Have you been blessed to hear thrifty stories from the people in your life? Perhaps you have a minute and would like more inspiration from other peoples experiences?
The Rabbit Story
My sister-in-law tells a wonderful story of survival when she was a young bride.
The family didn't have much in the way of money, but they found out that a local mink farm would buy jack rabbits for a dollar each.
So each week they would buy 1 box of ammunition (for $1.00) and go rabbit hunting. The jack rabbits would be sold to the mink farm and the cottontails would be taken home for dinners during the week.
The first dollar made was set aside to purchase the ammunition for the following week. The next few dollars went to help pay bills and any extra was used for groceries.
What a unique solution to some lean years.
The Greeting Card Story
Once you read this thrifty story you will know just how broke we once were.
It was our wedding anniversary and we had no money even for a card. Of course we could have skipped giving each other a card altogether, but we wanted to do something.
So we went to the store, went to the cards section, each found the card we would have given to each other, handed it to the other person, read our card and returned them both to the shelf!!
Probably not what Hallmark had in mind, but it worked and we will never forget it.
Christmas And A New Baby
Here was a family whose first son was born in early December. Unfortunately they were struggling at the time and three weeks later Christmas was upon them.
The parents were okay with not exchanging presents, but what about gifts for the new baby?
That turned out not to be a problem because the extended families provided a few gifts and this new babies parents bought him a single pair of booties for $1.50. They still have them and the child never seemed to mind that his first Christmas was not covered in presents.
Conserving Power In Your Home
Most thrifty people know to turn down the heat at night or during the day if no one is home, but some people take the conservation idea a step further.
This is a story about two dear friends and a lifelong learning adventure.
Very shortly after the two women met they began running a home daycare. The one friend was quite surprised to see the other hanging her laundry out on the line. Afterall, she had a working clothes dryer in the basement. When asked about it, the friend said she was just conserving energy and saving money on household bills.
Even when winter set in, she hung the laundry but instead of hanging it outside, she hung it all over the basement.
The second woman was forever impressed with her friends willingness to do more work in the name of conservation and thrifty living.
Another Favorite Thrifty Story -
The 50 cent Ladder When this family's children were young you could almost always find them, on weekends, out shopping at the local garage/yard sales.
Usually the kids went along and often the grandparents went also. One particular Saturday they pulled up in front of a sale where the woman was busily bringing things out and getting them set up.
When the grandfather and his daughter walked up she was setting up an aluminum ladder. Right before the grandfather could open his mouth, the daughter asked the lady, "How much for the ladder?". She thought her Dad was going to faint when the woman replied, "Oh fifty cents." The daughter quickly gave her the quarter and snatched the ladder!
They still consider that moment one of the best in their years of family garage selling experiences.
Here was a family whose first son was born in early December. Unfortunately they were struggling at the time and three weeks later Christmas was upon them. 