Frugality

As I mentioned the other day, I've always been relatively frugal.  The main reason for this, I guess, is that my parents didn't have much money when I was growing up.  Mum's told me about times when they were literally counting every cent.  I clearly remember a "bread war" going on when a new supermarket opened in our town and we were paying about 19 cents a loaf, and buying as many as we could fit in our deep freezer.


So some things I've learned directly from mum, and some things I think I've learned from mum by osmosis :-)


But even though I do some frugal things by habit, I think I've seen being frugal in a generally negative light.  


And I have to say, I think that's changing.  You guys have given me some awesome ideas and resources!  And the more I read, the more excited I get about the possibilities!  I was so tired last night, my eyes were literally trying to glue themselves together.  But someone sent me a link to a lady in America who cut over eighty thousand dollars of debt in just 6 months - while being the stay-at-home-mum of 6 kids!  And I read her story and some of her techniques and tips and I got excited!


Imagine how much I can really save!  Imagine what I can do with the savings!  Imagine the good food I can make for my family!  Imagine how well looked after we'll be!  Imagine the overseas holiday/s that can become a reality!!!


Add all that to the possibility of having our own land in the near(ish) future, and I'm just about jumping with ideas!  Growing our own food and doing preserves, having chickens and a dairy cow (I'm such a fan of dairy food!).  Using home made cleaning products (as long as they work).  I don't know that I'll go as far as cloth toilet paper or sanitary products, but there's lots of other stuff I'm keen to try.


I've also been using the FlyLady system (flylady.net) for keeping house and I think the two concepts work together really well.  A little bit of cleaning and tidying each day, rather than a big crisis clean, would make much more sense with chemical-free cleaning solutions for example.


You never know, I might become a career stay-at-home-mum!  With some of the plans the Big Fella has for our future piece of land, I might need to be!!!!  :-D