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Transition to
Frugality
by Michele Irelan
Applecore
Books
Since becoming a
mother, I have turned into quite the money-saver. I have not
always been frugal minded, so the transition was not an easy one.
My B.C. (Before Children) life was
basically, if I want something, I buy it. I
was working, making money, I was free to spend it as I chose.
However, my
theory changed when I met and married my husband. My husband,
the greatest guy on earth, tends to be, well not CHEAP exactly, it’s
just that he would rather have our money sit, safe and sound rather
than see it fly. And to be quite honest with you, I admire that
trait in him. I should mention that it took me some time to
change into the penny pincher I am today, but I did it and have become
an expert.
It started when I was pregnant with our
first child. I could not wait to decorate the
"nursery". I would spend hours flipping through the
pages of various catalogs trying to decide which style of baby
furniture I preferred, making sure it had a matching crib, changing
table, dresser and rocking chair. I thought I was being
very cost-conscious when I chose the set that had a six drawer
dresser, rather than the five drawer dresser for the same price.
Then came the clothing, and other "necessary" items such as
a swing, high chair, stroller, etc.
After a while, when our second baby was
on the way, I began to see a shift in my spending. I started to
ask myself things like, "Will this last through more than one
child?" and "Is this usable for both boys and girls?".
I wondered if an old dresser drawer set on top of the changing table
was acceptable for use as a bassinet. I began shopping at garage
sales. I started buying store brand food. One of the
biggest ways we were saving money actually came from our parenting
style. Both my husband and myself seemed to naturally take to
raising our children by way of "attachment parenting."
At first, I thought we were just doing the things that felt right to
us- natural childbirth, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, cloth diapers,
homemade baby food, etc. But later when we were facing the birth
of our third child, I began to suspect that we were actually trying to
save money.
Our last two children were born at
home. My husband was a huge supporter of breastfeeding the
babies for at least the first year of life, "Or until whenever
they would not need formula anymore." We have stored box
after box of clothing and shoes that have been saved from our first
child, now being dragged out for use by our fourth. Poor little
guy-he will probably never know what it is like to wear new clothes or
shoes that have not been worn in by three other kids. We have
taken to buying our food in bulk. I have even gone so far as to
try canning. (Notice the word "try". There is
just something about spending weeks on end canning enough food to feed
a family of six for an entire year that didn’t seem to work well for
me, although I love the concept.)
All in all, the gist of this story is,
no matter what type of spender you are, when you have children, things
change. You suddenly find yourself doing the things that your
own mother did , the things that mortified you as a child. For
instance, how many of us had parents who would bring store bought
candy cleverly hidden in a giant purse to the movie theater? How
embarrassed were you as a teen to shop with your mother when she used
coupons and green stamps and held up the line at the check out while
she went over every item on the receipt to be sure she had not been
over -charged? Looking back, I see now that my mother was a
genius at money saving techniques. We recycled and reused
everything.
Now I find myself following in her
footsteps. If nothing else, becoming a mother has opened a
flood-gate of dollar stretching ideas. In my case, it took a
while, but with the help of my thrifty husband, I have learned to not
let it bother me when I hear the not-so-subtle sighs of the people
behind me at the checkout counter while I double check my receipt.
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