My Grandfather picked celery for a short time before landing a job working with boilers (I’m not really sure what he did, he retired long before I was born). My Grandmother stayed home and they added to their family with 2 more little girls (the youngest being my Mother). Once my eldest Aunt turned 18, she and my Grandmother got jobs and took citizenship classes. My Grandmother had to wait till my Aunt was old enough to get her license because she couldn’t drive. For some reason, that whole cars-coming-at-you thing was WAY too much for her to handle.
I couldn’t imagine packing up my things and leaving my entire family (including 8 brothers and sisters) and everything I’ve ever known to go an ocean away to a new continent. And this was 63 years ago, before cell phones, internet and Skype. Now we can just turn the computer on and hit “Video Call” and see our loved ones from all over the world, almost instantly.
What does my long family history have to do with frugality? Everything. My Grandparents didn’t have money to throw away (even if it was the wrong currency). My Grandmother raised 3 little girls by sewing their own clothing, cooking all things homemade, providing my Grandfather with his comfort foods in a place far away from home, and saving money anyway she could. They lived in a city and walked everywhere. Their home only had a wood burning stove in the kitchen. So every winter, they would all move their beds downstairs and sleep as close to it as possible.
My parents have held strong to their roots. Growing up I can count on my one hand the number of times I had jarred spaghetti sauce or Jell-o. And if we did have Jell-o, it was dessert with whipped cream, NOT considered part of meal. I didn’t realize how ethnically I grew up until I got old enough to go to friends’ houses for dinner. They ate spaghetti with Ragu and Jell-o with carrots in it, and they never would have had bread pudding for dessert.
I’ve been trying to carry on the traditions that my Grandparents worked so hard to hold onto, despite their long journey and tiresome life. I’ve learned how to make recipes the way my Grandmother did, without lavish ingredients but overstuffed with love (and a little bit of elbow grease). I’ve been living by my Grandfather’s stingy rule of BUY NOT WANT NOT. He always preached that once you started buying stuff, you needed to keep buying more stuff. He was a minimalist at heart. If he needed something he bought it ONCE. Meaning, he saved us his money and bought a new car so that he could drive it till it died. Nothing he bought was disposable.
I’m trying to live this way. I challenge myself to use as many reusable things as possible. We try to throw as little out as possible. I try to handmake gifts instead of just buying some cheap novelties. I try to use as many cloth diapers as possible and we try to make as minimal trash as possible.
Have you ever tried cloth napkins instead of paper? I bought these napkins in white when we were first married. Once we use them we throw them in with the whites (and some bleach for santizing). I even use them as burp cloths occasionally and they’re great to clean up Bear’s face and hands after eating. I never have to worry about running out of napkins or needing to buy more. I’m sure they’ve saved me money but they’ve also saved a LOT of paper products from being in the landfill.
How about rags for the kitchen instead of paper towels? I do use paper towels. I bought one pack of Small Steps over a year ago and I still have half a roll left. Instead I use stained washcloths, microfiber cleaning cloths, retired burp cloths and any other clean rags.
Try taking your own reusable challenge. It will save your wallet and our landfills.
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