The Value of Boring Frugality
Sometimes frugality centers around clever hacks that fall under the "Wow, I never would've thought of that!" umbrella. Mostly though, it's the boring stuff. It's eating your leftovers, repeating outfits, evenings (and days) spent at home and keeping far away from those dreaded Joneses.
Here are five boring examples:
1) A fat stack of library books. Scratches that "new stuff" itch, plus the books get returned, which means they don't clutter your home.
2) A backyard clothesline, even though my backyard is deeply shady. It saves a bit off our electric bill, plus extends the life of our clothing.
3) Simple meals, like this bowl of Winco bulk oatmeal, topped with bulk purchased almonds and raisins.
4) Inexpensive hobbies and socializing. Here I am with my friend Rosalie, taking a "mirror selfie" in a vintage chrome toaster. I invited her over a few days ago and we enjoyed homemade cranberry bread and coffee at the house and then walked over to a neighborhood secondhand store. I have another friend date scheduled for the end of the week, which is also likely to center around munchies at the house.
5) Contentment. There's peace when you stop chasing the latest and greatest; newest and shiniest. While this is hardly new information, it's certainly hidden in our consumer driven society.
We have Formica kitchen countertops and our cars are eight and 19 years old. You know what? They're all fully functional and we own them outright. While Madison Avenue encourages us to imagine our "dream life," it's purely in the name of profit. They don't care about us and lose out when we find contentment with things others consider outdated.
Instead be the person who finds contentment with the quality items you already own. That way you can direct your money towards the things that really matter.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I take absolute joy in the billionaires losing out when I'm content with what I have. Sharing with my family and friends is another great joy. I just emptied 2 baskets (like new) which I've had for years and just don't need anymore (I'm early 50's and receiving things as older relatives pass away). I asked DIL if she could use the baskets (little kid stage of life) and she immediately said yes. Another win for the average human being.
Now I'm biking to PO to mail some Vinted sales, so things can continue giving good service to someone.
I love your kitchen. ❤️ I hope to always be content with what I have. (mostly, anyways), including my kitchen, which includes the cabinets I picked out 25 years ago and hope to have for the rest of my life. Nothing wrong with Formica!
I can do boring!
I have stayed home the last couple days. No spending except laundry (coin-operated machines in my condo building). Today was particularly exciting because I washed my bedspread, shams and mattress pad, something I do quarterly unless an accident happens.
I am mindful of the freezer challenge, but I have perishables to use up. I made a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, using both Cheddar and Swiss. Tonight I'll probably have granola, to use up milk.
I need to make room in my storage closet, so I'm donating an upright steam floor cleaner that I've never really used much. I carried it to my car this morning, and I'll probably hit Goodwill tomorrow. It makes me feel good to finally let go of it.
I continue to read daily -- I like to have a stack of books that I'm working through, too!
I absolutely love when you share this content with us. My husband & I are the same way. I can do boring also. Love this post, Katy.
Boring twinsies!
We're low maintenance people. DH and I are in full agreement on this. We're content in our modest home, shopping at The Salvation Army Store for second hand clothes and household items, sharing our one vehicle, attending free concerts and programs at the library, having friends over or going to their houses, reading library books, hanging laundry outside to dry and cooking at home the vast majority of time. This is probably the biggest money saver as opposed to spending money in restaurants. DH doesn't like to cook but I don't mind it. I love to bake though. It's all these every day little things that add up.
Katy, you have such a cozy home and a cool kitchen. (What do you store in the black pepper container near the bananas?)
To me, frugality is anything but boring. It's rich, satisfying, interesting, and creative. Bucking trends and carving my own path make for a fun challenge. I also am very content at home and prefer it to being out and about in the harsh world.
The vintage spice crock is filled with chopsticks.
Formica for the win! My house was built in 1983 and Formica is still good as new
Today is the second day in a row I have not driven anywhere. I puttered with a purpose inside my house today and did all manner of mundane yet satisfying little project. All meals cooked at home. Laundry on the inside line. Refurbished a free pile find to sell (a Burlington Basket Company ottoman sewing box.) discovered an OTC medicine my dog can take which saves both a vet bill for refills and a pricy pet prescription. Wearing my second hand clothes. Making coffee at home. Planting my 75 cent fall mums for a pop of color out front. Taking a short nap.
I live in Las Vegas… I miss Formica.
Adore your kitchen!
And you have paid with your taxes for the books and other borrow-ables so you should make use of the 'free' aspect.(I just heard Eugene has a special in Sept on borrowing cooking equipment!) (It varies during the year what you can check out beyond books, audio and visuals, and even some places let you have the NYT or other such for FREE in the comfort of your own home!!!)
Hey, "boring" is practically my middle name these days. One reason I haven't been commenting as much lately is that "boring" is all I'm doing, and I'm not sure how interested folks will be in that. But here is one non-boring comment:
We were on the fringes of the predicted nor'easter rain on Sunday anyway, and the rain held off long enough for me to get in visits to our local lefty cultural fair (I wore my recent frugal fail "FDT" t-shirt and got several compliments on it) and the adjacent library book sale. I came away from the book sale with many treasures--including several books for holiday gift giving, as well as a massive "Martha's Entertaining" book from 2011 that I intend to cut up for source material for future Martha Stewart calendars for the Bestest Neighbors. (I've probably paid more in my feckless past for single issues of the MS Living magazine than I paid for this book. Hee hee!)
A. Marie, I'm interested in anything you have to say!
Ditto! I love your posts, A.Marie - there is something so calmly satisfying when you share the simple and (to me) interesting things you are doing. Please continue! I like your writing 'voice'!!!
Today’s boring activities involved rewiring a lamp, baking bread, and repairing a jacket. It was actually a fun day! I had a good time learning how to tie an underwriter’s knot. It feels good to create something and not just consume. Non consuming goes beyond “stuff”.
I find a coziness in boring. It fits like a worn in sweater. Unfortunately we've had some non-boring things happening lately so today was a slow paced, but mostly just tired, day.
1. Yesterday we took the kids to the park and kicked around a soccer ball with the oldest, the youngest tottered around and then enjoyed the slides. We brought packed lunch and made a picnic of it!
2. I didn't feel like making chicken and rice for dinner tonight: reheating chicken from the freezer, making rice, and throwing in some nuggets. So I got out the waffle maker and made waffles instead. It absolutely was more work, but now we have leftover waffles for breakfast and snacks for the next few days, and I saved the more expensive chicken and nuggets for another night.
3. I ate leftovers and the kids scraps for lunch. Slowly working through the random dregs of the fridge.
4. I finished reading "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by V. E. Schwab. It was incredible and it's one I might just buy some day so I can pick it up whenever I want. Luckily the library I borrowed it from had several copies so I should be able to hold off.
5. I had a dental checkup and cleaning as well as a health checkup and flu shot on Friday. I had a copay but now I'm established at both offices and won't have to scramble or go without carr if I have needs in the near future.
I loved that book!
Contentment is satisfaction with what you have. Happiness soon follows.
A friend is staying at our pond adjacent tiny house, her life is too stressful. Unplug, listen to the cricket chorus, watch the sunset, eat soup and a hunk of sourdough bread. Sleep. Read. Walk. Repeat.
Tomorrow I'm taking her horseback riding. Simple life. Listening to the leather saddle creak, the happy snuffle of the horse while you brush him.
Someone left a nice end table (but missing one leg ) near the recycling bin at my complex. I thought it was cute so I lugged it to my apartment, figuring I'd replace the missing leg in the next week or month (or more likely, next century, based on my past experience). The underside said Broyhill which sounded familiar so I googled the end table - and nearly fainted when I saw several of them selling for over two hundred dollars! Okay, they had four legs but so what? I'm not selling it but I love my new-to-me end table!
I love this post! I've recently taken on an allotment (after two years on the waiting list!) but it's coincided with us also hopefully moving house in the next few months. I am practicing contentment by using the seeds I already have, putting cardboard down to cover weeds etc. rather than buying the things I want/need (in the case of missing greenhouse panes... going to see if my hodgepodge of fixes is enough over the autumn and winter storms). And at home we are being more boring than usual - I did an internal cheer when I managed to persuade my partner that we could bring coffee from home for our walk tomorrow rather than buy it at the cafe. And entirely free date (if we ignore the cost of fuel...)! We have to save nearly £2000 by the time we move, and I am nervous but determined!
Good for you, Oak! Having coffee at home (or from home) has saved me a ton of money over the years!
The weather is beautiful today!
I was fixing fence today and thinking that my shoes are getting dilapidated. However they are comfortable and serve the purpose. I'd rather pay a little more down on our mortgage than have the latest and greatest shoes to destroy farming.
Batch cooked butternut squash and froze 6 packages for later use. We have two coolers of squash stored away and another curing. We will be sharing 🙂
Pretty satisfied that the pig is no longer running around crazy and loose, destroying our yard. I call that a win! She is starting to eat feed with gusto.
Picked up pecans with Ds. He's so excited to crack/pick them and make a pie. I am decidedly less excited, lol!
Lots to do before the snow flies. Nothing fabulous or exciting, just responsible, grown-up, family life type stuff and that's perfectly OK with me!
Contentment in a new home:
-I found a bedframe I adored from a woodworker in another state. The price was astronomical but we agreed we could finance it. When it came time to make a decision, instead I started reviewing similar styles that we liked at better price points. We found one that we really like that fits our budget and our space perfectly, including nightstands and a dresser. Still made of hardwood and still financing, but fits our money.
-We had discussed replacing the fridge to get one with an ice maker and a water line. In the meantime we've gotten a fridge water cooler and a countertop ice maker and have realized there is no need for a new fridge.
-We have couches that were original DH's parents', then his sister's, and now ours. They are still going strong and I love them.
-For the fancy new bed, I found the sheets I wanted on poshmark at half the price. They are cotton so they'll be breathable, white so i can bleach/avoid them getting dingy, and come recommended.
We are trying to find the balance between investing in items that work perfeclty and not settling for 'good enough' where we will need to pay again to fix it and items we know we can get secondhand or for free. The quest continues!
I used 3.96 gallons of gas from September 14th to September 23rd. Considering gas was close to $5 a gallon here, even Costco gas has not always been the cheapest.
That is my frugal.
I understand contentment, I too have found it. After my daughter passed from cancer 5 years ago, I was alone and grief tore me to shreds. Four years later, I sold our house and purchased a condo for cash. It’s 700 sq ft, just perfect for me and the cat. I used to work at my county library, so borrowing books is second nature for me. My car is a 2018 and paid for, my home is mine, and I have no debt. I stay home a lot, because I like to. I am an avid seamstress and make doll clothes to donate and I also sew for my local Hospice. There’s enough money to pay my bills and to save. I will always miss my daughter but I have found contentment.
Oh, TJ, I am so sorry about your loss.
Lulutoo, thank you, you are very kind.
It is so good to read that you have found contentment after your huge loss. All the best to you.