Cheerful Frugality Cuts Corners
Sometimes I consider frugality in pioneer terms--plant, gather, preserve, cook, eat, clean. A never ending cycle of work, substituting effort for expenditure at every turn.
I get tired just thinking about it.
Can't we get a break sometimes? When is it okay to choose convenience over cost? How do you loosen the pursestrings without letting all your grocery money spill out?
Cheerful frugality cuts corners when both time and money are saved. Cheerful frugality means that you do the best you can in any given circumstance--and don't beat yourself up afterward.
Even something so simple as Christmas cookies can induce mega-frugal-mom-guilt. I can make a batch myself for fifty cents and an hour for rolling and chilling the dough--or I can pick up a tube of Pillsbury on sale with coupon and have my kitchen stay remarkably clean.
- Is there higher moral ground in making the dough from scratch? Probably, because we are teaching our children the skills to make dough and the work ethic of cleaning up afterward.
- Is there a health reason to make the dough from scratch? Yes, when you use real ingredients like butter instead of trans fats and use your choice of sweetener over corn syrup.
- Is there a practical reason for making your own dough? Definitely, if you're picky about the taste.
Let's look at the flip side. I make the dough for a church party in two hours. I grumble about the fine layer of confectioner's sugar coating the kitchen floor. I leave the sink full of dirty bowls and stop at McDonald's on the way to church, since there's no way I can cook dinner in time. Perhaps I should have just chosen the Pillsbury.
In a perfect world, we whip out a batch of dough quickly and efficiently. We make a few rolls ahead of time and store them in the freezer. We put a crockpot full of stew to cook in the morning, leaving us no excuse for fast food later. We leave ourselves enough time to clean the kitchen before company comes.
Of course, nothing is ever easy until we soldier through a few messy tries. It's getting to that point which can be so discouraging.
Are you working with three-year-olds or thirteen-year-olds? Are you making cookies or just trying to make a memory?
So you try the Pillsbury in a pinch and say hey, is that easy or what? Next time, you'll know to gather those coupons, stock up at the next sale, and save your time for more profitable pursuits.
Pillsbury has nothing on Aunt Nettie's recipe? Next time, you'll buy ingredients in bulk, mix and freeze the dough, and slice and bake your own.
Each choice is a balance between cost and convenience. Cheerful frugality means weighing each carefully and being content with the number on the scale.
How do you cut corners? Are there any items you buy instead of making them yourself?
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10 Responses to “Cheerful Frugality Cuts Corners”
December 17th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I run into this dilemma a lot, working full-time, and having to make cost-benefit decisions about time & money. Early last week, for my husband & I, I made chicken nuggets from scratch, but, while babysitting my 3 & 5 year old nephews on Saturday, I grabbed the pre-packaged frozen nuggets from the freezer and popped them in the oven. It felt like a cop-out, but I redeemed myself by making cookie dough from scratch before they got there, then having them help roll & cut the cookies, & decorate them when they were out of the oven. That was a blast, and all about the experience with them, not the end-product.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I definitely use different methods for the same result-I LOVE to make pasta sauce from scratch, and it is completely worth the effort to do so. But sometimes, a good jarred sauce (maybe with some ground beef tossed in) fits the bill just fine.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Canned beans. I suppose it’s cheaper and healthier to cook dried beans and stash them in the freezer. But that takes up freezer space which I haven’t got. Stocking up on canned beans on sale means I have many more dishes I can make on a whim.
Canned pumpkin. And I’ve read that canned has more nutrients than fresh – probably depending on just how fresh.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I usually do cake mixes instead of from scratch, but lately I’ve been realizing how they just don’t taste good. I think if I want cake, I want CAKE! So its probably going to be from scratch from now on. Especially chocolate. Even though it does cost more.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:36 am
My thing is refridgerated pie crust – the kind you unroll to fit in your own pan. If I’m in a hurry, I can throw a pie together in no time and it make s a nice little gift. Actually I have lots of “time savers” that I splurge on (on sale, with coupons, of course!). We often grab deli sandwiches at the grocery store on Thursday that way the kids can be eating lunch while I put away groceries and go straight down for rest time (a tired mommy really appreciates that!). I used to pay the extra cent per gallon of gas to have someone else pump it so I didn’t have to haul all the babies into the store to pay. Gas is too high to justify that anymore, so now I only go to store with pay at the pump.
I loved what Meredith said about getting rid of the guilt! That’s a lesson I have to keep learning over and over!
December 17th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
It depends on what memory you are trying to make. For my own children, it’s the decorating they like the most, so I bought the tube o’ dough, slice and bake. They decorate. Same on the gingerbread house. It took me so long to make the actual house so I let my oldest help me decorate it. I hope that’s what she’ll remember.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I cut lots of corners!
I know how to sew, but rarely make my kids clothes-I can buy them cheaper and for a lot less effort.
I frequently make my own pizza, but I also always keep a couple of cheap frozen ones for those “just in case” situations.
Sometimes when I’m due to make a new batch of laundry detergent, I’ll just buy a bottle of the store stuff to tide (ha! get it?) me over until I have time to whip up a batch.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I have such a hard time with this, Meredith! It seems that I often end up at McDonald’s because I was trying too hard to do the “right” thing. I have to say, it is tough to be your own factory and sometimes it is just nice to let someone else do the work for a change. I would love to make everything and do everything- I think it is the Superwoman complex- but I just can’t. I love it when someone says, “You know, it’s okay to give yourself a break once in awhile” I can’t do it unless I hear that someone else thinks it is a good idea too
December 17th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Oh yes, I do cut corners! I buy pre-shredded angel hair cabbage and dress it with ginger dressing – shredding a cabbage once with a mandolin cutter was enough! I make pizza, but I buy the sauce. Sometimes I buy a store-roasted Boston Market chicken when it’s on sale for $5.99. As for cookies and cakes, they are always from scratch, since the sacrifice in flavor of mixes or store-bought dough isn’t worth the convenience, to me.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Great post. I have a food allergy (soy) and can rarely cut corners but there are a few things I purchase readily due to space constraints. Boullion (finally found a soy-free one), mayo, crackers (make sometimes), pie crust (I need a class in this), and a few other condiments. The rest I make, bread, cake, cookies, pseudo soy-sauce, pizza crust and sauce. Eating out is pretty much out except for a few expensive restaurants that we may go to once a year (seriously). Cleaning products I pretty much 100% buy and make just to test them out. But yes in this day and age I think it’s perfectly okay to cut corners. I sew occasionally. My sister used to make our soap but she’s too busy now. I think to make everything from scratch you would have to toss the time wasters or taker-upers such as computers, phones, etc.
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