According to the dictionary, one of the meanings for austerity is "enforced or extreme economy". Shoot, I would hardly say I am 'inforcing' austerity on anybody. That's a pretty harsh word...'enforce', I might have stopped excessive spending since I set up a budget spreadsheet to help keep us on a straight monetary track, but I've not prevented Frankie or Zorro from going to the store to purchase however much cheese and peanut butter their little hearts desire.
Baaaa,haaaa,haaa. Now that's funny. I'm envisioning Zorro behind the wheel of a car, Frankie too, for that matter. Good joke, good joke. So, I guess in some regards they are kind of at my mercy. I don't really feel sorry for them, they have it pretty darn good. Plus, I will order groceries eventually, but I kind of like having gone back to my growing up years.
Does this sound like a story's coming? You bet ya.
I wouldn't say we were destitute while we were growing up, and my dad had a great job working for the Bethlehem Steel company in the accounting department. And, for the times he made quite good money. Still he got paid once a month, so making his salary last until the next check came was quite a challenge for my mother...who, with just a high school education was quite an accountant herself. By the way, dad didn't have a college education either. College was for the rich.
So it would be during that last week of just about any month, we would be searching dad's pants pockets and under sofa cushions for any spare change that might be found to buy a loaf of bread, a box of salt, or perhaps a pound of hamburg. And, since we had no car, one of us kids would get on our refurbished, shared, bicycle and head off for Lopresti's Grocery Store with a hand full of change to make a very precious purchase. Mom had an account at Lopresti's, but like Momma's bank in the movie, we seldom ever, ever used it.
Frugality, was our watch word, if there was no money, we did without. Take for instance, Back to School Shopping...ours consisted of a new pair of shoes (the one who need a new pair the most got it) and one new outfit.
Otherwise, we wore what was in our closets until the clothes were outgrown, or fell apart. Christmas consisted of one or two presents, and socks filled with a few pieces of candy, nuts, apples and oranges, that immediately went back into the kitchen for use by the whole family.
We didn't go to movies, or out to eat. There was one special meal a week, and that was on Sunday after church. We entertained ourselves by playing games, or using our imaginations, or having arousing games of Mushball with all the kids in the neighborhood. Whatever was free, was good fun .
So, as you can see, I do know how to be frugal, I had great teachers. And, that is why I decided to emulate my mom and dad to see if I could still survive by flying by the seat of my pants. Of course, Frankie and Zorro have taken offense to my endeavors, but I don't think it is going to kill them, to learn they sometimes have to wait for good things to happen.
As a result, when I made spaghetti yesterday, we ate it without my favorite, wonderful, wonderful, sharp cheddar cheese. Guess what? We all survived. Okay, it wasn't the best spaghetti we ever had, but it wasn't half bad either. Zorro certainly had no problem licking my plate.
I guess we are going to have to have a family gathering, so I can explain in better detail, that I'm not imposing austerity upon them. And that, to me, austerity is having to burn your furniture to keep warm in winter, or using catalogs as toilet paper, or having gruel as the main staple of our diet. I'm simply being frugal, all our furniture is still intact, catalogs are still used for ordering things, and we eat spaghetti, yeah, it is without cheese...but it is spaghetti. Life is still good, life is still good.
Does this sound like a story's coming? You bet ya.
I wouldn't say we were destitute while we were growing up, and my dad had a great job working for the Bethlehem Steel company in the accounting department. And, for the times he made quite good money. Still he got paid once a month, so making his salary last until the next check came was quite a challenge for my mother...who, with just a high school education was quite an accountant herself. By the way, dad didn't have a college education either. College was for the rich.
So it would be during that last week of just about any month, we would be searching dad's pants pockets and under sofa cushions for any spare change that might be found to buy a loaf of bread, a box of salt, or perhaps a pound of hamburg. And, since we had no car, one of us kids would get on our refurbished, shared, bicycle and head off for Lopresti's Grocery Store with a hand full of change to make a very precious purchase. Mom had an account at Lopresti's, but like Momma's bank in the movie, we seldom ever, ever used it.
Frugality, was our watch word, if there was no money, we did without. Take for instance, Back to School Shopping...ours consisted of a new pair of shoes (the one who need a new pair the most got it) and one new outfit.
Otherwise, we wore what was in our closets until the clothes were outgrown, or fell apart. Christmas consisted of one or two presents, and socks filled with a few pieces of candy, nuts, apples and oranges, that immediately went back into the kitchen for use by the whole family.
We didn't go to movies, or out to eat. There was one special meal a week, and that was on Sunday after church. We entertained ourselves by playing games, or using our imaginations, or having arousing games of Mushball with all the kids in the neighborhood. Whatever was free, was good fun .
So, as you can see, I do know how to be frugal, I had great teachers. And, that is why I decided to emulate my mom and dad to see if I could still survive by flying by the seat of my pants. Of course, Frankie and Zorro have taken offense to my endeavors, but I don't think it is going to kill them, to learn they sometimes have to wait for good things to happen.
As a result, when I made spaghetti yesterday, we ate it without my favorite, wonderful, wonderful, sharp cheddar cheese. Guess what? We all survived. Okay, it wasn't the best spaghetti we ever had, but it wasn't half bad either. Zorro certainly had no problem licking my plate.
I guess we are going to have to have a family gathering, so I can explain in better detail, that I'm not imposing austerity upon them. And that, to me, austerity is having to burn your furniture to keep warm in winter, or using catalogs as toilet paper, or having gruel as the main staple of our diet. I'm simply being frugal, all our furniture is still intact, catalogs are still used for ordering things, and we eat spaghetti, yeah, it is without cheese...but it is spaghetti. Life is still good, life is still good.
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