They were always alert for waste of any kind - electricity, food, heating, time spent on the phone, toilet rolls, paper, you name it. Wastage basically meant anything "unnecessary", i.e. anything not strictly essential for daily survival.
Woe betide us kids if we left a light burning, left some of our food, chattered too long on the phone, turned the radiators too high, or used too much toilet paper (that was after we finally replaced torn-up newspaper with toilet rolls).
Nowadays a lot of people seem to be going to the other extreme and using as much as they fancy of everything. The idea of waste seems not to occur to them. There are houses in which all the lights are blazing, radiators are red-hot, and surplus food is regularly thrown away.
Jenny and I have never moved far in that direction. Childhood habits are deeply engrained, and the idea of waste is still very much alive. We plan our meals carefully so there is seldom any surplus food. We turn off lights we aren't using. We keep radiators at a modest heat. We're still prey to the notion that we're being unduly "profligate" or "extravagant", and we watch our consumption accordingly.
Mind you, given we're now both retired and have a limited income, avoiding waste is probably a sensible goal rather than a post-war hangover.
Then again, we often drive a coach and horses through our thriftiness by splashing out on something special, like touring New Zealand, giving the garden a make-over or updating the kitchen. We've spent lavishly on holidays over the years, and that will only stop when one of us is too decrepit to travel.
Damn, I think I left a light on....
Pic courtesy of Laura Taylor on Flickr
My parents weren't that bad, even though those would have been their teen years. My father-in-law was older (born in the 20's) and definitely miserly. My husband's family still talk about the ridiculous things they did while growing up, like having to record mileage when they drove the car and pay him back the gas money.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to spend time, energy and money on the things you care about and not fritter it away on things you don't.
ReplyDeleteWe are turners off of lights, etc., I prefer to spend my money on fun things rather than essentials.
ReplyDeleteThe child of parents who lived in the depression, there was no escaping thrift in my house. Your toilet paper illustration was disappointing, so I will add my father's Law of Toilet Paper. Any person will dispense him (her) self two sheets. Only!. Fold them along the perforation. Wipe. Fold in half again. Wipe.Fold again, if necessary. One additional fold is possible, if required. If you feel another two sheets are necessary, return to the end of the line and inquire of the supply sergeant.
ReplyDelete1. If a roll ended ahead of schedule, dad would quiz our habits.
2. My 17 year old grandson amuses friends with uproarious accounts of the toilet paper rules his mother was raised under. Yes, in direct succession. His mother wonders if he will carry on the tradition, or the story.
Bijoux: Paying for the mileage travelled? That's pretty mean. My parents didn't have a car when I was growing up, and my father never learnt to drive.
ReplyDeleteJean: Absolutely. Less money on fripperies, more on the things that really matter!
Helen: My sentiments entirely.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: I couldn't possibly comply with such rigid requirements. I get through a lot of toilet paper. I can't remember using newspaper, but it must have been pretty hard on the bottom!
We were allowed three sheets of toilet paper. The bathtub was only to be filled with about 5" of water then all three of us kids were required to bathe in that same water and only on Saturday evening so as to be clean for church on Sunday. When having sandwiches, the second sandwich had to be cheese or peanut butter and jelly; only the first one could be meat. One can of Spam was enough to feed all five of us. Toothpaste the size of a pencil eraser was enough on your brush. I'm sure there were more limitations but those are the ones that come immediately to mind. On the flip side Mom never served fish because the fish her father caught was what they ate most nights during the depression.
ReplyDeleteLinda: That's a pretty spartan regime! We kids were allowed only one bath a week (no showers in those days), and I think we also made do with one tin of spam per meal (for four of us). If we left any food, we always got the lecture about starving children in Africa etc.
ReplyDeleteFortunately my parents weren't religious, so there was no church on Sunday.
I well remember all the frugal rules! once in Virginia my father called a family meeting about toilet paper. it seemed that I was the culprit. the holder had a squeak in it and he told me I had no need of four squares of toilet paper! I was 13 and remember shrieking... "OH DADDY!" I was thoroughly embarrassed apparently! LOL. and to leave a room without turning out a light?
ReplyDeleteunthinkable! I still happily follow frugal rules to this day. you're right. childhood ways are drilled into us. the overall waste of Americans is amazing. ESPECIALLY in our restaurants. the food people leave could feed a small village! it's terrible.
Tammy: I don't remember any specific rules about toilet paper use in our house, but I remember being soundly ticked-off for using too much shoe polish!
ReplyDeleteThe amount of wasted food is colossal in the UK too. Some supermarkets now give their surplus food to food banks, but that still assumes a mass of surplus food in the first place.
I come from a different background from yours but waste not want not was drilled into us from childhood and I continue to be obsessed with such a lifestyle. Even before it became fashionable, I was a minimalist and I continue to be so despite friends of my age group advising me to relax and spend the money before I can't!
ReplyDeleteRamana: I hadn't thought of avoiding waste as a form of minimalism, but that makes sense. If your aim is to make the most of what you've got, then you'll generate a lot less waste.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm not obsessive about it, I do think there is value in being mindful of waste. The world is in dreadful shame because we consume mindlessly. So, sure, splurge on the experiences that bring you joy. But also, turn off the lights when you leave the room!
ReplyDeleteAgent: We certainly splurge on the things we enjoy! As for lights, perhaps all homes should be fitted with those lights that automatically turn on when you enter the room and then turn off when you leave.
ReplyDeleteYou had a phone and radiators growing up?!
ReplyDeleteI think the wheel is turning so that people are becoming more waste conscious again. I am in some things but not others. Our house always used to look like a light-house when we had children at home; i think we're a bit better now.
What's the saying? It's not 'the wheel is turning,' is it?
Liz: We had a phone very early on but no central heating until I was a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean the tide is turning? But are people becoming more waste conscious? There's definitely a concern about all the plastic and food waste, but I'm not sure about anything else.
I was in a bathroom with one of those motion detection lights when the light went off. There I was, frantically waving my arms around, trying to get it to turn on again. One of those memorable moments which became a not often told story.
ReplyDeleteLinda: Oh dear! Clearly the bathroom cabinet needs an emergency torch....
ReplyDeleteOne of my most read blog posts is about toilet paper and you and commenters never had to suffer this as it's not mentioned. We chose softened up newspaper over it.
ReplyDeletehttps://wisewebwoman.blogspot.com/2013/10/leather-arse-or-how-i-survived-izal.html
As to other measures, I tend to live frugally and like yourself, most of my spending is on travel.
XO
WWW
www: Luckily my parents also hated Izal and never bought it. On the odd occasion when I was visiting someone and was faced with Izal, I tried desperately to avoid using it. It was as vile as you describe.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents all suffered through the depression, my maternal grandparents derlayed their wedding quite a few years because of it, and my parents were born in wartime so the need to conserve everything always was engrained in them and in turn, me. I think that was my longest ever sentence!
ReplyDeleteI try to avoid waste in every area and I'm proud to say so! Waste avoidance is becoming more popular again but I think many people still view it as uncool
Kylie: Yes, the depression must have led a lot of people to avoid waste. But I think some older people have the attitude, I've been thrifty for so many years, now I'm going to push the boat out and spend, spend, spend!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was also brought up not to waste anything. My parents would not throw anything away. They even stored broken kettles in the loft 'just in case' they could one day be repaired. There came a point that there was so much 'just in case' stuff in the loft that the ceilings bowed.
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Ms Scarlet: If only they had had a nearby repair shop! I gather repair shops are springing up all over the place now so things can be fixed instead of replaced.
ReplyDeleteMy mother grew up being frugal “making something from nothing” and finding ways to use item rather than dispose of them — from necessity living on a farm in twentieth century early years of horse and buggy days. This was just a respected way of life and generally not onerous. At times in our life it unexpectedly was really important for cost savings but the adverse feelings we might have had were muted because of our life style. I, for one, am glad to have had this upbringing, especially when I hear all the admonitions for people to not waste, such as with energy, turning off lights. I chuckle to myself as I’ve always done that — so conservation, if that's what it is, is just normal life having little or nothing to do with family financial status.
ReplyDeleteJoared: Yes, in a way we're all just going back to the thrifty habits of our childhood, now the era of endless consumption is giving way to new anxieties about sustainability and the future of the planet. My mum was always darning and mending things rather than throwing them away and buying something new.
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