Politics
How to live on £7,000 a year in London
Published 04 February 2002
Peter Tatchell reports that, well below the poverty line, he stays fit and healthy
Can anyone live in London on £7,000 a year? I've managed it for two decades. Although it isn't easy, I get by. There are things I go without - I have never had truffles or caviar - but I don't regard myself as seriously deprived. Well, not by global standards.
Unlike one-quarter of the world's population, I am not malnourished or living in a shanty town. The rain doesn't come in through the roof at night. I never go hungry. When I wake up in the morning, I turn on the tap and get safe, clean drinking water.
But by British standards, I live below the poverty line. There's no car, no washing machine, no garden, no shower, no DVD and no Calvin Klein underwear. But, hey, I do have a computer and a blender.
I'd love to be rich, but it is so expensive. Only joking. Spending big money and accumulating material possessions has never interested me. I don't need retail therapy to cheer me up: my desires are focused elsewhere - in social justice and human rights.
Despite this non-materialistic inclination, my low income is not entirely by choice. It would be preferable to have a bit more money. But my direct-action campaigns for human rights do not pay. Charities, foundations and benefactors tend not to fund radical activists, especially people like me who arrest presidents and chastise archbishops. For 20 years, I have worked full-time on human rights issues, putting in between 50 and 60 hours a week - without a salary. On top of that, I do a further 30 hours of paid freelance journalism, which is how I make my £7K.
When it comes to my own finances, I am disconcertingly Thatcherite. I keep a tight rein on household expenditure: no credit cards, no overdraft, no loans. That way, I never get in debt.
So how, exactly, do I manage on £7,000 a year? It helps to be single with no dependants. It is also easier if you live in local authority or housing association property. My one-bedroom council flat in Elephant and Castle, south London, costs £52 a week, which is one-third of the rent payable for equivalent accommodation in the private sector.
You can save a lot by shopping at street markets. Fruit and vegetables cost nearly 50 per cent less than at the supermarket. At my local market, on East Street, I rarely pay more than 25p a pound for apples and bananas. There are other stalls offering cut-price shoes, household utensils and clothes.
Discount supermarkets are another boon. The nearby Lidl store sells fantastic peanut butter for 49p, and large bottles of extra virgin olive oil for £1.79. I can't afford oven-ready meals, which is no great sacrifice: they are full of junk. Most of my clothes are bought at sales. I picked up a stunning charcoal suit in the SU214 clearance, reduced from £240 to £85. I haven't got a microwave cooker or a mobile phone, but perhaps that is a blessing in disguise; they are probably unsafe. Fortunately, I don't smoke or do cocaine. My chemical recreation is a couple of glasses of red wine a day, and an occasional joint. I cycle or walk almost everywhere, which saves £30 a week in transport costs. If there is a new book or CD that I want, I usually borrow it from the library.
Switching to cheaper gas and electricity providers lowered my bills, and paying by direct debit gets an extra discount. Low-energy light bulbs and additional insulation on the boiler have reduced my lighting and heating costs. I can rarely afford to go to cinemas, restaurants or theatres. But when I do go, it is a special treat. I appreciate it all the more.
There are, thankfully, lots of wonderful things to do in London that are totally free: cycling along the canal towpaths, visiting galleries and museums, swimming at the ponds in Hampstead, and cruising Russell Square.
Poverty has its advantages. I am spared the worries of the rich - being mugged for a Rolex or burgled for a giant-screen digital TV. Having a low income also helps me stay fit and healthy. If I were better off, I would probably go to bars and restaurants more frequently, and drink and eat too much. I would be tempted to buy a car and drive everywhere, and would soon get out of shape. The financial pressure to cycle and to eat at home has inadvertently done wonders for my physique. At 50 years of age, I can still boast great pecs and abs, and a rock-hard gluteus maximus.
The big downside to living on £7,000 a year is that I can't afford to move from the estate where I have lived for 23 years. Because of my queer human rights work, I have had bricks through the windows, three arson attempts and even a bullet through my front door.
In fact, my only significant material desire is a larger flat in a quiet, safe neighbourhood. But on £7,000, that is still a distant dream.
www.tatchellrightsfund.org or: Human Rights Fund, PO Box 35253, London E1 4YE
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