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I live in a rural regional area of Australia and am moving house across town. Today I discovered that I am only able to use one retailer for my gas supply. This means that I have no choice and cannot look for better plans. This is the first time in 28 moves in 28 years that I have had this happen and your article prompted me to think that this is one of those 'creeping', insidious ways where we are being forced to pay more. My 8 year old granddaughter asked me why I had the soap scraps in a little mesh bag to wash with - she really had no idea why. So I explained and she understood as she said that we have to take care of our world. They do teach her that at her small country school. Maybe being connected to the land more closely is part of that. The envelope system is what I used to get us out of credit card debt 15 years ago and my children have never forgotten it. My daughter now uses the same but I admit that I have become lazier and not being as mindful with spending as I could. I appreciate all your suggestions and posts. Hello from Australia!

Good morning from Indiana! I love your posts Grandma D because they help me re-focus my priorities and help me appreciate what I have. I grew up with parents and grandparents who lived as you and Charles do in many ways. My husband and I have just been talking recently about things we need to do to get our “life” back on track, with regards to finances, home maintenance, etc. We recently moved into a new home, but it is 70- plus year old home that is in need of a lot of repair. Your blogs help me focus on what is needed for our home, and not the “wants”. Your blog is helping me make wise decisions regarding how we spend our money. Thank you for the wise advise and encouragement. 

Some days (actually most), I feel totally lost in a world I do not recognize. I am sure people of the past felt the same when so-called "progress" created more noise, anger, frustration, greed and jealousy. We are at a place of danger with the evil desire to play God with others lives.

I was born in the 1940's and the country was far different than it has become. I was fortunate to live with my grandparents (maternal and paternal) either in our home or across the street. I thought this was normal. I was taught respect, obedience, kindness, caring and what being part of a family meant. Although our family had many issues, it was still less hectic, less confusing and more meaningful than today. 

I was taught to take care of things to make them last and to make wise choices of quality rather than to waste money on cheap items that would not last. Quality today, as compared to the past, does not exist. Greed on the part of large business entities has debased this country to a point of a very distinct class society again. 

We used to be able to repair everything we purchased with right tools and know how. Today, major purchases are designed to make the customer dependent on the manufacturer for maintenance and repair. Almost no one has the freedom to save money on repairs for vehicles or large appliances these days. They must be maintained by a licensed representative of the manufacturer. Anyone fortunate enough to find old restored appliances or vehicles has found gems of value.

Growing up, I learned how to care for hardwood floors by hand polishing them; how to wash dishes and carefully dry them so they did not chip or break; how to properly set a table; how to sew and how to choose fabric. My paternal grandmother owned a neighborhood grocery store, yet meticulously kept her large home clean and sewed her own clothing. Sewing machines could be oiled and the repairs done at home.

I could go on and on about the moral, financial, spiritual and health benefits of the past, but it would not help because the world, at present, is lost to evil behavior and a totally upside down value system. All we can do is pray and be the best keepers of our homes that we can be.

I think most people will not stop overspending until they are forced to do so; as in a catastrophic event. Unfortunately, they won't be prepared, because those people are happy in their little bubble, believing things will always continue as they have been.

The subscriptions have gotten more than out of hand. It's insanity. I hear that the brand new vehicles now that may have A GPS, or heated seats require a subscription to keep them going. No thanks. 

So many homes here, unless they are high end, haven't the windows to keep it cool. They're awful. No thanks on the new homes too. I'll take the cross breezes when I can. People live like hermits in AZ. They put furniture in front of windows and don't go outside and the yards are so small. It's no wonder homes are no longer homey.

So I just read an article from a woodworking site that mentioned a list of old "homey" kitchens that contained useful items that they no longer build in, in lieu of expansive, white, modern kitchens.  Also the the homey-ness that has gone from homes, removing walls, slathering everything in gray or white, lack of color and carpet.  It's quite sad really.   I'm in desperate need of a comfortable chair, but first I'm not finding a decent furniture store, much less one that has a comfortable chair that isn't "modern." What happened to differing tastes?   This streamlining of our lives to be with the herd I find concerning and utterly depressing. 

I thankfully have a life pre-tech to give me sensibility, a home where it wasn't like everyone else's because there were choices.  The introduction of technology has gotten out of hand - the prices of the phones and all it's silly nonsense it includes. People are spending time videoing themselves and their children and not being actually present in the moment. 

I went to a gas station yesterday that was wonderful.  It asked to zip my card, then it said to begin fueling. I thought, what?  No tv, no loud advertisements, no music blasting from the rafters, just simple fueling up my car.  It was so simple, and so peaceful, it was so noticing that it was an amazing experience!  

I think that while technology is nice and has its place, it's given the opportunity to make people indoctrinated, rude, and completely of the herd mentality.  Sometimes I am glad that I'm 65 because I have good memories of real living without horrible rudeness people seem to be able to get away with and the ridiculous amount of advertisements in my face at every turn. Plus, different stores contained different items - like a chair I actually want that isn't modern.  Do they really think I'm going to buy a chair online without testing it?  Some day the thrift stores will no longer be. They will be full of hobby lobby junk, and cheap/trashy furniture. 

Paper.  They need to bring back paper. You can't hack information on paper. 

Glenda H-2  Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

We bought a new house a few years ago. It has many inconveniences that we've been fixing. My cousin doesn't understand why we are spending money to fix these things and said that's just the way houses are built now, and that we should get used to it. I thought about that, and I think these inconveniences contribute to the stress everyone feels these days, even if they don't recognize it. We put new towel hooks in the bathroom because the sink is over here and the towel hook was over there where you had to drip water on the floor to reach it. Now the towel hooks are right next to the sinks. They are small dragonfly shaped hooks attached to the bathroom vanity because the walls won't hold the hooks because they are that flimsy. I think they look lovely, and they are so convenient. :) Yes, that's a really little thing, but it makes a difference to me. 

We replaced the bathroom faucets, too, because they were too short and you barely had room to wash your hands in the sink. It feels very good to have proper-sized faucets. One thing I couldn't fix is that the faucets are set into the counter top, not in the sink, so your wet hands drip water on the counter as you use the faucet, and it makes water spots on the counter. We can't afford new counter tops, so I have to keep a cloth close by to wipe up after I use the faucets. If I had a regular sink with the faucets in it, I wouldn't have to do this extra work each time. I know it's another small thing, but I think all of these make-work annoyances add up mentally. 

We fixed the bedroom curtains recently too. There are two windows on one wall and they are set too close to the outside walls and they are different distances to those walls! You can't get a curtain rod attached properly to that side. We finally put up new curtain rods and cut off the rod cap on that side to make it shorter and used a pretty finial on the other side of the rod to distract your attention from the short side. This way we can pull the curtains back on the short side on each window. Before, we couldn't pull the curtains back very far and lost a lot of light from our windows being covered. We tried extending the rod on the other side, and it didn't work for how that wall is sized. It's so nice to have more light in that room! We have to have blackout curtains over the blinds because of all of the outside light at night -- another modern thing we had to find a fix for! 

The next thing we are going to fix is the two wrong-sized, framed mirrors in the bathroom. I like the idea of the framed mirrors, but what I don't understand is why they put up the wrong size. They go all the way up under the light fixtures and are set offside to the light fixtures and the faucets so that they draw your attention to their weird proportions. Again, a small thing, but why do it that way? We are replacing them with one horizontal long mirror that doesn't go near the light fixtures and is proportional to the sinks. I don't think it's safe to have the present mirrors that close to the light fixtures. 

My cousin would say why bother, but I am more comfortable without these oddities. 

Ann E, thank you for such an insightful and correct comment. I am so glad that others don't like the ridiculous changes either.

I think the world must burn in order to bring back what was. I read the Bible and Ecclesiastes is very clear on there not being anything new under the sun. "What has been, will be again..."

I am a millennial who very interested in simplifying (even going back to the way it was in the 90s would be nice). We recently moved to a small family farm. We want to make an income from by selling at the farmers market. My husband just retired so we need to tighten our belts. We’re letting all our subscriptions expire and will be using free streaming services or doing without.  We’re already big library people and we love going to free community events.

It’s been unnerving for us to start living only on his pension and my part time income, but we’re excited to learn how to reduce our monthly expenses, reduce debt, and have more time together as a family (after years of being forced apart due to my husband’s work). I hope we succeed so I can show other young families that it’s possible; you don’t have to live like everyone else. 
 

What are your memories of a more simple life?  My husband and I have been talking about summers when we were children.  People were outside early in the mornings and again in the evenings — walking, playing, chatting.  Meals were simple because no one wanted to use the oven.  Both of us remember going to the public library in the summer, where they had air conditioning and of course, books for us to borrow and read at home.  We played in sprinklers (pools were for rich people) and the water we played in was also watering the grass.  Summer ended up being a restful, restorative season after the school year.  Youth sports were done for the season, scouts didn’t meet, our band instruments were put away, and we were allowed to simply be.  Day after day was spent at home or roaming the neighborhood on bicycles and roller skates.  We played with the neighbor children when the sun was setting.  Our parents weren’t running errands every night, the groceries were bought once a week and usually our parents bought whatever was needed at the grocery store, even my mother’s cosmetics came from the grocery store.  If we ran out of milk my father would drive through the dairy on his way home from work.  Each day unfolded before us to be filled however we saw fit, as long as it didn’t cost money or require someone to drive us.  Boredom was common, and it spurred us to be creative and come up with things to do.  I realize now that as children our nervous systems were being given a reset, an opportunity to truly recover from the cumulative stresses of the school year.  Now in retirement we are starting to do the same thing, to weed out the unnecessary stressful things in our lives.

What has changed?  People are so stressed and busy now, even when we aren’t in a war or recession.  They are distracted and unhappy.  They are disconnected from each other in meaningful ways, while thinking they are staying connected through social media.  We sit on our front porch each evening and for the most part the only people we see go by are walking their dogs.  The other night we saw a mother pushing her child in a stroller, and the mom was focused completely in her phone — I couldn’t even see how she kept the stroller going in a straight line.  Most people are looking at phones and never even look up and see us, people who are waiting to say hello to them if we can catch their eye.  I think it is very hard to be human in our current society, most are cogs in the economic machine and don’t have time to rest, and also are always worried about money and how to make ends meet in a system that is designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

What do you feel should have stayed the same?  I feel really strongly that children should be able to have a season to reset.  Now the young people we know have lists of books they have to read before school starts again.  They do paid summer school and are tutored.  They have to practice their instruments.  Some children are on travel sports teams.  These days summer seems to be all about improving for the next school year, doing activities that help with university admissions, and basically using their time to “optimize” themselves for when they are adults.  Their parents and caregivers also carry the burden of all this activity.

What do you think that we should have never started?  I would probably say the ability to buy things on credit is something we shouldn’t have started, debt is a terrible thing and it is the easy credit that convinces people to buy things they don’t need.  Also, I would say smart phones.  I do think mobile phones have been helpful to people in some situations, such as when a car breaks down or when a doctor needs to take a call, turning the phones into smart phones has been detrimental to our society, especially our children and young adults.  As far as computers go, I think maybe we should have stopped with desktop computers that have to be used at home.  Oh, add in cable TV and streaming services, and the ability to watch something new on TV 24/7/365.  My husband and I were talking about how there was nothing we wanted to see on TV in summer, because it was all reruns.  We remember the TV stations being done airing for the day.

Do you have someone special in your life that taught you  how to live a sensible life just by the way they lived?  My paternal grandparents were the most financially sensible people I knew growing up, and they also ended up being the most financially comfortable in retirement (not rich, just frugally comfortable).  As a child I marveled at how they used layaway, it was common.  They lived in small homes.  They ate simple meals and they rarely went to restaurants.  A big thing I can see now is that they didn’t inflate their lifestyle and they didn’t jump on trends.  My grandfather preferred high quality items that would last a long time, and would save his money to buy them or use layaway.  They had many friends and maintained strong social connections as older adults.  They had hobbies.  They volunteered, but just enough, not so much that it felt like a job.  My grandmother kept her home clean enough to be healthy, but not so much as to be unhappy.  She wasn’t the kind of grandmother with a kitchen full of homemade baked treats, but she loved me and I knew it

It is a cycle. I do agree that we adopt new technology and advances too rapidly, without thinking any of it through, all in the name of innovation and profit. I do not think that is new, or at least it isn’t new since the first rumblings of the Industrial Revolution back in the late 1400s! I am careful not to romanticize the past too much, though. Even as little as 50 years ago when I was born, people like my family suffered from misplaced fear and hate, and in some places it can still be that way. As Grandma Donna points out, not everything about the past needs to be brought back!

A simple, slower life, though, that I am on board with! We have been slowly helping our elderly friend/neighbor/landlord clean up his property. It had become too much for him over the last decade, so there is much to do. We have the orchard back in order, and are working on the back five acres now. This area is full of wonderful native tree varieties that he planted 35 years ago, but the invasive blackberries have encroached and are starting to smother them. The “civilized” parts of the property are done now, as well — all the little rock gardens and landscape beds are cleared and only need regular maintenance now. Much easier to keep up with! Today we are wresting back the lane that leads onto the property, because the blackberries are threatening to engulf it!

One thing we uncovered was a huge rhubarb bed. Much like the fruit orchard, our friend isn’t much interested in it anymore, so he told us it was ours to do with as we pleased. I’ve done a bit of baking and I also discovered that rhubarb is lovely when shredded into a coleslaw. I also made Chicken Veronique “bowls” (I only use a cup of shredded chicken instead of whole thighs, add extra onions, and serve it as a bowl meal over rice — less meat needed that way). Instead of grapes, I used sliced rhubarb tossed with a bit of honey, and it came out wonderfully. 

The bulk of the rhubarb is being preserved as rhubarb candy. It’s simple to make, especially if you have an electric or solar dehydrator. I toss the sliced rhubarb with a bit of sugar and let it sit and soak for an hour or so, then I dehydrate it. It stores well. Eaten as is, it is like a healthier version of a sweet and sour gummy candy. You can add it as-is to wet batters, such as cake or scones, or you can rehydrate it by simmering it in a bit of water for things like pies and crumbles. It doesn’t need any extra sugar added to cut the sour before baking, either, which is nice. 

It’s still early days in the garden, but so far my tomatoes and peppers are flowering, the cucumbers and zucchinis are putting out vines, and everything else is chugging along. I’ll have the first peas and beans soon. We’ve already been regularly trimming (and drying) all the herbs, and strawberries are coming in (these are for fresh eating or dried for winter snacking and baking). I’ve dried a lot of stinging nettles for tea and pesto sauce, and soon I will be digging the garlic. We’ve already preserved some cherries — whole canned and by making 5 gallons of cherry wine. We also made 1 gallon of rhubarb wine. We haven’t made that one before, so want to try it before expanding production next year. It takes 6 months to make rhubarb wine, and a year for cherry wine to be ready, so it is a patient process! 

As for the rest of the fruit, plums are next, followed by blueberries, then Asian pears and apples, then the wild blackberries. I have a ton of raspberry canes that look like they are doing well, but I don’t know how well they will produce this year as they are still in pots (we won’t be able to get the raspberry bed in until next year, because it is going by an outbuilding that is still being built).

The only subscription we do isn’t really a subscription, but our annual donation to our local PBS station. We drive older cars — a 1992 “Kei” truck (Japanese mini truck), and a 2010 Prius. The truck is as uncomplicated as they come with no computer components, and the Prius is as uncomplicated as a modern hybrid vehicle comes, so no need for subscriptions to make it operate! 

I recently took a part time job at a bookstore, and it is heartening to see how many people are reading these days, especially with the internet talking heads going on about how no one reads anymore. I do notice that my generation isn’t well represented in our customer base, though. Most of our customers are over the age of 65 or under the age of 35. The 35 to 65 year old contingent doesn’t seem to read as much, but at least the young adults are buying books by the armload! We’ve recently seen a surge in orders for slightly older reference type books. I think this is because AI is making people lose trust in internet information and newer books (which may have been written with AI). We also sell lots of physical music and movie media to young people, as they do not want to subscribe to streaming services for music or movies anymore. They would rather have records, CDs, and DVDs.

I don’t want to bring back the world that once was. That world hurt a lot of people because it contained a lot of unnecessary fear and hatred. Instead, I think we should work to create a new world that uses all the best parts of the past and present, from every culture and walk of life.

Katherine H I am sure you can do it! Once we set our minds to take up these challenges, we find all kinds of ways to make it work. Plus, Grandma Donna is the Queen of thinking up new ways to do things. I love to reread her old posts because I get so many good ideas, and the comments are always full of them too. 

All of the work I've put into creating a more sensible life is paying off. I've found that I have adopted a regular, slower, relaxed pace. It used to feel like the outside world was constantly attacking me in one way or another, but now I have made enough changes to my life that I feel safe in my home. I know unexpected things can happen, we just had that big hailstorm recently, but I feel prepared now instead of worried. 

When my husband quits his present job at the end of the year, we will have time to visit family more often. I am looking forward to packing our cooler with homemade food for the road and eating it at rest stops. :) 

As far as memories of a more simpler life, I think people worried a lot less in the past. You could buy things at the store instead of having to order them online. You could talk to people instead of trying to resolve your online issues with AI bots. The food was better. :) 

I agree with Kimberly F that smartphones should never have started. I think they are the worst change we have now. I know some people need them for work, my husband does, but the constant access is very harmful in my opinion. 

My daughter walks to school and one of the reasons we live in our town is because we can all walk to work or school. We have lovely safe paths and lots of crosswalks too. It is a classic New England small town. However, sadly, a child was struck by a car crossing to my daughter’s middle school today. Thankfully, the child is in stable condition at the hospital but the school principal sent a note to parents reminding people to slow down and focus on the road. I am sure my daughter will be shaken by what she witnessed and I can’t help but think about how long ago people were less distracted driving when there were no phones. I zip my phone into my purse or place it in the console so I cannot fiddle with it when driving. I wish folks slowed down and focused on the task at hand both for their safety and our children.

We also live in a town where we can walk and bike many places, and we see a big difference in how distracted drivers are now compared to the 90s and early 2000s before there were smart phones.  Yes people had cell phones back then but at first they were too expensive to use for anything other than emergencies (I carried one because I drove 50 miles to work each way and part of the drive was very isolated), and once texting became a thing it would have been impossible to text someone while driving because you had to use the numeric keypad and press the numbers multiple times to get each letter.  Smart phone use in the car, plus stressed drivers, makes for unsafe conditions when it comes to pedestrians and cyclists.  We have even noticed that cars don’t stop for pedestrians waiting to cross at crosswalks and corners (considered unmarked crosswalks) — the thought now is that they have the right of way and we are a nuisance, even though the laws hasn’t changed that says drivers must yield to pedestrians.  Many people here won’t let their children walk to school, which is sad.  The high schoolers have to walk, drive, or be dropped off, as there is no bus service for them.  Our friends daughters was hit by a car when she was walking to school, and every year there is at least one child hi.  But it is still a benefit to live where we do.  My husband walked or biked to work for 32 years, and now our son bikes to work.  The library, post office, outdoor amphitheater, shops, cafes, mechanic, and more are all within walking distance.

Stephanie G, I too am feeling the slower, more relaxed pace at home.  This is the living like the past, not living in the past.  I think in the past things were simpler (but also much worse in many ways, as Jenny Wren points out) and because of that life was slower in some ways.  If the market closed at 6PM no one was running their errands after dinner.  Kids had less homework and fewer extra curricular activities.  Most people ate their meals at home.  When I was a child we didn’t go anywhere after dinner except to church on Wednesdays (and sometimes on Sunday evenings as well, depending on the church).  Now I am willing to leave my house in the evening to go to church activities (we live very close to our church) and to free summer concerts we can walk to.  I won’t do errands in the evenings!  I am starting my days slowly, with a dog walk and time on the porch before I start any chores —the chores will still be there whether I get at them right away or not, but the calm I get from a slow start stays with me all day.  I love listening to the birds!  We rarely eat takeout or restaurant meals because we save money but also because we aren’t making that decision over and over again.  I know what I cook for dinner on Mondays (beans, rice, vegetables, tvp for the guys, salmon for me), but in the past when we would eat out we would spend so much time trying to decide where — it was exhausting!  We don’t enjoy it anymore.

I love hearing how you are changing your own home to be more useful to you — that is the best thing to do!  I hate when people won’t make changes to their homes because they are afraid of “resale value”.  You are doing the good work to make a more sensible home.  We have three hooks on each bedroom door, they are so convenient for hanging sweaters or light jackets, and my purse too.  Our coat closet was converted to a bedroom closet when the previous owners converted the clothes closet to a half bathroom, so we need places to hang coats, and hooks work well.  I really love hooks, we have hooks on the bathroom door as well, which works better for us than the towel bar.

I can't wait to go back through and finish reading the comments – they doubled up on me while I had the tab open but was away doing something else.

One part of this blog post that stood out to me were these two lines: "What helps us to live a more simple life is to have the simple things around us to use.  These items make me want to live like my generations before me and it does help to keep the cost down." There is absolutely something to the concept of actually having simple/old-fashioned items on hand and visible that encourages their use. 

I want to get better at conserving water when I do dishes so I'm looking for an enamel bowl to fill up and use that as my dirty water instead of filling and refilling my small sink over and over. I think it's natural to use what you see most often or see other people using, so if I want to be deliberate in how I live my life, I've got to make sure I'm surrounded by what allows me to do that.

One other thing that's new in my simple living life, and has been a bit of an adjustment, is really taking my time before making a purchase to check the fabric content on clothes and even the origin of my items. I desperately need summer pajamas but I am slow in purchasing any because I want cotton or linen and it just takes longer to a) source them, b) afford them these days, and c) try my best to know where they were made. It's not as easy as finding something quickly and clicking "add to cart" with it ready to ship to me the very next day. I have to take my time and that's been an adjustment.

So I've been extremely frustrated lately.  I watch a vlog that contains topics on the way things used to be and this morning was one on laundry.  Why laundry doesn't smell the way it used to.  I've commented on the useless washers they make now but come to find what's changed as well is the fabric! I use that term loosely as now I'd call it "plastic." I've mentioned it before but this spelled out why our laundry stinks from the loss of cotton/linen/silk to polyesters.  The bacteria it holds is beyond grotesque, so now we have detergent when they used to use soap!  Add in the chemicals to the chemical fabric to cover the smells; it just grossed me out, plus the fabric still stinks. And to boot, they want everything washed in cold.  Talk about unsanitary!  You just can't duplicate natural fibers, real soap and sunshine!  I miss THAT simplicity.

 I also miss the simplicity of a vaccum that actually works.  Why have we gone backwards?  I struggle to hold up hand held vacuum as it ruins my back. They put most of the weight distribution not at the bottom of vacuums anymore, but either midway or at the top.   For people who actually have dirt and pets these vacuums are an absolute joke. Why we traded in bags for several filters you have to buy, a lot of maintenance and breathing in emptying a dust bin much less how you have to clean everything around where you dumped it?  Makes no sense to me.  The so-called auto height adjustment rather than turning a knob, is even dumber since all it requires is some dirt to not have auto adjustment work as all it is, is a rubber flap.  I can't find a vacuum to save my life (I'm desperate) and now the robot vacuums all come with a mop. I have 4 vacuums and not one of them will vacuum my 4x6 area rug.  Now there are people who want it to mop behind the vacuum.  When have we gotten so busy and so lazy that we are spending all this money to use a pad that dirties in minutes to mop behind a robot vacuum. You can't convince me those washing pads are clean enough to do a whole floor. I've seen it. It doesn't work even if you think it does unless you don't really have dirt.   I miss people that actually want to do these things, because simple is cheaper and cleaner!  If my back was good, I wouldn't have even looked at a robot vac!  The hair and dust I pick up daily between my two dogs and living in the desert makes these look like a joke. Not everyone lives in the city.   And add in what was supposed to be a great floor - LVP, it has so many limitations that many things you can't use with it, from beater bars to rubber, to cleaners.  I miss real floors, ajaxing my tub and sinks, soap in the laundry that actually comes clean and smells clean.  

I miss kitchens that made sense which brings me to you, Stephanie G.  Why would you NOT fix those silly things?  I don't think builders care.  There are so many things I see that are far, far from functional in a basic home such as your things that you are fixing and should fix!   My 2nd bathroom has no place for a bath towel and our bath no place for a hand towel! Don't you wonder who builds this nonsense? And no place in the kitchen for a garbage cans - basic living type functions have gone! I miss that too. 

Also am agreeing with the 90's I could go back to. Basic functions still made some sense and it was pre smartphone, which I as well agree has done us absolutely zero favors. You take your life in your hands driving!

I love that topic on how people have maybe made their newer home more useful, because they are built to sit on a lot and for nothing else.  I'd take an older home any day in all it's retro glory, marmoleum, cast iron sinks, buying things at a store, real books......!

I'm sorry this is a novel, but this topic is so near and dear to my heart. The basics of living and needs just make absolutely no sense anymore. It makes me frustrated and anxious.  I worried less then, because now the frustration on how silly all this has become is really mind numbing. It's like everything is failing and no one is noticing.

Hello, everyone!

We are going without air conditioning and doing fine, cooking on a hot plate because we've run out of natural gas and it is too expensive right now for us to fill up. No sports, music lessons, or vacations. Because our well is only twenty feet deep, we have resorted to using water from the creek to water our garden. These limitations have forced us to be more creative, which is good! We've come up with some really creative meals. People at church have learned that we appreciate hand-me-downs very much, and we have figured out that there are things we can do with a sewing machine to turn someone else's clothing into something more our style! I try to buy notions such as thread, ribbon, and fasteners when I can so that I am prepared for these alterations(not that I am a pro! I have butchered quite a few garments!). My husband makes vanilla with vodka, and I fill small bottles to give as hostess gifts, which have been enthusiastically received.

I grew up in a small-town setting during the more prosperous times of the 80s and 90s. Down the street we had an elderly neighbor from the good old days whom I will never forget. His name was Mr. Wetzel. He grew a flourishing vegetable garden in his small backyard, from which he blessed us with fresh corn each summer, and kept candy and other goodies on a hutch in his kitchen. He would always offer something to my sister and I when we came to visit. I don't think he used air conditioning. His clothing was hung neatly out to dry on a line. I loved the old fashioned feel of being with Mr. Wetzel! I often think of him and how he lived to encourage myself along with living simply. Luke 12:15 reminds us that our lives do not consist of "stuff".

Grandma D, I  can't imagine not seeing bees in the garden....it's actually frightening.   I'm so thankful for all the bees and pollinators and birds in my garden....I  just can't imagine no bees.  It would be like no bird song.....something is wrong. 

One of the things growing up that I remember is kids "calling" for their friends to come out to play.  If I wanted to play ball with Mary,who lived down the street, I would stand outside her door and call "ohhh Mary"  in a singsong-y way.  If you called 2 or 3 times and no one answered, you'd run along as maybe she was having dinner or wasn't home.  Nowdays, kids would just call on their cell phones.  I So miss the days before so much technology.

Grandma D, I've meant to say but always forget to tell you that your banana bread recipe is my absolute go to now!  For years I used a recipe that called for eggs and sour milk and it never was any good.  I can't believe your recipe with No eggs and No milk makes the Most delicious bread I've ever made!!  It's So easy and delicious I make it every week now.  Sincerely,  thank you for posting.   It's changed my banana bread life lol 

Gr Donna I wanted to say that I love those floral dinner plates!  They make me smile.  I miss "pretty".  Hardly anything is pretty anymore. Things all seem so neutral.  Also, your room with the green - that is the exact green I have in my kitchen and I absolutely love it.  That panelling is the same kind my grandparents had in their secondary bedrooms and I absolutely love it and I think I mentioned that when you painted your kitchen from yellow to white. It was sturdy stuff and adds character.  

One of things I used to love to do in my later teens is I rode my bike everywhere:  we lived on a frontage road, so we had acreage, but we weren't far from anything, but hardly lived near a city,  I'd ride my bike a few miles to this park in the nearest town where there were a lot of baseball games - locals, kids, Saturday mornings, evening games.  I relished that time.  It was fun to do - a peaceful public outing.

I do have a lot of regrets - spending, things I thought I needed, without a mentor to teach me such important topics and hobbies and just plain good stories.  Always chasing the bigger and better.  Mentors are important like this, happy people who are at peace with what they have, the type you feel by their actions.  

Elizabeth M-2, what I wouldn't give for a Mr. Wetzel!  The world needs people like him if not for sanity and simpleness.  Don't people like that just calm you down?  I also read that people that are always in A/C (and heat for that matter) have a very low tolerance for basic cold and hot temperatures.  I also know that if I didn't live in AZ where the heat is extreme, that A/C wouldn't be that important to me elsewhere... although I can't say the same thing for heat. LOL. I wonder if he would have seen A/C as we do now with all we're talking about. 

A thought on the idea that using the simpler, older things is easier when we have them out and visible — I find this to be true, but even more so I find that removing the other items from our home or making them harder to get to pushes me to the simpler methods.  We don’t have a clothes dryer, so using the clothesline is the default.  I don’t give the food processor space on the counter or even the shelf where I keep appliances, so most of the time we chop by hand.  But I do pull it out to grate large batches of cheese or to do other large tasks.  It’s a good compromise.  We dust with a lambswool duster, a feather duster, and a goat hair duster, and keep them hanging where we can see them in the utility closet

We have an excellent SEBO canister vacuum, but it was very expensive (and is much more so now).  We bought it after going through two Dysons.  It’s a bagged vacuum, but still has two filters we need to change out once a year.  Once is a micro filter that helps protect the motor, and the other filters the exhaust.  We have many attachments for it.  Hopefully this will be the last vacuum we ever need.  We’ve had it about a decade now (maybe longer) but it isn’t heavily used anymore now that we also have a robot vacuum due to my health.  Our robot can mop but I can set it up not to run the mop, I hate the automatic setting that supposedly vacuums and mops at the same time.  I do use it to mop the kitchen nightly, but I have it set to do a full double pass with the vacuum, and then to mop after it finishes that — it’s two separate schedules.  It’s set to go back to the dock and clean the mop heads a few times while mopping.  We also do a regular mopping once a week, because we also think the robot mop does a so-so job but we figure it’s better than not getting mopped daily at all.  If I want to mop the wood floors in the front of the house I set it all manually to use a very small amount of water, and I only do that every few months, again only after having the robot do a full vacuum with turbo suction and double passing.  Our floors are original to the house.  We don’t use the robot on the carpeting (just one room), we use the SEBO on it once a week.

When I was younger and in better health I would use wool duster on the wood floors, which is very quick to do.  I still have that but use the robot now.  I would mop on my hands and knees.  Those days are gone, my knees would never take it now.  I still clean my bathroom floor by hand but I just bend over, luckily it isn’t grimy and doesn’t need scrubbing, just sanitizing.

Growing up we had a Filter Queen canister vacuum, which they still make.  I was aghast when my parents threw it away and bought an upright that didn’t even work that well.  My mom wanted to be able to decorate it by putting a bunny cover on it (this was the 1990s).  I would have loved to have had that old Filter Queen and it would still be working today.  It was very expensive when it was purchased and I think they were sold door to door like Rainbow and Kirby vacuums, but they did last.  I know it didn’t have HEPA or other equivalent filtration, but it worked really well.

Every time I think I've found an old-fashioned mop that works, it breaks! I have one of those robot mops. I've had it for a long time. I like the clean from a good sponge mop, but I can't find a good one. I mopped my bathroom floor last week by putting antiseptic wipes on the floor and using my foot to "mop" them around, changing them when they got dirty. Then I used my robot mop with just water in it to rinse the chemicals off the floor. I prefer to use lye soaped-up wash cloths to clean my floors but sometimes my back says not today. :) 

Hello everyone,

Grandma Donna I was thrilled to see your post and savored it.  I've always loved your photograph of the baby in the wash tub. Another thing I noticed in it is that the wash tub was on the kitchen or dining room table. They didn't use a special bath "station" or some such, just what they had. I've been to baby showers where the mother-to-be gets so many things and I wonder where they'll put it all and does she really need so much stuff!

It's funny you wrote about the outrageous amounts of money spent on sports tickets, clothing and souvenirs by fans; because my husband and I had the same conversation yesterday. It boggles the mind how people can spend hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on this. Not even thinking about online sports gambling which wrestles the last bit of money out of their hands. 

We are lucky enough to have Old time baseball teams near us that play at historic fields. They dress in the 1890s uniforms and play by the rules of that time. It's a lot of fun to watch and it doesn't cost anything to go and enjoy the game and take a picnic lunch while we're at it. 

Ann E. I can relate to the vacuum problem. I finally had to buy a new one and bought a Shark bagless vacuum since I thought that's what I hear the most about. Well, this stupid thing would only last half the living room before it overheated and shut itself off. Then I had to either move on to another task or twiddle my thumbs until it cooled down completely to finish the rest of that one room! It took me a week to vacuum the entire house!! It also seems to make a lot of dust when it does work. I finally had enough and bought a vacuum that you fill half the tank with water. The vacuumed dirt goes into the water so there is no dust or filters. It has wonderful suction. It is a bit on the heavier side so I wouldn't recommend it for multi level houses where you will have to haul it up and down stairs. I clean out the dirty water immediately after using it and fill it up again so it's ready for the next vacuum. A bit more work, but it is worth it to me. 

Do you have someone special in your life that taught you  how to live a sensible life just by the way they lived?  My grandmother was that person for me. She could have taught Dave Ramsey a thing or 2 on living a frugal life. I've written about her before, and the thing that I admired the most was that she lived her frugality in such a way that no one would have known that she didn't have a lot of money to begin with. She always had refreshments at the ready if someone dropped by for tea or a cup of coffee and a chat. She made it all from scratch, using minimal ingredients. For example she would bake pie shells and freeze them and if she knew someone will drop by later the day, take them out to defrost and fill them with some kind of quick pudding type filling and canned fruit. The cookie tin always had cookies in them, but never store bought. They were too expensive. She never used recipes with a long list of ingredients as that would just cost too much. She made her own clothes and was a genius at remaking something so it looks new again. She always looked put together but never wore expensive makeup, just good, consistent clean skin and a bit of Oil of Olay moisturizer and a light lipstick. She did her own hair and her nails were neat and clean. She had a few house plants and plants in larger pots outside once they retired and built their small retirement home in a retirement community and yet I never saw her buy a plant. She would get cuttings from friends and start her own. She would boil a kettle full of water in the morning for coffee and then pour the rest of it in a thermos. Then the rest of the day she would use that water for coffee or tea. This way she saved electricity by not boiling the water each time during the day. (I'll stop here with the examples otherwise it will turn into a book :) 

I'll end by saying that my parents were the exact opposite of my grandmother. They spent a lot of money and bought whatever they thought they "needed" at the time.(My dad bought a new car every 2 years. This was during the 80s) Fortunately I followed my grandmother's example from a very young age and was much more frugal. But it is more difficult now a days to not fall into the spending trap. That is why I love reading this blog and all the comments. It helps me stay on track. 

It was my birthday in the beginning of June and I didn't want my husband to buy me anything, instead I wanted to attend the Lavender Festival on Flat Top Mountain. It's about an hour's drive from us. You could pick your own bundle of lavender for a minimal fee. We had a lovely time and I am waiting on my bundle to dry and will put it in a small bag. I'll place it amongst my pajamas. :) 

Enjoy the photograph of the lavender rows.

Stephanie G, I’ve used a mop that takes a cotton terry cloth cover for 30 years now.  I very much like the idea of completely cleaning the mop covers in the washing machine.  Back in the day it was called a ‘Sh-Mop”.  We also have a Bona spray mop that I refill with homemade cleaner.  That one has microfiber mop “heads” that also get washed.  My husband likes it, my son and I use the Sh-Mop.  I use as many covers as needed for the area I am mopping, and then I go over it again with a cover that just has plain water on it, to get any residue off the floor.

I have a question for everyone about groceries.   We too are seeing the increases in prices, the shrinkflation, and the lack of sales — I’ve been waiting for what used to be an every 3 months sale on applesauce at Costco Business Center to come back, it’s been 9 months and still no sale.  Peanut butter also hasn’t been on sale at Costco or Sam’s Club for awhile.  Are others seeing a change in sales?  I read that Costco pays attention to protein sales as a recession indicator.  First people switch from beef to chicken, then from chicken to canned tuna, and now they are seeing more people buying peanut butter, which they really feel is a good indicator of how food prices are affecting Americans.

We are managing within our budget even with the increased prices, in part because I came into 2026 prepared to make our cleaners (part of our grocery budget), and in part because the guys eat a lot of plant based meals.  But last month when I asked my husband about coffee because the brand we use was on sale at Costco Business Center, he said we were fine.  Then last week he told me we are low!  They have about 6 pounds left so hopefully it will go on sale again soon.

We’re using more frozen vegetables and buying less fruit, mostly just apples and bananas.  Regular potatoes are cheaper than sweet potatoes, rice is cheaper than regular potatoes.  Peanut butter and jelly is cheaper than tuna salad.  TVP is the only meat substitute we buy regularly, although there are veggie burgers to get through in the freezer.  I concocted a recipe for meatloaf made with tvp and they really liked it.  Now that I managed that and the loaf stuck together, I plan to try tvp breakfast sausage for them (something we used to buy).  Scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast is a cheap dinner with enough protein.  If it is just my husband and I, creamed eggs on toast is also filling and cheap.

Every time our son goes away for a race trip without us, my husband and I eat from the freezer and pantry exclusively, pulling out random things that were frozen to stop them from being wasted.

My sugar ration has been gone into!  I made cookies, muffins, and chocolate syrup (for chocolate milk)

Happy Birthday Tandi!  Your photo is lovely!

I think I have followed a bell curve of frugality in my adult lifespan so far.  Very frugal to begin with, then less frugal and acquired debt, then a small anomaly in the curve as we cut expense to pay off debt, then spending a lo in some areas but never incurring debt, then a slow curve downward to spending less and less and less and ending up more frugal than ever before!

A spot on post dear friend. 100% agree. 
Re home maintenance. This is the first house I’ve lived in that has an attic fan once it reaches a certain temperature.  I was putting some boards up in the attic as planking and noticed the screens are disgusting. They need to get cleaned asap. It didn’t happen yesterday late afternoon but now I know. It’s one of the things that can make the fan more efficient, decreasing the draw on power. 
My gma didn’t throw any food away. When she was little during the depression, she would climb the rafters of the barn in the spring and tie the baby pigeons’ legs together so that when they were fledglings ready to fly , they would fall out of the nest and she would get them and eat them.  There is more from that branch of the family, but that story will do. 
Blessings. 

Just sank into a time sink and read everyone's posts.  Wonderful everyone, thank you for sharing.

A few comments ... you can make the Fels Napha/washing soda/borax laundry soap recipe and have an inexpensive soap for laundry (recipes all over internet).  Burgers can be made with lentils or beans there are many recipes online.  A can of salmon mixed with egg and crackers or breadcrumbs can be shaped into patties and served on a bun or eaten plain.  One patty per serving so one can makes me 4 meals.

Memories of more simple life.  Those are mixed memories.  Yes, life was simpler but there was polio, nothing beyond sulfur for infections (and it tasted HORRIBLE).  People regularly died of pneumonia and other things that are now easily cured.  Penicillin was not available until late 1940s or early 50s.   We never went anywhere beyond local small town during polio season, we played with neighborhood kids, cousins and went to Sunday School and community events unless someone local got polio then we were restricted to home.   

Social life changed with the advent of TV.  Before TV, everyone went to town on Saturday evenings.  Farm families came in to "trade", and the sidewalks were packed with people visiting.  In the summer there were band concerts on Saturday nights.  When TV came all of that ended.  The local theatre closed.  Stores stopped opening on Saturday night.  

I married in 1960 and the first years we were stony broke.  Social life was visiting family and having friends over or going to friends on Friday evenings to play board games or cards.  Coffee and iced tea and a cake (cake mix 25¢) was what was served.  Occasionally someone would be flush and there would be Pepsi.  We continued doing this for a few years with the same group of friends but then life got in the way, and it tapered off and then ended.

My parents born in 1921 both grew up during the Depression.  My parents did not believe in credit and other than a mortgage.  Dad's only financial advice when I left home at 17 was never co-sign a loan for anyone and if your bank won't loan you money you shouldn't borrow.  Credit cards did not exist.

I grew up poor but didn't realize we were poor as everyone in the community was basically in the same boat.  We always had enough food and clothing.  Mom sewed most of my sister and my clothes.  She would make a dress for me in plaid with a plain yoke and my sister would get a plain dress with a plaid yoke using same fabrics for both.  Often, we'd have the same dress except in different colors. Fabric was what today is called quilting cotton.  She sewed on a Minnesota treadle sewing machine that was her grandmother's.  I learned to sew on that machine.  I had a Singer treadle from high school until Christmas 1965 when dh bought me an electric Kenmore.  I have a treadle machine, but the head is worn out.  I keep watching thrift shops hoping to find a Singer treadle machine but in 20 years no luck.

My maternal grandmother was an expert on frugal living and an excellent example.  At one point my grandpa, my dad and three uncles worked at grandpa's filing station business.  All wore green and white striped uniforms.  When those wore out, grandma made sunsuits for the grandkids and what could not be used for sewing, she made into rag rugs.  

What I wished has stayed the same is my local community.  We chose this community because it had a complete 13-year school, all kinds of shops, doctor, dentist, eye doctor, swimming pool and library.  Everything was within walking or biking distance.  Of course, All the shops are gone.  We no longer even have a grocery store.  Grade school is now 15 miles away.  

Other things I miss are department stores.  Now malls are closing and you have to drive all over the place, struggle with parking to shop at each store.  I hate that.  I especially miss Sears, Penneys and Younkers.  Also, I miss Sears and Penneys catalogs.  It's the same thing you have to go all over the internet to find each item rather than browsing through a catalog and ordering all kinds of things all from one place.   

Thanks, Donna, for another fine post!

One thing I remember from the past is how Sunday was a day of rest. In our small town when I was young, most businesses were closed, so there weren't any expectations of getting anything important done. I thought of this recently while lying on my bed, reading a new book I had gotten. It was a Sunday afternoon, and my bedroom window was open. A warm, gentle breeze came in the window, and after a bit, I noticed the quietness. Usually, I will hear the neighbors doing some kind of work on Sunday, so the peace and quiet seemed special and very restful. I was able to enjoy a few hours of reading a new book.

I have some memories of the 1950's, more of the sixties and later on.  What I remember of a simpler life was: one phone for the whole household.  Ours was a party line for many years, and that part was NOT simpler, but it was what it was.  I also remember one TV and we watched as a family on a few occasions, not every night, and not all evening.  For instance, we watched Red Skelton every time he was on, but that was usually the only show we watched that night.   When extended family gathered, the hand-cranked ice cream churn came out and we practiced being patient as we kids took turns sitting on the churn to hold it still while the men and older teens cranked it, then we all waited for the ice cream to ripen.

What has changed:  so much!  Everyone has a phone, it seems.  My young grandkids are distinct amongst their friends for not having one.  We can choose from a myriad of ice cream flavors at the store, but I still make my own because I find even plain old vanilla so much better than fancy store ice cream, if the vanilla is homemade. We have so many foods available at stores that we never used to see.  People stream movies, reels, videos, and sometimes watch TV.  They can binge watch a show for 8 hours straight sometimes.  If we read books, they are often in one's palms, with glowing screens instead of tactile pages. (I only read printed books and I prefer hardbacks.)

What shouldn't have changed: The slower, more personal communication methods and freedom from viral distractions have been replaced with a cell phone in almost every hand and constant access.  Many negative social issues started occurring around the time cell phones came along, according to some recent studies.  This surely can't be a coincidence.

Someone who taught me to live simply by the way they lived:  My parents, actually.  My dad was a gifted man with many skills.  He spurned showiness, doing things for himself, keeping things simple, sturdy, honest and homemade.  My mother sewed most of our clothes, made a million meals from scratch, and chose quality work and elegance over fancy. On my husband's side, his late grandmother lived a 19th century life up until she died in the mid 1970's.  She inspired him greatly.

My bees are just coming back. What I have noticed over the last couple of years is, we have an early spell of warm temperatures in Spring and the bees come out. Then the cold comes back and kills that group. Then it takes a bit for the next group of bees to grow and come out. We have a small amount of bees right now, but in a month, we will have many more until by the end of Summer we are at normal numbers. 

I'm not sure how your bees go, but that is the cycle I am noticing here. Since I haven't been able to garden for about 5 years now, I'm not sure if I would have to try to hand pollinate things planted early in the garden or not. It's very disconcerting!

I haven’t noticed peanut butter prices increasing, but we are an anomaly and don’t buy the standard jarred peanut butter. I shop mainly at an employee-owned grocery store with an awesome bulk section. They have a machine that grinds plain peanuts, and nothing else, into peanut butter. When I first started buying it in 2011, it was $1.68 a pound, now it is $1.98. This doesn’t seem too bad, and I appreciate that it contains no sugar or preservatives. 

I have noticed that flour has creeped up quickly, and that worries me. I track prices, and a year ago I was paying about $10 for a 25 lb bag. Now it is almost $15! I had a friend check on the Costco price for me (we don’t have a membership), and it was only 11 cents less than what we pay at a non-member Restaurant Supply store. We make all our bread items, including pasta, crackers, and tortillas, so we go through a lot of flour. It’s still a better deal and much healthier than buying those items premade, but how far will the price rise? I’ve also noticed the farm stands on our road have doubled their prices. Last year, most were selling chicken eggs at $5 a dozen, and this year they are $10. Likely because feed costs have increased. I am glad that we are able to grow and forage almost all of our vegetables and fruits, because I have noticed that those prices haven’t come down much even though they are season.

Our prices are all over the place. I live in a city between Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA, which are both hosting the World Cup. Certain prices are being obviously inflated to cash in on tourist dollars, since we have more people staying in town and traveling through. It’s also been so crowded everywhere, I’ve been mainly happy to just stay home and avoid everyone. The main road we take into town is also one of the two main border crossing roads, and we live about 10 miles from the crossing, so even turning off our country lane to get into town is a pain because of the increased traffic. I’ve been running into town for groceries at 6 am just to avoid all the traffic and people. 

Ann W, my aunt had polio when she was young. She survived, but she walked with a cane for her entire life afterward, and had other life-long health issues because of it. My mom has told me that when the nurse crew came through their little farming town to vaccinate the children, they declared a school holiday and hosted a small fair on the school playground (it was a grade 1-12 school for the county) to encourage everyone to come and get the vaccine. If only we, as a world, could find a balance between the good bits of modernity and the good bits of the old ways! I feel like we throw out the baby with the bathwater every time we invent something new. My dad used to say that human brains get stuck in an absolutist binary and won’t see that things aren’t black and white but shades of gray, unless we make ourselves recognize the nuance. One of his favorite sayings was “two things can be true at once.” The older I get, the more I feel he was right.  Two things are true — older ways of doing things are both better and worse, depending on which of those things we are talking about! I wouldn’t want to go back to lead in paint, for example

Jenny Wren, you are talking about having the wisdom to discern what needs to be kept from the past and what discarded.  Also, discernment between the good new and the bad new things we deal with.  Personally, I fear A I (in farm life AI was always artificial insemination) and the danger of it taking over too much control of our lives.

Everyone locked onto their cell phones is NOT GOOD.  I hate hearing people's conversations in public places.  When I was in grade school, permission was required to use the phone.  It was also the time of operators where you gave the number you were calling and they connected your call.  Lots of children would say I want to talk to my grandma, and the operator would connect the call.  Dial phones arrived in mid-1950s in rural areas.

Party lines were bad so I'm glad are they behind us.  Family ability to maintain contact with soldier far from home via cell phone is good.  Cell phone addiction is bad.  Used in a reasonable manner cell phones are a boon. 

Schools are using tablets, computers etc. so books are becoming obsolete.  It is really sad that children will never learn the joy of reading for enjoyment unless they learn as adults.  They can easily find "short" versions on the internet to avoid reading assigned books. 

My late dh had a cousin the same age as him die of polio when they were 3 years old.  He also had a great-aunt die of polio at age 18.  I had schoolmates who had polio and ended up in heavy leg braces and crutches.  I also have a cousin who was never able to father children due to the mumps.  Classmate who had eyesight issues after the measles.  People who are too young to recall having chicken pox, red measles. 3-day measles and mumps and living through polio season for many years are choosing not to have their children inoculated.  I sincerely hope they and their children do not live to regret that choice.  I think DPT and smallpox were the only inoculations available when I was a child.  My older two had smallpox vaccine but my youngest born in 1971 did not because they stopped giving them.  I don't recall when mumps or chicken pox vaccines became available.  I do recall taking my middle child to a school gym for a measles vaccine in maybe 1967 or 68.  Health department was doing mass vaccinating in the gym.

When anyone in the home had a contagious disease, a sign would be posted by the front door saying no one could not enter.  I recall my grandfather dropping off groceries on the front porch. 

Another memory, newspaper pictures of rows of iron lungs at the children's hospital and of parents standing outside the windows of the hospital hoping for a view of their child ... they were not allowed inside.  Also, a listing of who had contracted polio and what hospital they were in (totally against HIPA regulations today) plus a death list of those who passed. 

I could have quoted Tandi nearly word for word about her grandma!  And her parents!  My grands had a small, but beautiful home and I had no idea they were poor!  My grandpa was an overnight janitor.  The house was beautifully decorated without being fancy and immaculately kept.  The yards were so beautiful with a garden, lemon trees, and a clothesline, of course.  My grandma made her own clothes patterns from newspaper!  There were always flowers on the table from the yard and yummy things in the kitchen.  Their house was my idea of heaven.

Debby B, so glad to hear you had the same experience. We are so lucky to have had them in our lives!   :)

Thank you Grandma Donna for this wonderful space on the internet.  It helps me keep my perspective in a world of "influencers".

  What are your memories of a more simple life?     Summer was slow.  I would spend several weeks at my "Auntie's" house.  She worked full time.  My cousins and I were 9-13 and we were home alone during the day.  We had a few chores to do, like make beds, do the dishes, the boys had to cut the grass with the push mower.  

We would sleep in, walk to the elementary school for a free craft session. The local parks and recreation department paid for a teen to lead us and the craft supplies.  Good thing as our divorced Mom's had no extra money for "paid" activities.

  Back to the house for a PBJ sandwich, and chore time.   Afternoons were spent hanging out with other kids, riding bikes, running through the sprinkler in our bathing suits.  If we were lucky, we were invited to swim in the neighbor's pool.

  No one stayed inside watching t.v. all day. There wasn't anything on but soap operas and game shows.  It was also a waste of electricity. 

  At home, the library provided an escape from the heat.  It was a mile walk from our apartment.  It was also a magical place where I could arm chair travel to different times and places.

  Summer always began with a trip to pick strawberries.  They were ripe about the time school let out for the year.

  We would go when Mom had off for the day.  It was an hours drive and our cousins went with us.  We would pack lunch and the strawberries we ate while picking were dessert.  

  Mom would begin making jam as soon as we got home.  My sister and I would wash and hull the strawberries.  I still remember how hot and steamy the kitchen got during the jam making process.

  What has changed?

    I live in a neighborhood with lots of kids.  I've noticed that they aren't allowed out to play during the day when parents are at work.  Once their parents are home, they play basketball until dusk. 

They don't have the freedom to roam like my cousins and I did.  Of course, the world is a more dangerous place. There are less adults home during the day  to "be a village" watching out for the kids playing outside. (Many parents also don't appreciate others telling their kids to "act right".)

  Young teens also have cell phones and can be exposed to inappropriate things.  Some bigger boys showed the 9 year old across the street from me, a bad video.  He told his mom, and is not allowed to play there anymore.  So, parents need to be aware who their kids are hanging out with.

  The world of no cell phones for kids was a slower paced, safer place.  As a society it seems to me, our eyesight has deteriorated, as have our manners,  we are getting fatter, and  people have less attention span.

Do you have someone special in your life who taught you thrifty ways?

  My mother.  Mother has passed away, but I remember many  thrifty tips she taught me through daily living.  My mother was a child in post WWII Germany.  Among the frugal things she taught me are the following : to make soup from a chicken carcass and veggies.  To open the new bar of soap and let it dry out for several weeks before using. To put the last sliver of soap on the new soap.  Change from your school clothes to your work/play clothes and shoes to keep the "good clothing" nice.  Buy high quality, gently used clothing in stead of brand new junk.  (I still love to go "rummaging" at thrift stores , although I hated it as a teen).  

  I still do these Depression Era things today.  "A penny saved is a penny earned.  Thanks Mom! ...and Thank You Grandma Donna for this wonderful blog :)  

Ellie in AR

I bought a modest new house in a small town. It has water saving toilets, an indoor ventilation system, w/ new HVAC, and a 24 hour back up battery in case of a power outage. The back up battery will last longer depending on what you keep running. My utility bills have been modest except for the water bill. I think you can live a simple life if you are self-aware. I do have internet but no cable TV or subscriptions. If I want to watch TV I can stream for free. My husband can fix things although I do not expect many repairs right now as the house is new. My 9 yr old car gets good gas mileage so my gas bill is low. I do like to read news & blogs on my tablet. I still work part-time & my school supplies me with a tablet. I do have a social media account but I don't post on it or spend much time on it. I cook at home & eat out very little. I do use a computer for work to record grades & post info for my students. I view this as merely a transfer of the old way of recording grades in pencil. My main concern is the shifting moral values in the US and incivility along w/ all the cursing. The crime rate in the big city I lived in was worrisome. I feel safe in my small town. The traffic is much less also. My grandmother who died in her late 90's did many things the old way as she was born at the turn of the century. She did embrace some new things like a window a/c, getting a new car from time to time, cable TV as poor reception in her small town. Like her, I try to hold on to sensible habits of the past (repairing items w/ my sewing machine, saving $, cooking at home, maintaining my car, and so on). Fruit trees are planted in my back yard but need a few more years to yield a crop. I am 70 yrs old & hold on to my past but embrace some new things.

Grandma Donna Thank you for a post that was again enjoyable and what we all needed. This paragraph really hit home.

It is up to us to make our home a place of refuge, a place for warm homemade meals, clean bed sheets to have a restful sleep.  It is our place to get away from the confusion and chaos going on outside our doors. It is up to us to use our special space that we reside, large or small, to provide the things that we need.  

Our sons girlfriend and her mom were needing somewhere to stay and we are a halfway point for them to take there other child back to college. They stayed the night and our sons girlfriend commented I slept so good at your home...better then in my bedroom at home. She was on an air mattress with her mom in our guest room. :) 

I never realized how for some people having a warm, cozy refuge of a home without a high stress can make you sleep. I fed them excellent food and we had lots of quiet time with laughter. The 2 of them have been under stress with there husband/dad getting ready for a long military deployment. 

If anyone had a source for good flour sack cloth I'd appreciate letting me know as I have been searching for some. Most of our friends except a select few are always wrapped up in sports and that's all they can talk about a lot. The remodeling looks very nice. Our grandmother swore by repainting everything every 10 years. We joked that since 1962 the house walls were going to close in on them due to the number of coats.

I do have a random question for the what has changed. Some people mention that people back in the day were significantly slimmer, but as I've gone thru and looked at more photos people seemed more able to do things especially young folks, but some of the women seemed the same size. My grandmothers weren't skinny, but healthy weights and worked extremely hard. It seems such a push for flat bellies and skinny as my friend and I call it, but what about genetics. I notice in the old photos people looked healthy and I think that's what really counts. 

I really wish that certain appliances didn't come about because it sure is as if we rent the electricity and rent the appliances if that makes sense. It forced women to have dishes done each night and keep up on housework. I haven't had anyone in particular show me things of how to do stuff except for Grandma Donna and reading LOTS of books. Over the past I'm sure there's some things, but my mother was a hippie sort and didn't do a lot of homemaking activities and I'm quite the opposite, but my grandmothers did and my great grandmother did especially. My husband and I have made our own furniture for our business such as desks, tables and built our own building for it to save on funds. We had never done those things before, but there's books and YouTube galore. Definitely anyone doing things no matter what it is seems to be lacking. I know more people glued to tv's and phones then I can count. That we should regulate for health sake. 

I'd love having a English farmhouse with chickens, laundry on the line and a fresh pie coming out of the oven with curtains blowing in the wind. :)

Hello everyone :)  There have been many wonderful feel good comments that have been taking us down memory lane.  I hope that everyone has something memorable from their younger years that can give you strength and guidance no matter what generation you are.

I truly enjoy reading your comments.  

Andrea B, there is still some flour sack cloth on ebay for sale, just check the size of the cloth.  I am happy that your guests enjoyed their stay.   

As far as slimmer, don't forget the corsets and girdles!  Lol  

I dont know how I forgot the corsets and girdles!!! Thank you for reminding me of that. My grandmother's wore them daily. One never ever wore jeans in public and the other never owned a pair of jeans in her life. Thank you!

Jenny Wren, that is a good price for the peanuts!  My guys won’t eat peanut butter made from just peanuts, and it’s not worth fighting about.  Not on sale, the chunky peanut butter they like is $1.83 per pound, purchased 6# at a time.  The no-stir natural creamy peanut butter (still sweetened) is $1.56 per pound, purchased 5# at at time from Sam’s Club, and I like that one,  I refuse to quibble with my husband about him preferring chunky peanut butter; if it came down to it I know he would switch.  On sale, the chunky will be comparable in price with the other one, they just aren’t putting it on sale anymore.  Shelled peanuts at Costco are $2.76 per pound.

I’ve been paying $15.89 for 20# of organic flour from Costco.  I also grind wheat berries, but they cost more per pound.  At the business center 25# of all purpose or bread flour is $8.49.  For now I am sticking with the organic flour because I know it comes from Central MIlling, and I prefer organic, but it’s good to know where we’ll get flour if prices get too high.

My husband noted today that even the thrift store prices seem higher to him than they did last year.  He’s right.  I told him the fabric that used to be $3 per yard at one thrift store is now between $4.50 - $5 per yard.  Today I found nearly 5 yards of a cotton lightweight upholstery fabric (54” wide) marked $15, which was a deal — I think the pricer guessed at how much fabric it was.  I think it may have been 5 yards to begin with, as the original purchaser had already washed and dried it.  With my 55+ discount it was $13.50.  I will either sew a tablecloth, curtains for my craft room, or a nice skirt or dress.  It is trademarked for 1997, but may have been produced more recently.  For $2 ($1.80 after discount) at the same store I bought an adorable Christmas themed fabric panel that I’ll sew into a quilted wall hanging.

I paid $7 for vintage 5 Foley stainless steel measuring cups (1 cup, 2x 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup. 1/4 cup).  I don’t know where some of ours have walked away to.  $7 seemed high but I couldn’t do better at a store, and we like to buy used things, and even better, vintage when we can.  They had a newer plastic set for $5, but I didn’t want those.  I also paid $7 for 20 wooden eggs, which I plain to paint, seal, and use for decor at Easter.

One thing I love from the past is making the things we need, when we can

I’ve been a long time reader and have quite enjoyed your writings for years. I am intrigued by a photograph you posted it was a high school football athletic team. Seeking some information on the photograph. I believe it to be the Shaw High School football team (Shaw MS) standing in front of the gymnasium. Could you please clarify. Thank you so much

Hello Mitzi T, welcome to the comment section of the forum.  Yes it is Shaw High School football team.  Are you from Shaw or have family from Shaw?  Now I am intrigued.  

Grandma Donna

For those that read Mitzi's post above, we contacted each other by email so we could have longer discussion and found out that we both have family members that went to school at this school in Shaw Mississippi during the 1940s and beyond.  

I will be closing the comment section to this post on June 21st and the next post will be on Monday July 6th and the forum will be open again from Monday July 6th until the following Friday.

I noticed there has been a decline in our forum comments from our international friends here in the forum.  I miss all of you!  I am not sure why there is a decline, my blog and forum is written for everyone all over the world.  

I do understand if people have reservations about participating with Americans right now, I do have my thoughts about this, but since I do my best to keep this forum clear from politics, I don't want to go causing upset and I appreciate all of you that have been holding back your opinions. 

I do see what is going on here and the harm and suffering it is causing for people everywhere. People have been affected in many ways all around our world. This causes me a lot of sadness but the more reasons I keep blogging trying to help keep us all strong to get through difficult times.  Grandma Donna

Grandma Donna, I get so much enjoyment out of reading your blog. Not only that, it gives me a sense of validation that living simply is a good thing to do. It is so lovely and reaffirming for me to read what you have to say. 

My mother is 77 and is starting to be unable to care for herself physically but also will not do anything to help herself. I think she has early stage dementia. In addition to this she is estranged from our whole family and lives two hours away. I am the only relative she still has contact with and only because I initiate contact. It is a very difficult state of affairs. I think it is wonderful how Charles and yourself are making adjustments so that you will be able to age in place. 

Your home appears so cosy and inviting in your photos. I especially love the photo of your pup curled up in your rocker near the kitchen. 

We have been cooking more on our firepit. It is good to have some methods to cook outside of the usual electricity and gas options.

I will include a couple of photos. They don't look fantastic but they tasted delicious. The first is jaffles. Do you use jaffles irons over there? They are cast iron toasted sandwich makers. We usually make them with tinned baked beans or spaghetti with cheese or regular toasted sandwich fillings. These ones were ham, cheese and tomato. 

The second photo is Turkish gozleme filled with cheese and swiss chard from the garden. They fell apart when I flipped them but tasted delicious none the less.

Michelle from Australia. 

Michelle K, I love seeing your food pictures. I'm from South Africa but have lived in the USA for more than 30 years now. My dad used to make Jaffles on Sunday nights for dinner when I was growing up in SA. A lot of time we filled it with leftover roast chicken, cheese and chutney and a dab of mayonaise or just cheese and tomato. :) Ours were round though and he sometimes used it on the stove instead of outside. I think older generations in the USA might have used Jaffle irons because I'll see them in antique stores from time to time but have never seen anyone use them in my time here. Hopefully someone here will know. 

Michelle K,  I have never made a Jaffle, I made plenty of waffles. We do not have a jaffle or sandwich iron.   I see in the photos that it is making sealed sandwiches and I can imagine those are very yummy.  I did look them up, and I see that they have electric ones now, but that cannot be as special as cooking them over a fire.  Thank you for sharing your photos with us.  

Also, thank you for your comment and compliment.  

It is sad that your mother is declining and has isolated herself from family.  My mother lived two hours away when she started declining.  Her health started declining but was still independent (mentally).  I drove back and forth to help her.  Then her mind was declining and Charles and I  were fortunate that she agreed to move into a duplex down the street if we agreed to move her and get her set up.  This worked for us better because I could just go down the street and clean her home and help her with meals and visit often but then dementia started getting worse and we moved her into our home here.  The total time of from start of her dementia and health decline was seven years.  There were many stages we went through, the last year was hospital bed in our home with full care and about 4 months of hospice coming to our home.

I hope that your family can come together when it is needed to help care for your mother.  There are people all over the world in caregiving situations, sadly this is so common now and what is the hardest part is the caregiver becomes isolated with caring.  

I have a photo of my Great Grandmother in bed with family all around her as her health declined.  In the past people lived closer together and family and neighbors came together to help.  I wish that was the same today.  Big hugs. Grandma Donna

Tandi - when I was a child the jaffle irons were round and from memory made from aluminium. You could buy a cooked 'savoury jaffle' at the markets filled with a mince, gravy and vegetable mixture. Somewhere between now and then they became square. Your fillings sound delicious, I will have to try roast chicken, cheese, chutney and mayo next time, that sounds right up my alley.  :) 

Grandma Donna - thank you for sharing your own journey with caregiving. It is one of those things in life that you don't realise how hard it is to navigate until you have to do it.

I have been really getting a lot from your own preparations for making your home work better for the stage of life that you are at. We have a high set house with a dozen stairs but have been talking about downsizing to a smaller home with easier access so when we start to feel our age, so to speak, our home will be safe and suitable. 

Michelle K,  to be completely open to help possibly understand your mother, I was getting discouraged doing things in the house because of pain and dizziness and not being able to reach things.  It would have been easy to just stop doing.  I actually wanted to stop a few times but that is not who I am "giving up a challenge".  I thought and thought of what to do and I wish I had started earlier so to not go through this depressed state.  That is when I decided that I "had" to make changes and just set our home easier by getting things down out of the upper cabinets, getting rid of what we don't really need anymore.  We did use these things in the past but life is full of change so there should be no guilt of getting rid of it.  Donate it to someone that is at the stage of life that we were when we did used it.

When my mother was at the early stages of Dementia, I sat her in a chair and got boxes and put them around her and brought items to her and asked her if she wanted to keep it, donate it to someone that could use it, or just pack it away.  We cleared out a lot of things doing this.  I hope this helps a little.  Hugs, Grandma Donna

Everyone, I will be turning off the forum here now until next post.  See you all the first Monday of July unless something exciting comes up.  Lol