Lessons from the Greatest Generation Part 1 by Mrs. Von Steuben

This article was written by my lovely wife.  -Mike

My Grandma was a stingy, wrapping paper-saving penny pincher until she passed away in her 80’s. Being the daughter of poor German immigrants during the Great Depression, she learned from a young age to save everything. While most of us probably don’t want to have a junk room of wrapping paper, gift boxes, broken typewriters, and other miscellaneous crap, there are some valuable lessons to be learned from those who made it through economic disaster, especially since recent events are making it look as if we are headed for another depression.

Lesson 1: Mindset

Grandma’s mentality is not one that comes with a single decision. She had a lifetime practice of saving everything she thought might be necessary later. Even after rising to middle class, she never forgot her childhood of poverty. No waste was acceptable. While Grandma might seem strange to us, and maybe a little crazy, her approach was not unusual until prosperity in America made it such.

Until the 20th century, everyone was careful with resources. Lydia Child talks about this in her book The Frugal Housewife. She advises in the book how to make the most out of everything, from saving the string off packages to scraping old rags into lint that can be made into kindling. Nothing was wasted, just like in Grandma’s house.

How do we achieve this mindset? Fortunately, it can start with simple things like weaning yourself off disposable kitchen items. Plastic wrap and ziploc bags might be convenient, but they are an unnecessary consumables that add up over time and almost never can be reused. Average price of cling wrap is about $8. Depending on the size/brand plastic bags are around $3-$5. Even on the low end, if you buy these items once a month, you will spend $132 in one year. In ten years time, you’ll have spent $1,320.

The rise of the environmental movement has done us the one service of offering options that can be used as an alternative. Or you can be doubly economical, and reuse things like ice cream tubs, Poweraid/Gatoraid bottles, peanut butter jars, and anything else you might be able to repurpose (more on that in part 2). Obviously, saving wrapping paper like Grandma is a bit extreme, but your goal should be to reach a point where you have as little trash as possible in a week. This will also be beneficial if your goal is to prepare for a potential grid down scenario. I doubt in a WROL situation that trash pickup will proceed as scheduled.

Watch for part 2, where we will dive into the world of upcycling.

~Mrs. Von Steuben