"Survival" Tactics - more frugal memories

The funny thing is that when I was budgeting and living frugally with my young family I remember reading magazine articles especially around this time of year about finances i.e. "100 Easy Money-saving Ideas" I read with gusto, only to be frustrated because everything on the list I was already doing.

I already cooked the bones of the chicken/turkey/ham and made soup from dry beans, veggies, etc. I already bypassed extras like instant anything, frozen foods, used "make a mix" cookbooks instead of Bisquick/Hamburger Helper/Other Mixes, etc. I had never had a manicure; much less a pedicure so "doing it myself" wouldn't help - it would actually cost me more than I was currently spending because I would have to buy polish, etc.

I cut/permed/styled everyone's hair. I once tried cutting my own but that was a disaster so I just settled for keeping it long for the most part. I tried to talk Ken into doing it once and he said, "you think I'd even think about doing that?" Well, there were still beauty schools with discount prices.

We did not eat out except for very special occasions and with "two-fer" coupons mostly (or quantity discounts of the family were there). Trading babysitting rather than paying a teenager - I already did that with my sister and my neighbors. Who could afford a date anyway?

I clustered errands by necessity - with only one car, having to take hubby to work in order to even have it meant doctors' appointments, shopping, visiting, libraries, etc. had to be done in a batch that made sense and saved gas.

I already clipped coupons and carefully, shopped double coupon stores and tallied my grocery costs on a hand-held calculator. I bought all I could "off-season" and at "after Christmas clearance" sales or at closeout stores.

I used homemade window cleaner and other inexpensive products recommended by Eugenia Chapman, mopped the floors with a rag and cleaned my own carpets.

I not only sewed for the girls and myself, but also shirts, underwear and even suits for the boys. When I discovered a local factory store that made t-shirts, sold seconds and scrap fabrics I went wild making matching shirts using "Stretch 'N Sew" patterns that could be reused and modified over and over. So much for saving there.

I decorated my house with an eclectic mix of furniture collected from various relatives. I had my aunt's drum table and piano, my grandparents' sofa, chair and tables, my mother-in-law's old kitchen table, my cousin's crib, my mom's bunk beds used for my younger siblings until they outgrew them, and my sister-in-law's chest of drawers. We painted, patched, recovered and added accessories - hand made of course! We had a swamp cooler; no central A/C until 1995.

Ken fixed (and even painted) our cars to keep them running until they finally gave up the ghost. We did our own home improvements and repairs too. In some cases that meant having lots of patience and waiting.... never enough time to do it all.

We already recycled just about everything, passed clothes to and from cousins and I learned new skills in Relief Society in cooking, sewing, family life, and decorating (I'm not old enough for the glass grapes though). Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” and "Waste Not; want not" were heeded literally.

I've splurged on a few things - I just can't bring myself to reduce my thermostat to 62 degrees, even at night and I like to keep the house comfortably cool in the summer. I buy new plastic zip-locks even if they're the generic kind from the dollar store. They might not hold up to boiling soup but I feel like it's a luxury to be able to just zip it out of the drawer and zip it up. I also graduated to real garbage bag liners rather than the grocery bags that didn't really fit and leaked. My hair now gets done every six weeks - professionally!

So, I keep waiting for the easy money saving idea that will get me through this bad economy. I know I need to just do some of the things I've already been advised about and maybe even go back to some of my former ways - oh yeah, I already have - no manicures, or massages, I still shop second-hand (but I do it more frequently now), my furniture is still an eclectic mix (how could I ever discard those sentimental items?). I'll not likely buy a new car in my lifetime (I did do that once - it was enough I think) and I love a good sale.

On the downside - I have a hard time throwing things away (surely there will be a need for this one day) and I sometimes buy something I don't really need just because it's such a good deal or I have only half an outfit because that was the part on clearance and I never found a coordinating piece. But, overall, it's not a bad way to live. I still make big batches of homemade soup and chili, which often is way too much for me because my extended family mostly prefers frozen pizza.

Feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for our economic times.