Preservation
As the financial outlook for Americans become more and more bleak, I am reminded of the economization values of our fore-parents. In former times the financial ruin that beset Wall Street devastated the prospects of nearly all Americans. The Great Depression unleashed terrible hardships that scarred its survivors for life. Many of us, including myself, recollect fondly the quaint practices of our grand-parents who having survived the Great Depression, continued to deploy these survival skills for the remainder of their days. Hoarding empty coffee cans, warehousing spare sugar packets, and patching their cloths were frequent practices around my grandparents house. Twenty years ago they seemed kind-of funny in a country and culture defined by over-abundance and waste. Now, I suspect we had better re-learn frugal skills and thrifty practices.
No one can predict just what the future holds for this generation. With any luck, we all will be spared a repetition of the Great Depression. To the contrary though, I have often heard between cubes, and over pints at the pub, that we are expecting the worst. In either case the skills utilized in times past, to make the most of whatever you have, are deeply rooted in American traditions. Frugality and thriftiness are beneficial no matter what turns the economy takes because there is greater value in the practices than simply extending pay checks; although, that's hardly trivial. In addition, I believe that we can connect to our roots both within our families and with the history of our country by using the same skills (and holding the same values) as our ancestors.
I often question the usefulness of the past half century of the consumer market as an economical model. It seems dependent upon misuse of resources, waste, and over consumption. Previous to 1944 Americans were not, by and large, wasteful people. Our culture honored thriftiness and frugality which led to the development of skills that helped us to be more thrifty and frugal. These values seem to have all but disappeared from American culture and the skills they engendered have become archaic indeed. Unless, of course, you travel to the rural American countryside, where I was raised. There you can still find the skills in practice to preserve harvests and stretch dollars.
Making the most of what you have is really just an attitude. The skills I can share to help you become more thrifty and frugal are simple, easy to learn, and fun. I'll make an effort to provide simple strategies that might help your budget stretch a bit further. Certainly these skills can help you to eat healthier food (organic, local) on a budget. Lastly, I have a real interest in sharing the folk-craft I learned growing up on a farm in rural New Mexico. I hope that you find them useful too.
