One of the things to do was to get rid of debt. Six years ago we lived in a starter flat that was almost paid off - and a hallucinating mad neighbour terrorized us into moving and buying this wonderful apartment. I'm happy here, but I realize better than before that we've got a rather big debt that cannot be paid off in a few years. O well, it cannot be helped.

Shopping is more expensive now, as I'm trying to build up a food stock. But it's also a training; we expect necessary things…

I have never been a big consumer - my bank account wouldn't hear of it - and so I favoured a simple lifestyle, buying only what I needed and trying to find no-nonsense durable goods that could serve me a long time. I worked at our rather fragile household budget, wondered what to do if serious trouble arrived - our luck still holds - but also wondered about the destruction of nature, the depletion of oil etc. and what would happen to this planet and its inhabitants before the sun…