A Joyful Keeper

Hosted by Biblical Womanhood

While I was at my dmil’s, we had an interesting discussion about spending and frugal living. I said how I was frustrated by the government encouraging the people to keep on spending. Apparently Australians spent 36.5 Million dollars in the six weeks before Christmas. If that isn’t bad enough, after Christmas sales were phenomenal as well. What did they spend their money on? According to the article I read, a lot of the spending was on on technology - ipods, laptops & plasma tvs…..

Back to my dmil. They have been farmers all their lives, but not the types that did everything themselves. They hired others to do the shearing, cut the hay, fix the tractors. She thought I was commenting on this, and defended herself by saying that they put money back into the community. They paid the laborers who then spent money in the town, etc, etc. This is not what I was saying, however. It is great to put money back into the community, and I also do this as much as I can. I like to buy local when I can, support the little shops in our town, but is this what everyone was doing in the Christmas sales?

I came across these posters at this site, and it just highlighted the difference in the governments gone by and the ones we now have.

Now I am not an economist. I didn’t do well in economics at school. I know people say we are supposed to spend to keep the economy going. But correct me if I’m wrong - how can putting “things”, (that are mostly imported, which means our money is going overseas) on our credit cards (because I am sure much of that Christmas spending was not cash!) be sustainable. Credit card money is not “real”. Look at the posters above:

“Grow a Victory Garden!” During the war, people were encouraged to grow their own.

“We’ll have lots to eat this winter, won’t we Mom?” Canning and preserving was not looking down on. It was part of a nation wide effort to grow things yourself, can them and take responsibility.

“Use it up - Wear it out - Make it do!” Not the things we are hearing today. We are hearing - spend, spend, spend. New is better. You must have this latest gadget…. your children need the latest toys….

To me the posters above are the essence of old fashioned thrift. Growing as much as you can yourself, even if it is in pots. Canning food is not only frugal (if you grow it yourself), but it is also healthier. You know exactly what has gone into the food you are eating.

Using what you have, and using it until it is worn out.. it’s a different mindset. It speaks of contentment - I am happy with what I have. It may not be the latest fashion or model, but it does the job. It speaks of creativity - now that this is worn out and can’t be used for its original purpose, what else can I use it for? Can it be fixed? Can it has a new lease of life? Can I turn it into something else?

Being old fashioned is frowned upon and mocked in today’s society. But one day things are going to come crashing down around us, and those of us who know how to be old fashioned will find the changes we need to make less difficult.

Practically, what can you do in light of the old fashioned frugality encouraged in the posters above?

Grow it yourself:

Even if you don’t have a big garden you can grow things in pots. Herbs are easy to grow on the window sill. Instead of flowers, plant veggies in your garden beds. One zucchini plant, a few lettuces and a tomato will give you soups in winter and salads in summer.

Can it or freeze it:

Freeze your zucchini’s for soups in winter. You can grate zucchini and freeze it in portion sizes for recipes that call for grated zucchini. No need to blanch it. Buy vegetables like pumpkin on special, cook them and freeze them as well. You don’t need to grow it yourself to can it. I buy big boxes of tomatoes from the veggie shops and can them if I don’t have enough in my garden. It still saves me money and I know it is healthier.

Use it up, make do…:

Use what you have and what you are given. I have a friend who gets me cheap flour, sugar, etc. I try to use that as much as possible. My clothes are not the latest fashion, and I have been wearing them for the past… um, er,… ok, years…! I love hand me downs for myself and the children. I love to find a different use for the clothes we have, if they are too worn out to pass on to others (see my post on using old jeans). I can’t bring myself to cut up perfectly good clothes, however, because I know there are people out there who need them. Clothes that are too tatty to use for anything, become rags.

Making do is a big thing in today’s society. I fall in the “want” trap so often. It is so easy to see something new in the shop, even if it is something I already have, but a nicer color, or a better style, or whatever. Making do and contentment run hand in hand. Being content with what we have and what we have been given.

Old fashioned thrift…. I know that if we could go back in time to the 50’s, we would learn so many things from the older women who practiced all the things in the above posters. Thankfully there are women today who are going back to old fashioned thrift, and I’d like to say that they are a great encouragement to people like me. I still have a lot to learn in this area, but just visiting other frugal blogs and looking at how it was done years ago are so motivating. I hope this motivates you as well, and I’d love to hear some memories of your grandmothers and how they practiced thrift in their daily lives.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Frugal Friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.