A forgotten Golden Era virtue, Thrift

[Paisley]

Does anyone else drink from the tap?

I do. And as far as I know, I'm the only one at work drinks water from the kitchen sink. I have no idea what's so special about bottled water--Denver water tastes perfectly good to me.

 

[Yeps]

Lately, particularly as I gather suppliers for my café, I've become more concerned about the source of a product than the price. I'm willing to pay a little more for a good conscience, and I favor supporting local, small businesses, when all else is close enough to equal. Connecticut has a small farmer's co-op of about 6-7 families and it's from them that the café will get its milks, for example. I've gotten big on fair trade, organic, good conscience products. The only downside is that feeling good costs you, and you pay a small premium for doing a good deed. I suppose a second downside is that it can be challenging to tell the real deal from clever marketing.

I have to say, a lot of the small farm stuff tastes better anyway, all across the board. I will have to make an excuse to go north once you get this cafe underway. It sounds cool.

 

[Lincsong]

One section here in the Bay Area wanted to pour raw sewage into an underground aquifer, let the water filter through the rocks and dirt, then pump the water out, treat it and use it for tap water. Nah, not for me.

 

[rue]

We have 12 raised beds for growing our own vegetables and 5 fruit trees which haven't matured enough yet to give us much fruit but we've got big hopes this will be the year.

What kind of fruit trees do you have? I was looking to get some myself.

 

[rue]

One section here in the Bay Area wanted to pour raw sewage into an underground aquifer, let the water filter through the rocks and dirt, then pump the water out, treat it and use it for tap water. Nah, not for me.

ewwwwwww...... me either uke:

 

[Lincsong]

Thoughtful?

 

[Kahuna]

What kind of fruit trees do you have? I was looking to get some myself.

Actually we have 6 but two of them come indoors during the winter (the fig & the meyer lemon). The permanent residents are apricot, nectarine, prune plumb & cherry.

 

[rue]

Actually we have 6 but two of them come indoors during the winter (the fig & the meyer lemon). The permanent residents are apricot, nectarine, prune plumb & cherry.

Are you in zone 6? I want to grow all of those, but I would love to grow a fig tree. I miss fresh figs and I can't find them here in Ohio

 

[Kahuna]

Are you in zone 6? I want to grow all of those, but I would love to grow a fig tree. I miss fresh figs and I can't find them here in Ohio

We're zone 5. This is the third year we've had the fig living indoor with us in the winter. We got our first two figs off it this summer. They were small and nothing to write home about but it's grown a lot since then and we're hoping for a better crop this summer.

 

[sheeplady]

Slightly off-topic, but since Lizzie brought up avoiding waste, I thought this might be a good place to ask. I stopped buying water bottles and went back to drinking from the tap like we all did as children. It was partially to save money, partially to stop filling the landfills, but mostly because after doing some research, I found out that bottled water is basically just tap water filtered through questionable ways. My question is..... Does anyone else drink from the tap?

We do (husband and myself). I've never bought bottled water, but at school (different water system- seems to have more problems) I boil it at my desk first.

 

[Pompidou]

A boiler/distillery system might be a nice compromise for people who'd be more like Lizzie in a perfect world but can't bring themselves to drink their lousy water. Boil the impurities out, and collect/condense the steam for nice distilled water, and put it in your jugs. A lot more effort, but that's the time/money dichotomy for you.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

My philosophy on thrift is that more I can scrimp on neccessities the more money there is for the things I want. I buy practically all of my clothes at thrift stores and I shop for meat and produce at the Asian supermarkets in and near Little Saigon where, for example, ground beef is $1.29 a pound compared to $2.99 or $3.99 a pound at the regular supermarkets. Fruits and vegetables are also cheaper there.

. My wife runs the Friends of the Library book sale so we find many of our reading choices there.

Books are my main pleasure -- as well as my business. 90% of the books I own I get at the Friends of the Library book sales -- there's at least a half-dozen libraries within a few miles radius of where I live -- and local swap meets. And then for harder-to-find (and often more expensive) military history and aviation books I attend the local gun shows, militaria shows and a model kit collector's show where there's generally somebody there blowing out books on those subjects. I've paid $5-10 for books that were worth $40-60 (or more) at some of these shows.

 

[Kahuna]

My philosophy on thrift is that more I can scrimp on neccessities the more money there is for the things I want.

That's a good outlook. I really don't find it hard to take a little care in finding places where things are cheaper. Coincidentally, when we lived in So Cal it was a little middle-eastern grocery where we always found the best deals on produce. It was much cheaper than Ralphs or Vons.

It was actually books that got us into thrift stores and opened that whole venue for thrift to us. When we first got married our intent was to open a used book store. We accumulated 10,000 books through yard sales and thrift stores then got cold feet about it and sold most of them for a buck a book at a huge yard sale. They were well selected and we lost money on the deal but brought a good deal of joy to the people who purchased the books.

 

[rue]

We're zone 5. This is the third year we've had the fig living indoor with us in the winter. We got our first two figs off it this summer. They were small and nothing to write home about but it's grown a lot since then and we're hoping for a better crop this summer.

Thank you for answering my questions. You've given me great hope to finally grow some figs

 

[Kahuna]

Thank you for answering my questions. You've given me great hope to finally grow some figs

There's a good article on growing figs in cold climates here:http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/how-to-grow-fig-trees.html . We used to have a friend in Monrovia that kept us supplied with figs from a tree in his yard. We were pretty bummed when he decided to take out the tree.

 

[sheeplady]

I grew up surrounded by "homesteaders." The type of people who have chosen to live beyond the sidewalks, often without electricity, running water, or pre-built houses. Many of these people live off of very little- what they are able to raise financially from their own land. Many of them think that those who have running water are wasteful and have bought into the consumeristic mindset.

I have lived without running water, central heat, and electricity. For me, there is no romance to hauling water, not being able to see to work, or freezing one side and burning the other of me. If it came to not being able to provide a decent living for my family with these things, I could cancel them immediately. I have spent a good part of my life preparing myself with the skills, attitude, and goods necessary for a survivalist lifestyle. I enjoy gardening and home improvement- we hire or buy very little. But my dream life isn't to live like the pioneers- that is my backup. Some people dream of that life. I think people's dreams are very important, and as long as they do not hurt themselves or others, we should let them live them to the best of their ability. People need to be happy with their own lives, and not get happiness from feeling superior to others.

What I am getting at is that one person's luxury is another person's deprivation. What we view as necessary versus a luxury has a lot to do with where we come from. Any discussion like this is colored by our perspectives.

 

[Foofoogal]

What I am getting at is that one person's luxury is another person's deprivation. What we view as necessary versus a luxury has a lot to do with where we come from. Any discussion like this is colored by our perspectives.

absolutely. I feel like a very wealthy woman as I had so little as a child monetarily but I am not wealthy to others.

To be able to run your fingers under running water is a luxury some will never know. Perspective is something I am fascinated with. Especially after being on the FL so long.
Ones experiences in life, the people they have known or they live plays huge, huge roles. I personally think they are obstacles in most that will never be overcome as they see thru their eyes, what they know.
I am sure it is the same with me and many would agree.

 

[subject101]

Well, I don't know if I could go along with the whole philosophy and sometimes I have to spend long times abroad, but some of my main money savers;

Haircuts - I'ven using a military shaving machine for ages, you never can tell how much it is possible to save in haircuts

Credit card debt - Paying fees and interests it's a big nosense when you can simply use cash. Lately I've become a big fan of prepaid VISA cards. Most ot them have no fees and you can use them worldwide.

I use prepaid cell phones too but I only make calls when really needed

I never step into a bar although I like a very cold beer from time to time. At home it can be quite cheaper and always colder . There are bars all over the world and most of them are quite boring, with horrible music.

Cable TV it's another nosense for me, paying for watching tv???. In England you even have to pay a license for owning a tv. It is plain stupid.

I'm a kind of 'do it yourself' guy, just for the fun of making things . I can build computers, furniture, make repairs... but nowadays this is not a moneysaver at all. You can find a chinese table 10 times cheaper than anything I can produce myself.

Same for repairs. It will be always cheaper calling your plumber since the very first problem than having to call the plumber after I fixed the whole plumbing system.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

That's a good outlook. I really don't find it hard to take a little care in finding places where things are cheaper. Coincidentally, when we lived in So Cal it was a little middle-eastern grocery where we always found the best deals on produce. It was much cheaper than Ralphs or Vons.

It was actually books that got us into thrift stores and opened that whole venue for thrift to us. When we first got married our intent was to open a used book store. We accumulated 10,000 books through yard sales and thrift stores then got cold feet about it and sold most of them for a buck a book at a huge yard sale. They were well selected and we lost money on the deal but brought a good deal of joy to the people who purchased the books.

There's a stretch of Brookhurst Street in Anaheim known as Little Gaza that has a couple of Middle-Eastern grocery stores but they're very small. The Latino supermercados around here also have good meat and produce prices.

It was at the Friends of the Library sale nearest me where I paid $4 for a high school yearbook signed by Tiger Woods (Western HS, Anaheim, CA, Class of '94). What also made it unique was apparently he signed his name as "Ty Woods" back then. I sold it for $400!

What I am getting at is that one person's luxury is another person's deprivation. What we view as a neccessity versus luxury has a lot to do with where we come from.

A perfect example are cell phones. I don't have one and have no real desire to get one. I find it so comical hearing people tell me that because of the economy they've cut back on their personal spending and yet when I'm out and about what do I see people doing half the time? They're gabbing on the phone. Yes, I realize that cell phones are handy in emergencies but often from what I gather from the conversation it doesn't sound like any sort of emergency to me. All it is is just chitchat. Those chitchat minutes can add up and then they wonder why they don't have any money.

 

[Kahuna]

It was at the Friends of the Library sale nearest me where I paid $4 for a high school yearbook signed by Tiger Woods (Western HS, Anaheim, CA, Class of '94). What also made it unique was apparently he signed his name as "Ty Woods" back then. I sold it for $400!

It does pay to frequent FOL book sales, rummage sales and thrift stores. About 4 years ago I found a mint copy of The Munsters at a rummage sale for 50 cents. I ebayed it and got $251 for it. It payed for our Christmas that year.