CallaFirestormBW
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Joined: 6/29/2008
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I'm glad this thread is 'awake' again. I wanted to respond to it last week, but got wrapped up in work.
We actually have always lived pretty frugally, so things haven't changed much for us, except for some health issues that have resulted in having to begin a gluten/grain-free diet, which required some careful planning so as to not upend our food budget. I was raised in a frugal household. The one point at which it really -showed- just how frugal my mother was was when my father was out of work for 3 years, and we -never- went hungry or unclothed. These days... shoot, you can't even get clothes to last three years anymore -- they fall apart in the first 10 washings!
Last year I gardened. This year, our landlord wouldn't even let me put my containers out for container gardening... but that's ok, because I'm hooked in through the local farmers, so I get my veggies, meat, milk, eggs, etc., that way. I learned to cook, bake, and preserve while I was still little. I can get 5 meals for 4 out of a standard chicken (not those hormone-pumped things at the grocery-- -regular- chickens raised "on pasture"), plus 1-2 quarts of really good chicken stock. I know how to make my own sausage, chevre, yogurt, farmer cheese, regular and coconut-milk ice cream, grainless granola, and grainless and regular breads.
We used to eat out almost every day. Now, we eat out selectively, twice a month. We choose places that buy their food from local farmers who grow without antibiotics, pesticides, hormones or GMOs, and often share an entree rather than purchasing two -- though sometimes we'll get separate entrees and have half packed up before it's brought to the table, for another meal during the week. We pay a little more each meal, but have -much- better quality food =every= day than when we were eating out almost daily, plus the food budget has actually gone -down-, though we're shopping at the Farmer's Market and Whole Foods exclusively. Part of that is because we almost -never- buy anything that comes in a package. We purchase bulk of most of the things that we use often (like almond meal, honey, nut butters, etc.), and the rest of our purchases are fresh-food items that I can't make at home. Fruits and veggies are seasonal and local, and make up 2/3 or more of our meal. Meat and fish make up the rest. The exceptions to this are that I buy canned tuna and, occasionally, canned salmon, palm oil shortening, coconut sugar, and coconut milk.
Our grown girls (who still live with us to conserve funds... one for college and the other to start her own business) re-make clothes from local 2nd hand stores. They find interesting fabrics and notions on used clothing and re-invent into something that looks -smashing-.
We plan our luxuries, and offset them by carefully managing other areas that can be money-wasters. We keep our AC set at 80 (90 if nobody is home), and keep the heat set at 67 during the cold months. That saves us over $100 a month during the summer over AC set at 72 where most of the folks here keep theirs, and about half that in the winter (gas heat). We drive a Prius (paid off), which saves on both maintenance and fuel, and our second motorized vehicle is a street-bike, which provides all of my road-based transportation, even with my mobility issues on about $3 a month in gas and maintenance ($6 if you include insurance).
< Message edited by CallaFirestormBW -- 6/19/2009 10:03:49 AM >
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Said to me recently: "Look, I know you're the "voice of reason"... but dammit, I LIKE being unreasonable!!!!"
"Your mind is more interested in the challenge of becoming than the challenge of doing." Jon Benson, Bodybuilder/Trainer
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"Recession"/shoestring /frugality - 
I have not "suffered" as some are here in Ab,CA due to the oilfield/job recession but have simplified a lot: 
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