Muttcats, I am following you around!!

[renie408]

Hi, I am new here also.

Frugality is something we talk about, but I am having a serious problem getting the concept adequately.

I look forward to learning how to cut costs and live in a more earth and energy friendly.

[politicat]

1. For me, the basic concept is being aware of everything I use and do....

Like keeping an eye on packaging, and making sure that if I buy something, I'm buying it for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. It sometimes means making a game out of money - how much can I buy for $5, for example.

It's looking around me and being happy about the things I own and the place I am, even if that requires some convincing (usually when the neighbors are playing really loud music early in the morning) and realizing that my sense of self and my self-worth are not tied to what I own and what I can potentially own.

It's being content to live in the world I can make for myself, and not lusting for more. I'm not Judeo-Christian, but frugality for me is the embodiment of the commandment not to covet.

[renie408]

2. I am trying so hard

To teach my son (fourteen, ninth grade, VERY self-concious time of life) that WE are not the car we drive. That our ten year old Rodeo runs well and suits our purposes and, even more importantly, is PAID for. Also, we live in *gasp* a double wide. It doesn't matter that it sits on 70 gorgeous acres of land and that if you are inside, you can't tell the difference between it and a regular house. I distinctly feel that he is embarrassed.

[politicat]

3. Doublewides aren't bad!!!

I'm very much in favor of manufactured housing - it's much easier on the planet in so many ways.

(The only reason I bought the house I did and not a mobile is that I literally could not find land on which to put one and there are no co-op parks in my area; instead, I'm in a very old house.) You're very lucky to have that land and space.

One way to help kids learn the value of money is to allow/make him be co-responsible for the bills. I was about his age when my parents' marriage began to disintegrate to a point where, if I had not taken over a good deal of the money handling, we would have been on the streets (they used money as a weapon against each other.) It made me really understand money in a way I would not have understood had I not had that experience.

It's also a recommended strategy for helping teenagers understand social pressure and finance.

[NMDemDist2]

4. manufactored homes are earth friendly?

hmm, gonna put that in the back of my mind for later

my inlaws have a double wide manufactored home on the farm and it's really beautiful. other than the tiny bathrooms, it's a very very nice house.

[politicat]

6. Not as good as a strawbale or rammed earth, but....

1) They have a far lesser materials debt because there is much less waste in manufacturing facility than in stick built (i.e. that 6 feet of 2x4 that would normally end up in the dumpster ends up being reused after the 2 foot chunk is cut off, etc). Also, any chemicals that are used are usually recaptured in the chem hoods that manufacturing sites have to have (at least here, MHs are built in these huge airplane hangar type things.) A typical 2500 sq ft tractoid produces 9 tons of waste before anyone ever sleeps in it; a MH runs between 1000 pounds and 2 tons, depending on size. (Obviously, the big, two story modulars create more waste than a small single wide.)

2) Land that has been under a MH can be reclaimed as farm or open space much easier than land that is under a poured foundation house. They also allow for better drainage than a poured foundation.

3) New ones have incredibly good insulation, and, if placed on a poured or basement foundation, are more energy efficient than a comparable stick-built tract house. They are as efficient as a tract house if placed on piers.

If you pick the right design, the baths are not necessarily tiny. The one I wanted had a bathroom bigger than my office in this house (8x9) with a garden tub, separate shower, and double sinks and a linen closet. The second bath was about 6x8, IIRC.

[Lugnut]

7. Think about this...

Why do today's bathrooms have to be so huge? It's not like you'll be square dancing in there or anything. ;)

[NMDemDist2]

8. it's the tubs. I have a wide tub and DH and I shower together every day

a tiny little 2 foot wide tub makes it hard to switch places while we save water

:blush:

[Lugnut]

9. OK

You got me there. ;)

[politicat]

13. Great minds think alike... We do the same thing.

The tubs we have are wide enough, and they're equivalent to what would go in most doublewides - the previous owner kind of skimped on them. I keep thinking about the Van Dyke's Restoration slipper back tubs (what would have been in the house when it was first built) but I just can't justify the $6K for a bath tub....

It helps that we have a handheld shower thingy and that I'm 5'2 and he's 6'3, so I can stand under the stream of water and only duck in when I need it, but we too can switch places as needed.

[NMDemDist2]

14. I have one like this

[renie408]

11. That is very smart

It might help him understand the trade-offs we have made to have the lifestyle WE have vs the lifestyle his friends who live in subdivisions have.

[NMDemDist2]

5. check out this, it really resonated with me. don't know how much it will

help with a teenager though. you'll just have to show him by your example and hope the lessons stick when he's a bit older


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=353x561

[renie408]

12. That is perfect. I just emailed it to him. Thanks! n/t

[Lars39]

10. One thing I did with my kids was to show them the magic of

compound interest with any money not spent.

[benny05]

15. Good post

I tend to do the same, but once in awhile, I splurge.