This is a two part question..

What is something that you have learned by reading the TG?

Is there anything that you read and thought either DUH!?, or my parents, grandparents,etc have always done that?

Just curious..TIA

I learned to calculate the savings cost of the things I do. . . .If I bake homemade bread, it saves me such and such amount and takes me such and such time-- therefore, my "pay" for doing this activity is - such and such.


The duh? Hanging laundry, even indoors. We've always done that. . . .my grandmother had lines strung in her extra bedroom, my mom had lines strung in the enclosed porch and hung things on the shower rod in the bathroom. I have lines strung in the ceiling of my basement.

What have you learnt - that I wasn't the only one doing the things I was doing in order to save the $$ and pay down debt.

The duh - I'm with Denise. Hanging clothes inside too. My great grannie did it, my grandmothers did it, my mom did it. In fact my mom has never owned a dryer. She does have use of one now because she lives in a senior's complex. It took weeks for her to learn how to use it.

Learning that frugal does not have to mean deprived.

And I can be added on to the list of folks who hang clothes in the house!

Peace,

To try and make being frugal a game. That being frugal doesn't mean being cheap.

DUH? The receycled dryer lint was a turn off. :)

That I am not the only person on the planet who thinks this way. I like to read my copy when I feel my frugal drive waning.


What was my "duh"? Many things in the book. We have always hung out laundry, rewashed baggies, cooked at home, etc.

;) That frugal doesn't mean CHEAP....it means that I can manage our money better ......and it's fun too! :)

I think for me it's that little things add up. It's so obvious but i was always having just that nice cup of coffee from the canteen, although i pay into the dept tea fund and have it all free in our kitchen! So, it helped me watch what i spend. I also like the message of sustainability for our kids and beyond. that makes me think about putting stuff into the correct recycling bin instead of putting everything into the main bin.
yes, i too hang washing and have never owned a dryer. I lived in Scotland most of my life, which has a good share of rain (!), so it can be done. That includes the time with my chidren in terry nappies (cloth diapers to you :) )
W

Comparing costs between making things and buying them was the biggest help I got from Amy D. Not the actual math.LOL, but the idea that you could actually do it.:rolleyes:

I came from a pretty spendthrift family, but cloth diapering has always been done in our family. I used disposables when the babies were really little and I was still exhausted from giving birth. But after a couple months they always went into cloth.

One of the many things I learned from the TWG books is that being frugal does not mean deprivation, but that it leads to being much happier in life, because I don't have to worry about bills all the time.

A duh moment for me?? Can't think of one off hand. Will have to get back to ya on that one. :D

I don't own a dryer either. I was thinking about getting a gas dryer for those times when it is necessary to dry something fast...but I'm not so sure now because gas has gone up 40% this year. I always hang my clothes in the house on a line in the extra bedroom ;) . On nice days they go out on the line outside.

How do I hang clothes indoors? How long will they take to dry?

Tami

Here is a link to an article on line drying your clothes.

http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65134&highlight=line+drying

On the first question my grandmother was a world famous "dumpster diver" and I have to admit I am still somewhat of one. About 2 months ago I tool my garbage to our community recycling center and as I went to throw in the first bag I looked over and someone had put good plastic hangers in there. Now I don't mean one or two, I mean over 100. I got the stick that the recycle attendant used and fished out well over 50 of them. I use them everyday.

The second question is that the first time I read it I realized not spending money was ok. Since I was fairly young in my marriage and it was the late 80's when everyone was living large it was nice to realize that I was not alone.

The best thing I realized was to calculate everything. I don't think I had a duh moment.

What I have taken from the TWG is even if you do not have a small income you STILL have the power to make your dreams come true. That it is the little things that can chew away @ savings. Spend where your values are. Bottom line is that frugality is impowering.

I think I'll have another look at my TWG now that we're into a new year and see what inspires me!
W

I went to the library yesterday and got a bunch of books on frugality and saving money.

The first book I am reading is TWG II. They don't have the other books at our library. I guess I'm not in a very frugal area. But as I go through I am finding quite a few things that I didn't know.

Some of the things are "duh!!!" that I just haven't ever thought of.

One thing is buying plants. 4 years ago my son planted a seed for a flower for Mother's Day. The plant was an annual and should have long been dead. It survived 3 years and grew to a huge pot outside. If I had watered it all through the last summer it would still be living. I spend alot of money on plants for the front porch and the side drive every year - so I told my son that within the next few weeks we will go and buy seeds. I am going to grow my own flowering plants for this year.

I'll write more as I learn.

If I do nothing else in this book this alone will save $150+.

For folks looking for TG at their library and not finding it, try ILL (InterLibrary Loan). Here in my county my local branch has NOTHING on frugal living, however, if you go slightly north of here there's TONS of books in the branches there and since it's all the county library it's easy, but you can always ask to ILL from books outside your local library system. It's a great way to get books you otherwise would never be able to find in your area and not a lot of people think about it.

:) While reading the TWG I realized that I had been living frugally my whole life. . And I still am. My problem is the fact that the dd and 2 gs are with kids all day at school that don't live the same way. But they are slowly coming to realize that new isn't always best. We farm and don't have a weekly salary so it's a real challenge to make your harvest money (after operating loan is paid off) to try not to borrow it all again. This year is going to be especially challenging because our 2 gs are both going to be in braces and my dh's winter truck driving job hauling grain didn't come through. SO it's going to be a squeaky year. Garden and sewing and doing without is on the agenda. We try to eat out only 1-2 times a week - after church and maybe 1 other time - all at fastfood/cheaper restaurants. We'll have to cut them out also. It made me feel good that there weren't too many areas that I need to change. Thanks for the time to spout off.
Wife to Mark - 38 yrs. Mom to 2 adult dd and 1 teen dd, 'mom' to 2 gs (7 and 12) and grandma to 2 gs and 1 gd.