Hodding Carter lives within his means: Only for a book?
Filed under: Budgets, Simplification
Living within your means is suddenly the stuff of legend. I first read about W. Hodding Carter's soon-to-be-published book on the subject a few months ago, when the project was announced on the same day that our own Zac Bissonnette agreed to a deal for his book on paying for college. A Year of Living Within Our Means? Shouldn't that be every year, I thought? After all, most of us these days are forced to live on the salaries we've got; and if we're only doing it for a year, well, shame on us.Excuse me if I gag on my own limited budget.
When I read more on his project yesterday, at first it confirmed my worst first impressions; Carter admitted to having racked up significant credit card debt, while living as if he made roughly three times his average annual income of $41,000. It's not like he was jetting to Monaco for cocktails and a dip in the Riviera a couple of times a month, but he did cop to a hand-carved walnut countertop. And at one point, his wife kicked him out for nine months due to his spendthrift ways (ouch).
I read the piece a little more carefully, though, and I think I may actually end up liking his book. He and his family will live on $550 per month after their mortgage and related expenses; for food, utilities, and the rest of it. They've bought 25 chicks for eggs; his wife has bartered legal work for a big pile of wood; they're going to grow an enormous garden. A book on living within your means? Ok, ok, I'll buy it. But only if you promise to show us how you can keep doing it for five years... a decade... oh, heck, why not forever?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-07-2009 @ 1:48PM
JOHN said...
remember the rooster Hodding
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2-07-2009 @ 3:15PM
Bridget said...
It may well be a good book, but the artifice does irritate me.
I live on an small budget and have debt. It isn't fun but any of us who do this can write a book of tips on living cheap, no surprise.
What a book like this avoids are the huge systemic issue that living this way demands. Can we do this for a year? Sure, especially when afterwards there will be a book tour, hopefully some income, wife can go back to law work.
When it isn't just for a book, one is faced with very long term choices - do we sell the house we love so much so we can live on more than $550 a month. How do we save for retirement? Do we get other jobs? How do we pay for schooling or retraining so someone can earn more? Do we move in with friends? Do we move across the country? Do we replace the transmission or buy another junker that will only last another year? It is so much more than giving up dry cleaning and dinners out.
Don't know if they have kids but their is an entire family mindset thatis different when you are doing something for a while and when it is the grinding reality. There is a level or insecurity (or maybe pride, if you do it right) that pervades the whole family dynamic.
So, good luck to him, and the fresh eggs and all. Hint - thrift stores.
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2-08-2009 @ 3:32AM
j said...
I agree about only doing it temporary. I do alot of assignment work. That I can turn down (which I rarely do) or accept. My wife asks why I do some of the jobs that I hate so much- my reply, I can do anything as long as I know when it ends. As much as I hate it, I can always count the days until it's over and enjoy the check after I'm done. Unfortunetly, this has come back to bite me in the ass when my wife has a bad day at her job and she reminds me how lucky I am to be able to walk away after a few months of tough times (and with layoffs and downsizing at her company I've been hearing her complain alot more).
So a book about living on a budget for a year, no big deal- do it for 5, 10, life and maybe then I'll listen.
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2-12-2009 @ 3:39PM
Hodding said...
Sarah, thanks for being so fair. Probably shouldn't have used the word "extreme" but the editors had rejected my funnier, less, um, extreme ones. For the record for your readers: we are a family of six (6). We are NOT doing this for a book, despite any stories or PR to the contrary. We had to do it thanks to my financial shortcomings and need to feel better by spending. The book idea came later. I always write about what I do. Thirdly, we are NOT doing it for a year although saying so (or having it promoted that way) made it more palatable. We like living like this, can't believe how we used to spend, and have no desire to return to mindless, irresponsible consuming. I hope to delve into the societal issues urging poor fiscal behavior, although I think much of that will change as our economy collapses. Also, as far as my wife "going back" to law goes, she has been working much of this time, usually as a public interest lawyer but now as a small-town lawyer who mostly takes cases of people without much money. Lastly, I believe only having $550 or so to pay for food, gas, public school supplies and trips, doctor and dentist visits, pet food, animal feed, medicine, travel expenses for kids' athletics, etc. (I know I'm leaving out some big-ticket items) isn't very much when you're talking about 6 people in a developed country. My understanding is that in most states the money we have any given month (which is usually $400 to $700--thus the $550) would qualify us for public assistance. I'm hoping some day, though, that $550 after paying mortgage, taxes, insurance, and electrcity will seem luxurious. If people keep giving us as good advice as they have so far, I imagine that day isn't far off. Check out my postings every once in a while to see how we're doing. Thanks. Hodding Carter
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