Most Important / Useful Skills to Have.

Angel_Jenny

What would you say are the most useful skills that you have relating to frugality / old style living?

Some things tend to cost more to make yourself but it is fun! Some things are cheaper home made too plus you get personalise them to your exact requirements.

I like all the home making type skills but I was thinking about which are actually useful.

Budgeting and cooking from scratch = useful.

I thought knitting would be useful (I am slowly learning) but wool is expensive so things like throws are usually cheaper to buy.

Tiglath

Budgeting, cooking and gardening for me.

dottodot

Cooking, definitely. Have you seen the price of convenience food! Also gardening, and some basic needlework - the cost of having a zip replaced or some clothing / curtains altered is pretty steep! And my husband is pretty handy at woodwork and DIY, which must have saved us loads over the years.

gibson123

Angel Jenny don't give up on knitting, make your own yarn from old clothes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HN1Nt9SAcRw

Personally I think sewing is the best thing. I am making some curtains out of cotton sheeting for my daughters room at the moment.

grumpybear_3

Sewing is definitely underrated - I know this mainly because I can't do it and end up taking my mending 120 miles to my mum to get her to do it!

angeltreats

Car maintenance. My husband did a couple of courses at the local college. It's saved us thousands over the last three years. Also DIY - we are renovating our house and doing 99% of the work ourselves. My husband is fitting the bathroom and doing all the tiling. I'm painting and wallpapering. We've fitted a new solid wood floor between us (team effort). The floor alone would have cost almost a grand in labour, not counting materials.

Basic dressmaking is very useful. Apart from mending, you can alter clothes if you lose or gain weight, or spot a bargain that just doesn't quite fit perfectly. Also how to polish a pair of shoes properly. My dad taught me, and I'm shocked at how many people my age (32) have no idea what to do with a tin of shoe polish, but my shoes last for years because I take care of them properly and take them to be re-heeled when they've worn down rather than letting them wear down to the point where they're so damaged they can't be repaired.

Decent knife skills - no matter how good a cook you are, if it takes you an hour to chop up the veg for your dinner, you'll have wasted time that you could be using for something else. Get a friendly chef to show you how to properly use a knife and save time and fingers

Poppy9

Discount internet shopping.

So many people won't use internet to search for cheaper prices, search for discount codes or use cashback sites.

Butterfly_Brain

Wool is a good price in B&M and there are lots of cheap wools on ebay. The beauty of hand knitting is that you can always unpick an old jumper and knit something else with the wool, with the added bonus that it is warmer than the flimsy acrylic jumpers in the shops, I have a starsky cardi that I knitted way back in the 70's and it is still going strong and I love snuggling up in it on chilly nights, not bad for something that is nearly 40 years old, so yes I would say that it is a good skill to have.
Sewing is another useful skill so is cooking, growing your own veg, plumbing skills like changing a washer on a tap, bleeding radiators etc, basic electrical skills such as changing a socket or light switch. DIY. Foraging for food is a very useful skill and there are courses that you can go on to help in identifying things that are edible.

meritaten

I too, say keep up with the knitting! look for bargains on yarn online - often by buying direct from the manufacturer you can save pounds - and they publish FREE patterns online!
to name just one, 'Rowan' yarns - google it!
If you are struggling with learning to knit - then Youtube has loads of tutorials! you can watch someone go slowly through those tricky steps.
basic baking - learn to make sponge cakes and pastry - you can then save pounds by not buying ready made. learn to make scones - they can be made and baked within half hour and you only need jam or butter with them! ideal for unexpected guests!
what else? hmmm think outside the box! if you like a very expensive bit of home decor - can you make that yourself? I have noticed that some shops charge an arm and a leg for 'twigs'! I can get those free on a walk - and can buy a can of spray paint for about 3.99 and do hundreds with it! bit of glue and glitter and hey presto - christmas arrangement!

booter

I agree with everything mentioned so far - sewing has proved my most useful I think, even to the point of making a few extra coppers doing repairs/alterations for others (have you seen how much shops charge for alterations :eek:)

Oh and Angel_Jenny - try charity shops for wool. My locals usually have loads in at really good prices

lostinrates

I envy those who can knit. Sigh. I have tried and tried and I just cannot, mine ends up like dense tight tweed with holes in it.


I am going to say something a little different, and that's thaty I think there are important outlooks to develop. Delayed gratification...knowing that small savings can add up to be a great saftey net or a something to buy better with. The second important 'skill' to develop IMO, is that of 'counting your blessings' as quickly as we tend to count our ills.

These two combined make frugal soup with plain bread and butter tastier, and mean that the days when meals are 'fancier' we appreciate the true worth of them, in more than financial terms.