With the horrendous state of the economy and all of the talk from day to day about what is or what is not going to happen, I have found myself jumping on the bandwagon of "frugality" lately. What really prompted me was a post that my friend Joanne Heim did at over at her blog, The Simple Wife. Her post was sparked by a book called "The American Frugal Housewife", which was written in 1832 by Mrs. Lydia Child. The post was an encouragement to others of us to become "American Frugal Housewives"...all in an effort to bring economy back into our homes. Out of all of this, "Frugal Friday's" was born. As of late, we have all been contributing posts each Friday about our plights to return to frugality in our homes.
I decided that in addition to making my contributions through the blog that I also needed to read Mrs. Child's book. WOW! was I stunned! I wasn't able to find an original print, but I did locate a 12th edition that was in really good shape from Amazon. I have been reading through it almost every night. You would not believe the wisdom and insights that are contained in the very simple but very direct writings of Mrs. Child. What's even more striking about this incredible little book is that even though it was written in 1832, there are so many topics that are relevant to us in the year 2009. It's a shame that we have gotten so commercialized that we have missed out on some of these very simple and frugal ways that Mrs. Child has presented in her book. She has covered everything from money, cooking, child rearing, home remedies to roasting your own coffee. Obviously, some of her methods would be considered very extreme in this day and age, but I really find her sense of "basics" to be very refreshing.
I could certainly write for many more pages about this most interesting woman, but for time's sake, I will just encourage you to get a copy for yourself. I hope you will find the thoughts and insights contained in the pages as interesting and refreshing as I have. I have really learned quite a bit from her already. There is truly something in it for everyone. With that said, I will leave you with the opening paragraph to the book:
"The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all , the fragments so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as fragments of materials. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money." (taken from "The American Frugal Housewife", by Lydia M. Child)
Labels: I'm An American Frugal Housewife, Talk About Tuesday
