provides a treasure trove of practical techniques and ingenious approaches. In this captivating guide, noted artist
Jane Freeman shows readers, step by step, how to use modified kit components, and found and handmade objects to create intensely detailed miniature constructions.
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October 10, 2005
Cheaper by the Dozen: Nifty Thrifty Frugality Tips
“That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.�
- Thoreau
A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.�- also Thoreau
I like being frugal, except for my prodigal indulgence in $10-and-up words. There’s an old joke about frugality, which sounds like a Latin conjugation: “I am economical; you are prudent; he is cheap.� No one likes to be thought of as cheap, but everyone overtly or covertly revels in saving money, a predilection that's regarded variously as thrifty, stingy, petty, miserly, money-grubbing, penny-pinching, tight, parsimonious, scrimping, withholding, clever, economical -- or, these days, as ecological.
Here are some of my frugal practices:
1. Rather than buying (golly, so expensive!) bottles of iced tea, I make my own. Around the neck of a large jar I keep a rubber band to anchor the strings of a few teabags. I pour hot water into the jar to cover the teabags, and let steep. Finally I fill up the jar with cool water and refrigerate.
2. If I've served myself too much at lunch or dinner, I cover my plate with a glass Pyrex pie plate and refrigerate. Advantage: the next meal is all ready and free.
3. I avoid movie theaters and rent films or borrow them from the library or from friends (they borrow mine too). For cinemaholics, Netflix is a good idea.
4. Years ago I quit the gym and got dogs to run with, saving $90/month.
5. Also years ago I quit therapy and began meditating daily. Savings: hundreds of dollars a month and much embarrassment. Advantage: I’m much happier in general and have come to accept my obsessive frugality. Disadvantage: lack of the captive audience of a Ph.D.
6. Rather than buying scratch pads, I cut used typing paper in half, staple together the pages blank side up, and leave them in strategic places for jotting notes and lists.
7. I avoid most paper and plastic products and all disposable convenience commodities.
8. I use jars as vases, for when I splurge on flowers; and large tin cans lined with grocery bags for wastebaskets.
9. I cut my own hair. My sister does the back.
10. I make my own birthday and greeting cards.
11. I recycle (some) gifts from others. (Everyone does this!)
12. I use cigar boxes and shoe boxes for storage, rather than buying fancy containers at Bed Bath and Beyond or the Container Store.
13. Here's another for a baker's dozen: I find lots of good stuff on the street. Chairs, tables, dressers, etc. I use dresser drawers as side tables. They store (and conceal) all my discount-shop videos, saved letters and post cards, surplus toilet paper (cheaper when bought in quantity), cleaning supplies, etc.
Okay, so what ways do you save? And don’t be stingy about sharing ideas with us. Thanks!
Posted by Jane on October 10, 2005 5:43 PM
