Olivia M. reviewed Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I got it, opened it, and read it in one sitting. It is in someways dated -- specifics all date from the late 1970s. It is extreme in its suggestions: raising/killing meat rabbits in your cellar, making your own moonshine. However, as inspiration it is superb. The main points remain true. The secret to living on almost no money is to reduce your needs to the bare minimum and own a place to live -- no matter how shabby or "undesirable" if you do not have to pay rent or mortgage and have even a small space to garden you can be largely self-sufficient. The new afterward by the author is also enlightening in that it reveals that this was for her only a stage of her life from which she went on to live much more conventionally.
Anne S. (tinyinkling) reviewed Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
So many articles on living modestly are about maintaining your current lifestyle while using coupons and membership clubs to your advantage. Then there are classic books, such as the Tightwad Gazette, that challenge you to adjust your lifestyle -- while still being part of the greater society. And then there's this book.
From tips of how to raise and cycle a stock of rabbits for meat, dumpster diving, and brewing alcohol for fuel and fun this book is about completely dropping out of U.S. social norms in order to opt out of the financial obligations of it.
If your concerns are maximizing frugality or maximizing sustainability this book will push you into areas you probably haven't considered (although perhaps at the expense of relationships with anyone outside your immediate family). If you're not ready to go that far but are tired of the same old suggestions the glossy magazines reprint on an annual schedule, you'll probably find a couple good ideas, some things to laugh at, and a better sense of your own values.
From tips of how to raise and cycle a stock of rabbits for meat, dumpster diving, and brewing alcohol for fuel and fun this book is about completely dropping out of U.S. social norms in order to opt out of the financial obligations of it.
If your concerns are maximizing frugality or maximizing sustainability this book will push you into areas you probably haven't considered (although perhaps at the expense of relationships with anyone outside your immediate family). If you're not ready to go that far but are tired of the same old suggestions the glossy magazines reprint on an annual schedule, you'll probably find a couple good ideas, some things to laugh at, and a better sense of your own values.
Kathleen S. -
Helpful Score: 1
Possum living is not possible for everyone simply because most people simply deny the validity of the advice. However, using the tactics learned in this book has saved me a lot of money. Chicks, goslings, ducklings and turkey polts in the bathtub are a common occurrence in our house but our rabbits live in a custom built porch made entirely of scrounged materials.
