Frugality and Self Reliance

Living a frugal & Self-reliant life to live within your means

Even if you're not downshifting at all, frugality is a fine art to get into and it is an artform I think.

The best tips I can give in this are look at the Home Front during World War Two. I remember as a child going to my grandparents houses and albeit, it was some 10 years after the end of the war, the remnants and lessons learnt were still there.
Many houses were still in the back garden mode of 1. Flower beds and a bit of lawn, then 2. A dividing hedge with an allotment at the bottom.
Add that to many ways of utilising left overs, wastage, re-cycling and general conservation and you had a pretty good existance.

It was only when TV and Magazines took off during the 50's that all this seemed to slowly vanish. It's strange how through the same media it has re-appeared again after 50 years or so. Life is a circle !

Frugality goes right accross the board with a new downshifting experience where you haven't so much money as you had before.

Frugal is not being poor

Don't be confused with a frugal person and a pauper. I assure you they are not the same. Sure, you'll get a few strange looks when you opark the car outside the house and take out an assortant of objects that you either found in a skip en-route or a plethora of odds and ends given to you by friends or family when having a clear out. 'One mans trash is another mans treasure.

Even if someones chucking out a load of tatt, ask yourself if the items could be sold on through Boot Fairs, Yard Sales or online auctions.
The secret is knowing the time to chuck things away. If you've a load of stuff which isn't selling, throw it, burn it or make something out of it.

You can't be self-reliant without being frugal and vice versa, so it is very hard to write about these two things separately.
Self reliance boils down to the same thing, getting what you can from your own labours rather than someone elses.

The pages under this section show some areas where you can live a cheaper life, not as in second class, but a less overhead one.
Add to this the saving of money you may be experiencing by not having a 'proper job' like cups of coffee, newspapers and general work socialising - you're on the road.

Also, once again, it's fun ! You'll have a laugh at yourself and certainly be the talking point and centre of attention at social functions !

frugality

A major money saving exercise is not to shop for food wherever possible. Growing your own vegetables, back garden poultry and general thriftiness will reap rewards

Frugal and Self Reliant
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Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. Dalai Lama

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