The Living Frugal Lifestyle

When my parents married they had just enough funds to buy a bed and table and chairs ... seriously! Needless to say that I grew up immersed in the living frugal lifestyle. My mother and grandmother were thrifty housewives. Today I would like to share with you 6 ways my mother taught me to practice thrift at home.

1. Do not go to restaurants for dinner on a regular basis. Assuming that $40.00 to $60.00 buys dinner for two, think of the groceries you can buy for this money. You can have a week of dinners for $60.00 if you cook the food yourself.

2. When using cleaning products, and items like shampoo or conditioner, always use less than the recommended amount. The manufacturer is considering his profit when the guidelines for use are drawn up. You consider your pocketbook when you dispense the product! First try a small amount. Then if you need more, add a bit more until you find the quantity that does the job effectively.

3. Do not use paper towels. Instead use rags made from worn out clothing and towels to clean up a spill.
Throw the dirty rags in the wash and reuse. Toss the rag if it is too dirty to put in the washing machine.

4. Take advantage of thrift stores and buy secondhand. Back in the fifties, as I was growing up, there were no thrift stores. Mom would sew our clothes. She would take used clothing and fashion clothes for us. I still remember the woolen skirt she made for me from her tweed winter coat. She carefully opened all the seams, turned the fabric over and cut out the pattern for my skirt. The wrong side of her coat became the right side for my skirt. The buttons from the coat were saved for a different project.

In later years after thrift stores became more prevalent, she would exclaim how much more convenient it would be be to buy children's clothes, rather than make them yourself. Whether you buy new clothes and wash them several times or used clothes and wash them, they both end up looking pretty much the same, she would reason.

5. Bake your own bread and pastries. Homemade bread, cake and cookies are much cheaper than store-bought and often taste better too. Her idea on saving energy was that once the oven was hot, you might as well bake a couple of different recipes, rather than have to reheat the oven later on.

6. Lower the thermostat. Mom believed in keeping the thermostat set a little lower too. She thought a great way to save on the heating bill was simply to dress a bit warmer. When she was cold she would reach for her sweater and only raise the temperature if she needed more than her sweater to get warm.

The living frugal lifestyle was a necessity for my parents, growing up in the 30's and 40's. Our parents were always asking themselves how they could improve on their frugal lifestyle.
My husband tells me that to save money his parents sold the butter they churned, bought margarine to use themselves, and pocketed the difference.

In hard times a person needs to be creative about saving money. When you give some thought to where the money goes and how you are spending money, pay attention to the value you are getting. Ask yourself if you really need the item, or is it a frivolous expenditure? An awareness of the value you are getting for your money is an important step to achieving the living frugal lifestyle.