art and dole » Cheap Living

Cheap Living

A reader has requested a section giving advice on how to live cheap as an artist (i.e. on the tiny amounts of money provided by Centrelink). If you have any hints on low cost, cheap living (cheap ink, cheap paint, cheap food or cheap flowers say!) - or how to get out of poverty perhaps - feel free to add them here.

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“I remember hearing once about Rauschenberg living for like 7 years on milk, peanut butter, and onion bread. Nothing else. I rekon you’d get pretty sick of milk, peanut butter and onion bread! Maybe they were cheap items back in 1955 (or maybe he thought he was getting all his food groups in there). Also, an overseas artist told me Oz is a great cheap place to make art - but only if you earn pounds (euros, dollars) somehow first and then come back to spend them here. If you earn dollars he rekons you’ll only get paid enough to make ends meet doing that. I knew an artist who went to mexico to make art for a year. Also, the low rates of pay relative to airfares is one reason you feel stuck in Australia.”

- Dream Stock

“I’ve been on the dole for 22 months & the best way to survive on nothing is to share & try & live & make work cheaply. borrow equipment from friends, find a share house, small part time jobs can really help. its impossible to show without some form of funding though.”

- M

In winter, if you’re on the Dole, etc, you’re eligible for a ‘winter energy rebate’ whereby the relevent energy supplier gives you back some money, or you get a cheper deal for a while. You have to check with your local council and the relevant energy supplier for more details. Every year I get about $80 back from my Gas supplier and about the same from my electricity supplier.
Also, when paying your power bills ask if you can use the ‘easy-pay’ system whereby you pay a certain small amount each fortnight throughout the year to spead out the yearly cost instead of a huge amount in one hit.

- Anonymous

Low Cost Items, Cheap Products, and other Cheap Deals

“Cheap soup mix. It can cost under a dollar and last you a week if done properly.

Rice, 2 minute noodles, soup kitchens, churches and charities. Food samples at shopping centres.
They discount food at some places near closing time. Look out for specials.

In order to live on the dole, the first expense is your rent. The term ‘rent’ refers to the ‘hole’ in your budget.

You can get 2 minute noodles for cheap, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, tomato sauce, soup mix (89 cents), pop corn, carrots, homebrand baked beans,etc.

These are designed to last for few days.

Minimum chips is about $2 if you are lucky. You don’t want to do this for a long time as it’s unhealthy. Buying veggies by the kilo often helps.

There are soup kitchens and churches that sometimes give out emergency parcels and free meals.

I found that I got along well with some of the staff and they give you stuff to take home. Bread usually, sometimes tinned food.

Oh and if you go to shopping centres you can find food being reduced if you go near closing time.

Chinese food for $4 sometimes. Half price meat pies, etc after 4:30pm.”

- The Dole Man

“Dumpster diving. Supermarkets throw out heaps of still good food. Find out when they do it and get food. For more info type dumpster diving into your search engine.

If you want to buy food, go for home brand items and traditional cheap meals like pasta.

Don’t eat out, don’t spend money on alcohol (just drink water at the pub - a sacrifice, I know), if you live in Sydney go to Recycled Garbage for affordable supplies, etc etc.”

- Yahoo

“Get a cheap 7 megapixel camera, around $150. It’s a lot cheaper than contantly buying camera film, and most galleries now prefer to view the images off a CD on the computer. And if you haven’t got a computer yourself to process the images, there should be a ‘community house’ somewhere in you area. These places generally have computers that the public can use for free.”

- Anonymouse

Other Anonymous Comments:

“Best professional quality and cheapest brand oil-paints ‘Art Spectrum’”

“Salvation army food vouchers.Just open a phone book and look under charities. There’s generally a whole list of them in your area. Ring them up and make an appointment. Tell them you’ve got more bills than usual to pay this week and you’ve left yourself a little short and have no money left for food.
Usually there is also a Finacial Councillor in these Charities. Check them out, they can sometimes help with the rent, phone bills, power bills.”

3:09 am by Intern in Uncategorized

3 Comments »

discount airfares to australia…

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Trackback by discount airfares to australia — June 8, 2008 @ 8:50 am
Ive been a practising artist for over 20 years. I have always bartered my art for things and services.

Some of the things Ive received are…. brand new hot water service, airfare to Paris, clothing, repairs to home, ramp and balcony to home, gardening, lawn mowing, accomadation in Spain, others artworks,art materials the list goes on and on….. try it out you wont be alone, many famous artists in the past lived like this , they had too, to survive and it gets your art out there, as well you pay your way and you get what you need. Even if I had heaps of money Id still like to barter……

Comment by Strazz — March 25, 2009 @ 4:25 am
Ummm…. you could get a job?
Or produce some decent art that would sell?
Or stop spending all your money on drugs?
No?
Ok, then… you could live off home brand stuff, it’s cheap and not that bad. There are a lot of charities that offer temporary housing for free.
If a poor person asks for something from a priest, they pretty much have to give it to them.

Showering at those showers at beaches or in public toilets would save on energy bills. $1 per hour computer cafes can provide entertainment or help you find a job. Parrents can be a good resource, if you have them. Garage sales etc are good for clothing. Get a job.

Comment by bobbington — June 19, 2009 @ 3:18 am