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Self sufficiency is a cool way to live
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Since my last article I received a request to pass on that Dave Ramsey does have classes in Spanish. This is a great opportunity for a large sector of the U.S. population.
Yesterday I read a great column in the USA Today. This article made me think of how I have frequently mentioned to friends that the idea of living green is merely a fad. What many people preach, I grew up with as a routine part of my life.
Now I can’t say that I live exactly as I did when I was a kid. While I would love to have much of the aspects of my childhood, convincing the city to allow me to raise chickens may be a challenge.
I still fondly remember the things we did to save money. At the time, of course, I despised much of the routine.
Gardening
My father was raised on one hundred acres of hillside in the backwoods of West Virginia. His life is an example of rising above the poverty. I remember him telling me that their main crop was corn. Gardening certainly helped them survive. What is now considered thought of as a means to be “green” is actually a method of living that I grew up with. True to my father’s style we raised a lot of corn. In addition to this we raised many other fruits and vegetables. While we did not have one hundred acres, our two acres supplied us quite a lot of food to supplement my parent’s monthly grocery budget. This was even true during the winter.
What I have found is that even now as I live on roughly one-quarter of an acre I can raise quite a lot of produce. In fact my wife and I can supplement our grocery budget quite nicely with what we grow.
Bio Waste
Gardening actually provides a great opportunity to recycle much of our own food waste. In addition to this, yard waste can be cut up and composted into a garden. It is true that a compost bin can cost some money. However, a simple compost bin can be built using instructions from the internet. My wife and I found that recycling much of our food and yard waste has cut our garbage by half. We even spend significantly less on commercial fertilizers.
Hand-me Downs
This is probably what I hated most growing up. I usually ended up with the neighbors clothes. The interesting thing is that I now occasionally go into the local DI and find some good deals. My daughter has even received used clothing from other neighbors. At times my wife and I feel guilty as we can buy her clothes ourselves. However, the generosity has allowed us to use our money in other necessary areas. This can actually be a way to save money for many. As children outgrow clothes it is perfectly
Preserving Food
I vividly remember how we preserved all kinds of food growing up. We canned our own peaches, applesauce, corn, peas, and various juices among other foods. In fact, the first time I had applesauce at the public school I complained that they were not serving real applesauce, but rather baby food. Up to that point I had only known applesauce where pieces of the apples were still visible. The ability to preserve our own food certainly saved us money and allowed us to have food ready to eat without having to always travel to the store.
Frugal living can take on a whole new meaning. In these tough economic times we can find a lot of great ideas about how to advance from our parent’s and grandparent’s generations.
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