It is the simple things

We cannot go back in time, but we can live like it was long ago. We have so many items today that were not in homes in the past, and they did okay without them.  

This neighborhood (above) that I lived in was considered a middleclass neighborhood.  At the time this picture was taken we had one telephone that was a party line, no television, one radio with a record player, a wringer washer, no dryer, and our clothes were dried on a clothesline in the backyard. Our life was good, we were considered a modern family.  A few years after this we had our first black and white television and my mother had a more modern washing machine.   

Life was simple and we went swimming at the lake during the hot summer days.  I was out on the pontoon float with my brother when this picture was taken.  My brother and I loved to swim out to the float so we could dive off the side.  I visited my Grandparents often, they lived in Northern Mississippi and lived a rural simple life.  This is where I felt planted.

The economy was doing well.  But life can take a downward turn even in a good economy, a family crisis, a job loss, a health change. For us it started when this house burned and we came close to dying in the fire. The stress on my parents was too much and my mother and I moved to a new state.  This is when I learned even more about rural life and no more middleclass lifestyle for many years.

Many years later my sister-in-law told me about how special it was to have cake.  She said that in her home growing up, there had to be a very special occasion to have a cake in the house.  Her father would bring home cheese occasionally and there was much happiness when there was cheese to eat.

Many people take for granted (including myself) the things that what we do have. This 1930s study has changed me and continues to do so.  Charles and I have changed the way we do many things now and we have concerns that even as frugal as we are now, it may not be enough if prices keep going up.  

I am happy that I have my memories of a more simple time because I know the things that we do not "need" in our home.  As long as the mail carrier still runs, we can rid ourselves of items that have monthly, quarterly or Annual bills. 

For several years we have been taking steps to take care of ourselves.  I advise everyone to do this so you can survive the weather storms, the economic changes, the possibilities of more viruses or most anything.  This is a way to calm the stress and feel more empowered. 

In the heat of summer, our rocket stove is very helpful to use for cooking to keep the heat out of the house. It also does not cost anything to use because we pick up limbs when they fall from the trees. If we do not have any limbs from our trees, someone will and the day before trash day when the city picks up debris we can take just a short drive and find many limbs on the side of the road that have been taken out to the curb for pick up. 

If you have a porch, a patio, or a balcony that you can grill on you can cook outside.  We are fortunate that we have a fireplace so we can use the rocket stove in our fireplace if there is bad weather.  We like to cook on our porch, it is quick and simple.

Hamburger patty on lettuce, mayo, onion and cheese.  Side of potatoes.

Charles and I have lowered our grocery budget and sticking to it.  We stay away from processed food, that is another thing that will help to save money.  We are literally tracking every penny that we have.  

I didn't take a picture yesterday, but I simmered a whole chicken for two hours.  I added 4 quarts of water to the chicken and one onion quartered, two nice size carrots, two stalks of celery, twelve peppercorns and salt. 

Once it was cool enough to handle I deboned the chicken, we ate a bit of it for our meal with some rice and green beans.

I put the broth in three quart jars and divided the pulled apart chicken to serving sizes for meals and froze the portions.  A portion for chicken salad, another for chicken and dumplings using part of the broth. Another portion for vegetable chicken soup and or, chicken quesadillas. Might be enough for chicken sandwiches. We are eating much smaller portions of meat.  If there is any broth left I will add the broth to other meals that I am cooking because the nutrients are in the broth.

These groceries shown above were $50.09.  I always keep flour stocked, with that flour I can make dumplings, tortillas, bread, pancakes, I keep rice in the cupboards, I can make a side dish, a pudding, a stir fry.  I keep macaroni stocked, I can make macaroni salad, mac and cheese, put it in soup, a casserole.  Keeping a stock means that you have the right ingredients to make those "meals" from the fresh items that you bring in. For us, we do not buy flour each time we go to the store, nor do we buy rice or sugar each time.  The basic dry good and certain canned goods can turn those food items into meals.

There are many people on special diets, and many of us want to eat healthy, but the fact is that the food budget has gotten way out of control for many people.  Putting food on a credit card and not paying it off each month is not a good thing.  

Charles and I set a budget for food, not what we want to spend on food but what we have to spend.  Our choices may have more carbs for some, but this is what we know to do to keep from buying processed food and to have food to eat.  Many people do not have enough money or food and I have many concerns that it is going to get harder for people.  

Curry chicken with onions, broccoli, rice and gravy.  We keep some vegetables stocked in our small freezer.  We keep broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans. 

I have gone back to writing each item separately so I can do a quick review to compare prices on each item.  On this list is the items that are in the photo of the groceries.  That Marberger on the list is buttermilk, a very good buttermilk. 

A few of our towels are getting holes in them.  To extend their life with us I have started patching them

I keep flannel fabric on hand because it is so useful to make many things for the home.

I cut out some patches and ironed down the edges.

This can be hand sewn or machine sewn.

Pin the patch over the hole.

Sew it down, removing the pins as you go.

Sew one side and then patch the other side using the sewing marks as a marker where to put the patch.  My laundry was hanging on the line in this room when I noticed that hole had gotten larger, so I stopped and did the patches.

Most everything is expensive today, we notice just how much when we budget and keep track of every single item we spend money on.  We need to use up those things we have until they can no longer be patched.

I have made two new notebooks.  E. S. System is Everything Spent.  The Balanced Budgeting  The Monthly Total is where I enter everything paid or spent in that book and balance all accounts.

As of today, August 7th, this is everything we have spent in the first week of August. These are the totals, I have another notebook that is more detail for the groceries.  I do not mind showing this, we all have bills. The item with no amount is my supplemental insurance that was paid in Late July so it will not be taken out until late August.  I decided to set it up on a draft because the mail has been being slow coming and going so I will write that down when it was drafted. 

When Charles retires, we are going to get that cell phone bill down. We are going to change to no data phones, just talk and text.  Right now with his work, he needs the type of phone that he has, our bill is for two phones.  

Our other option is to have one phone just talk and text and keep one phone with data and photos, talk and text and get rid of the internet.  I can use the library to do my blog.  These items do not belong in 1930s, I wish I had just a house phone, but they took away all of the pay phones one could stop at to use to make a call. This is the year of 2025 and here we are in what feels like a financial trap to me.  

The Veterinary entry is for Elizabeth's seizure medication and their heart worm medicine.  We have mosquitoes in our area so this is necessary.  Part of that is for three months.

That cat food will last us over a month, it is a thirteen pound bag.  We will mark the bag when we open it and put the date opened and see how long that it lasts.  They also eat wet food but that is another fund and it is not time to buy wet food. 

Charles gas money, he spends $20.00 each time he fills up and his little car gets 30 miles to the gallon.  When he retires, there will be much less gas spent. 

This little book is for totals of the budget catagories.  No matter what we spend or what bill we pay, it goes in this notebook and totaled at the end of each month.  We keep our receipts for everything for the month and after two months we shred it, if it is not something important. 

This book I hand sewed the center to hold the pages together.

I made this "balancing" budget book to last one year and half.  I will total all entries and then balance the budget from the money we started with on the first and the money there is at the last day of the month.  

We all need to do what makes sense to us, but the main thing is keep track of everything.  If you buy groceries or just a cup iced tea from a drive through, write it down.  You will soon see if you are spending more than you take in.  It is very important to spend below your means.  

The reason that we are re-doing the way we budget (besides the study) is that we will be going from getting three paychecks at different times per month to a once a month fixed income when Charles retires soon. They did have these types of small books in the 1930s.  I do wish we had as few expenses as they had.  

I wonder what your small simple things are that you do to be able to use up or save?  We are all learning from each other so I hope to see you up in the forum, and if you have pictures of what you do to use up or save, post them in the forum, or you can just tell about it.  

Remember you may have to reduce the size of your photo before posting. If you mess up and the photo is too large you can delete or I can for you.  

Do any of you have one of those laundry racks that pulls up to the ceiling to dry the laundry?  If you do I would love to see them. 

Grandma Donna