Cheerful Frugality Stays At Home
I think I'm on week 3 of life with one car. Or no car, as my husband needs it during the week.
Add 7 days without internet, and I should feel positively deprived.
So why don't I?
Cheerful frugality is a willingness to bloom where you are planted, as Mary Englebreit would say. Quite literally, I filled my flower beds full of ferns and caladium bulbs, bought on a weeked Lowes' run.
The gas I didn't spend will make a showy display this summer.
A rainy week stalled my walk to the grocery, so I organized the pantry. Result? Inventive meals from cookbooks I haven't cracked open since Allrecipes.com.
A whole jar full of dill seeds? How about dill batter bread? A huge hit!
Instead of going to yard sales, I held one. Combing my closets and cabinets for extras paid big: $350 and a spotless garage.
My husband will tell you I've never been so glad to see him at the end of the day.
He's right. I miss my wheels and my laptop, but it's nice to know I can survive without them.
Want more like this post? Read on!
- Cheerful Frugality Goes Once A Month This Saturday a friend and I will tackle our first...
- Cheerful Frugality In The Lean Times This week I listened to a conversation between 2 friends. "Beans...
- Cheerful Frugality Plays Outdoors Earlier this spring I decided to let my garden dreams...
- Cheerful Frugality Explores Extremes As frugality bumps into mainstream media, I'm hearing more backlash from...
9 Responses to “Cheerful Frugality Stays At Home”
April 21st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Good for you! I missed you, but am soo glad to hear you’ve been sooo productive!
April 21st, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I’m giving up tv this week and its amazing what things you rediscover when your routine is changed for a little while. Who would have thought that all those “conveniences” actually keep us from getting stuff done?
April 21st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
You are surviving well! I got a little stir crazy after months of no car, as a stay a home mom where nothing was walkable. But it makes you more creative, I agree.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Great post! I am starting my first week of no outside work in several months and looking forward to getting the house purged and reorganized. I will be without a car during the week a lot of the time since my husband will be taking it to work and it doesn’t make financial sense for me to use it if it’s not necessary. Gas prices are insane and now my income won’t be there. Here’s to making the most of the time spent at home!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Great post! We went down to one car last month too and it has been a challenge but a good one! I feel so accomplished bring able to rearange our lifestyle to fit. Hope you do too!
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Great attitude! I know that I have an extra 10-15 lbs that have accumulated since we connected to the internet. It’s amazing how habit forming technology and transportation can be.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
What a great attitude! Good for you. I once only had 1 car for my family and it was tough some days, but do-able. It was so funny to see other’s expressions though. They couldn’t believe it…since EVERYONE nowadays has 2,3 or more cars!
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
If I lived in the city I could make it without a car, but here in the suburbs I’d feel trapped.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I love it… It’s amazing how a cheerful and content attitude (and a bit of creativity) can turn something that could be frustrating into a blessing in disguise.
I miss having a car sometimes, but overall, I enjoy that it forces me to just enjoy being at home, and staying grounded in my tasks here. I used to get antsy, but now I’m content where I am. And if we feel cooped up, it’s nothing a nice long walk or play time at the park won’t fix.
As for no internet, now having had a blog for over 6 months, I can imagine that I would somewhat miss it, but also enjoy a bit of freedom to just focus on other tasks. Sounds like you’re doing just that! Great result with the garage sale, by the way!
Leave a Comment