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September 10, 2009 07:20 AM
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Hmm, well, the first thing to understand is that there's a difference between being frugal and being cheep.
Cheep is just being cheep, like that woman in New York in the 1920's who was worth $200 million (which means multi-billionaire in todays money), and was guardian of a nephew, and when he got sick with an infection, she spent two or three days running around until she found a charity hospital to take him, such that the kid ended up with an emputation that didn't have to happen if he'd just got attention right away.
True frugality is an *art*, and it's a good art to have on an overpoulated planet, and as a matter of fact, I think I have a bit of it myself.
I recycle batteries, by saving them up and grinding them down and chemically separating the stuff, and believe it or not it pays for itself.
But that might not be true frugality, because it's more motivated by me getting annoyed thinking about how toxic the constituents are and to think of that going into a landfill that could leech into groundwater... plus I think I do it a bit just to relive happy days doing chemistry stuff in a lab... actually using my degree for a change...
I have a jones about recycling compost. It's so darned easy to compost cooking scraps like onions skins and egg shells that it just bugs me to not compost and use it on my vegetable patches in the spring, but that's just being conservative, and is probably not true frugality...
I don't like to throw away paper, but I have a woman friend who collects that and she mashes it and makes a sort of parchment like stuff out of it, but again, I think that's just being ordinarily conservative and not frugal in it's highest sense.
However, I think I've got one that counts: One day I opened a bottle of aspirine and I got to thinking about the cotton in the top.
The first thing I wondered was how the volume of cotton I was looking at corresponded to a length of thread, and then I got curious about the process of making thread, and then I got curious about how people made thread before there were looms, so I took it and started playing with it... stretching it out and and combing it and twisting it and all that stuff, and before long I couldn't *believe* just how long a string I could make from just the cotton from an aspirine bottle, *and* how blinkin' strong the thread was if I'd combed it out and twisted it just right! I finally understood all the hype about cotton.
So, to this day, I've got an ever expanding ball of lumpyish cotton string that I tie new segments to every time I twist a string from bottle-top cotton, and my friends know about it and sometimes they remember to save theirs for me, and some day something's going to be made from that string... I don't know what... maybe I'll just double it back and wind it up and made some rope... I dunno... but it's cool, and it's not going to waste, and I look at bottles of medicine on drugstore shelves wondering if people know just how much string there is in all those bottles.
That's frugality... and it's an *art*!
So... you wanne be *more* frugal?
Well, understand that it's an art, take a look around, and get creative.
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Click Here: Tip Jar
It came out right about the time the Stock Market and Economy tanked hard.
One of their #1 tips to spending less money is to just drink water (from the tap too). I look at that tip and agree that I would spend a lot less money if I bought less Coke and Beer, lol... but hey, we all have our Necessities.
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I cut the old Tshirts in to strips and crochet them in to a rug to use on the balcony.
I don't do composting or gardening, because of the space limits.I can't think of the wrapping the seed part in the question. It seems too gross for me.
I make yogurt most of the time. Reuse the plastic ice cream containers as freezer containers and fridge containers to keep food. Most people do that, I guess.
I wash the vegetables really well before peeling and save the peels to make vegetable broth in the slow cooker. I use this broth to cook my rice.
I buy yarns from the yard sales and thrift shops to make scarves and caps and donate them back to the thrift stores.
I will add some fabric color and stitched embellishments to older clothes to give a new life.
I print both sides of the paper. Use the cut envelopes to write grocery list. I am addicted to reading. But don't buy books unless I desperately need to own them. I lend books from library read them and return them. I give donation to library instead of buying books and magazines.
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Tags: recycle, frugal, frugalliving, reuse
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How can I be more frugal?
Here in Hawaii, the Chinese are known to be "pake" which means very frugal, cheap or reluctant to overpay for anything. There is a funny joke about that which I will tell you here:
A Chinese accountant was busy at this desk tallying the days receipts on one of those old style adding machines with the paper tape. You know what I mean. Well, after getting to the end of the roll, do you know what he did?
He turned the roll over, of course, so he could use the other side.
Then, do you know what he did next, after both sides were filled with calculations?
Why, he brought it to the bathroom to use as toilet paper!
Sounds pretty frugal, but I'm not finished yet!
After he wiped his bottom, he carefully saved all the used squares in a bucket reserved for the purpose in the bathroom.
When he was finished with the last of the roll, he took his bucket of used paper to his garden. There he carefully wrapped each seed that he had saved with one square of used paper, and planted it in the ground.
In a few months, his vegetable garden was flourishing and his family well fed.
Now that is the definition for "Pake"
So, let me know your stories of how to be 'pake.'
Incidentally, at the turn of the century, before the automobile, horses were in common use. People used to fight in the streets over the manure that was dropped.
duenhsiyen
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pake
A Chinese accountant was busy at this desk tallying the days receipts on one of those old style adding machines with the paper tape. You know what I mean. Well, after getting to the end of the roll, do you know what he did?
He turned the roll over, of course, so he could use the other side.
Then, do you know what he did next, after both sides were filled with calculations?
Why, he brought it to the bathroom to use as toilet paper!
Sounds pretty frugal, but I'm not finished yet!
After he wiped his bottom, he carefully saved all the used squares in a bucket reserved for the purpose in the bathroom.
When he was finished with the last of the roll, he took his bucket of used paper to his garden. There he carefully wrapped each seed that he had saved with one square of used paper, and planted it in the ground.
In a few months, his vegetable garden was flourishing and his family well fed.
Now that is the definition for "Pake"
So, let me know your stories of how to be 'pake.'
Incidentally, at the turn of the century, before the automobile, horses were in common use. People used to fight in the streets over the manure that was dropped.
duenhsiyen
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pake
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| September 10, 2009 08:17 AM |
Cheep is just being cheep, like that woman in New York in the 1920's who was worth $200 million (which means multi-billionaire in todays money), and was guardian of a nephew, and when he got sick with an infection, she spent two or three days running around until she found a charity hospital to take him, such that the kid ended up with an emputation that didn't have to happen if he'd just got attention right away.
True frugality is an *art*, and it's a good art to have on an overpoulated planet, and as a matter of fact, I think I have a bit of it myself.
I recycle batteries, by saving them up and grinding them down and chemically separating the stuff, and believe it or not it pays for itself.
But that might not be true frugality, because it's more motivated by me getting annoyed thinking about how toxic the constituents are and to think of that going into a landfill that could leech into groundwater... plus I think I do it a bit just to relive happy days doing chemistry stuff in a lab... actually using my degree for a change...
I have a jones about recycling compost. It's so darned easy to compost cooking scraps like onions skins and egg shells that it just bugs me to not compost and use it on my vegetable patches in the spring, but that's just being conservative, and is probably not true frugality...
I don't like to throw away paper, but I have a woman friend who collects that and she mashes it and makes a sort of parchment like stuff out of it, but again, I think that's just being ordinarily conservative and not frugal in it's highest sense.
However, I think I've got one that counts: One day I opened a bottle of aspirine and I got to thinking about the cotton in the top.
The first thing I wondered was how the volume of cotton I was looking at corresponded to a length of thread, and then I got curious about the process of making thread, and then I got curious about how people made thread before there were looms, so I took it and started playing with it... stretching it out and and combing it and twisting it and all that stuff, and before long I couldn't *believe* just how long a string I could make from just the cotton from an aspirine bottle, *and* how blinkin' strong the thread was if I'd combed it out and twisted it just right! I finally understood all the hype about cotton.
So, to this day, I've got an ever expanding ball of lumpyish cotton string that I tie new segments to every time I twist a string from bottle-top cotton, and my friends know about it and sometimes they remember to save theirs for me, and some day something's going to be made from that string... I don't know what... maybe I'll just double it back and wind it up and made some rope... I dunno... but it's cool, and it's not going to waste, and I look at bottles of medicine on drugstore shelves wondering if people know just how much string there is in all those bottles.
That's frugality... and it's an *art*!
So... you wanne be *more* frugal?
Well, understand that it's an art, take a look around, and get creative.
| Asker's Rating: |
• In the next edition of the Merriam Webster dictionary, I nominate you to be the epitome of frugality! I also would put a picture of you inside the definition. :)
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Helpful: buddawiggi, pellrider, duenhsiyen, bunnyphuphu
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Other Answers (4)
September 10, 2009 12:50 PM
If you would like an online resource for tips to save money, Google hosts a site titled "Tip Jar" where anyone can throw a saving tip into the jar for others to read. They are also rated for how effective they are at helping to reduce spending. Click Here: Tip Jar
It came out right about the time the Stock Market and Economy tanked hard.
One of their #1 tips to spending less money is to just drink water (from the tap too). I look at that tip and agree that I would spend a lot less money if I bought less Coke and Beer, lol... but hey, we all have our Necessities.
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September 10, 2009 06:39 PM
The Tip Jar has some interesting recommendations! Just saw this: Don't pay for 411 calls, call 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411), for free directory assistance from Google!" I just tried it, and entered it into my cell phone. Very cool service!
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September 10, 2009 06:55 PM
Yeah, they never really publicized that service, but I have been using it for years now!
It's awesome, as an example: when Rock Band originally came out, I used it to direct me to all the stores locally and found the only WalMart that still had 1 left.
The voice recognition when searching businesses is just great!
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It's awesome, as an example: when Rock Band originally came out, I used it to direct me to all the stores locally and found the only WalMart that still had 1 left.
The voice recognition when searching businesses is just great!
September 10, 2009 04:58 PM
I freeze my fruits and vegetables in the summer usually. So I will have frozen fruits to use in smoothies, cakes and muffins. I cut the old Tshirts in to strips and crochet them in to a rug to use on the balcony.
I don't do composting or gardening, because of the space limits.I can't think of the wrapping the seed part in the question. It seems too gross for me.
I make yogurt most of the time. Reuse the plastic ice cream containers as freezer containers and fridge containers to keep food. Most people do that, I guess.
I wash the vegetables really well before peeling and save the peels to make vegetable broth in the slow cooker. I use this broth to cook my rice.
I buy yarns from the yard sales and thrift shops to make scarves and caps and donate them back to the thrift stores.
I will add some fabric color and stitched embellishments to older clothes to give a new life.
I print both sides of the paper. Use the cut envelopes to write grocery list. I am addicted to reading. But don't buy books unless I desperately need to own them. I lend books from library read them and return them. I give donation to library instead of buying books and magazines.
Source(s):
Life
Frugal Living
Tags: recycle, frugal, frugalliving, reuse
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Helpful: duenhsiyen
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September 10, 2009 07:09 PM
Wow, you even manage a page on Mahalo on "Frugal Living!" I did not know this existed! Well this answer will be a nice addition to your page. In Japan, I saw people who had the tiniest gardens outside their apartments. I did not investigate their composting habits, but some have installed very elaborate waste treatment systems in their homes, and the final output, is fairly clean water that can be used to fertilize the garden or for washing the car. In China, some apartment buildings save all flushed water to make "night soil" to grow food. This only works when there are not a lot of toxic chemicals/cleaning agents available for purchase, since this would then contaminate the soil.
I have a friend here in Hawaii, who breeds earthworms in a container the size of a garbage can in her home, by the kitchen, throwing all her scraps in there for the worms to digest, including newspapers, and then using the mixture to fertilize her garden.
Thanks for sharing!
duenhsiyen
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I have a friend here in Hawaii, who breeds earthworms in a container the size of a garbage can in her home, by the kitchen, throwing all her scraps in there for the worms to digest, including newspapers, and then using the mixture to fertilize her garden.
Thanks for sharing!
duenhsiyen
September 12, 2009 04:51 PM
Reduce, reuse, recycle. Buy used products whenever possible. Don't buy harsh cleaning chemicals, buy recycled paper, don't buy plastics, reuse any plastics that you already have. Wash your clothes in cold water. Don't leave your lights on when you aren't using them. Try to use energy efficent light bulbs, they last longer and don't use as much energy.
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September 12, 2009 05:05 PM
It's good to do those things, but what you're describing here is ordinary "conservation".
That's not quite the same as "frugality", which is the "reuse" and "recycle" parts developed into a high art form.
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That's not quite the same as "frugality", which is the "reuse" and "recycle" parts developed into a high art form.
September 13, 2009 04:37 AM
Thanks for writing that managed page on Simple Living! I especially enjoyed the link to Tumbleweed Houses.
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If people would look around with a creative mind, I bet they'd be stunned by how much stuff being chucked is actually re-applicable in some way or another, and it's going to be a valuable art as global population and mobility expand.
I'm reminded of a sci-fi story I read as a kid, wherein the author describes, as an aspect of his future society, a people who mine landfill from the 20th century. If he'd've been able to visit the garbage dumps of South America or India today, they'd say, "Good insight... now tell us something we don't know already."
Here is a quote from the site: "As Americans become increasingly interested in fuel economy and global warming, they are beginning to make choices about the vehicles they drive based on fuel economy and to a lesser degree emissions. But many of those choices aren’t actually the best in terms of vehicle lifetime energy usage and the cost to society over the full lifetime of a car or truck. "
You have to consider the true lifetime cost of the car. And I'm not even sure this report considers the true cost of the gasoline we use in our cars. It's not simply the price at the pump. We maintain a costly military presence around the world to protect our oil supplies. We are not in Iraq or Afghanistan to spread our "freedom loving ways" but there for the oil. If that cost were included in the price at the pump, our whole society would change in an instant. James Howard Kunstler refers to the buildout of suburban America as "the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world." We gobble up 1/4 of the world's oil because of our inefficient way of living which is unsustainable and unfair.
duenhsiyen