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I live in a rural regional area of Australia and am moving house across town. Today I discovered that I am only able to use one retailer for my gas supply. This means that I have no choice and cannot look for better plans. This is the first time in 28 moves in 28 years that I have had this happen and your article prompted me to think that this is one of those 'creeping', insidious ways where we are being forced to pay more. My 8 year old granddaughter asked me why I had the soap scraps in a little mesh bag to wash with - she really had no idea why. So I explained and she understood as she said that we have to take care of our world. They do teach her that at her small country school. Maybe being connected to the land more closely is part of that. The envelope system is what I used to get us out of credit card debt 15 years ago and my children have never forgotten it. My daughter now uses the same but I admit that I have become lazier and not being as mindful with spending as I could. I appreciate all your suggestions and posts. Hello from Australia!

Good morning from Indiana! I love your posts Grandma D because they help me re-focus my priorities and help me appreciate what I have. I grew up with parents and grandparents who lived as you and Charles do in many ways. My husband and I have just been talking recently about things we need to do to get our “life” back on track, with regards to finances, home maintenance, etc. We recently moved into a new home, but it is 70- plus year old home that is in need of a lot of repair. Your blogs help me focus on what is needed for our home, and not the “wants”. Your blog is helping me make wise decisions regarding how we spend our money. Thank you for the wise advise and encouragement. 

Some days (actually most), I feel totally lost in a world I do not recognize. I am sure people of the past felt the same when so-called "progress" created more noise, anger, frustration, greed and jealousy. We are at a place of danger with the evil desire to play God with others lives.

I was born in the 1940's and the country was far different than it has become. I was fortunate to live with my grandparents (maternal and paternal) either in our home or across the street. I thought this was normal. I was taught respect, obedience, kindness, caring and what being part of a family meant. Although our family had many issues, it was still less hectic, less confusing and more meaningful than today. 

I was taught to take care of things to make them last and to make wise choices of quality rather than to waste money on cheap items that would not last. Quality today, as compared to the past, does not exist. Greed on the part of large business entities has debased this country to a point of a very distinct class society again. 

We used to be able to repair everything we purchased with right tools and know how. Today, major purchases are designed to make the customer dependent on the manufacturer for maintenance and repair. Almost no one has the freedom to save money on repairs for vehicles or large appliances these days. They must be maintained by a licensed representative of the manufacturer. Anyone fortunate enough to find old restored appliances or vehicles has found gems of value.

Growing up, I learned how to care for hardwood floors by hand polishing them; how to wash dishes and carefully dry them so they did not chip or break; how to properly set a table; how to sew and how to choose fabric. My paternal grandmother owned a neighborhood grocery store, yet meticulously kept her large home clean and sewed her own clothing. Sewing machines could be oiled and the repairs done at home.

I could go on and on about the moral, financial, spiritual and health benefits of the past, but it would not help because the world, at present, is lost to evil behavior and a totally upside down value system. All we can do is pray and be the best keepers of our homes that we can be.

I think most people will not stop overspending until they are forced to do so; as in a catastrophic event. Unfortunately, they won't be prepared, because those people are happy in their little bubble, believing things will always continue as they have been.

The subscriptions have gotten more than out of hand. It's insanity. I hear that the brand new vehicles now that may have A GPS, or heated seats require a subscription to keep them going. No thanks. 

So many homes here, unless they are high end, haven't the windows to keep it cool. They're awful. No thanks on the new homes too. I'll take the cross breezes when I can. People live like hermits in AZ. They put furniture in front of windows and don't go outside and the yards are so small. It's no wonder homes are no longer homey.

So I just read an article from a woodworking site that mentioned a list of old "homey" kitchens that contained useful items that they no longer build in, in lieu of expansive, white, modern kitchens.  Also the the homey-ness that has gone from homes, removing walls, slathering everything in gray or white, lack of color and carpet.  It's quite sad really.   I'm in desperate need of a comfortable chair, but first I'm not finding a decent furniture store, much less one that has a comfortable chair that isn't "modern." What happened to differing tastes?   This streamlining of our lives to be with the herd I find concerning and utterly depressing. 

I thankfully have a life pre-tech to give me sensibility, a home where it wasn't like everyone else's because there were choices.  The introduction of technology has gotten out of hand - the prices of the phones and all it's silly nonsense it includes. People are spending time videoing themselves and their children and not being actually present in the moment. 

I went to a gas station yesterday that was wonderful.  It asked to zip my card, then it said to begin fueling. I thought, what?  No tv, no loud advertisements, no music blasting from the rafters, just simple fueling up my car.  It was so simple, and so peaceful, it was so noticing that it was an amazing experience!  

I think that while technology is nice and has its place, it's given the opportunity to make people indoctrinated, rude, and completely of the herd mentality.  Sometimes I am glad that I'm 65 because I have good memories of real living without horrible rudeness people seem to be able to get away with and the ridiculous amount of advertisements in my face at every turn. Plus, different stores contained different items - like a chair I actually want that isn't modern.  Do they really think I'm going to buy a chair online without testing it?  Some day the thrift stores will no longer be. They will be full of hobby lobby junk, and cheap/trashy furniture. 

Paper.  They need to bring back paper. You can't hack information on paper. 

Glenda H-2  Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

We bought a new house a few years ago. It has many inconveniences that we've been fixing. My cousin doesn't understand why we are spending money to fix these things and said that's just the way houses are built now, and that we should get used to it. I thought about that, and I think these inconveniences contribute to the stress everyone feels these days, even if they don't recognize it. We put new towel hooks in the bathroom because the sink is over here and the towel hook was over there where you had to drip water on the floor to reach it. Now the towel hooks are right next to the sinks. They are small dragonfly shaped hooks attached to the bathroom vanity because the walls won't hold the hooks because they are that flimsy. I think they look lovely, and they are so convenient. :) Yes, that's a really little thing, but it makes a difference to me. 

We replaced the bathroom faucets, too, because they were too short and you barely had room to wash your hands in the sink. It feels very good to have proper-sized faucets. One thing I couldn't fix is that the faucets are set into the counter top, not in the sink, so your wet hands drip water on the counter as you use the faucet, and it makes water spots on the counter. We can't afford new counter tops, so I have to keep a cloth close by to wipe up after I use the faucets. If I had a regular sink with the faucets in it, I wouldn't have to do this extra work each time. I know it's another small thing, but I think all of these make-work annoyances add up mentally. 

We fixed the bedroom curtains recently too. There are two windows on one wall and they are set too close to the outside walls and they are different distances to those walls! You can't get a curtain rod attached properly to that side. We finally put up new curtain rods and cut off the rod cap on that side to make it shorter and used a pretty finial on the other side of the rod to distract your attention from the short side. This way we can pull the curtains back on the short side on each window. Before, we couldn't pull the curtains back very far and lost a lot of light from our windows being covered. We tried extending the rod on the other side, and it didn't work for how that wall is sized. It's so nice to have more light in that room! We have to have blackout curtains over the blinds because of all of the outside light at night -- another modern thing we had to find a fix for! 

The next thing we are going to fix is the two wrong-sized, framed mirrors in the bathroom. I like the idea of the framed mirrors, but what I don't understand is why they put up the wrong size. They go all the way up under the light fixtures and are set offside to the light fixtures and the faucets so that they draw your attention to their weird proportions. Again, a small thing, but why do it that way? We are replacing them with one horizontal long mirror that doesn't go near the light fixtures and is proportional to the sinks. I don't think it's safe to have the present mirrors that close to the light fixtures. 

My cousin would say why bother, but I am more comfortable without these oddities.