Thrift: An Appreciation

I'm quite big on thrift. Perhaps because it was a value my parents prized and practiced I am horrified by those surveys showing that people in Britain today throw away a third of the food they buy. Also, I learned the need for thrift during the years after separation from my ex-partner - my habit of storing minute quantities of left-overs in little pots in the fridge amuses my older children to this day. Now you can buy a book about the subject. Even the small extract published by the Telegraph has introduced me to a heap of useful penny-pinching ploys. Not that many of them will be much use to me. For example:

"Patent leather can be cleaned with vaseline or the inside of a banana skin."

Sorry, don't buy bananas - too expensive (just kidding). This one caught my eye too...

"Put on a pair of cotton gloves before you put on a shear pair of tights to prevent snagging."

...but only because they meant "sheer." However...

"Sell clutter. As William Morris said: 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.'"

Trouble is, no car boot could begin to do justice to our clutter. We'd have to turn our front yard into a shop. And the front room.

"Line the bottom of the salad drawer in the fridge with newspaper or paper towels to help keep vegetables fresh for longer."

At last, a use for all those wretched Evening Standards. And finally:

"Keep sliced bread in the freezer. It thaws in seconds, so take out only what you need."

Hah! As if I don't do that already!

Comments

[Jane Henry]

I'm with you Dave. My mum was the original recycler. I am horribly conscious I waste far too much packaging, and every week do battle with Sainsbury's not to give me more plastic bags then I need. (I do worry about those poor dolphins).

Have been enjoying the programme about the families being converted to green living and forced to live in the house of correction, because however bad I may be, I am not as bad as that...

We do recycle all tins, have two compost bins and four water butts in our garden, and have relined most of the house/floor to retain heat... but still.

I'm sure we could do better!

If thrift is making a comeback, hurrah, hurrah. We are far too wasteful.

Will try that newspaper one!

[china blue]

Aha, some of those look familiar. And of course it makes sense to put socks or gloves on one's hands before pulling on stockings - with the talons I have, I've created some shocking rips in my time.

As for clutter, I hate it. I try and get my parents to de-clutter clothes, ugly ornaments, all sorts... but they have lived and travlled much more than I, so things take on value. The thing to bear in mind is that objects have no real value, only what we give them. Being so Zen has served me well, but drives them mad. Oh well!

[Pants]

Hi Dave

Good to have you back. Re clutter - if you can't get rid of it on e-Bay I recommend you join Hackney Freecycle. I've passed on my superfluous items to people who are willing to pick them up on their bicycles. My five piece stereo was a challenge but Kevin managed it! Bravo.

xxx

Pants

[Littlebear]

I've always tried to live up to this one -- As William Morris said: 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.' I even like my useful things to be beautiful, if possible.

An interesting aside. My parents both grew up during the depression years, and they both loved to bake. For We Four, it was only worth our while to wait for the batter bowl whem Mum baked, because our Dad grew up poor (and poor during the depression was really poor). When he baked, there was *nothing* left in the batter bowl after he'd transferred the batter to a pan. No lie.

[Dave Hill]

Thanks for those comments. I think I may launch a bring-back-thrift campaign. Think of it as a form of moral re-armament.

[Jen]

I was unfortunate to be a year or 2 younger than a wealthy cousin so always wore "hand-me-downs". The bit about the vaseline reminded me I cleaned my secondhand patent leather shoes with vaseline, but it never made them "new". I was 10 then, now 66 years old.

[Dave Hill]

Should have bought more bananas, Jen.