WHY are you old style?......

Angel_Jenny

The old fashioned way of living appeals to me a lot. I think clutter and stuff acts as a barrier between me and the real world. Every step towards more processed and manufactured stuff is a step away from nature and simple pleasures.

Just because I can afford to buy something doesn't mean that I should or that I deserve it!

People I have mentioned it to think I am nuts. In the sense of "why make a skirt / a cake / a quilt when you could just buy one?" I want to put actual effort into those things as I think they would mean more because of the effort expended and the learning opportunity provided.

I am thinking of joining a WI although I am worried that I am too young. I have been baking bread recently (I started with packet mixes) and although it takes longer than just buying bread, it is so satisfying. Frugal and thrifty living just seems more wholesome and less wasteful.

Angel Jenny :A

v8monkeyboy

Angel_Jenny I completely agree with you.

I've recently crocheted two blankets for use at home and am in the process of making another for my friend. I also think that the effort which goes into making things do make them more special and have more memories attached, than say, spending Sunday in John Lewis!

Last year I decided that there was no way we were going to be spending tons of cash on OH's family for Christmas (my family don't give presents to adults :j), so everything was homemade. You know what? The people receiving them said they were the best presents they'd had in ages and were amazed at the effort I had gone to for them. The thing is, because I love to make things and learn how to make things, I didn't find it a chore and it was more enjoyable for me than shopping for them.

Also, I agree that I shouldn't have something just because I 'deserve it'. I have the basics and above what many others have, and really want for none of the basics of a comfortable, down to earth life. I used to have some health problems which required me to cut out a lot of the foods I used to eat, but only in such a way that they had to be homemade rather than bought from Waitrose etc. I also took a good long look at myself trying to keep up with everyone elses' expectations and removed myself totally from that. Since then, I've become healthier and so much more relaxed that people who knew me in the past can't belive how much I've changed!

I'm happier, the OH is so chilled he's almost horizontal and that is worth all the 'effort' in itself!

T x

adelight

I don't think I'm overly inspired by an era, it's just various little principles and values that have resulted in me getting kinda-OS! I don't think me wanting a steak is important enough to warrant mass deforestation or poor use of land which could provide vegetable based protein for 10x as many people...
I recycle anything and everything, use as little electricity as i can, walk walkable(?!) distances because I'm conscious of my impact on the planet and other people. I try to eat seasonal, home made, nutritious, low cost foods because i'm health conscious and broke

Rummer

If I am totally honest a complete lack of money was the starting point for me living a more old style life and once I started I was soon bitten by the bug and started to look at things differently. Now I have changed the way I live my life based on principle instead of just necessity.

Penelope_Penguin

Welcome to Jenny angel! We have an existing thread on Simplifying Life, so I'll merge this later

Butterfly_Brain

I agree with what everyone has said.

Mine is a cross between the Good Life and WW2

We have had to live the frugal life since we got married 23 years ago.
With a mortgage and kids there really was no other way and now I have found myself waiting for both of my knees to be replaced and other health problems, a lot of them caused by hard graft in thankless pooly paid jobs over the years.


But don't get me wrong I don't resent it !

• I love hunting for bargains.
• I grow as much of my own fruit and veg as I can in a very high raised bed that DH built for me, in pots and grow bags.
• I make my own bread, cakes, biscuits etc.
• We have soup and pudding night once a week and a veggie night as well.
• I knit and crochet and I have learnt to sew.
• DH does carpentry, bricklaying, plumbing and electrics (He is qualified in electrical engineering BTW).

We have a lot of like minded neighbours in our area and the barter system is alive and well
Everything that we have achieved is made sweeter in the fact that we have done things ourselves or with help from friends at a fraction of the cost.

Gothicfairy

I think I might have a slightly different view this time next year but for now I am looking forward to having to do everthing myself. One of the best books I ever read was Hoven in the Hills by Elizabeth West and that has helped me get my head around our move and that people have been living that way for thousands of years and that I will not die or starve to death..lol

I am a great believer in food for free and do that now with our local wild fruits and mushrooms etc. I am lucky enough to be able to cook from scratch and make my own bread, cakes , jams etc all without the aid of machines
I cook on cast iron so can cope with range / wood burning cooking which is really just as well.
I can plaster (which came as a shock) and between hubby and I there is not a great deal we can not fix and I guess we will find out how good we are at roofing soon enough as well.

The toilet (modern day) is the one thing that I will miss but then again thousands of years of the long drop and it clearly still works so I guess I will get over that.

I think my life is going to be more "little house on the Prairie" then anything else to begin with but I will be happy to get to the good life.

charlies-aunt

I guess I just returned to my roots - growing up in the countryside in the 50's and 60's - everyone lived a very frugal life from necessity.

In my 20's I had really well paid job and all the bells & whistles that went with it ...but then it all went down the pan and reverting back to the lifestyle I'd known as a child was a necessity.

Times are hard economically but in terms of happiness and contentment, things have never been better. I live as OS as possible and "reuse, reduce, repair, remodel, recycle" is our mantra

katholicos

Gothicfairy wrote: »

I think I might have a slightly different view this time next year but for now I am looking forward to having to do everthing myself. One of the best books I ever read was Hoven in the Hills by Elizabeth West and that has helped me get my head around our move and that people have been living that way for thousands of years and that I will not die or starve to death..lol

I am a great believer in food for free and do that now with our local wild fruits and mushrooms etc. I am lucky enough to be able to cook from scratch and make my own bread, cakes , jams etc all without the aid of machines
I cook on cast iron so can cope with range / wood burning cooking which is really just as well.
I can plaster (which came as a shock) and between hubby and I there is not a great deal we can not fix and I guess we will find out how good we are at roofing soon enough as well.

The toilet (modern day) is the one thing that I will miss but then again thousands of years of the long drop and it clearly still works so I guess I will get over that.

I think my life is going to be more "little house on the Prairie" then anything else to begin with but I will be happy to get to the good life.

I have and have read the Elizabeth West books, I also highly recommend the Ruth Ruck books too. Especially the first one, 'Place of Stones'.

Angel_Jenny

It is a shame that the older style skills aren't taught any more. Sewing, baking and basic home economics weren't taught at my school but I would have loved to have learnt them. I think it would have been easier to learn when I was young!

Hopefully I could learn some of this at the WI!

I have been reading a book called "The Hope Chest - A Legacy of Love" which covers all sorts of things that would go into a hope chest. I am finding it really interesting as I had not heard of the hope chest tradition. It covers physical things to put in as well as skills to learn. Even the most basic items like plates and cups are meaningful because of the love they are given with.

It makes me wonder what it will be like for the next generation as everyone seems to want brand new stuff so heirlooms and family treasures don't seem as important. Also if children aren't taught the skills they don't always realise what they are missing.

Perhaps in a couple of generations no children will wear jumpers knitted by Granny and that seems like such a shame!

Angel Jenny :A