Posted on 02/11/2010 10:06:15 AM PST by hennie pennie
Frugality. That's been the buzzword of the Great Recession.
Sliding home values, stumbling stock portfolios and a shaky job market brought with them a consciousness about spending that many of us misplaced during years of consumer overindulgence. Americans responded to the crisis by buying less, clipping coupons more and increasing savings to 4.8 percent of disposable income in December, up from near zero before the recession.
In the past year, blogs about frugality went viral. Everyone from Oprah to President Obama joined the frugality parade.
Now a new term is marching through the blogosphere: Frugality fatigue. But I'd argue that if frugality is done right, there should be no such thing.
Being frugal doesn't mean being stingy, miserly or downright cheap. The true spirit of frugality is to be mindful of how you use your limited resources. To be prudent with your money. To buy the best of what you need but no more. To avoid waste.
That's why the new frugality aligns so well with the growing.....
(Excerpt) Read more at m.startribune.com ...
Programable thermostat is set to 46 when no one is home, which is most of the time. I’ve used maybe 150 gallons of propane this season. Woodstove is my primary source in the evenings.
However, I don't use it when washing NICE newer clothing, then I go with the Tide/Downey combo; however, it's been months since I started using the DAWN, and I'm still working on the same bottle, and haven't purchased any laundry detergent since last summer.
Bump for later
Also a good dishwasher soap recipe is: 1 tbsp. Borax and 1 tbsp. baking soda. The soda stops the sudsing. I tried and didn’t like it, but my mom loves it. It is all she uses now. She has well water and we have city water, which may have something to do with it.
I make my own iced mochas at home. Just chocolate milk mix, a little coffee or instant coffee granules, and maybe a few drops of almond or hazelnut extract, mix it all into a tall glass of milk and add ice. Yummy!
Yesterday I canned up some cheese. We don’t eat it often, but we do eat it sometimes, and even with the smallest brick of cheese that usually means more than half of it just sits there growing mold. So this time I diced it into very small jelly jars and canned it, following Jackie Clay’s directions. I also canned up some leftover beef stew. When leftovers are allowed to go bad, it means money is being thrown away, so a canner can quickly pay for itself IF it gets used.
1 bar fels naptha, grated
4 cups water
Place grated soap into sauce pan with water, heat until soap is melted.
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup borax
Fill 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with water, THEN add sodas, borax and melted soap. Stir. Finish filling the 5 gallon bucket with water. Let sit overnight. Stir again the next day. To use, fill gallon jug or old detergent container 1/2 full with mixture, then fill rest of the container with water. You may add about 10 drops of essential oil to jug or container for fragrance (I don’t.) Makes 10 gallons. Use 1/2 cup for front loaders, 1 cup for top loaders.
I plan on going to Encore in New York sometime. Then on Ebay they have gemstones for cheap so I can make my own jewelry with low pay.
I sincerely believe that a huge part of blowing money on designer gear/jewelry is bragging about having that much money to spend. Not the quality or whether or not the stuff is even good, but bragging rights.
Turns out that the wife of the book's hero had already foreseen this eventuality - a full decade earlier, she had gathered several dozen phone books from the city of Chicago - to be prepared.
We are NOT saving phonebooks, nor hoarding toilet paper, but that scene from the survivalist novel really makes one realize what a THROW-AWAY pampered lot we all are, and how we rely on so many things that could easily disappear if TSHTF. . . . just think of how few plastic bags you'd ever toss away IF you had absolutely nowhere to get another one ever again. . . . .
LOL!!!
ONE SECOND AFTER is about the aftermath of an EMP and raises similar issues.
Buy bulk when it comes to food. A Sam’s Club/Costco card will get you enough food per month to live like an emperor. Buy a used car and have it fully paid off in one throw. Download music and burn cds. Download what movies you can and rent the rest. Figure out how to rip dvds onto your hard drive and return the disks.
I write a “frugal” blog, covering everything from dates to grocery shopping, to buying clothes. Today I have posted frugal Valentines food and crafts and yesterday I wrote about our Valentines Day tradition.
hmmm... looks very close to a concentrated version of the recipe i use!
” I’m thinking about buying some of this stuff at Goodwill and at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and reselling them on Ebay.”
I have met someone with a like mind! I plan on getting some damask fabric and having a seamstress make a bathrobe out of it (yes, I am pretentious) and buying linen for tablecloths and learning how to hem.
Also, another plan is to make my own jewelry using real gems I can buy off of Ebay.
I think Frugality is nearly innate. You either have it or you don’t.
My wife and I both do.
Yeah, we forgo some stuff. But I doubt either one of us could actually enjoy the baubles even if we could force ourselves to buy them.
I tried that one and didn’t like it as much. It takes up too much space and I don’t think it cleaned as well as the powdered version.
It really makes one pause... what does one do when there is NO marketplace, there is NO inexhaustible supply of "stuff," not anywhere.
“Also a good dishwasher soap recipe is: 1 tbsp. Borax and 1 tbsp....”
Yeah, apparently Borax is quite the old time miracle ingredient. Did you know you can spread a little in a band around your house and it will carpenter ants? Seems to work pretty good. And it doesn’t hurt the bees, etc.
I think the ants try to eat it or something.
It cleans drains pretty good too.
Plus, hey, they sponsored “Death Valley Days” when I was a kid. :)
I cut my own hair and have for the last year and a half. I finally got what I wanted, too. It is not that hard.
Also:
Phones: Ported and forwarded my home phones to leave a message my laptop, with a message that I can be reached on my cell. Phone cost per month: $5
Cellular: Cut texting. Phone me at work or email me.
TV: Cut the cable down to the bare minimum so as to still get the ‘bundle’ discount on internet. Total monthly bill: $35.60. Call them back every year to demand the best offer they have.
Movies: Netlfix 8.99/month. They have everything, including TV shows
Clothes: Buy Black, navy, plain pants and sweaters at Goodwill, consignment, & on Ebay; make scarves from fabric
Dental: Teeth cleaning (around $10) at the local vocational/junior college
Food: Make my own cereal, patties, mixes, and avoid premade or precooked anything. It doesn’t take much time to do it yourself - even bread.
Exercise: Cleaning the house and the yard: No gym fees
Frugality ideas needed here.
Dave Ramsey Fan Ping List.
If you would like to be added to the “Live like no one else, so that you can LIVE like no one else” list, feel free to Freepmail me.
Personally, I found that by unplugging all appliances (excl. the fridge) and other electric devices when not in use reduced my electric bill by 25%. The only items that are always plugged in at my house is my fridge, main tv items and my alarm clock. I do unplug the alarm clock for the weekends.
In addition, I only brew coffee when I am out of the pot. Every other time I just warm it up in the microwave (after plugging it in of course.) I now only brew 2 pots a week compared with the 5 or 6 pots a week. That has also reduced my coffee expense by 80%.
The Family Dollar store is a great resource if you aren’t to brand loyal for certain items.
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