Life should be simple. It should be about waking up, embracing the day and living. Once you have done living for the day, you stop and sleep. The only part of the day that matters is that you eat and drink at some point to ensure that tomorrow still comes around.

I spend 8 hours, five days a week doing something i don’t want to do and I don’t enjoy. So do most of you. Why do we do it? We need the money to fund our complicated lives

How did living become so complicated?

I have a genuine need and a genuine desire to live a simpler and more basic life. I’m not sure I wish to forgo some of the comfort and entertainment of my current existence, but I do want to work towards removing the complications to my life.

If I think about it rationally, my mortgage is the anchor that holds me to my complicated life. Shed this hefty financial burden and the shackles are largely broken.

Without a mortgage I rid myself of the need to earn the amount I do. I could afford to earn half of what I do.

If I were to ensure my home owed ‘nothing to the man’ then I could reduce my requirement of money further... remove mains gas, mains water and mains electricity and you save your self another whopping amount of dosh. Grand Designs proves to us all that we can live off the grid very simply if we so desire.

If I were too moderate what I eat, what I desire to eat and simply look at fresh home grown seasonal vegetables and keep chickens and goats maybe, then I would want for very little extra. And 'the man' can go hang!

With a house like this, my need to earn a lot of money is greatly reduced, thus opening up so many other opportunities for me to seek out  a less complicated life and maybe a more fulfilling and worthwhile daily existence.

So, why haven’t I done it yet...