Economy

I think I could say that I am a rather thrifty person. It doesn't matter how much money I happened to have (or not have) at my disposal, I always think of myself of someone who is poor, and spend (and buy) accordingly.

There are naturally exceptions to the rule - and those two would be food and education, where we spend liberally. My little girl just started going to a Waldorf-themed daycare, where no electronic toys, conventional snacks, TV, or other modern evils find their way, and where no more than six kids are present at a time. I think it might be a bit on a high side, but really, it's worth every penny. The same goes for food - while 100% of our meat and most of the time eggs are raised here on our farm, and we get a good deal on organic dairy by being Organic Valley producers, the rest of our food still has to come from a store, and we shop, primarily, at the rather expensive food coop in town. Not all of our food is organic, but the bulk of it is - especially the stuff which is simply inedible in its conventional form, as is true for most fruit, vegetables, and dairy.

But that would be it. The thrift is expressed in the fact that we, for instance, don't want to own cell phones or a TV or any gadgets and plans that are associated with both. I mean what would we do with either? And even when we do electronics, quality prevails over quantity - we do buy Macintosh computers, and we own two radios, but hardly anything else.

Furniture, clothing, and appliances too are the items that we prefer to get for free, or, if no free ones are available, we will buy them second hand. There might be several items in my wardrobe that I bought brand new, but you could definitely count those on your fingers. The primary purpose of clothing for me and for my baby is to be warm in Wisconsin winters, and for Jacob to look presentable at work, but, with the exception of an occasional new item bought at a deeply discounted price, Goodwill and local consignment stores take great care of those needs. The same is true for our vehicle - it's very functional, and for the first time it even looks good, and it goes very well, but it was bought used at another deeply discounted price which I further bargained down at the dealership. And you know what, I think that's how it's gotta be - so much stuff gets thrown away in this country, it's only right that we should be pleased with someone's seconds, which, more often than not, will last us another 10 years at least. Throw in the fact that I care little to not at all about any form of interior decorating, with my most prized possession being an 8-point rack of a buck Jacob shot five years ago which is not mounted in any professional way but is simply screwed into an old cutting board. I hang Xmas stockings from it and decorate it with delicate little red and green Xmas tree ornament balls. (Santa's reindeer, hehe).

Or take, for instance, our wedding rings. My original engagement ring shone like the sun and yet cost $20, being a solitaire-cut cubic zirconium in a silver setting. Some people were appalled at the size and shine of it, and just imagine the deep pleasure I took in telling them that it was fake and how little it cost. Which is why I was not sad when it was lost the night before my actual wedding. At the same time, my wedding band was my mom's wedding band that she, being divorced, no longer needed, and my husband's ring was graciously given to him by his mom, which she had made out of jewelry pieces she had inherited from her family.

I am so cheap in fact that I simply refused to spend any money on a wedding dress before being absolutely sure that I couldn't borrow one for free from someone I knew - which I was able to do, thank God. And people still compliment me on my beautiful wedding dress (which was in fact another girl's beautiful wedding dress) when they see my wedding pictures. Jacob, at the same time, instead of renting a tux, simply bought a $30 suit at a second hand store, which also happened to be a cowboy cut, so it was more than appropriate. That's how cheap we can be. And boy am I ever proud to be the way I am. Remember Thoreau? My greatest inspiration of all time? "In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness."