It is hard for people to grasp this truth, but the amount of money the housewife and homemaker can save is staggering.
And Yes, I do believe it is possible to become a full time wife and homemaker in a modest income household, even today. Stay tuned.
I would like to make a whole series of posts, giving tips and ideas on this subject. In my experience it is much easier to get the most out of these if there are not too many suggested at once. All these suggestions will be pleasant and rewarding. The idea is that we get a sense of joy and contentment and also a sense of satisfaction as we begin to reap the rewards.
I am fortunate enough to remember how life was before the Internet. There were lots of housewives back then. They enjoyed their homes and their family life. They didn’t work at the pace of today where there is no time to think or sit down with a cup of tea and a bit of knitting or to write a real letter to a real friend (as opposed to a quick text or posting a selfie to your Instagram page).
1. Get good at what you do by getting off the internet
We all know deep down that the internet, particularly social media is now engineered towards getting you addicted. That’s why we can’t get off it. Notifications and toxic news especially are giving us high levels of anxiety and stress. We are so frazzled that it’s hard to think straight. We begin to react to everything instead of pausing, before deciding the best way to respond sensibly to a particular situation.
But as we have observed, getting off the internet is not a simple matter The anxiety stays with us for a quite a while when we switch off from all the fast stuff on our screens. We have to think first about what everyone did when there was no internet at all. When there were no mobile phones.
So my first suggestion is to think about things you enjoy, or might like to try, that are mainly home-based, and don’t involve screen time.
Could it be baking or cooking and making simple but delicious meals or cookies for the family?
Perhaps, reading a real, physical book from your bookshelf.
Taking up crochet, knitting, a bit of sewing, making cards, drawing, or other craft you can do at home.
Could you start a little bit of a garden?
Listen to relaxing classical music or learn about the great composers.
(Have you noticed a problem about these suggestions? Hmmm. How can you learn to get good at any of these if you don’t go on the internet? )
I suggest that you don’t have to get immediate answers. Don’t go straight to Google or YouTube for your answers. Think a bit about how pre-internet society learned these things. One extremely popular way they learned things was to go to the local library. They are usually free, and they can order books from other libraries for you too. Libraries can be addictive but in such a nice way!
Be intentional about what you go online for. For instance, once a week I go onto YouTube specifically to watch the new video by the channel Frugal Money saver. The link to this channel is at the top right on this blog. Or go to YouTube directly and type Frugal Money Saver Channel into the search bar. Have your notebook and pen ready to note down ideas and recipes you like and check out the wonderful comments under the videos posted by viewers
Trot along to a thrift store or charity shop. Here you can often discover helpful books. (Vintage are usually better than modern). Old style cookery books especially the hardbacks are illustrated so beautifully and you can browse them at home like magazines. You can also often find craft supplies like yarn and fabric.
Get to know your neighbours. Many neighbours already have experience of the pre-internet activities that you want to learn, and would be happy to talk and show you about them.
Another way to learn is almost lost art. And that is to think it out yourself. Try out ideas, and make notes about what works and what you want to tweak for next time. This is the way many people learned to do things in the past and it gives tremendous confidence over time. For instance, many mothers and homemakers could sew clothes and bake cakes without using a pattern or recipe book.
Most of the things listed above will be very inexpensive. By doing these things you will be less likely to go internet shopping, or impulse buy, of run out for entertainment outside the home. You will already begin to save a lot of money.
Until next time, thank you for joining me today.
Please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.
