little economies

                             

Economy has been on my mind

I've been thinking lately about The Ancient Art of Little Economies. Little things that one does to save money, to save time, to save sanity. I do Little Economies a lot, but sometimes, of course I digress and am wasteful.

But really, I don't like it. I don't like having my bin for paper, tins, etc, etc, fill of junk. To me, that shows that I have been wasteful. So, what do I do, instead?

My little economies

I do use tins... but only occasionally. Rarely. Mostly on blue moon occasions.

I don't buy 'stuff' then have to throw out some existing 'stuff', to make room for the new 'stuff'. I look at ways to use up what I have, instead.

Sometimes, just by moving paintings, ornaments and furniture around, you can get a 'new look' for your home.

I do the same with clothes. I pull them out of storage at the start of each season, and see what I can come up with to have a nice stash of clothes. Occasionally I do need to buy a few things, but seldom. I also mend clothes.

How to save on skin care & makeup

• I mix tail ends of foundations, and skin care, to make more. 
• I dilute cleanser and body lotion with whatever oil is floating around, from out of the kitchen through to baby oil. 
• I cut tubes in half when they appear to be empty, and recently got 6 more applications of cleanser out of what appeared to be an empty tube, when I did this. 
• I also mixed some CC cream with some samples of foundation to make a lovely new foundation.

Hilariously, when my eldest grand daughter and youngest child were both thirteen, they both wanted make-up. Well, thirteen is a good age to want that! 

However, myself and my eldest daughter were both somewhat impoverished at the time. 

My youngest and I went to the local mall, where we saw a Maybelline freebie display. Tiny samples of foundation, blusher, lipstick, etc. 

My youngest and I walked past and took a handful. We walked past at regular intervals, smiling, acting nonchalant and taking. 

Then we went to see grand daughter. When we handed over her stash, I told her that "the world is full of make-up". 

And, being her granny, of course I was the font of such knowledge. Ever since then, she has known that makeup is out there, if you want it. 

ps Granny-wise, I shall never forget the look on her face when she got her stash. A Lovely memory, for me, frozen in time.

Food economy

I save ends of vegetables, such as carrot tops, vegetable peelings, garlic and onion skins, when I'm preparing food. They go into a container and about once a week, I make stock from them for cooking and for soups. You cover the vegetables with some water, add some black peppercorns, a bay leaf, odds and ends of fresh herbs, bring it to the boil, and steep for at least 15 minutes, then strain. I don't cook meat, but if you do, you can add bones with a dash of vinegar to leech the calcium out of the bones, but this does need more cooking.

I rummage around my fridge a couple of times a week, and use up bits and pieces. To be honest, I do keep a fairly sparse fridge, but still....:

•  I'll do a tray bake of root veggies, 
• or make some veggie soup. I freeze extra portions so that I don't need to buy designer soups.
• Fried rice is another option. 
• And juicing is another way to use up appropriate fruit and veggies.

Reading

I seldom buy magazines, I get them from the library instead. And the same with books. I also get books from $1 sales, and then when I've read them, I donate them.

Why? For me, it actually isn't just about money, but also about ecology. That is, I really do little economies to reduce my carbon footprint. I don't want my future family line to live in a junked up world. Nor do I want that for anyone else.

                                         

All of these Little Economies, they do add up. I learnt to be this way, from my beloved Grandmother, who was very posh. From Nanna, whom I lived with, I learnt that the best way to have money, and appreciate money, was not to waste it, and certainly not to keep spending.

Economy is about affluence

And, it's not about having a miserly life. Far from it. At Nanna's, we had a lovely, gracious, affluent life. It's easy to be gracious when one is not constantly 'wanting'. Wanting things, situations, etc, etc. No, learning how to work with what I have stops me from all that wanting. Mostly. I can and do lapse sometimes....

And it's easy to be affluent when we are not wasting our money.  Maybe I have the pratty gene... but I enjoy living like this. It makes me feel and be self reliant. And, looking at what I have rather than what I want... makes me more creative. And grateful. Yes, the gratitude thing again.

And, I am able to be generous with my family, money-wise, because I haven't been wasting my funds. And that, to me, is real affluence.

What little economies do you have? Feel free to share them in the comments area below.