I am not an artist as such. But I have lived like one. That is I survived on next to nothing for at least 30 years. After university, subsidised at the time, I lived in short-life housing. These were houses too appalling for normal people to live in, no heating etc. I did not go to drama school, despite gaining entry, it was too expensive. You could be in debt to the bank up to £600 at the time with no interest, and I was. Most amazingly, my rent was paid by social security and more, since they did not believe it could be so low, hence they paid the rent for the whole shared house for a couple of years, just to me. Times have changed! So I ate rice and pasta and beans, they were very cheap. Guinness became my major expenditure.
My jobs to earn actual money included cress farming, refuse collector, lift operator, deckchair attendant, fairground change giver, gardener, laundry delivery, slide mounter and finally toilet cleaner for the Renault garage on the A40. I had no training for any of these jobs. I did manage to train myself for my chosen profession, for free, using the Swiss Cottage Reference Library. The photographic studio I eventually shared, condemned at the time, would now cost at least 10 to 20 times more to rent.
Whenever I earned money I spent it on equipment, usually cameras or computers. Remarkably I bought a very expensive Apple computer on credit in the early 90s and earned back the cost with one job in 3 months. That was a good lesson. Learn to do something that no-one else can do, then you can earn serious money. Soon I was earning £50,000 per annum, just as I demanded, though that didn’t last long. To retain my independence and self-worth I had to buy myself out. I had been working for the Capitalists aka Advertising, of course. Still it was more money than my friend earned, who had written the British Library Annual Report!
Yes money is totally crazy, has no bearing on reality, and can be quite annoying. So don’t bother chasing it, take it when it comes or is maybe necessary, always remember it does not make you happy. Life is better than money. If you can try and avoid debts, avoid insurance, avoid savings and investments, just do real, original and valuable work that satisfies you. Let’s not forget that the richest family I have ever known was also the unhappiest family I have ever known, by some distance. This real life story has been shortened to make it more exciting, but is entirely true.

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