My husband and I earn less than the federal poverty guidelines, yet somehow I haven’t felt very poor until now.
Today I got out my mending basket and spent six hours mending underwear and socks. I darned holes in socks that could be replaced for two bucks. I carefully re-stitched broken seams in brassieres that are ten years old. I disassembled one pair of jockey briefs so that I’d have material with which to patch others. I nipped and tucked worn-out elastic in panties so that I can wear them without them falling down around my knees.
Auggh. Does anyone else do this? I feel like a frontier woman.
Go frontier woman! I hope you’re not ashamed of making good use of stuff.
I don’t repair undies, but I wear them until they fall apart. I don’t buy clothes at all, really. I’ve worn the same winter coat for five or six years, same with shoes. I wear them until they fall apart, one pair for warm weather and one for cold.
I feel poor but there’s no one thing that brings it home. Maybe not being able to save, and not ponying up for the NPR and PBS membership drives. Buying stamps one at a time – that makes me feel poor.
ETA: Oh, and while I don’t repair underwear, I do recycle it - holey socks become sweatbands for my wrists (I wear them while working out, or while playing guitar onstage); boxers and t-shirts become rags for washing the car or cleaning the bathroom.
I’m not good enough with whatever skill it is that you need to patch socks, but I do all of those other things, buying individual stamps (I hardly ever have to mail things), never buying a full tank of gas, and I wear the same pair of shoes almost every day, except flip flops when I don’t have to work and it’s warm outside. Another thing I do is cook up a huge pot of food for myself and eat it for meals over the course of a few days to a week depending on how big the pot was. Right now I have a shepherd’s pie in the oven that weighs somewhere around 14 pounds (I took it upstairs to weigh it, because it’s big even by my standards)
I am frugal too. I use my clothes until they are rags (that’s when they are really comfy), and I do repair some clothes and shoes. It’s not that I can’t afford otherwise, but that I hate being wasteful. Leftovers get recycled here too. Good clothes that I don’t wear anymore go to charity, same for kids clothes and toys.
I’m still wearing a couple of pairs of high-cut briefs from when I was pregnant over nine years ago. There are X-Large (not maternity panties, but regular VS cotton briefs). I currently wear Medium comfortably. They are incredibly uncomfortable because they ride up and sag at various intervals. But I can’t throw them out because they simply refuse to fall apart and I like having period/laundry’s-backed-up panties that I really don’t care much about. They’ve got to be on their last leg though.
ETA/Disclaimer: I’m not literally wearing them right now and have changed them since I was pregnant. eesh That first sentence is kinda awkward.
Well bless your heart! I always think I had a bad day but I should just shut the hell up. Be sure I’m thinking about you and your family and I hope you will wake up to a better day.
I sewed up 3 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of jeans the other day. I didn’t do it because I couldn’t afford new socks and jeans but because every dollar I save is a dollar I can put towards something else I want or need more than new socks and jeans.
I’m still wearing a scrub shirt that has cows on it. I bought it when I was pregnant and breastfeeding kid #1 and the cows just ‘spoke’ to me at the time.
The kid is turning 12 this week!
And I replaced my one pair of tennis shoes yesterday. I wore of three layers of tread. They were becoming slippery dangerous.
You want poor? I am currently googling to find out how practical it would be to wash my clothes in the tub and save the $1.50 per load in my apartment complex’s laundry room. I’ve already started hanging up clothes and turning on a fan rather than using the dryer.
I repair and recycle my clothes. I’m rather picky about what I will wear, so it makes sense to mend and darn stuff while I’m watching a DVD or TV. I’d rather do that than shop for new clothes. And if you have a bra that FITS, it’s probably no longer made.
Heck, I disassemble old clothes when they’re thoroughly worn out, and use any good bits for patchwork or other projects, and then cut up the worn out bits for rags or pillow stuffing (I make a lot of throw pillows). When I was a teenager, I lived for a couple of years with my grandparents, who’d grown up during the Depression. They reinforced my innate tendency for reusing stuff.
We are quite comfortably well off, but I find quite a bit of satisfaction in not adding to landfills.
I don’t mend underwear, but I do darn socks and reinforce split seams. Outworn clothes become cleaning rags.
I don’t buy plastice wrap to cover leftovers, I use plastic bags groceries came in. Ditto for the clumps from the cat’s litter boxes. Empty jars, rather than purchased disposable plastic containers. Instead of lint rollers I use a roll of wide masking tape with a piece rolled back around it so the sticky side is out.
It’s little things that can save you big, in the long run.
…Dang it, I’m sitting here, smacking my head at the thought of all the holey socks of Hallboy’s that I’ve pitched over the years. I’m going to drag out my needle and thread.
I re-use toiletpaper!—Ewwww. No really, it’s not bad. I always fold the paper to where the first swipe has a big surface area. Then, fold the used tissue in on itself. I have half the surface area to make the second swipe as I did the first swipe, and I’m just as far from poo as I was the first time. Repeat until clean. On the second or third pull of fresh paper, I might even get an additional fold or two.
I do the same thing. And common household necessities don’t come much cheaper than toilet paper. I probably haven’t saved more than $50 over my entire lifetime by doing this, but it’s the principle of the thing. That and the fact that fewer TP wads = fewer clogs.
I’ve worn underpants where the elastic has completely died and I’d find them sliding down my thighs under my jeans. I’ve done make-do repairs on them because I couldn’t bear to throw them out. When it finally came time, I grudgingly, very grudgingly, did so. Bras suffer the same fate. Though I’ve darned a few socks, haven’t made a habit of it for some reason but they do last me a long, long time.
I admit I got an entire new wardrobe in the last year but only because I’ve lost a whole lot of weight and wearing many-sizes-too-big-clothing was just too impractical. But since most of my things were still in good condition, even stuff a decade or more old, I donated them to a little independent thrift store that does a lot of good work with the homeless and also sends clothing to poor folks overseas. My “new” wardrobe has come from this and other thrift stores. Most of my things were bought on the day when you pay only 99 cents if the item has a certain color tag. If something costs over 3 bucks, I’ll do without.
Nearly all the pants I buy have to be shortened. Of course, I do this myself rather than pay someone else to do it. I now have a stack of fabric strips that I haven’t done anything with but, darn it, they’ll be useful for something someday! Likewise old towels (most of mine date back two or three decades) and sheets that are no longer suitable for the bathroom or bed. Can’t get rid of them. They’ll be handy in case the toilet overflows or the water heater bursts or for some really dirty job.
I’m a toilet paper folder too. And I tear paper towels in halves or even thirds when I don’t need a whole sheet, which is most of the time.
I just had some of my daughter’s pants shortened, and when we picked them up, we were surprised that they also returned the fabric strips to us. What are they for?
No really, it’s not bad. I always fold the paper to where the first swipe has a big surface area. Then, fold the used tissue in on itself. I have half the surface area to make the second swipe as I did the first swipe, and I’m just as far from poo as I was the first time. Repeat until clean. On the second or third pull of fresh paper, I might even get an additional fold or two.