Money is a funny old thing.
20 years ago, a friend said to me “I don’t know how you guys survive on what you make, that wouldn’t even cover our grocery bill”. I laughed then, and I still look back on it now with wry humour, because I’m happily retired at 55, while my friend is still working long, hard hours.
You see, I figured out years ago that living on less is much, much easier than trying to make more.
And I have an acute understanding of how the maths works. If I mend this tea towel for the fourth time; if I teach my eyes to celebrate the repairs rather than see them as a mark of impoverishment – then my $2 tea towel will last for years, and I won’t need to earn $3 to replace it.
Multiply that by the 20 tea towels I have in the drawer, and that’s $60 I don’t have to earn. Or $240, if like some people I know, I’d replaced all my tea towels as soon as they developed holes. Multiply that, in turn, by every facet of our lives, and you can see why the mindset is worth cultivating.
Please let me know if you’re interested in reading more posts about frugal living. I’ve written a lot about it in the past, but it seems like a good time to revisit and reassess our approach.
A box of rescued broder cotton from The Sewing Basket. The perfect thread for darning tea towels!
A wise man once said “ to be rich is to have money, to be wealthy is to have time”. And I am so enjoying having time. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Love to hear more about frugal living, frugal choices, frugality in general.
I for one would love more frugal ideas. Our credit card bills are ridiculous!
Oh more frugal living articles please! Society today seems to be totally consumed on having more and more STUFF!
I love your posts about frugal living!❤
Please write on, Celia. Like you, I love the beauty of a well-used and mended item.
Yes more frugal living please
Yes, definitely please! 😁
Yes, please.
You’re a gem, I love your thoughts and compassion for your community.
I use my tea towels with holes! They don’t go into the rag bag until they are practically in shreds. 🤣
Oh yes , would love to hear more about frugal living 😊 & any books you can recommend on reading about living this way x
Yes and please! Every little bit counts and your advice is so welcome. Hugs, Maz.
Yes please
Lovely sentiments and wise attitude…now, I must get on to darning my favorite blue and white striped tea towel…
Yes please
yess.. I read the art of frugal hedonism..changed my life
I cant believe the number of people who throw away good items because they need a small repair.keep up the frugelmposts and some people may learn .
Bee, please please tell me what glue!
Yes please
I love your posts about frugal living, and of course cooking!
Once we mended even nylon stocking runs and turned our winter coats inside out. Not to mention the collars of men’s shirts.
My mom had a big jar of buttons cut from shirts that were absolutely ready for the rag bag. Those buttons came in handy, and I have one of my own as well!
A big yes, please
Yes please from me, and thankyou very for your wonderful blog.
You are inspiring so many of us I am in awe.
I was frustrated with synthetic shoe soles that are glued on the to shoe instead of being stitched- they don’t wear out, but they separate when the glue fails.
I had a couple glued back on by the bootmaker, only to have them come loose later and flap in the breeze.
I refuse to throw out comfortable good quality shoes just because they are a bit sole-less, so did extensive research. I found a fantastic glue with which I’ve now mended multiple pairs of shoe soles, and they look like they might now last as long as me!
I get frustrated by exactly the same thing – what is the name of the glue please?
Most definitely. Frugality can produce some amazing results.
Totally agree Celia I retired at 55 and I love having time for myself and my family. The most precious thing you can give your family is your time. I wonder how I ever fitted work in!! I am 9 years retired now and the time flies.
Absolutely yes!
You are so very wise Celia. And delightfully silly too. I’m proud to know and learn from you 😊
Please, please keep up the frugal posts, Celia. Always can learn something more from them.
Yes! I love seeing your mending and have a stack to do myself. I find your posts inspiring.
Love this post and would love to see more on frugality!
I have tried to darn a sock and it was not so good. Yes I would like to learn to live more frugally, and to mend better, please.
Love this post and it is timely right now. I think many people are considering things like how much food they have wasted in the past; it’s not much fun just popping around to the market these days. A mended towel to me is a thing of beauty. And I love your ending quote –– so true!
Totally agree…….waste not want not as i have said before. I read anything and everything you write!!
One of my favourite subjects. I just shared something from 1 Million Women and Brenda Quinlan on Facebook re Work Less Live More, to the effect it has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but so worth it. Less income but more creativity. Definitely less spending and less waste.
I think it would be very timely to write about frugality. The joy of living on less and the peace of mind that comes with living within your means is irreplaceable.
Yes please! I love reading about frugal living, not just for the monetary benefit (although that is a great plus) but for the environmental benefit too.
I too am retired and money poor but time rich. But even before then, I was a mender and frugal cook. I don’t throw food out, I always find a use for anything that’s not actively going bad. I don’t throw out clothes unless they are more holes than surviving fabric. It constantly surprises me how often people throw things out: I have just delivered back to a friend a shirt for her, cut down and tailored from a shirt of her late father’s, plus another old shirt from which I took a partial pattern. It was sun rotted on the shoulders and the armhole binding was frayed and coming apart, and I repaired it. I have given her two wearable shirts from none. She was amazed…
Yes, I’d love to see more frugal living posts. I’ve been reading for a while, never commented, but your posts always inspire me.
Would love more doing/how to fix frugally posts! Thank you! A Mender here too!
Celia I have learned to live much more frugally since retiring, as I worked out it costs money to go to work. Would love to read more of what you have to say on frugal living and share some ideas.One day I will absorb all you have written on mending as well:)
I’m a bit late to this post, but hoping you will see it Celia. I love reading about how you & your family approach frugal, sustainable living and will happily read more frugal posts.
My children are younger than yours at 14, 11 & 9. However, I work part time and my hubby would love to work a bit less and so frugal posts are helpful.
My challenge with tea towels isn’t holes … it’s that they regularly end up stained & don’t look very nice 😊. Do I bleach them to white so their clean or do I have another option??
We have a bit of luck with napisan but I’ve also embroidered or patched over stains in the past!
We changed our way of living when my husband had to take medical retirement aged just 43. I had already been diagnosed with a long term debilitating illness so I wasn’t working either. Our income decreased dramatically overnight. We sat down, made a list of all our expenditure and realised there were many things that we didn’t need, just wanted. Stopped spending on all those and we had enough to live on. Now we have have finished paying off our mortgage and he has a state pension we are much better off but I still look for bargains, cook everything from scratch and wear clothes until they’re worn out – unlike some friends who buy new clothes and shoes almost weekly. When my tea towels are really ‘past it’, they are are relegated to cloths for drying and polishing the stainless steel draining board. When our towels are a bit threadbare they become dog towels.Bring on the frugality posts!