Learning the frugal life approach to help us save and live simply might not come natural for many of us. After all, we live in a society where we are bombarded with advertisements to spend our hard earned income with psychological ploys that tell us directly or indirectly that we have a low sense of self worth if we do not recognize that we deserve it. With many around us striving for instant gratification and the push to do as our peers do, the frugal mindset is something that we need to cultivate. How do people who live frugally manage their finances and what do they do differently?
A case in point that comes to mind due to being in the news recently is the example of 98 year old Verna Oller, a resident of Long Beach, who on May 10, 2010, passed away and left a legacy of $4.5 million - to the amazement of most people who knew her. How did she do it?
Clearly, she avoided spending money and worked hard. Not only did she work at earning money, she worked at hanging onto it and investing it too. To save the expense of getting her hair cut, she cut her own. She did not shrink from acquiring stuff secondhand, whether it was clothing, the Wall Street Journal or getting free meals. Flaunting her wealth or spending money frivolously to impress her friends was not part of her lifestyle. She kept a careful record of her investments and learned about investing. How does her life give us principles about learning the frugal lifestyle?
1. She lived debt free, a simple life devoid of accumulating interest charges. How many of us can say the same?
2.Like her, we should not be too proud to accept hand me downs or used items we have a use for. They can help us build up a bank account quicker in our current climate of rising prices.
3. Honest labor has its rewards, and it pays to hang on to our earnings and find legitimate substitutes for spending money. We could trade services with a friend, to avoid out of pocket expenses, such as babysitting, hair care, housecleaning, baking, the list goes on.
4. Educating ourselves about financial matters pays off. It is essential that we know how much of our earnings we are spending, so we can budget and plan our savings strategy.
5. True friends will value us for who we are and what we mean to them, not for the money we spend to impress them. Leaving a legacy of value to our fellowman is far more impressive than flaunting money to win their approval.
Verna's life provides us with many clues how she accomplished surprising her community with a wonderful gift.
Learning the frugal life from Verna Oller and her amazing legacy is a genuine inspiration to save and live a simpler life.
Showing posts with label Verna Oller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Verna Oller. Show all posts
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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.
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.
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