Depressionites: The Original Greenies

Folks who prevailed through our nation's greatest economic difficulty emerged with a definitively frugal mindset even after the bucks started rolling in. While none of us envies their hardships, it's their hard work and smart spending habits that strengthened our economy. Living by the standard "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" they learned how to work (far beyond our forty-hour weeks) and depended upon each other for making ends meet.

Depression survivors recount memories of not having enough food and not enjoying luxuries. Any meager income they possessed covered rent, food, clothing, electricity, gas and medicine—drive thrus, baked treats, cable, car payment, cell phone, etc. Can you imagine months of no meat, not by choice but by necessity? Families stuck with cheap carbohydrates and veggies to fill bellies—potatoes, pasta, cabbage and carrots. Leaving food on the plate was considered a sin and kids wasted nothing.

My grandmother remembers growing up poor but, curiously, she doesn't describe it that way. She's still painfully frugal, saving all pickle jars, breadcrumbs, foil and never buys anything with less than a 50% off discount, including groceries. Grandma has a lot of money, but you'd never know it by the way she scrimps. The same left overs pop up disguised in different dishes throughout a week. Any luxurious spending, whether it be coffee or a movie ticket, causes her physical pain when she parts with the money - even when the dollar bills are stacked with coupons.

Some extreme measures families took during the Great Depression include:

• Walking everywhere within a five-mile radius. Never partaking in public or private transportation (unless hitching a cross-country ride via rail).
• Mixing ketchup with water at a restaurant for free tomato juice.
• Stuffing coats with newspaper for extra warmth.
• Hunting for empty pop bottles worth a two-cent refund.
• Buying stale bread for half the cost of a fresh loaf.
• Collecting newspapers from dumpsters and reselling them in the subway for two cents a piece.
• Growing your own produce in the back lot.
• Using a butter wrapper to grease the pan.

 

Despite what sounds like a life of pain and misery during the 1930's, Grandma and her friends don't view it like that. They live within their means. Rather than catch a $9.50 movie, she checks out a (large print) book from the library. My mother and sisters learned to sew as a result of not being "spoiled" as children. And Grandma has always been a creative problem solver. When something needs mending or fixing she finds a way to repair rather than replace it.

Lessons we desperately need to relearn from the Great Depression are obvious but alien to our current culture. The following tips are fairly easy to implement and will help reduce your risk of being caught in a tight spot:

1. Stop using credit cards
People who survived the Great Depression understood you never borrow money unless you have a clear plan on how to pay it back. This includes automobiles, televisions and other big purchases. Credit card poachers are ruthless and will take advantage of you on every dime you spend, offering "rewards" that never exceed the interest. The borrower is slave to the lender.

2. Never throw out good food
Keep the stale bread, chicken carcass, and flour for other recipes. Cooking With Clara is a depression-era cooking resource with recipes and videos containing general frugal-living tips. Buy food less frequently so you reduce the risk of it spoiling. And it goes without saying--do not eat out! If you absolutely must, plan one day a month and make it a special treat.

3. Buy sturdy, long-lasting products
Avoid kid and baby toys that need batteries or only have one purpose. The most stimulating toys are ones that can be manipulated for various uses. Erector sets, wooden bocks, Legos and the ever-trusty Radio Flyer wagon are superb and will challenge your child's creativity. Look to second-hand stores or garage sales for even bigger discounts. And only purchase furniture made of real wood.

4. Farm your yard
Grandpa grew summer squash, cabbage, carrots and cherry tomatoes on a vine as long as I knew him. After moving into the senior community, he managed to raise strawberries on the porch. Granted he had a beautifully green thumb, but those were always the tastiest veggies. If you have a small plot of land, grow food on it. Be smart though; chat with a nursery owner to find out what produce will grow in local soil and take the time to plant it correctly. Homegrown vegetables can't be beat for taste and cost. Plus, you're saving energy costs for foods shipped to your grocery story.

5. Spend time at home
In my city we don't have a large variety of options for free activities. If we load up to go somewhere, it'll be to the mall or a restaurant, both of which radically slash the budget. Hang out at home or a park with family and friends instead. Children of the Depression passed the time with community dances, ice cream socials and spelling bees. Mall shopping will just make you covet more junk you don't need.

People interviewed about their experiences during the Depression recall similar life lessons gleaned from surviving tough economic years. At the forefront is their appreciation for what they have and how to consume less. Their attitudes and world views are dramatically different than ours. They know how to get along and work hard, and we could learn a few things from our depression era parents and grandparents.

It's also interesting how Depression survivors lived environmentally friendly lives. Long before reusable shopping bags and vegetable gardens became fashionable, they implemented green living out of necessity. Without flaunting food mile friendly lifestyles or tacking a Save the Earth sticker on their vehicles, these folks lived within their means and recycled to a degree we can't fathom. The beauty of frugal living is how perfectly it complements keeping our environment healthy. Your saving and reducing consumption for financial gain also minimizes your negative environmental impact.

As you consider the tips in this frugal living e-book that will put money back in your pocket and use fewer of our planet's commodities, remember that every choice you make regarding purchasing makes an impact. Very few decisions are exclusively black or white, entirely malevolent or benign. For example, it would appear that using cloth diapers as opposed to disposables is the best use of money and avoids stocking landfills. But consider the water, electricity, and processes needed to create and maintain a cloth diaper supply. What is the carbon footprint of processing the cotton or plastic? How much water is needed to rinse the cloth diapers every day? If you only support fair trade coffee, workers who are paid for the traditionally traded variety will face even lower wages. Think critically about both sides of an economic and environmental decision before supporting with your dollars.

I would also caution you to make a clear distinction between the terms cheap and frugal. Both tend to suggest a vague idea about spending less, but they really are polar opposites. Cheap is the ugly, tawdry stepsister of virtuous Frugal. Whereas one indicates being economical in the use of money and resources, the other is just plain stingy.

Why go for frugal rather than cheap?
When we evaluate every dollar spent with a bottom line anchored to it, our goal becomes "spend as little as possible, at all costs." This means you cut the tip short for your waiter. You mooch off leftovers from a group lunch. Cheap corporations are willing to take the least expensive route, regardless (and sometimes at the expense of) precious natural resources. Giving to charity becomes a burden as it won't save you any money nor provide big benefits (in most tax brackets at least). This way of life, my friends, is not thrifty nor green; it's revolting.

If you desire cheapness alone, many areas of life will be shortchanged. We are all guilty of passing along an As-Seen-On-TV product to someone we know won't appreciate it; many of us even make it a habit. Although I haven't sunk to stashing away fifty ketchups in my purse for tomorrow night's meatloaf, if I pledge allegiance to cheap I'll succumb to it eventually.

Living a frugal lifestyle means being more discerning about what you use and how you spend your income. Our money, talents, and time have been given to us for a reason. To hoard or spend for our own exclusive sake is a very sad, Scroogey existence. When we choose to recycle leftovers or buy in bulk to save money we then open up doors to send resources to folks who legitimately can't afford food. Buying produce in season is not only cheaper but also supports local growers and reduces food mileage. Living within our means is far more comfortable than the gray, puritanical images frugality seems to invoke.

Let your spending and living habits speak for themselves—there's no need to broadcast your penny-pinching decisions and coupon-clipping skills with disapproving snaps to others who choose alternative lifestyles. Humility is the ying to Frugal's yang.

So when a job vanishes, gas prices sky rocket, and food costs soar, we'll show you how to pinch more. And when you live frugally, you understand appropriate consumption. Go Frugal, Go Green.

Next: Chapter 1: Our Daily Bread