With Less

I have recently been reading Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin.  The book is rather fascinating in itself (and controversial), however one phrase she used jumped out at me....the womanly art of thrift. Now, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding   is very near and dear to my heart...so the phrase the womanly art is bound to catch my attention.

I have been thinking about what that means...what is the womanly art of thrift?   This past year, we have learned to be thrifty and have discovered that frugality, rather than being boring or constraining is actually quite intriguing and exciting.   It never ceases to amaze me that although our income was slashed by more than half, our savings account has grown at a faster rate than ever before. This is mostly due to drastically cutting expenses, and we have learned that expenses can be cut quite easily and without too much pain,

When my husband was deciding on a career change, one question we pondered quite a bit was the best way to go about living while he was in school.  Did *I* want to try to increase our income?   Or, would it be easier to slash our expenses and live in a most frugal manner, getting by on savings and student loans?  We're still considering possiblities and will likely do a combination of both, however we are both very comitted to homeschooling and not putting destructo-boy into daycare.  More importantly, we realize that the art of frugality takes time to practice and learn.

However, whatever we do in the future, I am now on a mission to do whatever I can to learn the womanly art of thrift.   I feel that learning frugality is the only way to be financially secure.....(despite what all the network marketing companies will tell you), financial security comes not from having a large income, but from from knowing how to save, invest, and manage whatever amount of money one has.  It comes from building up savings and knowing how to cut back and still be happy, for frugality should never be depressing.  Knowing how the get the most "bang for your buck" or find the best deals at the grocery store, or "make do without" is a art, that I feel our society has lost.  With so many people having high loads of consumer debt, and the "need" for two-income families, frugality seems to have gone the way of the 50's cookie-baking mom.

When I first started looking into "real foods" I'm afraid I spent way too much money on "the good stuff".  When we first started homeschooling, I spent way too much money on books and curriculum.  Learning how to find quality for less is a challenge, to say the least, but a challenge I have been whole-heartedly enjoying.

I'm looking foreword  to sharing this journey with you....and would love to hear tips from my money-smart readers.

Stay tuned for the next edition where I discuss grocery-shopping........the thrifty, whole-foods, way.