Part III: Make every dollar count
Hello, and welcome back to the Vandemonian Homesteader. I hope you are all doing well.
Last week I posted the first of three posts covering tips from the past that we could use today to help save ourselves a bit of money, that post can be found here, Making it last. The first post dealt with ways to make the things around your home last longer; this week, I’m discussing ways to avoid constantly buying stuff. During the great depression and World War two, product shortages, item costs, and lack of money meant sometimes buying or having what you needed wasn’t possible, so you had to make do with what you had, substitutions, alterations, D.I.Y, borrowing and bartering were common ways people managed to get by. You got creative and made something, or you found a workaround. And even though shopping is more convenient and accessible now than ever before, this has created the problem where impulse buying is with you all day and night. And this impulse buying does no favours to your bank account, and as the cost of everything keeps going up, we need to keep a close eye on every cent, especially if we want to avoid living pay check to pay check. So next time you reach for your computer or phone to browse an online store, try some of these tips. Who knows, you might find a solution and solve that problem in less time than the one you were about to order can be delivered. So, without any further ado….
I give you…
Making do
- Make what you need.
If you are handy or crafty, this will be easier, and you may already be doing it. If you find you need something around the home or in the garden. Try to see if you have anything already that you could use or if you can make what you need instead of buying something new. In my last post, I mentioned the habit of keeping useful items instead of throwing them out. If you do this when it comes time to make something, you will have a stockpile of parts you could use.
This can apply to large and small projects or items around the home, and you don’t always have to make something; it can be as simple as using something else instead of what you “need”. When I bought myself a safety razor, I realised I needed a bowl to lather the soap in. Instead of rushing out to buy one, I fished out the metal mug I take camping and have been using that since. If you are after furniture, there are plenty of ways you can make do. I have seen beds made from plastic milk crates that were cable-tied together and had a mattress on top. And everybody knows at least one person who has made a bookshelf out of planks of wood and cinder blocks. The only thing that will limit you is your imagination and what you have on hand.
This can also apply to clothing, in England and, I suspect, other places during and after World War two when money was tight. Being unable to buy new outfits regularly, women would change the appearance and style of their clothing using pins and jewellery. You can also alter your clothes as they age; if the legs of your pants get torn or stained, make them into shorts. Black T-shirts are common in my wardrobe, and as the colour fades, I re-dye them black again. It keeps them looking new, even though I have had them for a while.
And I completely understand that sometimes making things yourself may not be the most aesthetically pleasing solution. But the thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be permanent. If your homemade solution works and you like it, keep it for as long as you want, but if it works and it isn’t what you want or what you like, stick with it until you can afford what you are after. At the end of the day, having your mattress sit on a bed made from milk crates is better than having it lay on the floor.
- Look for giveaways or freebies.
If you can’t do without or make what you need, the next best option is looking for giveaways. I mean, who doesn’t love free stuff? Online marketplaces will always have something being offered for free. Some may even have a particular category for it. Try keeping a list of items you are looking for and regularly check your chosen online marketplace to see if someone is trying to get rid of what you are looking for, or set up a search notification to save yourself time.
I am unsure if this is practised elsewhere in the world, but back in Australia, there is a council-run kerbside collection once a year. This is where all the rubbish or unwanted items that are too large for the regular weekly collection can be sat on the roadside, and the local council will come and collect it for free. However, the unspoken rule with this is that you put out your stuff for collection a few days to a week before the collection date, this allows people to come to have a look, and if they like anything, they can take it before it ends up on the dump. As strange as it sounds, this is a popular activity for some. Many people will patrol the streets in their neighbourhoods and all over the city. Looking at trash piles for any hidden treasures.
At one point, my brother moved to a different city. He accidentally timed his move so that everyone was preparing for their kerbside collection when he arrived—not having the budget to furnish his house with new items, as he was planning to buy second-hand. He instead decided to furnish his home with what he found from the kerbside collection. The furniture he found just needed a few minor repairs and a good clean, and It worked for him while he was settling in. As an added bonus, he gathered enough broken bicycles to make a functioning bike for himself and his partner.
Try asking your council or looking online to see if there is a similar service run in your area, and if there is, then spend a day travelling around the various neighbourhoods looking for things you may need.
Often, people will throw something out without realising how simple it could be to repair, and it is even more fascinating to see other people look at this stuff and either fix it or turn it into something brand new.
- Kitchen substitutes.
Cooking and baking in the past were heavily affected by food shortages or rationing systems that were in effect during and after the war. People learnt to make do and got creative with substitutes. This is reflected in many of the postwar period recipes as they can be very basic and have very few ingredients, some of which sounded out of place. When trying to save money in the kitchen, we don’t have to dust off nans old cookbook and start a period themed diet to save a few dollars. There is no way I could do that; I love good food too much. Instead, what we can do is use the substitutions in our cooking. One of my favourite substitutions is using bananas to replace eggs in baking. When your bananas get too black to eat, take the skins off and place the banana in the freezer until you need them. One banana equals roughly one egg, so use two bananas instead when your recipe calls for two eggs. Once thawed out, they turn to mush and mix well into your baking. They also add a light, pleasant banana taste to whatever you are making.
By finding useful substitutions in the kitchen, you won’t need to run to the store when you forget that one ingredient. There is a mountain of information on this topic online if you are interested, and who knows, your mother or grandmother may know some of the family cooking hacks that have been passed down, so it always pays to check with them.
- Grow your own.
You’ve probably heard of the saying “dig for victory” or heard of victory gardens. Food was scarce during the second world war regardless of what country you were in. Governments encouraged families to get out into their gardens and grow their own food. These gardens were called victory gardens. The United States Department of Agriculture figured out that in 1943 there were over twenty million victory gardens in America. And in 1944 those victory gardens produced roughly forty per cent of the American vegetable supply. Now those numbers are incredible. And there is a lot we can learn from this. Growing your food allows you access to fresh produce and saves you money. This can be as small as a few pots with herbs on your window sill or as big as digging up your backyard to plant various crops. It also has the added benefit of allowing you to swap your produce to others for whatever they may have growing.
- Borrow or barter.
Every now and then, you find yourself in a situation where you need a specific tool, item or skill to complete a task. You may not have, can’t learn the skill or don’t want to buy that tool as It may be too expensive, or you may only need it once every blue moon and can’t justify the time or cost. In these instances, borrowing or bartering can be a lifesaver.
Ask friends, family or neighbours if they can lend what you need. If they agree, promptly return the item when you are finished and ensure that it is clean and in the same condition or better than when you received it. I can’t stress this enough when borrowing someone else’s belongings, take very good care of it and return it quickly. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it shows whoever you borrowed it from that you can be trusted and they will be happy to lend to you again in future.
If I have to borrow something, I always give a little thank-you gift when I return it. Usually I give something small or simple like some extra homemade biscuits, cake or produce from the garden, generally things I have on hand a the time, which costs me nothing but allows me to show my gratitude to the person receiving them.
Bartering is still a great way to exchange goods and services. This can be as simple as swapping a bag of apples to your neighbour for a bag of their pears. Or it can be a service, offering to chop and stack someone’s firewood; in return, they can help fix that broken fence. When I was living back in Tasmania, a neighbour had post holes dug for him by a friend, and in return, he went and tilled his friend’s back garden. My neighbour had a rotary hoe and his friend an auger. They spent a couple of days working together, got the jobs done and neither spent money on hiring a contractor.
It is worth noting that it is always useful to know your neighbours and be on good terms with them when you can. Getting involved in your local community helps you meet and know your neighbours, who could help you in countless ways, and hopefully when the time comes, you could help them in return.
- Get a library card.
If you are one of those old-fashioned people who likes reading physical books, you’ve probably already got one of these. And for times when money is tight or you want to read something new, visiting your local library is a great way to save money when it comes to your reading habits. As amazing as books are, they can be expensive, and sometimes you only need a book once. And I know some people think books and libraries are a thing of the past, but I still believe they have an important role in today’s digital world. They not only give you somewhere warm and dry to get lost in a book, but most libraries will have a notice board allowing people to share services and events that are happening in the community. A lot of the time, the library itself will host or manage these events.
The Vancouver and North Vancouver libraries near me have a seed lending program that allows you to “borrow” seeds for your garden. You grow the plant and then harvest it’s seeds, and then return them to the library. I think this is a brilliant idea as it allows people to learn about plants and gardening and meet others with the same interest.
Even though I don’t plan to stay in Vancouver forever, and I will head home soon, I still have a library card. Sometimes if I have the day off or pass by on my way home from work, I will drop in for a bit of reading or look at the notice board to see what’s happening. Libraries these days also offer more than just books. They can have movies, tv series, magazines, short courses, e-books and digital media. And honestly, buying a book is going to be a lot more expensive than borrowing one.
And that is part two of my frugal trilogy. As always, I hope you found something useful that you would be willing to try, or if you know of any other tricks your parents or grandparents did, please feel free to share them in the comments. Next week will be the third and final post of this series, focusing on making every dollar count. As we know, you can make something last for as long as possible and try to go without it for a while, but you will need to go shopping sooner or later. Next week’s post will discuss ways to help save money while shopping.
So until then, thank you for reading. Have yourself a good one, and I will catch you later.
Vandemonian Homesteader 