It is said that there was once a man bowed down by the cares and troubles of this world, and as he lay on the ground, cast down and despondent, a great Voice spoke to him and said, “Arise and be of good cheer, things could be worse.” So he arose and was of good cheer, and things were worse.
There is a slice of life as it really is!
What I like about this story is that, in a world where things might well get worse, he was cheerful, up and doing, instead of lying on the ground feeling sorry for himself.
There is an argument that the forces that shape our lives, things like our health, the economy, our luck, or lack of it, are so strong compared to our own feeble efforts, that there is nothing we can do to change anything, and we might just as well give up trying. It is surely true that much of our lives is shaped by forces we do not control.
We may be pushed around by the World, but we are not helpless, unless we think we are. For every poor family living on benefits that is sunk in squalor there are ten families, with the same income and the same problems, who find ways to live full and useful lives. For every millionaire wallowing in drink and drugs, there are ten millionaires committed to helping the Arts, or to funding charities.
Most people have that share of guts that allows them to override the temptation to give up and take the easy road of self-pity or self-indulgence, or both, and to go right on battling away, each day making a little progress against the contrary winds of the World`s fortune, getting where they want to go, and in the journey living a real life. Penny Pinchers really live.
If you try to keep up with the Joneses, then it is Jones` life you are living. If your future is based on dreams of winning the National Lottery, then your life is a dream. If you spend today what you have not got, hoping the money will turn up somehow, then your future is nothing but chance. Much better to make your own spending decisions, your own plans and by care and persistence, make your dreams come true.
Summer and long days, warm evenings and the scent of flowers, a hot sun and lemonade – what am I thinking of? Long days are given to enable us to get more work done, warm evenings are an opportunity to get the allotment or vegetable garden into full production, and a hot sun means good drying weather for painting the outside of the house. Isn`t that what being a Penny Pincher is all about? Not quite. As someone said, if you are up to your neck in water, surrounded by alligators, it is sometimes hard to remember that you are meant to be draining the swamp. Sometimes in the rush and crush of purposeful activity, all very worthwhile in itself, it is easy to forget why we are doing it, that the activity is a means, not an end. Certainly, we will live impoverished lives if we are not active, and not only impoverished literally by money problems, but impoverished by being bystanders as the world passes by, rather than active participants. But surely there is room for both, for activity and for reward? Summer has come and it will all too soon be gone. Dreary, wet days are quite suitable for digging in an allotment and painting can be spread into the cool Autumn, so use at least some of this month for rewards, that is, having saved the money take your holiday, or if you have dug and manured and planted, then take the time to enjoy the radishes and lettuces, the new potatoes and asparagus. You have worked for this. Also, by taking the time and spending the money, you will find that it reinforces your commitment to keep plugging away. Your letters to us describe how young couples have worked hard, been innovative, have learnt how to do things for themselves, and that has come back as a reward to them, for they have been able to buy the house their growing family needs. One quite elderly reader found that she could learn and adapt just as well as young readers, and she is good at planning ahead, thinking through problems, and that let her save up for an expensive, but very good, hearing aid that changed her social life. In both instances, penny pinching was not seen as a hair shirt to show how good and caring we are, but as a means, a tool, to reach a better standard of living. Summer, too short Summer, is here, so enjoy it. Of course, if that is too easy, then you can always put in some hard work, planning how to enjoy it!
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It`s that time again, you know the “Muuummmmm, I`m bored. What can I do?”
Most schools have a six-week holiday. At seven days a week, that`s 42 days of “what can I do?”
Here then, an article we did in July 1998, something to fill up the summer, most of which will cost nothing … and goes to show that things rarely change in this world.
A note: obviously, some of these things will need a little adult supervision.
1. Make a Family Tree. Find out who your great-grandparents were, and maybe even all their parents! [And these days, much can be found on the internet for free.]
2. Make an inventory of the house. This will be a useful House Book.
3. Write a newspaper! Our three kids did a weekly “Glittering Week” – and then sold it to us for 2p.
4. Make a cardboard box theatre. For this you need two sticks of some sort, and a roll of lining paper or really cheap useless wallpaper. You may find some in a charity shop. Cut out a big window in one side of the box, make two holes on the top near the edges to hold the sticks. Draw your `story` on the roll of paper, attach the ends to the sticks. Put the stick ends in the holes from underneath, and “roll the story out”.
5. Make helmets from milk jugs. Make sure they`re empty first.
6. Take a traffic census. You can do this on a rainy day, looking out of your window. Keep a record of traffic passing by, and in which direction.
7. Identify the weeds in your garden.
8. Make some salt dough: 1 part salt, 1½ parts water, 3 parts flour. Mix and knead. It will dry hard, and if then baked in a medium oven for about an hour the articles can be painted and will last for ages.
9. Organise your bedroom. Not just tidy it up, but really organise it.
10. Plan your TV watching. Why not be a TV critic, and write out a report on what you watch?
11. Make a paper bead necklace. Cut triangles of colourful pictures from a weekend supplement; starting at the wide end, roll them around a knitting needle, glue and let dry, then take them off and string them.
12. Read a Great Book.
13. Write and illustrate a little book.
14. Go slug-bashing, or if this is too squeamish for words, make a list of the little animals that inhabit your garden.
15. Plan a garden!
16. Grow salt crystals. If you add salt to hot water, dissolve it, then keep adding salt until no more will dissolve, then leave the super-saturated solution (which is what it is) in a jar for several days you should get crystals forming.
17. Grow a carrot-top garden. Cut off the top bit of a carrot, put it in a saucer of water, keep it topped up with water and watch it grow.
18. Save any fruit stones and pips that come your way, plant them in a little pot, keep them warm and see how many come up. Try a little piece of root ginger – the stem keeps turning at weird angles as it grows!
19. Can you edge the flower beds or lawn? Ask first.
20. Find ten no-cook recipes (such as no-cook fondant, rum balls, truffles).
21. Time yourself while doing a job – say sweeping, or dusting, then criticise your movements and see whether next time you can do it faster and better.
22. Add up how much money a glossy magazine encourages you to spend.
23. Make something in papier-mache. Tear up newspaper into small pieces, make into a mash with water so that it is workable, and make models.
24. Make a doorstop, with an old brick and a really imaginative cover. Let your artistic abilities shine!
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There is a lovely story about a French General in colonial Algeria at the turn of the century who ordered a row of cypress trees to be planted. “But Sir,” his junior officer complained, “these trees will take eighty years to grow!” “Then we must hurry to get them in the ground,” replied the General. It is so easy to find excuses for not taking the first step today, the beginning of the rest of our lives. `Let`s wait until after the holidays`, or `I will start saving more and cut down on waste after the children have left home`. It is human nature, if we could only find the time, to procrastinate, but putting things off is something we learn and can unlearn. With a little practice, we can get well trained in the art of deceiving ourselves, and we will have an excuse to hand for stalling on making those changes that we know we should make. On the other side, once you have made one change, the next step is a little bit easier. After all, digging up the end of the lawn for a vegetable garden wasn`t so bad, was it? Leaving the old job is going to be a wrench, but the new job will mean meeting new people, learning new ways of doing things, and it will certainly involve upsetting established routines, but change is good for us. You begin to realize that you have more abilities than you had ever thought, that you can show other people new ways to do things. You gain control over your life, and you become a leader. It is nearly Midsummer. What jobs around the house have you marked down to do when the evenings start to draw in, and the days become cool and wet? Can you make a start now? There is no need to leave it until after the summer holidays before starting to look for that new job. Even if your big change is to move into a new house more suited to your needs, and it is said that moving house is one of the most stressful experiences we undergo, then start today, and don`t let yourself be led into wondering whether the market is going up or down. It is never the right time to move, it is never the right time to change jobs, and it is positively never the right time to have a baby! Today is as good a day as any tomorrow, so start those savings, that sensible life style, today while your mid is made up, and each day the changes will come a little easier, and each day will be one lived a little more the way you want to live.
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