Two Frog Home

In the same vain as yesterday’s Ignorant is Bliss post, I’ve been thinking about frugality.  There are numerous articles talking about a possible recession and/or depression in the U.S.  I’ve been reading many of them with great interest.  The pollyanna that I am sees this as a great opportunity to really see how resourceful I am.  I understand the economic news is devastating for many people, I understand the poorest of the poor will need help, and I’m willing to step up where I can.  I also know that many people are living well beyond their means and for them this is where the blissful ignorance will have to end.  I’m hoping that all this talk will be a wake up call for us as society.

I know people are feeling the pinch, financially.   I talk to many of these folks in a variety of ways, whether its the gal on the cross-trainer next to me in the gym, someone in one of my continuing education classes, or random folks in the grocery store.  I use Jeff’s favorite phrase of “tightening up the belt” often with these folks.  It never ceases to amaze me how that bristles some people’s feathers.  When I taught my frugal living class, I had one student who very much wanted to learn how to live within her means but still be able to go out to eat at expensive restaurants 4 nights a week.  The idea of giving up on luxuries to save or be frugal seems so hard for a society that feels entitled to the “American Dream” of more, bigger, better.

Grandma’s favorite saying of “use it up, wear it out, make do,” is very much a frugal philosophy we apply to our lifestyle here at Two Frog Home.  Imagine what an impact that would have on our environment, our communities, and our homes if that was picked up as modern movement as hip as the current “go green” movement has become.  It won’t become as popular, however; because it doesn’t benefit all the companies going green in order to get your dollars.  You won’t see Walmart using that as a slogan because it encourages you not spend money in their stores, but you will see them hawking cheap T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles because its hip and it makes them money.

In talking with people, I understand that a lot of people don’t know how to practically apply the “use it up, wear it out, make do” philosophy.  So far in their lives, they haven’t had to be frugal or they’ve used credit cards to spare themselves from any perceived deprivation.  Let me share how we apply grandma’s philosophy and frugal living daily around here.

First, let me share one of my most favorite quotes by Amy Dacyczyn (of Tightwad Gazette fame) “Frugality without creativity is deprivation.”  For me, that’s key.  No one wants to feel deprived, myself included.  The trick is learning to make do creatively with what you have until you can afford, without credit, to buy whatever you want.  I’ve learned that making do for a period of time, generally leads to not wanting/needing the gadget anyway.  I find great satisfaction in doing myself (or asking Jeff to do it) without relying on outside sources and/or conveniences.  Doing for myself and waiting for items, makes that item more valuable somehow. 

Instead of buying the newest fashion trends, why not wear out the old standards in your closet and repair them when possible.  There’s something to be said for wearing something so often that it requires multiple repairs.  It means I’ve worked hard and that I’m stretching my dollar, saving by repairing instead of buying new.  I assign financial worth to that, if I repair of jeans, I put $15 dollars into savings, figuring I’ve paid myself for some future need/want/desire.  I do find immense satisfaction when I have to cut something up for rags, because that means we’ve worn that article of clothing completely out and the pieces that remain will serve us in another way. 

Getting creative with making do can extend into every aspect of our lives.  Instead of running to the grocery store to get one item that’s missing from the recipe, get creative with substitution’s.  Would it really hurt to leave that particular ingredient out?  Instead of running to the store for paper towels, make do with those old T-shirts.

Practical things we do that save money and in turn add to our savings:

• We rarely eat out
• We buy in bulk
• We eat whole foods in their natural form, not pre-boxed/convenience foods
• We buy used
• We bargain hunt and wait for the best deal before buying whenever possible
• We freecycle
• We garden and preserve our own foods
• We repair and otherwise adjust our own clothing (take in, shorten, etc.)
• We wear everything out and try to repair everything before buying new (Jeff has alot of mechanical aptitude which comes in handy)
• We pack our own lunches
• We don’t use paper towels, paper plates, etc. (I just see that as throwing money away)
• We use natural and cheap cleaners like vinegar
• When we do have to make a major purchase, we save to buy the best we can afford, because we want quality equipment that will last and not need to be replaced
• We don’t upgrade every time the newest model comes along
• We don’t buy into every toy/gadget that comes along (we still don’t have an I-pod)
• We use the library instead of buying new books

I could go on and on, but I think I’m making my point. 

In the end, I do believe that Jeff and I have been blessed in that we both have jobs that pay above minimum wage and seem to be steady.  However, the rest has been the result of hard work on our part.  We are debt free and have a healthy savings to cover us in case of job loss as well as money saved for property downpayment and repair (looking for cheaper houses means fixer uppers).  We don’t indulge in a lot of luxuries but we don’t feel deprived.  I do feel like a good amount of frugal living is done inside ourselves in that we have to choose what is important and make sure our spending habits reflect those priorities.  We have to choose and learn to be content with what we have and ignore what the “Joneses” are doing.

Finally, a huge thing is getting support from partners, family and friends.  Find people who are choosing to live within their means and learn from them.  The internet is full of frugality resources, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say the book Your Money or Your Life will change the lives of everyone who reads it, at least it did mine.  Research and learn from folks who lived through the depression, find what works and get creative and maybe whatever comes this way won’t feel as bad as the media makes it seem.

Jeff needed to run to town to look for a new light fixture for one that blew out this morning.  I tagged along and we decided to check the thrift stores before going to the hardware store for the needed fixture.  We scored in more ways than one, Jeff found a great light fixture for $1.50 and I found 69 canning jars for $5.00 (a mixture of wide mouth & regular pints and quarts)! 

I must say that’s a God thing.  I let my desires for more self-sufficiency and the needed jars be known and low and behold the jars appeared.  I’m grateful, honestly, I rarely find jars at the thrift store, they always seem to be scooped up before I get there. 

Further along the thrifty score line, Jeff snagged an older KitchenAid mixer at a yard sale yesterday for $10.  The mixer had its bowl but no paddles or attachments.  It works wonderfully, and will most likely be used for my grain grinding adventures.  The grain mill seems hard on the mixer, this way we’ll have something as a back up.

Tomorrow is the annual AAUW book sale bargain day - $3 a sack for used books, we’ll be hitting that too.  Sometimes thrifty scores can be just the thing to lift the spirits.  That and lots of gorgeous sunshine and temperatures in the 60s, finally. 

Yesterday, Jeff and I hit the thrift store.  One of the local thrift stores moved recently into a much larger building and we decided it was time to check it out.  It was much better than the old one in that things aren’t so cramped together.  The book section grew quite a bit too, with tables and chairs for folks to sit a spell and look through the volumes.  As we walked by the one table, I noticed a book sitting there as if left just for me to notice, World Sourdoughs from Antiquity by Ed Wood.  I, of course, couldn’t pass it up.  The book is a treasure, though obviously geared by the author to sell his starter products, it is chock full of wonderful looking recipes and lots of tidbits regarding sourdough throughout different regions of the world.  Today, I tried out the Honey Walnut Sourdough recipe, more or less.  I always seem to modify recipes a bit and I used my local whole wheat starter instead of the one he sells that includes white flour.  The bread turned out wonderfully moist and flavorful.  I can’t wait to try a few more of them in the future.

I’ve been working on ways to use up my large stash of scrap fabric pieces in various sizes.  I have a quilt top in process and finished two placemats, this morning.  I’ve been wanting to practice my free-motion quilting skills as well and the placemat seemed a good way to do that.  I used the same fabric for the backing of each placemat and I have enough of that backing to make a few more placemats, this way I’ll have a collection of mis-matched yet matching placemats for all occasions.

Traditionally, we start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  However, I got a small head start yesterday.  

We don’t do a ton of decorating here, its just not my thing really.  A small tree and a few little holiday accents - no giant inflatable snow globes or lights everywhere.  I was inspired by the discovery of a new blog recently, however; and decided to make a wreath to welcome visitors to Two Frog Home.  I did a few things differently than the inspiration source.  I didn’t have any foam wreath frames around, so I made one by tracing a plate onto some scrap cardboard.  I glued some quilt batting scraps onto the cardboard and wrapped it all with some green fleece scrap strips.  I used a hot glue gun to keep everything in place.  I then wrapped some gold & red ribbon around the fleece, glued on a frog (of course there had to be a frog accent), added a ribbon for hanging and, voila my new wreath.

That’s the main door to our home.  The tree garland was the one I bought at the gifts festival a few weeks back.  The curtain, I made from some fabric I found at the thift store.  I was originally going to use it for a table cloth, but couldn’t resist using it as a window dressing for our holiday decorations.

This is the quilt from the box of fabric pieces I picked up at a yard sale this summer.  It is so far from perfect that I’m having a hard time liking it.  I can’t decided if its perfect in its imperfections or just plain ugly.  I used all the pieces that the previous owner had sewn together.  There were strips of as few as 2 squares to as many as 12 squares already sewn - I put them all together to finish the top.  The seams were anything but uniform and the pieces themselves varied in size more often than not.  There were no obvious color themes, just random pieces sewn together.  There is much more polyester in this quilt than I would ever normally use, most fabrics date easily to the seventies.  I just can’t decide if I like it or not.  No matter, it is warm and it is finished so it will serve a quilt’s purpose.  I am still thinking of donating it to the local senior center’s annual craft show/fundraiser.

Over the summer, I bought a box of fabric scraps at one of our yard sale outings.  I put the fabric in my sewing room but didn’t really go through it until today.  I could tell when I bought the box that someone meant these fabrics for a quilt.  Most of it is cut into squares and there is a good bit already sewn together (the big stack of fabric at the rear of the table).  The squares are not cut well in general and most are no where near square or equal in size.  I’ve decided to finish at least a baby sized quilt with the pieces that are already sewn together.  The rest of it, I seperated into piles so I can get an idea of how much of each fabric there is to work into future projects.  I’m thinking placemats and coasters, perhaps.  Most of the fabrics are, oh so yummy - I threw away the very plastic polyester materials.  Here’s a few close ups of some of my favorite pieces.

As I type this the last of the Ginger Brandy Cookies are baking.  I have two meetings this week, as I wind up my volunteer committments, and these cookies are for those meetings.