Frugally-trained at a young age... (Single digits). [Archive]

Mrs-M

5-4-12, 11:31am

I was thinking about, AmeliaJane's, thread topic (How Has Your Frugality Evolved), and thought, "I wonder how many others were frugally-trained at a young age".

This thread piggybacks, AmeliaJane's, thread. So how about it... were you frugally-trained at an early age? If so, do you think it helped propel you towards being frugal (later in life)? What sort of frugal-minded/frugal-things were you exposed to/taught? Additionally, do you practice any like-minded frugal things (today), courtesy of your past? i.e. Things your mom/dad may have done/practiced in the way of simple/frugal?

I helped mom wash/dry dishes. I always dried, because mom was fussy about washing. Drying was good with me. (No dishwasher in our house, ever).
Prepare and warm a baby bottle. Baby brother is a tad over 5 years younger than I am, so mom got me involved with the little things with him.
A bit of knitting/crocheting/sewing.
Helping with laundry (wringer washing machine/clothesline drying).
Canning, albeit, I was far too young to remember much (or get overly involved), but I do remember the smell of pickling salt.

cdttmm

5-4-12, 12:30pm

I grew up on a farm in the Midwest -- I think that definitely impacted my frugal training from a young age.

We grew a huge vegetable garden and even as young children were expected to help with the planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting of the produce. We also got enlisted to help with preserving -- canning, pickling, freezing -- of the excess. I remember my mom actively encouraging me to go to one friend's house and help pick apples during the fall from the trees in her front yard. My mom must have known we'd be given a few grocery bags full of apples as a result.

We lived 10 miles from town, so we always combined as many errands into one trip as humanly possible. And one of the stops was typically the public library where my brothers and I were encouraged to check out a pile of books and later movies.

My brothers and I were active members of the local 4-H club so we learned a lot of frugal skills under the guise of 4-H projects: woodworking, electronics, gardening, cooking, animal husbandry, etc. In the summer when it was light out late enough we would even ride our bikes to the evening 4-H meetings.

In the summer we went to VBS, which was free, and we always carpooled with other families even though our church was less than 3 miles away -- not sure why we didn't ride our bikes. We also carpooled with the neighbor kids to swimming lessons in the summer at the town pool. Swimming lessons was one of the few activities that my parents actually paid for. We had the option to attend sleep-away church camp for a week, but we had to save up our allowance and pay half the cost so we usually only went for 1 or 2 summers.

Most of the frugal training from my early years has stuck, not all, but most.

catherine

5-4-12, 12:39pm

Never had a dishwasher, and drying dishes while my mom washed was an experience I didn't appreciate at the time, but I see it now as wonderful quality time.

We were frugal by necessity for the most part--there simply was no money for several of my growing-up years. I got hand-me-downs from cousins, we couldn't afford snacks, etc. I think the frugality that wound up in my DNA manifested itself when I was a young adult and my mother and stepfather got an inheritance, and part of it went to a TV for my brother's room, and a new color TV for the living room. I cried! Not out of joy--because I was upset!! Don't ask me to explain what I was upset about, I have no clue.

But those other "frugal" things you talk about were lived out in my summers with my great-aunt--those were such wonderful times. She taught me to sew on an old 1920s portable Singer; she did a lot of knitting herself. We made homemade rice pudding and ate simple meals. She rinsed out her slips in Ivory Snow in the farmhouse sink and hung them on the porch line to dry. I still can smell that Ivory Snow!

I can't go on--I just get so nostalgic thinking about those breakfasts eaten on a cardtable covered with a floral cloth set up on the porch--the blueberries and cream, the Victorian china.. Frugal, simple, heavenly!

Mrs-M

5-4-12, 2:53pm

Great hearing from you Cdttmm and Catherine. Love, love, love your stories. :) ETA, will revisit this thread later and add to it.

Rosemary

5-4-12, 6:26pm

I learned to save money and garden from my dad; I learned the basics of cooking and baking from my mom, as well as how to shop sales, plan meals, line-dry laundry, and use a pantry and freezer.
I learned some fiber arts from my aunt and grandmother. I remember many summer hours spent happily constructing things with small scraps of fabric, needle, and thread.
I also learned to use things for things other than their original intent from all those members of my family. My grandparents had all sorts of depression-era learnings to share.

Before we were married, my now-husband was amazed to see how simple it is to make brownies from scratch. Companies have done a good job of making simple things seem complex. We both had many frugal attributes despite his lack of kitchen know-how, though. Rather, we have complimentary skills.

herbgeek

5-4-12, 7:15pm

My mom was kinda cheap. I thought we were poor, until I learned otherwise as an adult, we were actually middle class. I learned how to cook and can and the like. The big thing was it sparked my creativity since I had to make my own entertainment. I was big into origami as a kid, because one of the few materials we had around the house was paper. I learned how to make my own gifts - still do for family and friends, hopefully a little better quality than when I was 10. :laff: I was the one in the neighborhood that the other kids came to to make up games. I was pretty good at using my imagination and whatever was at hand.

Mrs-M

5-5-12, 3:39pm

Catherine. You cried over the purchase of the televisions, because you were a pure and natural "frugalist" from the very get-go! :)

Rosemary. To this day, I'm a firm-believer in the idea of starting kids off early. head-starts are a good thing. P.S. Re: companies portraying complexity, related to most everything, absolutely.

Herbgeek. From everything I'm seeing today, cooking/baking, tops the list as to domestic attributes the younger generation is lacking.

Tussiemussies

5-6-12, 7:30am

Hi Mrs.M, I think I was frugally trained in domestics at a young age. I always dried or washed the dishes before we had a dishwasher which we didn't have until the age of 10 but I was in charge of cleaning up the dinner dishes and washing the pots and pans and setting up the table for dinner WhenI was older. On weekends I had to clean the bathrooms before I could go out. I was taught a little bit of needlepoint and crocheting and took classes at the YWCA for knitting and swimming and cooking. I was in 4-H and then girl scouts for quite a long time. I always took classes to play an instrument. So I guess it wasn't totally frugal but without the classes which I feel is imortant it would have been so.Learned cooking and cleaning from my mother and how to feed, change and different little things about babies. I started babysitting at a very young age but when I was young people thought I was very mature for my age which I sometimes wonder if it was a good or bad thing.

Also we weren't allowed to buy drinks, snacks when we went out which wasn't frequent--and when the ice cream truck came around we weren't always allowed to buy ice cream. We rarely ever went out to eat. Our vacations were at my grandparents, although under my grandparents rule it wasn't really frugal. They had a cottage near the amusement park -- Knobels --in PA and well they gave us plenty of free tickets along with soda and gum, two things we never kept at our house.

The only thing about all of this during my childhood is that my parents had me work a paper route since I was 13 and I just spent my money as I wanted although at that age my parents felt I should be responsible for providing my own clothing and money to go to movies etc. so I think I rebelled a bit then but also felt I wanted nice clothes to look pretty etc. I didn't save my money except to buy a nice bike.

Now that I am older I am frugal a lot although we have our one thing we do do which is eat at Cheescake Factory almost once a week, otherwise we don't spend money on anything else these days, just our cable hook up --DH still watches TV

This is a great thread ! Thanks for jogging up some good memories!.

Float On

5-6-12, 8:09am

I grew up on a working farm - row crops, cattle, sheep, chickens, gardens, orchards, and dogs (dad also raised/trained beagles for hunting - we'd have over 100 when it there were pups), and turkeys one year (what a mess), and quarter horses and thoroughbreds. The chores list was endless, frugality was a must because most of the time the needs of animals or farm equipment came before people wants. Every meal was from scratch and the garden and freezer/canning celler cattle fields or woods (my kids have yet to eat squirrel, rabbit, or bullfrog legs).
There was no question of do you want to - 4H was just what everyone did and there was no problem finding adult leadership (our current county can't keep a 4H going because of lack of volunteers). Moms took pride in teaching the sewing/cooking/canning/crafting/small animal classes, and men took pride in teaching the cattle raising/judging or horsemanship classes.

I was driving a tractor by 10 and driving a grain truck to town to the grain elevator at 12 (farm permits allowed this at the time).
Frugal was just the way it was, I don't think I noticed fashions or the things kids wanted (like name brand tennis shoes) until maybe 8th grade.

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 10:15am

Just love everyone's posts!!!

Tussie. I matured quickly (had tons of people fooled). Was way ahead of my age when I was younger (looked/acted way older than I was). I liked it. Adults treated me different than my same-age counterparts, and I liked that. They always approached me first, ahead of everyone else, and would talk to me like I was one of them. Always made me feel so grown-up and special. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Really boosted my pride.

Float On. My entire life I have had a weakness for farm-life. To this day I still dream of waking to the sound of roosters, the sweet smell of hay in the fields, and the peaceful and calm setting so many farmland dwellings are staged. Country life has always been for me. Maybe one day...

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 11:35am

Side-note to share. I'm sitting here right now, laughing away at my youngest two, and how they are always in constant competition with one another (all the time). Anyhow, whenever I whip-cream for a dessert or treat, one or the other will quickly slide a chair over to the counter (from the kitchen table) and say with enthusiasm, "I'll put the sugar in mom". They know for a standard whip-cream mix (500 ml), I use 1.5 tablespoons sugar.

What got me thinking about the whipping cream, was how quickly they learned just from helping and watching me prepare it, and it's that sort of thing that brings me the most pleasure of all (as a mom). Being able to teach and see others learn.

Hopefully they'll carry all my teachings with them (the ones I taught them), and later in life they won't simply go to the supermarket and buy a can of prepared whipping cream (just as one example), they'll make it themselves and think about me when they do.

catherine

5-6-12, 12:55pm

I had a moment like that last week. My DH had a procedure done where he needed to eat soft food for a few days. I was trolling the supermarket picking out stuff that he'd be able to eat and I reached for the already-made Jell-O cups in the refrigerator section. Then I thought--geez, I CAN make Jell-O. I used to do it all the time with my mother. So I went to the baking aisle and bought the Jell-O and making it (if you can call adding water making it) really took me back.

He really appreciated it.

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 12:59pm

I don't know how you like Jello, Catherine, but whenever I make it I add extra water. I hate chewy Jello! :)

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 1:24pm

And, to add, not that folding, falls under frugal/simple living per se, but by age 7-8, I knew how to fold everything foldable, under the sun (in our house) that needed folding, right down to baby brothers diapers.

catherine

5-6-12, 1:44pm

I don't know how you like Jello, Catherine, but whenever I make it I add extra water. I hate chewy Jello! :)

Well, the funny thing is, I added what I thought was too much water--I made a mistake and probably added a half a cup too much, according to the directions. I was pining over the fact that I'm such a bad cook, only I could mess up Jello. But actually, it did taste better than when I did it right! Yes--you're right. There was no Jello "skin."

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 2:25pm

Jello skin is disgusting! http://sausandesigns.com/forum/images/smilies/puke.gif

To add, DH, was taught all of the basic how-to's of car-maintenance, along with basic carpentry and hunting. DH also mentioned that he got first place award (in Cubs) for building the best birdhouse, but admits his painting job of the birdhouse left a lot to be desired.

rosarugosa

5-6-12, 2:50pm

Well I can offer an alternative viewpoint from the "dark side." My family was middle-class, but on the more affluent side of the range. We had washer/dryer/TVs, etc. I don't think we got the dishwasher or garbage disposal until I was in my teens though, but that might be more a matter of the era I grew up in. Frugality wasn't really emphasized, although we didn't live a crazily extravagant lifestyle. There was usually an annual family vacation to Maine or NH, and we stayed in hotels as opposed to camping. Mom was a stay-at-home Mom, and she took us lots of places and did lots of fun things with us. Dad was an officer (eventually captain) on a merchant ship, so he was away for months at a time. We kids were not expected to work or do chores; our parents felt strongly that childhood was for having fun, and that the work of running the household belonged to them. So we kids never even did the dishes, and in fact, I didn't learn how to do laundry until I was 24. Mom was also a bit of a fuss-budget about how things were done and wanted to do everything herself, and I really had to campaign for the privilege of learning to do laundry!
I don't really have any regrets about my upbringing. I had a great childhood with a loving family. Neither my sister nor I turned out to be spoiled brats; we are both hard workers.
DH grew up in a somewhat less affluent household but certainly not a deprived one. He and his siblings all had chores. They are all good cooks, and it is only as an adult that he recognizes some of his Mom's frugal strategies as such. But he remembers his childhood as full of love and fun and lots of good things to eat.
So from a family standpoint, I am breaking new ground with my discovery of the value of frugality in late 2007. We don't have a dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, cellphones or cable TV, and this is pretty much by choice. I do wish I had discovered the value of restrained spending at an earlier age, but better late than never. I think we still have lives of abundance, but we are quite a bit more mindful and judicious in how we use our resources. Dad did teach me how to do my own taxes, so I've never paid for that service :)

Stella

5-6-12, 4:45pm

My family wasn't even remotely frugal when I was a kid, but I did learn a lot of skills. My Dad was an amazing cook. He spared no expense on ingredients and didn't shy away from laborious dishes, especially ethnic foods. I learned how to cook from working with him and the basic techniques have helped me a lot in my frugality as an adult.

My mom grew up very wealthy and has always bought herself whatever she wanted, but she became a preschool and kindergarten teacher and the first several years of hers and dad's marriage they moved to an impoverished district as part of a program to pay off my dad's student loans. She is a very creative person and adapted well to the lack of money, coming up with a million fantastic ideas of things to do with her students. When we were kids she was an old pro at making lots of kid fun from nothing.

One of my best friends growing up had a mom who was really into simple living and I learned a ton from her too. She was an amazing cook, gardener and mom. She had a passion for the environment and she was really the one who got me into thrifting, reusing and repurposing. She was very instrumental in my choosing to follow a different path. I had other mentors too, a couple who owned a small business that I apprenticed myself to in my teens, a great-aunt who I looked up to and many more.

My upbringing, though, was not especially frugal overall. I remember when my grandma blew a tire. She went to the dealership and decided that if she was going to buy one tire, she'd be better off buying two and if she was going to buy two she'd be better off buying four and if she was going to buy four she might as well buy a new Cadillac, so she did. To her credit that same grandma put me through housekeeping bootcamp. I would not know how to wield an iron but for her influence. :)

Mrs-M

5-6-12, 5:47pm

This is great you guys!

Rosarugosa. I love the stark difference between your upbringing and your present (adult) years. There's a lot to be said Re: shifting your familiar ways to a more drawn-back lifestyle shaded with simplicity. Good on you. I count my blessings (often) in respect to having a mom who's as much involved with and interested in frugality and simplicity as I. That helps so much. Support, or the lack there-of, often equates to either progression or reduction, depending on what sort of outside/environmental influence one had growing up.

Stella. I had mentors, too, and still, to this day, think about the way they did things, the way they kept things, and the manner in which they kept their households (and lives) organized and simple, yet always interesting. My age curtails much of the frugal upbringing I received, being raised in the 60's/70's (and all), when pretty much everything was frugal anyway, but I often think about certain friends of mine and people I know who were raised differently than I was, and a distinct difference related to the ways they do things versus the way I do things, is clearly apparent. Hence the mentoring part. Nothing like getting an early-based education at a young age to set the stage.

Rogar

5-6-12, 11:12pm

I have the feeling that a lot of what we call frugal these days was just normal middle class back in the pre-Cambrian days of my youth. All of our clothes were dried on the line or on a drying rack in the wash room during winter. And all of the dishes were done by hand. It was pretty much a family event. My mom usually insisted on being the washer to retain control over quality, and Dad and the rest of us took a rotation drying. Our lawn mower was a push variety and trimming the edges was done with hand clippers. Hedges and shrubs were trimmed with hand trimmers and dandelions were pulled or dug.

We were a one or two car family depending on the deals Dad could wrangle on old beaters. He had a knack for picking up out of production models like Packards and Studebakers for a song as a second car. I have vague memories of him paying twenty-five bucks for an old Hudson Hornet that would probably be worth a mint now. None of them seemed to run for long. It was unheard of to take the car somewhere for simple things like oil changes and new plugs, and retreads were the tire of choice when the budget was slim.

I can't remember plastic bags, which might just be my memory, but sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper for school lunches. Our shirts were a combination of home sewn and store bought. When the elbows wore out on long sleeve shirts the sleeves would be cut off and hemmed to make short sleeved summer shirts. Jeans became cut-off shorts. Holes in socks and sweaters were routinely darned.

By the time I was in my late teens we had more of the modern conveniences, but sometimes when I hear about "going green" I think about turning the clock backwards instead of forwards.

Mrs-M

5-7-12, 11:43am

I wholeheartedly agree, Rogar.

It's funny how society always tends to feel the need to attach a "buzz word" to something revisited or new. In our case, "frugal", is the buzz word related to a standard practice as of yesteryear, when little choice existed. I don't remember there being plastic bags, either, because one of the things I remember helping with (whenever mom and dad arrived home after grocery shopping) was folding large brown paper bags, which mom always re-purposed.

My take on the matter, it sounds better to set-up a buzz-word philosophy related to an old thing brought back to life, i.e., frugality, and leave out all associated "old-fashionedness" tied to such practices and ways. Even I have been working on substituting (dropping) the term- "old-fashioned", and replacing it with "traditional", whenever I'm referring to things frugal and simple. So interesting thinking about this, because before you mentioned it, I never gave it any thought.

"Turning the clock backwards instead of forwards". I love it, Rogar!!!

Mighty Frugal

5-7-12, 1:56pm

I had a very frugal upbringing as well. Although not on a farm we did live in a rural neighbourhood (most homes had horse-not us-we couldn't afford them) When we wanted to bake a cake we would first have to dash to the hen house and find eggs (such fun finding all the secret spots the hen laid them in. They hated us taking them so continued to change spots but always found them. At time we even had to shoo them off their eggs which didn't please them!

The 5 of us each were given a small patch to grow our very own vegetables. Boy, was that thrilling!! Sweet peas were always a hit (mmm) as were cucumbers and carrots-always pulled those suckers out too soon-dang. So our treat was a vegetable bounty in late summer early fall.

My sister and I would wash and ry the dinner dishes but we never got any joy from that chore:~) I remember my dad coming by to sniff the glasses to ensure there was no trace odour of soap>8)

Gifts were reserved for Xmas and b.days and even then it was one or two maximum. Candy was enjoyed after Halloween only although if we found a spare quarter we would quickly walk the 1.5 km to the corner store to buy a Sweet Marie chocolate bar...mmmm

Summer nights were spent awake due to the oppressive heat (air conditioning is something I never want to live without)

Clothes always dancing on our outdoor clothes line. My brothers and sisters LOVED running through the almost dried sheets hanging on the line and enveloping our faces with that wonderful scent-much to my mom's chagrin!

We had about 8 channels on our B&W TV. Cartoons were only on Saturday morning and perhaps a half hour during weekday mornings. After that it was 'You're Beautiful' with Micki Moore or 'Wok with Yan' or 'Galloping Gourmet'

Summer holidays were spent barefoot with friends running through the commercial cornfield behind all of our properties. We were always looking for a crime to solve!

Mrs-M

5-7-12, 2:25pm

Super-nifty Re: your very own miniature garden plots to plant! I like that!!! Sounds like you and I, could pass as being sisters, Mighty Frugal, for the only time we had soda in the house was Christmas, aside from that it was water, milk, Kool-Aid, or Tang. (The latter two, available when the budget called for it).

No running through, around, or under the clothesline at our house. Mom would yell out the kitchen window or open the backdoor and step outside and holler-out one warning. "Get away from that clothesline unless you want a good lickin"! Lickins were free (frugal), and mom used them a lot, so we listened. LOL!

OMG! I would have never remember, Wok with Yan, had you not mentioned it! P.S. Today is walk down memory lane day on the forum. Love it!

Re: dishes, my mom seldom passed on washing. Such a fuss-nut she was regarding washing, but I do remember her divvying-up work amongst my sisters and I, when times called for. Being second youngest, I got stuck on dish-duty (often), although I willingly stepped-up to the plate (most occasions), while oldest sister helped out with more involved things, like changing/feeding baby brother, while youngest sister (brother when he was old enough) got off Scott-free (at least so it seemed).

Lots of fun sharing our pasts!

debi

5-7-12, 4:34pm

My parents were very frugal. Grew up washing and drying dishes by hand (we were the dishwashers:)), always drove used cars and kept them maintained, used coupons or refunded, ate out rarely, line dried laundry, no maids - we had to keep our own rooms clean, etc. My father was a firefighter/ambulance attendant (as they were called back then) worked 24 on/24 off for 6 days, then 2 more off) - for the weekends on the day off the family would go to local lakes and picnic. We didn't have computers or any of the electronics they now have. We were one of the last in our neighborhood to get a colored TV set.