While the Little Piggy who went to Market used wisdom in purchases, the little piggy that stays home shouldn't be discounted. The majority of savings are generated in the home.
First of all let us take note that the little Piggy who stays home is likely not spending money. Oh you can. In the old days it was easy enough to send off for items from the mail order catalogs. Nowadays it's three times as easy with online shopping. However, for the sake of argument let us say that this is a wise little piggy who knows that even online purchases are shopping and can hurt a budget mightily, so she tends to avoid it except when absolutely necessary. Instead she focuses on how to save money rather than spend it.
It begins with making at home what others might buy: breads, cookies and cakes and meals from scratch. As skills improve with each new success (and the quality of homemade foods is recognized as superior to the store items), the homemaker is encouraged to learn to make new items from scratch. I've always loved to cook, but it wasn't until I had beautiful loaves of bread lined up on my counter (and tasted how very good homemade bread is!) that I began to try to make other things that were less ordinarily homemade, at least in my realm of acquaintances. Like yogurt. Homemade yogurt is so very good, rich, thick and not at all too tart as I often find the plain store brands of yogurt. Salad dressings taste so different from those bottled ones at the store. Experimenting in the kitchen to find the right recipe that works best for your own tastes, equipment and being willing to expand your skill level is a bonus of being at home.
These days with the internet we can learn to do just about anything at all while we're at home. Sewing? Make your own clothes, quilts, soft furnishings for the home, knit, crochet, embroider. Home repairs of equipment. Learn to repair sundry machines including the computer itself which generates a further savings. Learn a marketable skill that allows you to work from home. Make what you don't have with what you do have. That old adage, "Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it do, Go Without' is just the motto that home loving souls live by.
When you're home, you can control your household inventory and nothing goes to waste. I've just completed a food inventory of our pantry and freezers. I know just what we need to use this next month and what we have on hand. I can now better plan meals and better plan stocking up for those days when I'm out marketing, keeping my eye out for sales on those items that must be replaced. I set up my pantry so that items expiring shortly will be used first. I noted which items have been on the inventory list for months because we haven't used them, even though they are well within the 'use by' dates.
I'm often asked, "But what do you do all day?" I'm never without something to do! If I'm not doing something it's because I'm too tired to do more. Generally speaking, I spend my day running my home just as any business runs. There's so much to do that I often wish I could afford help. If I'm not working I'm busy creating for my home, organizing, planning, working with my budget, etc. And when I'm too tired to work more, I usually sit down with my computer and read up on how to make things I'm interested in, like baking Challah or making yogurt. I take seriously what Granny told me long ago: Learn something new every day.
I think Brandy is a prime example of 'staying home'. Click on the link and just go see what all she accomplishes in a week's time. She cooks, gardens, cleans, sews. Her home is clean and beautiful and yet she spends very little money. Most of her time is spent doing. And may I just say this? Never think that reading a bunch of blogs is a waste of time. I have learned more from other bloggers who use their creative thinking cap to stretch their dollars. Manuela, Rhonda, and many others inspire me daily. So does Pinterest. I have learned a great many things, as well as been inspired to create items in my own home that I might have felt needed to be purchased otherwise. It might look like leisure to the uninitiated when I sit down and begin to read blogs, but I'm learning as I go!
This little Piggy Stayed Home...
6 comments:
Totally agree Terry. I am painting our porch windows/ doors with glass (10!), baseboards, and 10 in crown moldings. Saves us hundreds of dollars IF I could find someone who would use oil based paint now days. I am am too tired to shop- haha. I agree about blogs- I know yesterday when I was tired after some painting I read a blog. The author talked about something in her kitchen- so even though I was tired it made me want to get up and clean up my kitchen! Everyone needs a little inspiration now and then! Thanks for yours, Angela
Great post. Do you work from home at all? It's not easy to find profitable, legitimate work to perform from home, but I imagine that would be ideal for you.
I think you knew I would be saying Amen! to this post. Doing at home makes most everything more affordable and gives so much satisfaction in a job well done too.
Whatever do we homemakers do all day? That always makes me want to roll my eyes. There are not enough hours in my day to do all the homemaking I want to do.
I also agree with you on liking Manuela and Brandy- I am so thankful for the Internet to be able to know other homemakers like them and of course you Terri!
That comment "What do you do all day" is laughable!! Do they have an hour to listen to the list!!! :-) I am truly amazed at how much gets done some days!!! The days are usually not long enough!! :) Your statement that "If I am not doing something it's because I'm too tired to do more". hit home. So true!! Yet as tired as we get it is such comforting and rewarding work. A work of love. Yes, I too visit Brenda and Manuela and many other dedicated homemakers. Thanks for adding Brandy as I had forgotten her blog address! I write down recipes and hints and thoughts and love the feeling of a shared purpose in life. My mother and the women I grew up around had so many homemakers in the neighborhood but that is not so much any more. I remember so many talks over the fence she had or chats with others during neighborhood get togethers. Life may be somewhat different now but we can still share our love of home. My mother could pick up the phone and have the corner grocer deliver her a box of groceries but she too waited for when the time and money was right to do her own shopping. We got exercise from walking there and she got the best of the crops as she picked them out herself. We got to visit with neighbors along our walk and the grocers family too. She also had time to teach us why she bought what she pick out and how to wisely use our homemaking dollar. We also enjoyed just being with mother!! Times have changed things but we still use the same principles to spending wisely. It is not a drudgery but a privilege to learn. You are so right we are so blessed. Sarah
Thanks so much for the shout out!
I LOVE brandy's blog. She eats very differently from how we eat but I find it so inspiring that she makes practically everything and her home and garden are so pretty (and that girl can sew)! I think her website is a great resource for frugal living.
I'm definitely a piggy who stays home right now :) And there is always something to do!! In fact, there is never enough time to do everything I would love to achieve in one day!
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