London is a pretty frigging expensive place to live. The price of rent alone is enough to crush the noblest of spirits. Add to that the extortionate cost of travel, utility bills and rampantly rising food prices and it’s enough to make you want to start brandishing a sawn-off in your local Halifax. There must be a way to save money and refrain from a life of murderous criminality. We decided to visit our old friends Ratty Rat Rat in their south London squat (Squallyoaks) to get some advice on how to live for free.

Don't Panic: How do you get away with not paying rent?

Matt (lead guitar): Basically you have to find a place and break into it. We still have to pay water and electricity cos the guy who owns it knows we’re here.

Gary (drums): Yeah we just pay a few bills and he doesn’t tell us to fuck off.

M: In our last place, the Toilet Factory, we got it for free.

Gary's bedroom

DP: How about free food?

G: If you go to Marks and Spencer at about 11 or 12, they just throw everything out.

M: The food from there is so good too.

G: They throw out so much stuff that’s not even off. You can get a fucking Duck a l’orange for free. They know you go there as well. Once I got spotted by the guys who put the food out and they just handed me a duck and started asking me if I listen to Metallica.

Matt's room

DP: Travel is pretty expensive. How do you get out of paying for that?

G: I’ve actually just started paying for travel. I’ve been summoned to court like three times for skipping fares. It started to get embarrassing. I’d rather just pay.

M: You can get on for free on the bendy buses, just stay by the oyster card reader and bleep it if conductors get on. (Ed - the real reason Boris wants rid of them!)

Matt hangs up the washing

DP: How does one get inebriated for free?

M: Go to art gallery openings – they’re the best places for free drinks. We went to one in New Cross the other day and they offered us drinks and £10.

G: We didn’t get the tenner though.

Gary and friend

DP: What about internet connection?

M: You can steal other people’s. Like here in Squallyoaks… sometimes you can get a connection in the afternoon, but you have to hang out of the window. It only goes up for like half an hour every afternoon.

Matt, Gary, James and his pet crab

DP: Household appliances?

M: People just leave stuff on the streets like microwaves and stuff. Like 80 percent of the time they work as well.

G: People just throw them out and usually it’s just something like the fuse has gone. You can find stuff pretty much anywhere but not outside charity shops, that’s bad.

DP: How about musical equipment?

M: We actually get all of our stuff stolen. One time we were bringing stuff in from the van and these big Polish guys, like the strongest guys ever, just burst in through the door and started shouting at us. We managed to call the police who didn’t even show up. They ended up taking my amp which was probably worth ten quid but it was shit ‘cos now I haven’t got an amp.

G: We practice in the basement so that’s a free rehearsal room.

Visit Ratty Rat Rat and Squallyoaks heights online here.