Is Frugality a Thing of the Past?

Frugality is not something we see a lot in our society anymore. Frugality is to be thrifty, economical, sparing, and not wasteful.

Small ways to be thrifty

Do you do this too?

I know my grandparents were very frugal.  I was raised in northern Michigan, sixty miles south of the Mackinaw Bridge in the beautiful jack pine forests. My grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles did a lot of hunting and fishing. We ate a lot of wild game and my grandma could prepare venison, trout, pike, perch, or blue gills that would melt in your mouth. 

In the summer and fall my  5" 2' Grandma Lillie Mae (Fletcher)  Wheeler would gather all of the grandchildren and take us to the berry farms or apple orchards (after the migrant workers were done) and have us pick strawberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, and apples. She could pick more berries than all of us and didn't allow us to slack off. She was serious about gathering as much as she could. We would get back to her house and help clean the fruit and she would begin the canning process. None of the grandchildren enjoyed picking and cleaning berries but come winter we all enjoyed the homemade jams, preserves, applesauce, peaches and other wonderful canned items Grandma made.  
 
She sewed clothes for her four daughters and didn't waste any material. Any of the leftover material she used for quilts. She made her own pillowcases and dresser scarves and when she sat down for the evening she would pick up her sewing box and do colorful embroidering on the dresser scarves and crochet beautiful edges on the pillowcases.  


She also knew how to stretch her food budget. She would always prepare a beef and pork roast for Sunday family dinner, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, jello salad, homemade biscuits, and homemade pie. She would use the leftovers for a stew or soup to eat throughout the week. I don't remember her throwing much food away.

Through my grandparent's hard work and frugality they built a wonderful resort called Eagle Point on a beautiful lake that had rustic cabins that were rented year after year by people who came to Northern Michigan for their yearly vacations. 


As we fast forward to my parent's generation and then to my generation I feel I learned a lot from my grandparents. I am frugal in my own way. I have always had a monthly budget and lived within it. A few years ago my husband and I found our yearly budget books that we have kept for 46 years of marriage and were amazed at how much we spent for food each month compared to the cost of food today.


I don't sew my own clothes but I shop the sales and don't purchase items that I don't plan to wear for the next few years. I don't go hunting and fishing or can my own fruit, but I try to purchase and prepare my meals to get the best value for the buck. If I make a roast beef, it will be followed by beef stew or beef vegetable soup.



Years ago my husband and I set some guidelines for spending and making purchases.  Here are a few: 

1. Set up a monthly budget so you know your income and expenses.
2. Get in agreement to live within that budget.
3. Learn to prioritize your needs from your wants. When we started to do this we had a sheet of paper that we drew a line through the middle. One side we put needs and the other side wants.  On the need side we used the scripture Philippians 4:19 - "My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. On the wants side we used the scripture in Psalms 37:4 - "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
4. When making a large purchase be in agreement and never rush into the purchase or feel pressured by salesperson. We always wait at least 24 hours before the final purchase. It is good to sleep on it before you move forward on a purchase you might regret. We usually don't make large purchases unless the item is worn out or broken beyond repair.
5. We set a limit to spend up to $50 without consulting the other person but any purchase over $50 we needed to be in agreement.
6. We have always tithed 10% and done our best to save 10%.
7. Try to use cash for items such as food, household, sundries, car gas and miscellaneous spending.
8. Don't use credit cards except those you have to pay the balance in 30 days. Using credit cards gives you a false sense of prosperity. (A few years ago we went through Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey and he talked about the importance of not using credit cards and encouraged people to perform plastic surgery which was to cut up their plastic credit cards.) 
9. Shop sales and use coupons when possible. When our daughters were growing up I was someone who not only used coupons but a person who refunded. (That is information for another blog.)
10. Do your best to resist the slick commercials and and sales techniques that try to tell you that you can't live without certain items. This is not easy because of our day to day media driven society. It takes a lot of will power and self discipline but you can do it!  We don't just go window shopping, we only shop when we are looking for certain items. With television ads, what works for us is to mute the commercials!

I hope this helps you because financial difficulties can put a lot of pressure on your life, health, and marriage. So lets all start being more frugal and responsible in our finances for longer life.