Interesting article by David "Danny" Blanchflower, external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England from 2006–2009.
The article explains why he thinks there will be a recession.
“All the signs are that another recession is on its way in 2022, yet policymakers have missed it again.”
Cheers
Martin
My life underwent a transformation when I left the City and settled in the foothills of the Auvergne Mountains. I now embrace a tech-savvy, eco-friendly lifestyle—often with an iPad in one hand for trading stocks and tending to our vegetables, salads, and fruits in the fields with the other. more »
thanks Martin. If you have time I'd find it very interesting if you would expand on your bio. It reads "
Life changed by leaving the 'City' and living in the foothills of the Auvergne Mountain range.
Living a Tech/Green lifestyle. Found mostly with an iPad in one hand, investing in stocks, while picking crops in our field, with the other hand…
"
It sounds very interesting, if you care to disclose any other detials or background I'd be keen to hear about this move from the city to a green tech/ investing lifestyle
Hello tic_tac_toe,
No problem with expanding on my bio.
At the age of 47, I was getting to the point in my career (as an Admin Manager for M&S) where I was losing my patience with my senior management team (H/O). Mostly, my job was preoccupied with dealing with internal politics, instead of doing my "day job," primarily because our H/O was so close to my store.
Also, I lived in Chesham, and my commute to London took about one and a half hours each way. I enjoyed the commute, as I was catching up with work emails and when I could, read a book. However, the journey was taken up too much of my social life.
So, my OH (now wife) decided to make a break for it and check out rural France. We wanted to go back to a less stressful, simple life, closer to the land, weather, and nature.
OH is French, and we spent a couple of weeks each year checking out different parts of France to see what landscape we liked and what we could afford.
We fell in love with the Creuse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creuse
A landscape with undulating hills, deep valleys, and abundant woodland. Furthermore, and most crucially for us, one of the cheapest region to buy a house and land in France have the second-lowest population density in France.
We bought a run-down house with 3 acres of land for €26,000. The house had no electricity, sewage, water, or bathroom. Half the ground floor had collapsed into the basement, and the roof had numerous holes in it. Here are two pics, before and after.
The green/tech side is investing in ways to make our lives easier and cheaper. So we invested €12K in a solar power grid, which we put into our field/garden next to the house. Currently, our electric bills are €700 per year.
We also invested in a water system that collects rainwater from the roof, which is another cost-cutting measure for our field crops.
Our heating system is also a high-tech/green technology. It has two wood fireplaces with electric fans integrated into the system that drives hot air up to the next two levels via pipes, providing enough heating for the house without the use of electric heaters. We've additionally insulated the entire house to prevent leaks (the house was one giant leak before we bought it).
To make this happen, I had to finally sell my two-bedroom apartment in Chesham. This resulted in a £249K profit before deducting the debt of £60K, outstanding mortgage.
At first, I tried to rent out the 2-bed apartment, but the need to inject capital into the project was becoming more important (than for me to hang onto the last link for me, in the UK).
So, about €60K went into the renovation and €135K went into me running my own stock portfolio.
With the money saved from the investments into green/green/tech systems for the house, the money generated from my portfolio with capital gains and dividends, and us growing our crops, we are leading a simpler but more fruitful life. So much so that we have had 2 daughters over here, aged 4 and 6 :)
However, this type of life is not suited for everyone. It is very quiet (our hamlet has only eight people-we are four of those eight people). You need to travel for culture and shopping.
I hope this helps to clarify a little bit about my background as well as how we can afford it financially.
Great to read about your journey to a simpler life. My main reaction is admiration, although there is a little bit of envy creeping in :)
