Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without

So there's been a lot of talk lately about some recession that's apparently happening? Just kidding, I do read the news and I am familiar with the financial situation. And I just thought the other day about how well-prepared I am for this thing, unlike some people in this nation may be.

You see, now there's this craze about being frugal. Strange why it was never that way before. Why is it that when something is in short supply we realize how much we took it for granted, how much we wasted it? Like how much we want rain in a drought, or how nice it would be for it to snow when it's been cold and dry all winter without a flake? And now, people are coming up short on money and wondering why they didn't spend it in a wiser way before.

Saving money in my family is like a game, a trick. Why buy the brand-name drug when the off-brand one has the same constituents for the same pain relief, yet at a cheaper price? Why go buy a new car from the carlot which will depreciate the moment you drive it off, when you can get a used one that lasts you for the next twelve years? Why buy the new outfit in the store when you can get it in a second-hand store cheaper and looking just as good after running it through the washing machine? Why go to the hairdresser when your mom can cut your hair for free? In fact, the way we've saved on everything my whole life, one might think there has been a recession throughout the whole of my lifetime and before that. Garage sales, thrift stores and hand-me-down clothes are just the beginning of my 'lifestory' of frugality. This is at least a third-generation lifestyle. With both sets of grandparents living through the Depression, and my parents being the children of such people, our style of saving every penny has continued for years.

The sad thing about this recession that we're having is that the people who really know how to survive it are almost gone. Those who lived through the Great Depression - making clothes out of flour sacks and standing in line for whatever minimum wage job they could find - they are almost all gone. My grandma lived through that time, on a farm in Iowa, when not only money was a problem but where the dust storms also raged. Somehow they were able to keep the farm. I think she is one of the people who will have the easiest times making it through this relatively minor (in comparison) recession. One of my favorite things she says is: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Times like this really remind us what the difference is in the definitions of 'wants' and 'needs.'

I think these times are going to help us remember what is of true value, teach us a little lesson about the consequences of materialism, and perhaps we will all emerge on the other end of this recession a little wiser about what really matters.

~Jessica