What does frugal mean? It probably means a lot of different things to a lot of people. It also probably means something totally different to say people from our grandparent’s generation. To them, it was just a way of life.

Today, it might mean to a lot of people that you’re doing it tough and it’s the only way you can live. To those of us who do live a frugal life, it’s a whole different thing. It is a way of life but it’s for a totally different reason.

When I was young

When I was a young girl, helping Mum around the house, she would do things like wash the plastic bags and reuse them. She’d put new elastic in our underwear when it overstretched and when they were thread bare, she’d only then buy new ones and use the old ones as dusting rags. Mum would put a stocking over the broom to get cobwebs that were on the ceiling not buy a brush specific for brushing cobwebs. The vegetables scraps went in the compost.

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Our banana peels went in the staghorns for fertiliser. Orange juice was of the freshly squeezed variety and the skins were boiled up for an all purpose cleaner. I could go on and on with Mum’s frugal ways but to her, it was a way of life. Mum and Dad were a one income family with a mortgage and 3 daughters and I don’t remember once feeling like I was missing out on anything. We played club sport, went on camps and sporting carnivals. They bought us all the sporting gear we needed and the shoes to match. We had an annual 2 week holiday every year for as long as I can remember. All those little frugal things she did allowed that to happen.

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My Nanna’s Generation

As for my grandmother, she was even more frugal. The big hardware stores around now would’ve gone broke long ago back in my Nanna’s generation. I don’t think she ever set foot in a hardware store to buy a plant pot. She would use a jam tin or yoghurt container, that is when she actually bought jam or yoghurt. She nearly always made her own from the produce she grew. She sewed all her own clothes. She made hats to match, she only owned 3 pairs of shoes. One pair for going out and to church, one less casual and yard shoes. I don’t think she owned slippers because when she was in her pyjamas, she was in bed. She was up dressed and ready for a day’s work up until she passed away at 93 years of age.

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Not a single thing was wasted. It was reused and recycled. She didn’t buy it if it couldn’t be recycled. She saved the small bits of soap (only Sunlight soap used for bathing and washing) to be used for creating suds to wash the dishes. She saved every envelope and that was her note paper. Nanna used to crochet plastic bread bags and create toys or cover coathangers with them. To her this was a way of life. In my eyes, Nanna and Poppa were probably wealthy dairy farmers. They retired to a beautiful property on the Sunshine Coast here in Queensland after working hard for nearly 40 years on their farm but still, they kept their frugal ways.

Make conscious purchases

Being frugal isn’t just about living a life less wasteful. It’s making conscious purchases. It’s about thinking about every single thing you purchase or are about to purchase and ask yourself “do I need it, is going to last, can it be repurposed for something else”. 

We are so blessed in this generation to have all the modern conveniences but still we want more. We have become so wasteful. If a TV goes “on the blink”, we throw it out and buy a new one. They are designed not to last like they used to. Same with just about every other appliance.

Be self sufficient

No one wants to mend clothes these days. I see so many young men and women walking around with the hems coming down from their pants or skirts. No one knows how to mend. Everyone is so time poor, they don’t feel the need to be prepared enough to make a nutritious hearty meal at home but spend an exorbitant amount of money on takeaway that has nothing nutritious in it but rather is laden with calories our bodies just don’t need.

Everyone wants two cars, a house full of furniture and knick knacks just because a store advertises it. Instead of getting a mortgage on a house you can afford, people are getting the most expensive house with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a double car garage, dishwasher, built ins and the list goes on. No one is living within their means let alone living a more ‘frugal’ life.

Frugality isn’t a poor man’s way of life but rather a way of life that does make you rich. It makes you rich in a more satisfying way. You won’t have the stress of debt because you won’t need all the latest http://www.mazdacx3.org/forum/members/194-Paulsen things. You will be satisfied with the things you need. You’ll soon find your savings will go through the roof, you’ll be on time with paying your bills and you’ll have money for a regular family holiday that will create lifelong memories for you and your family.

My 10 rules for a frugal life

These are my 10 rules for living a frugal life:

1. Before buying anything, ask yourself do you need it.
2. Buy secondhand first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with second hand clothes, shoes, furniture, homewares, cars etc. 
3. Don’t be too proud to take something for free. 
4. Buy food in it’s raw state and not packaged.
5. Don’t throw out any food. Know what’s in your cupboards and fridge and plan your meals. If it’s nearly at it’s use by date, freeze it until you can use it.
6. Don’t feel the need to have everything at once. 
7. Before you throw it away, ask yourself can I reuse this?
8. Get the most wear out of your clothes by mending and upcycling.
9. Don’t get caught up in advertising campaigns from stores. (See Rule # 1.)
10. Instead of feeling satisfied by buying and having stuff, think about having experiences that will last a lifetime and won’t harm the environment.

You don’t need to implement them all straight away. Just changing one thing at a time will help you get to living a more frugal, better way of life.

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Save the planet…yes, really!

I wouldn’t say I’m a “greenie” but commonsense must prevail. I want this planet I live on to be around for future generations and the way consumerism is taking over the world, I’m afraid that Mother Nature will give up one day and there won’t be anymore planet Earth to live on. Our natural habitats are being destroyed at a rate of knots to make way for new houses, new stores. Our rainforests are being cut down to make way for growing crops like soy beans to be fed to chickens so they can end up as chicken nuggets for the big takeaway companies. Does that sound ridiculous to you? It does to me!

In the space of 30 years of my life, I have seen such a drastic change to our way of life. The frugal way of life I was raised in and the generations before me has been taken over by an instant gratification, keeping up with the Joneses’ mentality that just doesn’t make sense to me. Social media has a large part to play for instilling in most of us a ‘fear of missing out’. Just because ‘someone’ posts a new outfit they’re wearing or a new homeware, for example, well we must get it because that person is a ‘someone’,they’ve got it and we’ve just got to have it. 

Forget bargains

It’s not a bargain unless you need it. You don’t need that $8 whatever from KMart just because it’s in the catalogue. KMart will have you back there in a fortnight’s time purchasing the next $8 whatever and your home will be full of KMart whatevers until it becomes out of control and the only place for these things is the tip. That’s when I’ll come along and pick it up for 50 cents from the secondhand store because I want to turn it into a gift for my children’s teacher at the end of the school year.

Instead of thinking about being frugal as something old fashioned, something that our grandmothers did or something stuffy or second-rate, think of it as a way of life that can only lead you to a less stressful, less cluttered, more meaningful life, before it’s too late for your children and your children’s children.

In the news

Speaking of being frugal, I was lucky enough to be mentioned in an Australian news article a couple weekends ago. (Thanks Denyse for letting me know.) I was very surprised and felt very honoured. It seems a lot of the younger generation are finally seeing that the frugal life is not so bad after all. Young, professional woman are taking up the challenge to copy the latest fashion trends by sourcing out vintage or designer brands from thrift stores.

Roadside Find

The challenge that goes with picking up a ‘roadside find’ for free and giving it a lick of paint and a bit of elbow grease could quite possibly become a family heirloom. I found the above 2 outdoor chairs (there were 6 but I only needed 2) on the roadside and covered them with hessian (burlap), pillows and everything else we had. Even though I could’ve afforded to buy them new with new cushions, I didn’t want to. Why would I pass up 2 chairs for free? Not heirlooms but functional pieces that were needed for a new spot in our garden. I didn’t need them straight away but rather waited until I spotted something that would suit. The freebies just popped up at the right time.

Frugal means so much more to me than recycling and making do. It’s definitely a way of life that shouldn’t be lost and everyone should be adapting it, as a matter of urgency.