Becoming Domestic

What is Downshifting?

Downshifting can be defined as ‘Moving from a lifestyle based on consumerism and a relatively high income towards one of reduced income and expenditure in order to spend more time doing things that are important to you and your family.’

Downshifting often means a reduction in consumerism and an increase in doing personally fulfilling activities such as raising children, learning a new craft, playing more music, doing more exercise, travelling, becoming involved in community or charity activities, cooking for and talking to those who love you more. For many it means a move away from being an employee and instead working for themselves.

Why are more people choosing to downshift?

The downshifting movement is gathering momentum especially in the USA. Huge numbers of people are realising that the white collar careers and jobs they have worked so hard at for so many years are constantly at risk of being made redundant. Despite making their way to ‘the top’ relationships with those close to them are strained, although they can purchase great luxuries many people are finding themselves empty, and unhappy for an unknown reason, they may even have stress related medical conditions or just feel lethargic and tired having spent many weeks commuting into their air conditioned places of work and spending long days sitting in the same position staring at a computer screen or rushing to meet corporate deadlines.

Potential downshifters often yearn to be in control of their own time instead of spending years in someone else’s artificially lit and heated office looking through tinted windows at the weather outside. They have realised that their time on this planet is finite and as employees we are literally selling our free time to our employers in exchange for cash. What would happen if we no longer required so much cash would we be able to use the time instead? Frequently people who investigate the possibility of downshifting fantasize that their lives were slower and simpler enjoying things like cooking family meals, walking in the great outdoors, enjoying the seasons and taking time to hear what other people have to say instead of always rushing and dashing and living off adrenalin and over priced, rich food.

People who begin to investigate the possibility of downshifting have realised that the old clichés are true ‘You only get one shot at this life’ and ‘This is not a dress rehearsal’.

Downshifters have decided to stop trading their waking hours earning money to support a lifestyle you they longer desire?

People who move from working fulltime to working a more flexible work arrangement can be said to have downshifted. This scenario is increasingly being seen in women returning to their employer after maternity leave but agreeing to work a three or four day week or in a job share with another member of staff. To these women it is more important that they have time with their child and to manage the household than to have the additional income (two-fifths more) they enjoyed before the baby arrived.

Another typical situation is of a family deciding to move away from the big city with both parents working to a more rural community so the children can benefit from safer streets, smaller and better schools, less crime and traffic.

Single people make up a good proportion of the downshifting community as they lack the have only their own needs to look after and can walk away from one existence and into another more easily than someone who has children at school and a partner used to a certain standard of living.

How to downshift?

The first step towards downshifting is to look at where your income currently gets spent and think about whether any of the expenditure areas could be sacrificed for a better existence.

[For us we readily sacrificed the options of foreign air travel, private schooling, restaurant and take away meals each week, full time childcare, a cleaner, new clothes and a house in London in order to move with our small children to the countryside with one parent caring for them full time.]

A thorough talking and consultation period with all those who will be affected by any move towards a downshifted existence should then take place. This may take many many conversations and musings, perhaps some holidays or visits to locations which you could move to in order to live more frugally.

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There are so many areas in which costs can be cut magazines, newspapers and books can be obtained from the library instead of buying each week, clothes can be bought second hand, food can be made from scratch and in bulk, vegetables can be grown, packed lunches and snacks taken on journeys rather than buying en-route, holidays can be home exchanges or camping, gifts can be homemade or bought from eBay, fun nights in with friends rather than expensive restaurants…

Downshifting is brave and downshifting requires guts. It also requires careful planning and contingency to be built in to the move away from stable salaries to reduced income

Slacking it isn’t but hugely worthwhile it is.

Posted on September 25th, 2006 under Downshifting • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback