So, my most recent reading material I have borrowed from the Library is "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn. I have read many frugal living books in my time, "Frugal Living for Dummies" (purchased at 30% off :) ) , "Living on One Income", "Ditch the Debt and the Diet", to name a few. But the "Tightwad Gazette" is by FAR my favorite one.
In today's world we are constantly thinking "How can I make more money?" When we are in highschool exploring future careers, we are informed as to which ones will make us the most money. When we go into the workforce we are encouraged to climb the "corporate ladder" to have more power, to make more money. But I've been thinking about something lately. What if, instead of striving so hard to make more money to get more things, we strived to find ways to save more money on things so we had enough to live off right now? Because, truth be told, we will always be longing for more money. It doesn't seem to matter how much you make, you can always use more.
In this book, some of the ideas to me are extreme. Some of them I probably would never do (like dumpster diving, for example!!!!) but some of the ideas, as ridiculous as they seem, really help!
Here are some things I have been doing in my life to learn to be frugal. Laugh if you will... ;)
-Rinsing out milk bags to use as sandwich bags
-Using cloth diapers
-Hanging up clothes half the time instead of using the dryer
-Bringing snacks whereever we go
-When eating out, bringing our own drinks instead of paying 5 dollars for two drinks.
-Shopping at thrift stores, Liquidation World, kijiji.ca, and Dollarama
-Making a meal plan, and try to grocery shop carefully
-Walking when I can rather than driving everywhere
Some of the things I am wanting to do to improve my frugality is....
-Make my own laundry soap
-Use cloth diapers exclusively
-Cut back on eating out to once a month
-Stick closer to the grocery budget
-Walking even more
-Learning to sew
-Purchasing a reasonably priced yogurt maker
I have also learned, being frugal isn't just about saving money. It's good for the environment, usually good for your health (cooking from scratch, walking more...etc.) and it's using the resources God gave us wisely.
Although some of the things like, for example, saving milk bags, seems minor, the book I am reading points out that if you pay attention to the little things, you are more likely to pay attention to the big things. And there must be some truth to it, as the writer of the book dreamed of owning a large farm house, as well as having a large family, with only her husband working while she stayed at home. Their income was not very much at that time. And they managed to get everything they desired, as well as living debt free.
I pray I can learn how to get to that point!
In today's world we are constantly thinking "How can I make more money?" When we are in highschool exploring future careers, we are informed as to which ones will make us the most money. When we go into the workforce we are encouraged to climb the "corporate ladder" to have more power, to make more money. But I've been thinking about something lately. What if, instead of striving so hard to make more money to get more things, we strived to find ways to save more money on things so we had enough to live off right now? Because, truth be told, we will always be longing for more money. It doesn't seem to matter how much you make, you can always use more.
In this book, some of the ideas to me are extreme. Some of them I probably would never do (like dumpster diving, for example!!!!) but some of the ideas, as ridiculous as they seem, really help!
Here are some things I have been doing in my life to learn to be frugal. Laugh if you will... ;)
-Rinsing out milk bags to use as sandwich bags
-Using cloth diapers
-Hanging up clothes half the time instead of using the dryer
-Bringing snacks whereever we go
-When eating out, bringing our own drinks instead of paying 5 dollars for two drinks.
-Shopping at thrift stores, Liquidation World, kijiji.ca, and Dollarama
-Making a meal plan, and try to grocery shop carefully
-Walking when I can rather than driving everywhere
Some of the things I am wanting to do to improve my frugality is....
-Make my own laundry soap
-Use cloth diapers exclusively
-Cut back on eating out to once a month
-Stick closer to the grocery budget
-Walking even more
-Learning to sew
-Purchasing a reasonably priced yogurt maker
I have also learned, being frugal isn't just about saving money. It's good for the environment, usually good for your health (cooking from scratch, walking more...etc.) and it's using the resources God gave us wisely.
Although some of the things like, for example, saving milk bags, seems minor, the book I am reading points out that if you pay attention to the little things, you are more likely to pay attention to the big things. And there must be some truth to it, as the writer of the book dreamed of owning a large farm house, as well as having a large family, with only her husband working while she stayed at home. Their income was not very much at that time. And they managed to get everything they desired, as well as living debt free.
I pray I can learn how to get to that point!
1 comment:
Nice ideas. I find I am already doing 90% of that stuff. And as for making soap/learning to sew etc you have to factor in teh time necessary to DO these things and their effectiveness. For instance, you can buy kids clothes cheaper than you can make them. BUT- you can make a Halloween costume for less. And is biodegradable soap as good at getting out stains? If your clothes are stained you will pay more to buy new ones. It is a fine line. I love hearing about what you are learning and how you are managing to implement it though!
Julie Howarth
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