Reply To: home economics and finance
As a lifelong seamstress I have learned that it is far less expensive to buy ready made clothing on sale than to buy the fabric and make it myself- the fabric price is usually more than an equivalent shirt or skirt at Walmart or even better, at a good yard sale. If you are going yard saleing, having in mind exactly what you want and try not to let yourself go for the impulse purchases- I remember when my kids were young driving to look only for clothes their sizes, and not letting myself drift over to the tempting piles of books or craft supplies…well, I mostly stayed away from them.
Cooking- buy fresh, buy seasonal, and try to buy local if they cost less. Farmers markets are good but know what the items are going for in the stores first, I have seen things cheaper in Safeway than at the farmers market across the street (blueberries, strawberries for example). Don’t get more fresh items than you need so they don’t go off before you can use them. Look in the library for books written in the thirties about economy in the home, I have a lot of old cooking pamplets from those times- they knew a lot of ways to stretch a penny and a pot of soup. I used to sell Tupperware, and learned a lot of tips on saving money on food, like putting left over veggies from dinner into a constantly being filled freezermate container until it is full up (refreezing afrer each addition), making a ham for dinner one night then using the bone and the veggies to make soup. You can also use one of those ready roasted chickens from the supermarket for a good soup base after you have had the meat for dinner one night- I like chicken veggie better than ham veggie generally. See if any of the local churches participate in the SHARE program– for 18 dollars I can get a lot of food for myself for the month or can sponser a family in need.
Finally, make yourself a good cup of tea or whatever else soothes you and look around at what is really happening locally, not what the doomsayers are predicting- remember they get paid to make it seem as if everything is heading down the toilet. Locally gas has gone from 4.15 to 3.35 per gallon. Food prices have dropped a little- that or the local Wegmans is losing money hand over fist, because I keep getting great deals there. The local banks here haven’t closed, everyone I know who recently went for a loan was able to get it. Inflation has always been around, I don’t notice it zooming suddenly. *cue sappy music- “Don’t worry…”