The 20-hour Work Week

Most anthropologists agree that stone age people worked around 20 hours per week for their basic food, shelter, and clothing needs. And that's with stone age technology. Give a caveman a chain saw and a poly tarp and watch out!

So how does this figure match up with the modern tent lifestyle?

The caveman had to hunt and gather their food. Let's modernize that a bit and give him a $15 per hour job and a grocery store instead. And let's take him out of the cave and put him into...hmmm...a canvas wall tent! :) Now, his 20 hours at $15 per hour brings in around $1200 per month, or about $1000 after taxes. Shelter (in the form of rent, propane, kerosene, firewood, and water) is about $200 per month. That leaves $800 for food and clothing.

Now, let's keep him eating like a caveman. That means cooking from scratch using basic ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, a few meats, nuts and seeds, and so on. (By the way, there are some great caveman recipes out there!) This style of eating is very economical, so let's say $10 per day, or around $300 per month.

That leaves $500 per month for clothing! So what you end up with is a very healthy, well-dressed caveman working only 20 hours per week! :)