I'd rather have the dandelion...

I told my then-friend, eventually my Beloved Hubby, a long time ago that I'd rather have a single dandelion over a dozen roses. Anybody could stop into a florist or even a grocery store and buy flowers. Didn't require much thought. But the dandelion -  my guy would actually have to think of me beyond  'all women like x' to know that I'd much rather have the flower he knelt down and picked himself, while thinking of me. Roses are easy. Dandelions you have to mean.

When we got married years later, it was February. But the silk flower bouquet he made for me contained a single fresh yellow dandelion. Where he found it, he wouldn't say. But it meant the world to me.

I was reading a discussion about food pantries and how they're being overtaxed these days. And I was grateful we hadn't had use for one in the nearly eleven years we've had together. But I think sometimes I enjoy it when things are tight. I have to mean it when I buy something for me, because the funds aren't there for me to be thoughtless with. For the last few years, we haven't been ridiculously wealthy, but we've had the funds for indulgences. And my doll and sewing Lab shows it - my fabric hoard is at SABLE (Stash Already Beyond Life Expectancy), and I probably have enough lace and ribbon to decorate an entire Rio Carnivale. I have so many dolls that I barely have time to play with them all. And let's not get into their clothes and furniture ! Please !

True, nearly all of the wonderful happy-place things I have were bought second-hand, but they still speak of readily available funds. There's been times that I couldn't go to yard sales or thrift stores, because we really were broke. It's expensive to be broke. You can't take advantage of sales, because it's taking all you have to get through today and part of tomorrow. But even when times were tough, they got better, and we'd focus and together, we'd get the household to 'fighting weight' again.

So when I hear about how bad things are getting, I'm glad we're already living the way we are.  I don't like Starbucks, I'd rather have Pumpkin Spice Cappucchino from 7-11 - or peppermint coffee from my own $5. coffee maker and 50c yard sale thermal carafe. And two candy canes from a 10c box of 'em I bought last January. I don't feel deprived, but rather indulgent when I get that big 95c cup o' go-juice.

I also feel prepared to deal with downturns. I've done it before, will do it again, and I know new tricks from my friends here that I'm eager to try. I'd much rather have available funds, but I'm glad I'm not used to a steady diet of $800. purses, $300. haircuts, and $60. manicures. I make my own purses - talk about an exclusive clientele ! - Beloved Hubby cuts my hair (and he's good at it !), and I'm just not invested in any level of grooming that requires me to leave the house to obtain it. Shoot, if it weren't for washing dishes and my hair, my nails probably wouldn't even get cleaned every day !

We're all very lucky we're adaptable and make it a practice to live beneath our means - even if we don't always obtain our goal, at least we try, and the effort is the reward, too. I'm at my most creative when I'm challenged, and I think most folks are like that. It's too easy to spend our way out of a problem, something our govenment goes all too well, but it doesn't change Business As Usual.

When I'm too broke to spend, I think. And that may be why I'm looking forward to the challenges of our changing economy. I've gone too long having fun - now it's time to get creative !

2 Comments | Post Feedback

I totally agree with this wonderful post! I am a "zine"writer for frugal vegans and when I have more money I don't have any good ideas and I can't seem to write! This summer we were quite broke and "Boom" my creative juices were flowing & my "zine" was finally completed! Thanks for a great post, i am looking forward to consumers now having to be frugal because of our economy :)

As you can see from my blog, I, too, get spurred on by creativity when feeling broke. I find myself getting very crafty - Perhaps it will inspire me to work on my book on frugality! I lost steam there for a while. Oh - the GW I went to was more expensive than I remember it - and it looked more as if it had merchandise donated by businesses, somehow...But I still managed to make a few scores - see my blog entry for Blk Fri.

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