to tightwadery. :)
Because of the nature of our lives, we go through peaks and valleys of financial stability. Depending on many factors, sometimes we have more money than others. I tend to fall into the trap of "we have more money so we spend more money," which really, is not the way all the experts say to live.
So, I've read countless books on saving money, penny-pinching, wise investments, etc etc. Basically, I've discovered that we waste enormous amounts of money. So, we're tightwadding. (Derek doesn't LOVE this like I do, but I actually take great pleasure in recycling aluminum foil).
My all-time favorite book for the aspiring penny-pinching miser is The Complete Tightwad Gazette. It's a compilation of a newsletter written by a mother of 6 in the 90's. While some of the info is outdated, the ideas are still totally applicable. Now, she is a bit crazy, but I just disregard the things I KNOW I'll never be cheap enough to do. (For instance, she uses ripped up panty-hose as pony tail holders, I'll just buy them thankyouvermuch.)
So, we're recycling ziplock baggies and aluminum foil, buying in bulk (thank goodness for my deep freeze) and making things from scratch. (Homemade tortillas are WAY better than store-bought, in case you were wondering) I'm currently trying to figure out how to rig up a clothes line on my back porch. (Did you know that running the dryer once costs between 50 and 75 cents? I do A LOT of laundry...)
Perhaps, it's just because we've moved and since I'm all alone in a strange land, and I need a project. But, for whatever reason, I'm into to it these days.
Weird.
7 comments:
Here's an idea...
Pretend that you live in a camper, and first of all, you don't have any room for new stuff. Second of all, pretend you live in Alaska, and everything costs at least TWICE as much as it does in Vegas. Then decide if it is even worth buying the ziplock baggies at all. I gave them up altogether this summer!
Ohh, good plan! What do you put stuff in?
Haha... aluminum foil, that's a new one for me. Sometimes I'll reuse baggies, but sometimes I also reason that the time and frustration of washing and drying them isn't worth the few cents. :) Anyway, I like this. You're great. Supposedly sunshine is a natural whitener, too, so if you do that then you don't even need to use yucky products on whites (like diapers!). But then is it bad for colors? I'm unsure.
I'm with you, Morgs. I need to be a tightwad, too. I've been trying to stretch my meal budget as much as humanly possible. Maybe I should get that book. What other kids of things does she say?
Nat- she lays out how to buy your groceries based on sales and in bulk. Then you just cook with what you have. It's TOTALLY different that most meal planning, where if you want to make it and you don't have it, you go to the store.
The book was published 12 years ago, but at that time she fed her family of 6 for $180 a month, TOTAL!
Check the library, I bet they have it.
Tupperware. I wash lots and lots of tupperware!
Actually, your sister does live in a camper!
I love tightwadding, but it takes time.
It's also possible to tightwad by just simplifying what you eat, what you do in your free time and how you look at spending money: just don't do it.
Ma
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