10 Frugal Tips for Hard Times

The Frugal Meal, Pablo Picasso

At one time frugality meant survival. It may again, and probably sooner than later. 

When this happens people will turn away from the marketplace, and rely on themselves and their communities to meet their needs.

Many wants will go out the window, but we may be better off without them.

Self-reliance, cooperation, and frugality will be the new currencies, ones that can't be inflated away.

In hard times frugality makes the difference between hardship, and getting by. 

Our very survival will depend on it again.

Frugal Tips For Hard Times

 1. Don't pay to have someone else do something you can do for yourself.

2. A cow and/or chickens and a garden can mean the difference between a fed family and famine.

3. Pay for things with goods or services rather than cash.

4. Eat low on the food chain. Beans, rice, and lentils can go a long way.

5. Keep everything small and simple and fly below the radar.

6. Learn and use the wisdom of Elders, as well as the enthusiasm and robustness of Youth. 

7. Cook/bake/make as much as you can from scratch.

8. Learn to hunt/trap/fish. You may never need these skills, but in the event that you do, it may be too late to learn.

9. Go car free, now, if you can.

10. Practice fix and repair to make things last.

If there was a most important life skill to learn today, it would be frugality.

It is an essential survival skill in good times, and in hard.

What are your favourite frugal tips?

Don't Waste - Look, Smell, Taste

"65 per cent of respondents report throwing out unopened food because its “best before” date has passed."  

- Agri-Foods Analytics 

Food past the best before date? Wait!

Don't throw it out just yet.

Best before dates have less to do with food safety, and more to do with peak freshness.

Once past the BBD, a food may not be as fresh, but it also may not be dangerous to eat.

With groceries getting more dear all the time, we must do everything we can to reduce waste and get our moneys worth out of the foods we buy.

That is why one campaign to decrease food waste asks consumers thinking about tossing products past their BBD to Look, Smell, and Taste first.

If the product passes the test, it is probably safe to eat.

By reducing food waste, we can reduce the impact of inflation, and perhaps even come out ahead in the end.

Look. Smell. Taste.

Then, if it passes, Eat and Enjoy while reducing waste, avoiding a potential poisoning, and saving money.

Note: those over 60 years of age may need to be careful as a reduction in the effectiveness of the senses may make this form of food testing less accurate.

Aging Out Of Consumerism

Watch for this to be promoted as "active living" for seniors.

"For the rest of the 21st century, the fastest-growing consumer group in the world will be people over the age of 60."

Oh, no.

Consumers have a best before date, and many of us around the world are reaching it.

It is a demonstrable fact that older people consume less.

With our current demographic shifts toward a higher percentage of older folks, the proponents of consumerism are panicking.

What will those who profit from it do when it all collapses due to the wrinklies tapping out?

They are desperately trying to find out why old people eventually give up on the shopping lifestyle.

Is it because the elderly already had everything they needed decades ago? 

It can't be - when has having everything  ever stopped people from buying more?

Or do we all eventually age out of doing self-harmful things once we become wise enough?

Let's face it - recreational shopping is an exhausting and taxing endeavour. 

Buying stuff is another full time job that must be managed. 

All that searching, buying, carrying home, storing, and maintenance takes a lot of time and energy, not to mention cold har cash.

A lifetime of acquisition is a slog to the end, when finally we all feebly raise the white flag atop our pile of mostly useless stuff, and retreat to a calmer lifestyle free of the obsession to own more.

As we age a lot of things change, including the fact that the psychological boost from buying ceases to give the kick that it used to. 

Our priorities begin to change. 

The older we get the more we come to realize there are more important things in life than frantically chasing after ever more stuff and "experiences". 

We learn that the relationships we have with the life around us is where it is at.

We realize that no one wishes they shopped more when on their death bed, and tap out before it's too late.

But don't count out the consumer scammers just yet. 

They have a solution to their demographic challenges, and that is to promote "active aging". 

That is code for "lets keep the oldies buying our stuff and services as long as we can".

I don't think they will be successful. Highly experienced folks are too smart for that. 

Old folks will continue to quit the marketplace, and retire from shopping to a slower, simpler, more satisfying end of life.

My prediction is that the growing grey tsunami will crash over the creaking consumer commercial enterprise and wash the whole thing into the ocean of history.

As a simple living old fogey myself, I look forward to hastening that process.

A Good Protest Song Can Change The World

Rampant consumerism might kill Barry James Payne before a freight train does.

Heard any good protest songs lately? 

Or do musicians even stick their necks out any more and risk the swinging hatchets of cancel culture and censorship?

I wouldn't blame their hesitancy after what happened to Van Morrison and Eric Clapton when they expressed their anti-official narrative opinions during the crazy covid years.

“Where have all the rebels gone?

Hiding behind computer screens. 

Where’s the spirit? Where’s the soul?

Where have all the rebels gone?”

 

- Van Morrison

In response the media warned of "the alarming rise of the Covid conspiracy rock star", even though the artists that spoke out have since been proven to be right about their protestations.

But at the time the songs were considered "dangerous" ditties that "created problems".

No doubt the powers that shouldn't be thought that the protest songs were killing grandmas around the world.

Canadian singer-songwriter Barry James Payne, aka String Bone, is another artist not holding back despite the dangers of speaking out in the New Normal years. 

I just heard his song,"Wow! Oh Yeah!", and it not just caught my attention, but demanded it. That is because he is taking on the madness of the consumer caper.

Of his song, the artists says, 

"We’ve created a pretty fucked up society from the capitalist money construct keeping people slaves to corporate overlords to the useless leaders in government who are bought off by the corporate overlords. Something has to give, and it’ll take a miracle. This song offers up some thoughts on the subject.”

His protest tune starts out,

"I sometimes wonder what would happen if people didn't shop in malls anymore, and decided to support local merchants?

That will probably never happen.

But it could." 

Click on the image below to listen to this powerful song, and let us know in a comment if you agree it is a rockin' tune with an important message to convey, while also being humorous.

After I listened to it, I was inspired to write my own lyric:

"I sometimes wonder what would happen if people decided to leave the consumer industrial complex behind to live happier simple lives.

That will probably never happen.

But it could.

And it would change the world."

Take a listen to "Wow! Oh Yeah!" by String Bone below. 

It's my new favourite protest song since the capable and courageous works by Morrison and Clapton.

What is your favourite new protest song?

Reddit Simple Living Community In Top 1% Largest

"I've lived in my DIY 270 sqft tiny house for over 5 years now...still in love with a simple lifestyle." - posted by trek2tinystudio on r/simpleliving

It seems like ancient history now, but back in the early 2010s I took over as moderator for an orphaned Reddit community formed around simple living. 

I came up with a tagline for my vision. I hoped it would be a case of "Build a good tagline and they will come".

Live Better With Less

Breaking free of the work/spend/borrow cycle in order to live more fully, sustainably, and cooperatively.

And come they did. Not sure if it was the tagline.

My goal was similar as for this blog, which was started around the same time. That goal was to share with as many people as possible, the benefits and joys of living more simply. 

That message was well received as it turned out. 

"Simple living for me is being able to grocery shop in my backyard." - posted on r/simpleliving.

The community began to grow, and over the years great things began to happen.

When I took r/simpleliving on it was a small group of 309 members.

After a while, it began to take off. New members were joining in great numbers.

Several awesome members stepped forward and offered to take over moderation of the increasingly busy site, which enabled me to step aside so I could focus more on the Not Buying Anything Blog.

I haven't been involved since then. The new moderators did an incredible job of keeping the growth going, and improving the site.

Cross-posted to r/simpleliving from r/antiwork.

I just noticed today, during a visit, that the small committed community I knew  has grown up and into the Top 1% Largest on Reddit.

I highly recommend visiting as a possible method to continue honing your own style of simplicity. 

There are many peaceful and inspiring posts to see there.

The success of r/simpleliving, that I helped kickstart so many years ago, makes me think that we just might make it after all.

Living better with less, and making sure everyone has enough.

That is what it is all about.

Well, that and laughing. 

The #1 largest community on Reddit is r/funny, with 60 million chuckling, chortling members. 

I can get behind that, too.

LOL.

Something funny (and true) posted to r/simpleliving.