more time doing better workmanship and getting to know that activity, then you would likely get from our hectic and frantic pace of life now. Nowadays, with all the 24h news channels, expectations to “keep” up with the Joneses and drive to consume (stuff, not only food), we’re not intouch with what things help make us really happy. We simply fill out lives with stuff and trinkets to cover over the “wounds” that we have left in ourselves by living in this increasingly fast-paced, soulless lifestyle.
- By living a slower pace of life, you are forced to interact more closely with people; and who better to interact with, reconnect with and build stronger connections to than your family and friends. Being forced sounds like a bad thing; but think about it, really, people are what makes life enjoyable, it’s the social connections that provide quality, substance and growth in our lives, so having more time for it and doing it more, will bring greater enjoyment to your life.
- This means all of the above, as well as getting more into life, more activity (thereby fitter), happier with yourself and listening to yourself more. You are going to be less stressed about stuff that is meaningless in your life and thereby able to focus more on those things that need attention and really are important. Also, you’ll have time to learn new skills, hobbies that your hectic life might have forced you to put aside, you can address. Overall, it’s a great way to really reconnect with yourself.
Disadvantages
- The reduction in pay (this is generally the case; but might not be, let me explain) will be a shock to the pocketbook; but at the same time, if you’ve dealt with or are dealing with debt reduction as part of your downshifting lifestyle, you probably will be able to live on less and have a more secure life then when you were paid more and were buying all the extras that you “needed” or wanted to feel part of society. An article over at Urban Minimalist “Downshifting 101 How to live on a little money and pare down your life and a related one over at Nomad4Ever, How to downshift – learn to live more with less speak about the cost issue and what/how to address in better detail and coverage than I can provide here (as my family and I are only on the very start of the journey).
- Is this a disadvantage? Do you really need that new cell phone (even though your current one works perfectly well, is only 3 years old and has more functions than you need); or what about that slow PC you have, is it really slow? Learning to clean your PC of viruses, digital clutter and junk and the like, can help resurrect it’s speed (perceived) more likely than can a new one. If you don’t learn to maintain it, will that new PC really be in any better a position in 2 years? Or that camera, MP3 player, car… The list is almost endless; the point it, though items seemingly these days are designed to be replaced every couple of years, if they are still functional and provide the features you really need, then why upgrade?
Beyond that above mentioned points, why would anyone want to downshift; well, as is often an associated component of downshifting, many people start to raise part of their own food (thereby reducing their connection to the global food industry and also reducing their connection to the agri-business that seemingly is feeding us more food-like products (think margarine, Twinkies or even most breads (read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food book for more information))) and gaining either for the first time in their lives, or the first time in a long time, an appreciation of food, it’s importance in our lives and how we seem to abuse it in our everyday life here in North America (predominantly). The satisfaction of growing your own herbs, veggies or if you really go down the route (of the small holder), livestock, is immense and you gain the understanding and pleasure of knowing exactly what went into the food and who produced it (you or a close neighbour, friend or farmer). The downshifting life and that of self-sufficiency are intertwined, each bring you greater freedom and satisfaction than by not having either.
I’ve not really answered the post title; but I at least hope I’ve prompted some thought on the idea in you. If you’re interested, post a reply.
This is an interesting topic that I haven’t really given a lot of thought to as an overall lifestyle strategy, but in practice I have been applying some concepts of it in my own lifestyle choices. Namely getting out of the frequent technology upgrade cycle that has been ingrained in our minds from exposure to years of marketing that comes from being an avid technology enthusiast. For a while there, once my disposable income had reached a certain level, I was upgrading my notebook computer every 1-2 years just because I wanted the additional features and performance of a newer one.
My current MacBook Pro 15″ is over 2.5 years old and I’ve managed to withstand the release of 4 hardware updates since I bought it at the end of 2006 and I have no plans to upgrade it anytime soon. My iPhone might be a different story. Given it’s much lower price point, I’m feeling more compelled to upgrade to the latest model to get the latest features/benefits, but the release of the 3.0 software update for my existing iPhone 3G might help keep me satisfied enough with the new features it adds to my existing phone to ward off upgrade syndrome.
Similarly, when I bought my car back in spring 2005, I chose to finance it rather than lease it, with the plans to keep it for a few years after it was paid off. I’m hoping to get 10 years use out of it. Being able to possibly go 5 years without car payments is a very strong motivating factor in that decision.
All of this has made me realize however that if you do want to get out of the never ending corporate/marketing induced upgrade cycle, it really pays to adjust your purchase criteria to be more long term focused rather than short term focused. For instance, buying a cell phone whose maker has a track record of providing excellent long term feature upgrade support for their products rather than one that considers their phone disposable and requires you to buy a new phone to get any improvements. Or not getting tempted by a lower priced Windows PC that is going to feel really incapable of keeping up with the latest OS and software in a couple years and spending a bit more for a Mac that comes with more features and has a much longer useful life due to much more efficient software design.
If you want to buy a car to keep for 10 years, focus a little less on price and more on the quality and reputation of the manufacturer. Also consider rust proofing your new vehicle and make sure you bring it in regularly for all vendor recommended maintenance to keep it running in top condition. Cheaping out on maintenance could end up costing you a lot of money in the long run and mean cutting the useful life of a car by years.
Always remember the old saying, you get what you pay for.
In the time in which live this may not be the question to ask. The question may be “do we downshift gracefully or kicking and screaming?”.
In the past year, my husband, son, and son in law have all been laid off of their comfortably paid jobs in the Oil and Gas Title business. The boys have both taken jobs out of the industry at about a third the wages. Our daughter lost her position due to lay offs as a Zoning Consultant when Countrywide mortgage started having trouble. She now works in a day care for minimum wage. My husband who is not yet of retirement age is now recovering from a heart attack and frankly no one will hire him at this point. Our daughter in law and I work for the state where layoffs are less frequent.
The children have given up many luxuries (they were unaware before that was what they were) in order to keep their homes (1800 sq ft or so).
My husband and I are living of what is left of our investments after last year’s stock market tumble. This was supposed to be for our retirement. My income covers basic needs (mortgage, utilities car insurance, medicines and co-pays to my insurance which thanksfully is also on my husband).
Are we gardening? Yes. Do we entertain or go out for evenings? No. Are we beginning to get scared? Definitely.
Downshifting is happening to us whether we choose it or not. It is all in ourselves to decide how we will handle it.