What with stuff costing more.
And our 401k's crashing and burning. Mine hasn't recovered from the nonsense in the 90s, 2000s and 2010s. And here we are with the 2020s debacle. You never get back the lost compound interest. Doesn't happen. Lose ground. that ground stays lost at the level of investment I have. Which is the max I can afford.
Anyway, higher prices, lower benefits. Frugality gets popular.
The thing is, frugality or thrift ....that's a long game. Not a short term "oh crap" strategy. Still, may as well start in the "oh crap" moment.
So ,for the newbies ,here are places to start:
1 Use it up
2 Wear it out
3 Make it do
34 Do without
Easy!
Bit more info needed
1 Use it up. This works in every part of life. Vehicles/transport...run whatever you are driving IN TO THE GROUND. Repairs are almost always cheaper than a car payment. Food...START your meal plan in the stinky crisper drawer in the fridge. What is about to go bad? Can you eat it as is? DO THAT! Can you fry it up in an egg? DO THAT. Can you throw it in the Freezer Soup Container (any container in the freezer for left overs and edible scraps...when it gets full, take it out to thaw, if you have an onion or some garlic, fry that in a soup pot (if not, skip it), dump in the thawing soup (or, who are we kidding...the frozen block of soup) and heat it up. Taste it. If it's awful add something salty/savory (salt, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, etc, or sour (lemon juice, vinegar, a can of tomatoes) or some herbs (whatever is getting old in the cupboard) and try again. If it's bland, I go for sour or a scoop of homemade mustard. Just use your brain and whatever you have. Also...you won't die of bland soup. Just eat it. For clothes...go shopping in the closet or dresser or call a friend to borrow or swap clothes for an event. When clothes wear out, cut them up for rags and hair bands and free gardening supplies (undies elastics make great tomato plant support ties, t-shirt sleeves are really good headbands, old undies were my gramma's go-to soft polishing clothes which was gross but effective, I make gardenting and berry picking bags out of old jeans legs with a few stitches and a grommet or sewn on tab for attachment to my belt. Books...firestarters after you drop them in the tub and dry them out but they are wrinkly. and on and on
2 Wear it out. Clothes...keep wearing them. Boring...maybe. NO ONE CARES what you wear. If they do, they are shallow buttheads whose opinion does not matter. Change into chore clothes if you do office work and then come home to outside work. Vehicles....keep driving that rattle trap. USE IT UP. When it really really croaks or you have to trade it in on a reliable rig for some reason, strip it of usable things like extra rims and tires so you can sell them separate or trade them or give them to friends who will wear them out and maybe, or maybe not, return the favor. I gave away a car once. The receiver loved it but it didn't work for them, they took one set of wheels for the vehicle they do drive, sold the car to a poverty stricken mechanically talented person who meshed it with other similar vehicles and hopefully came up with 1 running car. Glasses...my godson gets his previous pair of glasses tinted as sunglasses when he gets a new pair of regular glasses. Wears the sunglasses until they are scratched beyond usefulness. Kitchen gear...learn to sharpen a knife. A good knife resharpened will last generations.
3 Make it do. I have an event coming up where Western States Business Casual is the dress code. So I'm darkening up my black jeans and wearing my best thrifted eddie bauer shirt with some turquoise jewelry. Good enough. Vehicle...I have a crap truck that will haul 1/2 ton. I need 1 ton of pressed sawdust logs for winter heat. I found a place that will sell me the 1 ton pallet of logs for a price and let me haul it as 2 half ton loads. It cost me 10$ more in gas, but that's 40$ less than delivery on 1 ton, AND 50$ less than buying 2 half ton mini-pallets most years. I make do. And I do the math (that's a more advanced tip...DO THE MATH). Shovels...I have 4 broken shovels (because...shovels are not prybars but I am a slow learner on that). So now I have 4 large hand scoops and I am learning to replace handles. "make it do" also means FIX STUFF. I bust my glasses a lot as well. Then, I bust out the superglue. The latest triumph...lost the lense out of a favorite pair of progressive readers mid winter. The frame broke on a snowy dark morning as I walked to the car. The lens could be heard skittering away on the snow. Couldn't find it so I got out the 2nd pair (they were cheaper by the pair of I bought a pair of pairs) and got on with life. MONTHS LATER the snow thaws. I am off the main walkway to the car one day and spot the lens! TADA! I pocket it. Find it again a week or so later. Then eventually the glasses and lens are reunited with superglue (all braced in place with rubber bands off egg cartons and broccoli bought through the winter and stashed for re-use). I glued it before I went to work so the stank would dissipate while I was gone. It worked. While I was at it, I glued some other stuff. The glue was from a 5$ craft kit so basically free as I did and enjoyed the craft (see above...use it up).
4 Do without. Do without until you find a good deal, can borrow/trade for an item, or ...most often...figure out you didn't need that thing anyway. E.g. I would LOVE a cool garden shed or storage shed. BUT, those cost money. Or skill. I don't want to spend on it and I have no skill. So, the camper I used to live in is the garden shed. Works fine. Cost 1100$ many years ago. I lived in it over 2 seasons for a total of about 12 months...that's cheap rent! Then turned it into the storage shed. Fine. I have a friend who drinks tea every day and does not own a teapot. She's happy with a sauce pan and pouring the water into a cup from that. I use a teapot (bought at thrift) but have no wish for a teaball or strainer. I just strain the tea leaves out with my teeth when I use loose leaf. I just don't care. Computer...my home computer is ancient. I "make do" with my sister's dead iphones minus the simcards. Which is also amusing when I insist I do not have a smart phone...then clearly pull one out of my pocket to use public wifi. As for vehicles, due to lifestyle choices I would have trouble making do without owning one, but I have friends who have gone that route. The do fine. And live in town. You can rent a car if you need one or borrow them. A friend let go of his pick up when I assured him he could borrow my old beater one anytime. Other friends lend me their rototiller. Another and I share rental of a log splitter rather than either of us buying one. Main point; do not just go buy something you think you "need".
Just try all of those before you buy crap or panic.
So, there are your starter tips. Welcome!
2 comments:
I really enjoyed this recent column and feel inspired by much of what you say. This may sound silly, but my goal is to use up as much stuff as I can before I move back to Iowa in 2026. First, it will allow me to save money and second, I will have less #@# to pack. I do feel a special thrill when I completely use up a product or a food of some kind.
But you are right -- our country has done an amazing job of making us feel like we NEED things when really we just WANT things. And I think social media / influencers have only turned up the heat on that kind of mindless consumerism.
i love using the last bit of something. good plan to use rather than move.
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