I recently borrowed from the library “The Complete Tightwad Gazette“, which is a compilation of all the newletters of the same name. This is my second or third time reading through this book. There is just a wealth of information and it seems that every time I read it, I find something in it that I hadn’t noticed before. I think that as my life and our family life has changed, then the areas where we need to be frugal has changed as well. Hence, things that I didn’t really need to do before I glossed over. Now, those ideas really provide me with inspiration.
One of the things in our family that really needs to be addressed is the clothing situation. Last year I did not spend as much time at garage sales buying clothes for the next season. Therefore, now I find that the kids are growing out of their clothing at a pretty fast rate, and I don’t have anything stored away. I plan to be hitting the garage sales in full force these next coming months and will be hoping to purchase items to be worn now, as well as items that the kids will grow into in the future. I re-read the newsletters in the book regarding garage sale finds and the methods for finding the deals. I really like the organizational strategy of using boxes with the ages marked on the outside for storing clothing for future use, i.e. 4YOG (4 year old girl clothing), 6YOB (6 year old boy clothing), etc. This provides a sane way to find those garage sale bargains long after the fact and prevents me from going crazy wondering “where did I store those jeans I know I bought last year?”
One of the most interesting things I read was how one woman saved the boxes her kids’ toys come in. When toys were received at Christmas or birthday parties, she would store the original boxes in her attic. Then, when the children were ready to part with the toys (as in have a garage sale) she would package the toy in its original box. Amazingly, she said that toys sold this way at a garage sale sold much better and for more money. I bet this strategy would work for Ebay sales as well.
Anyway, if you want to rekindle the love of frugality, check out a copy of The Tightwad Gazette from your local library.
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I have all the Tightwad Gazette Newsletters, as well as all her books still!
Amy was the best money manager I ever knew!
The world misses her.
I still use most of her techniques: like making my own pizza from scratch, using less tooth paste, shampoo. utilizing my freezer more. stocking up on sales and having the money to do so.
Sigh. I sure do miss her.