Letter to the Editor: We’re Not Perfectly Rational Economic Actors
To send a letter to the editor, simply write in. You’ll get a reply and we’ll anonymise any blogged version.
In response to our post about a Rent vs. Buy calculator, Reader Z writes:
If you want to really get into the weeds on this topic, Ben Felix on YouTube has a few videos on Rent vs. Buy that covers it pretty well.
In the end, renting is usually the mathematically ideal way to go if you invest the difference. However, that last bit of investing the difference is a massive hurdle for us humans. For most people, the forced savings that happens with a mortgage is much more likely to build wealth over time compared to renting due to the discipline required. Even with automatic contributions, it’s easy to reduce those due to some “just this once” reason.
On the other hand, owning a home makes us more likely to spend more on the home to make it the way we want. We also fall into the trap of justifying these upgrades by assuming we’ll get at least as much money back in home equity. At least with a rental, it’s unlikely we’re going to spend thousands on a kitchen or bathroom renovation. Also, due to high transaction costs of selling a home, owning for less than around 9 years before moving can be very expensive.
The outcomes of each option is similar enough that it really does come down to feelings, in a way. Much to the chagrin of economists, we’re not perfectly rational economic actors. Some people truly would be happier with one over the other even if, in practice, they are identical or the other option is better overall. Of course they could also learn to overcome these biases that are limiting them to one choice, but if they’re similar enough, is it worth it? I don’t know.
Side note, but I’ve just bought a home after wanting to rent for my entire life. The main thing that led me to this was that the house was a setup that I really valued, but I could not find a way to rent my way into that situation. I’m not saving anything over renting, but I’m excited to live in a way that I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.
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Hey Z. Congrats on the new home and thanks for telling our readers about that YouTube channel. I strongly relate to what you said about wanting to avoid the trap of justifying upgrades: we had our floor done as soon as we moved in, which I’m glad we did, but it was the first time I felt the pull of that investment logic. It’s certainly something homeowners of an Escapological mindset should look out for.
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It’s the Responsibility
This is funny! Another entry from the diary of New Escapologist contributor Dickon Edwards:
Archway Video offer me a full time position. After much agonizing, I decline. I effectively turn down an enjoyable job in a pleasant part of London, within three minutes walk from my bed. It’s not the money; I could do with the money. It’s not the use of my time which I could be spending on more creative acts; I know all too well that having nothing to do all day often means one ends up doing… nothing all day. Even Mr Larkin continued to stamp library books until he died.
It’s the responsibility. Working full time would mean me locking up at night, and I just don’t trust myself. My accident-prone Frank Spencer side would see to it that sooner or later Something Would Happen. I’d find myself counting the days to being sacked in disgrace. I just couldn’t take something awful happening on my shift. The place is unique. Much of AV’s back catalogue video stock is deleted and irreplaceable. When _Before Sunset_ (“one of the most romantic films ever made”) came out last year, AV was one of the few places one could get hold of _Before Sunrise_, the film it follows up. As you might imagine, many people wanted to watch this first film again. Rather startlingly, it was currently unavailable to buy on any format. Bit of an oversight on the film company’s part, I thought. Possibly something to do with rights. Regardless, the AV video copy suddenly found itself upgraded from Weekly to Overnight, and has been constantly rented out ever since. It can finally get a break soon, as both films are finally released on DVD next month.
Pretty much every paid job I’ve ever had has featured me breaking something, or ruining something, or getting told off constantly. At 18, I worked in an Ipswich video shop. One night, the police called. I hadn’t set the shop burglar alarm properly, resulting in a blaring siren waking up half of Ipswich. Which, as you might imagine, is no mean feat. I had to be driven into town to reset the alarm.
Then there was the time I worked in a convenience store in Bristol circa 1990, which also rented out videos. One day, I unplugged their computer from the mains, in order to plug in the hoover. Result: the computer’s entire video rental records were wiped. It was one of those old ’80s computers that needed to be closed down properly before switching off. I can still remember my tears as I was frogmarched to the filthy shop basement, plunked into a seat and told to wait till the manager arrived. Which he duly did, in a bad red tracksuit. The clothes some people wear when they’re not meant to be at work. He couldn’t sack me; they had trouble getting staff on their wages as it was. But the manager gave me this big pep talk – no, a lesson – about The Trouble With Me. About how I had “a monkey on my back”. Or was it my shoulder? He said, “Some day, you’ll thank me for what I’m telling you now.”
Well, I can’t remember a word of what he said. Just his appalling taste in clothes. That showed him.
Then there’s the soup I spilled on a customer during my shortest ever job. I was a lunchtime waiter in a Suffolk pub. Hired and sacked within one hour.
And then there’s the countless times I was Sat Down and Told Off about The Trouble With Me at Our Price, Hampstead _and_ Holloway branches. More tears.
I recall the time a friend told he’d met one of my erstwhile Our Price colleagues. “I used to work with Dickon, you know,” she said.
Pause.
“Everyone really hated him.”
I really did my best at that job to Get On and Work Hard. And if anyone I used to work with is reading this, I’m sorry if you hated me. I didn’t hate you. What was it I did that annoyed you? Or didn’t do? Perhaps you’d like to tell me about the Trouble With Me. Everyone other employer has. The usual email address.
Then there was the village pub washing-up job where I was attacked by their three small yapping dogs, ripping the bottom of my trousers to shreds. I wouldn’t have minded, but they did it _every day_.
You see, Dear Reader, this is all very amusing for you to read, but I have to _be_ me. This isn’t a sitcom, it’s my life. I’m 34 this year. I think I’ve effectively put the case for me being Unemployable in most normal jobs that other people find so easy to do. You can’t accuse me of not giving the things a go.
Ye gods, what a history of woe. And this is only a fraction of my Record of Employment. The more I think about it, the more I feel the world truly does owe me a living. So the deal I have made with myself is this. I only have the right to turn down a pleasant full-time job if I treat writing like one too. Really, this time. Get up and clock on. Songs, stories, and at least one diary entry a day.
Above all, I know Archway Video could do better than me, and I would feel guilty occupying a position meant for someone else. _I_ wouldn’t hire me to lock the place up at night, so why should they?
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Dickon’s diaries are being adapted for print. You can advance order it on Kickstarter or at the publisher’s website.
Rent vs Buy Calculator
This is an opportunity cost calculator. It assumes that both the renter and the buyer spend the exact same amount of money and compares the opportunity cost of buying vs renting. The comparison is input equated based on the annualised cost of ownership, so the rental investment amounts are calculated as annual cost of ownership minus rent.
Regular readers will know I sat on the fence for a long time concerning the “rent vs ownership” debate when it comes to a place to live. In my guts I think rent best suits the Escapologist: it’s temporary, it involves less responsibility. In recent reality, I’ve come to accept the modern rental market as part of The Trap and I finally came out (reluctantly) in favour of ownership in Issue 17.
But it shouldn’t come down to feelings or morals really. It’s an economic question.
So here, I have found, is a new calculator to help answer the question.
Pleasingly, it was designed by Herman, the fellow behind Bearblog, which I recommended in the “Old Web” column [also] of Issue 17.
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Treat yourself to a New Escapologist digital edition today. Why not?
That’s Exactly Why I Was Sacked
I’ve been reading the online diary of New Escapologist contributor Dickon Edwards from the beginning.
This is for a gig: I’m editing Dickon’s diary for print (and the project is almost fully funded on Kickstarter, so maybe you can be the one who tips it over).
After seeing the classic Mick Jagger movie Performance at a London cinema, Dickon writes:
[They’re showing it] again this Wednesday at 1pm. Tickets are £4 and include a free tea or coffee. I think I’ll go. If I had a day job, I’d phone in sick to attend.
Actually, that’s exactly why I was sacked from an office job in Bristol circa 1993. I felt like seeing a matinee of Groundhog Day far more than going into work. So I phoned in sick and chose happiness for that day. It wasn’t the first time. Come the Monday, I was told to clear my desk. I’d do it again like a shot. I’m fairly certain no one died from insolvency documents not being typed up.
Doubtless some toiling readers will be appalled by that above confession. People tell me, “That’s all very well Dickon, but I have bills, a mortgage and an ungrateful chinchilla to support. I can’t afford to lose my job.” Well, neither could I at that point. But I survived somehow. Once again, life is either a disaster or an adventure. So better make it an adventure.
That’s what I love most about Dickon. A fellow traveller in this regard, he takes a risk sometimes, chooses happiness. And, as he says, we survive somehow.
It’s true that if everyone who was unhappy with their job acted like me, civilisation would collapse at once. But oh, what a party!
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I recommend Dickon’s diary for Escapologists, either through the elegant book we’re working on or through the also-elegant original web pages.
A Drink With the Idler & Idler Festival 2025
Here’s ten minutes of the “Drink with the Idler” event I did last month.
We talk in a relaxed sort of way about my books, about escape, about the embarrassing return to work, and about the hostile environment.
Speaking of the Idler, I’ll be performing at the Idler Festival this Sunday. Come one, come all.
Herring/Dowie
If I don’t know where I’m going, I can’t be lost.
Last year, I helped John Dowie with the publication of his new book as well as one of his older, out-of-print books.
The out of print title is called The Freewheeling John Dowie (currently available as an ebook only) and is about the time he sold off all his possessions, taking to the road with only a bicycle and a tent.
Herring: Do you regret getting rid of all your records and comics?
Dowie: No, no, no.
Richard Herring interviewed Dowie on his podcast this week about both books. Escaping with no possessions has clearly captured Herring’s imagination and they talk about it a lot.
Use the link above to enjoy all 55 minutes of book chat, or here’s a clip/trailer for a sense of the thing.
Both comedians have been interviewed in New Escapologist, incidentally. Herring in Issue 10, Dowie in Issue 17.
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Nothing Matters, Call in Sick
I was at Glasgow Zine Fair on the weekend. I bought plenty of zines and prints and badges and postcards, including this lovely one:
It’s by the awesome Holly Casio and depicts a toy from our shared childhood, one which may or may not be haunted. She sells it as a really nice print here.
It even has a nice “quit your job” postmark on the back:
Also spotted: I’m A Luddite (And So Can You!), by the mighty Tom Humberstone, to whom I was able to chat for a while. Funnily enough, he’s in the photograph I took of the room (at the top of this post), in the bottom-right. His comic is about automation and “the misunderstood history of Ludism” and can be read online in its entirety at The Nib.
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Letter to the Editor: It’s Better to Get on the Wrong Train Than Get Stuck at the Station
To send a letter to the editor, simply write in. You’ll get a reply and we’ll anonymise any blogged version.
Reader B writes:
Hi Rob,
I was wondering if you’d heard of or seen the film, The Last Journey (2024). It’s a Swedish documentary about a man and his friend who takes his elderly dad, a former French teacher on a trip to France to try to bring him back to life.
It made me think of a lot of Escapological ideas: the power of travel to affect us, interest in other cultures and ways of life, the joy of old tech (cine films and cassettes are a big part as well as an old Renault 4) and how a rewarding life is/should be about more than just accumulating money and stuff.
One of the lines that stuck with me was a piece of advice the teacher gave to one of his students, “It’s better to get on the wrong train than get stuck at the station”.
I think we are all fearful of making big changes and the consequences of those not working out which can make us stay in terrible jobs we hate for years or get stuck in indecision mode.
Anyway, it’s a great movie and struck a chord and made me laugh too. Having looked after my parents in their later years (an escape from the office in some respects) it was interesting to see aspects of that [life] on screen. I’m not sure whether the next Mission Impossible will have Tom Cruise ask a co-star if he will help wash his dad… I feel it would make a change from OTT stunts though and inject some much-needed realism into the franchise.
Best of luck with the return of the magazine.
Kind regards,
B
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Thanks B! I had not heard of the film until you introduced me to it, so thank you very much. Meanwhile, seeing the care you gave to your parents as an escape of sorts makes me think of radical care work. And well done to you for doing it.
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I Don’t Regret a Second of My Travels
Here we are together on this paradise island in south-east Asia, laptops closed for the day. This is the digital nomad dream, isn’t it? This is what adventure and freedom looks like, right? We’re happy! Or are we all just pretending?
There was a piece in the Guardian recently, nominally about some digital nomads and how their escape turned sour.
I was looking forward to posting another cautionary tale about how escapes sometimes don’t work out, but despite the headline, the piece isn’t exactly that. It looks to me like the digital nomads had an excellent time:
I worked my own hours, usually during the day, for a handful of clients. Come evening, I would hop on the back of a scooter and drive through plumes of street-food smoke to meet new friends on the beach and sip from coconuts. It all felt wonderfully freeing.
Some of these nomads have had enough of the freedom and want to settle down again with some property and stability and a sense of permanence. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. And do these nomads regret their time on the road? It seems not:
Like all the former digital nomads I’ve spoken to, I don’t regret a second of my travels. I am immensely grateful to have had an opportunity that many aren’t afforded – and I often felt that gratitude intensely as I looked on, in awe, at the foreign landscapes I found myself in.
So the story isn’t that “the dream turned sour” at all. It’s that “I had a brilliant time with digital nomadism and now I’m trying something else.”
A change isn’t forever. Why would it be? Who said it should be? You can change again, whether forwards into another experiment or back into something more conventional. That’s not a failure. Nothing turned sour. You just moved on.
And it’s not a “gap in the CV” by the way. Your CV, if such a thing is important to you, will display an era of successful self-employment. When asked about it, tell the truth. Tell them what you got out of it and what you learned.
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You Better Work Harder
Hah! “The piles just seem to get bigger and bigger. You better work harder.”
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