I hate to spend money. My husband might spit out his coffee
reading that line (if he read my column, which he doesn’t), because he has seen
my Visa bill. So let me clarify: I hate spending too much money for something.
I do enjoy a good retail therapy session – but it has to be filled with amazing
deals, great finds and super sale prices or I will have buyer’s remorse, and
likely return what I bought.
My parents raised us to be thrifty, and I have worked hard
for my money since I was a young girl. I know the value of a dollar, as they
say. I was also a single mom going without luxuries in order to pay the utility
bill and put food on the table. That is when I discovered thrift shops,
second-hand stores, and consignment. We have all of these stores in Kemptville,
and my closet is full of the treasures I have found on their racks, at a
fraction of the original price. I am happy to know that I am reducing the
amount of clothing going to a landfill, by buying second hand. And you find
things that were made to last – wool suits, leather jackets, silky blouses and
designer dresses – for the price you would pay for a trendy new top from a big
box store (which might actually fall apart after 3 washes – the top; not the
store).
When I married the Farmer and moved in, I used to laugh at
all of the examples of things that had been put to good use for a second time:
a rusted out farm implement became an art installation in the garden; broken
deep freezers were turned into feed storage bins; and an old bedframe, complete
with springs, was attached to the side of the house so the vines could grow on
it. But my Farmer learned how to upcycle from his uncle, when he spent summers
on the family dairy farm near Winchester. That uncle was raised in the 30’s,
during the time when nothing was wasted or thrown away if it had an ounce of
use left in it.
Yes, you can go to the farm store and buy nifty, new-fangled
items with which to store and serve your animal feed – or you can make your own
from things you have around the house. Old ice cream containers make great
scoops for corn and sweet feed. Those rubber nipples for feeding lambs fit
right over the end of a soda bottle. An old kiddie pool makes a great pen for
baby chicks, and the upturned lid to a garbage can makes a great field dish for
sweet feed when you are trying to attract a cow.
I’m even learning to save and recycle seasonal décor: the
decorative pine cones, ribbon, foam sponge and pot from my Christmas garden
arrangements have been put away until next December, when I will walk around
the property collecting the red dogwood, emerald pine and white birch branches
to create my own display. Those two pieces were worth $50 last year.
We need porch shades to reduce the sun in the back of the
house in the summer. It gets really hot at dinner time and the setting rays
blind whomever decides to sit in the spot that is directly in their path. I
found a page of exterior shades on Amazon, and showed the Farmer. They ranged
in price from $17 to $267.
“I just took the old porch apart at the cottage site,” he
announced. “I’ll bring the blinds home from there.” Well, that’s a good idea
too. The cottage itself, when it is finished, will be a hotbed of recycled
items. I doubt there will be anything new in there at all. From appliances and rugs
to furniture and décor, it will all be coming from our basement – the family
catch-all for unwanted things.
My Word of 2019 is “Less.” It stands for a lot of different
things: less eating and drinking, less worrying, less spending. The next time I
go to spend money on a non-consumable something I think I need, I’m going to
put my single mom hat back on and think like the Farmer: “Do I really need it?
Can I find something else I already have to serve this purpose?”
I found an old leaky cooler today and upcycled it into a
recycling bin for our empties. I’m starting to get the hang of this.
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