Will Times Get Tougher?

The economy is sluggish, fiscal reports are gloomy and the financial future looks bleak. Simply tuning in to MSNBC, for even a short time, is a downer, capable of putting the cheeriest of persons into dark and deep depressions. Conversations among friends often include accounts of lay-offs, diminished wages, and/or outright job losses. Some financial 'experts' are predicting that worse economic times may be in the near future. Where are we going and where does this morass end?

The July-August AARP bulletin includes a Special Report entitled, "99 Great Ways To SAVE". Regardless of your age or stage in life, there are some sound tips on ways to conserve your hard-earned cash. Whoever compiled the list obviously did a great deal of 'digging', listing both concrete ideas as well as web sites. This article made me think back to my childhood. My parents were married during the Great Depression and, to coin an old-fashioned phrase, people from that era could get 'blood out of a turnip'.

Here is my personal contribution, from past experiences, on how to save money when times are tough. (All were real. Nothing is a figment of my imagination. For those who know me, sharing these 'ideas' from my childhood will explain a lot.)

• Food is never to be thrown out. And I do mean, never.
  
• Stale wasn't even in their vocabulary.
  
• Mold? No problem. Cut it off or scrape it off. Penicillin comes from mold.
• Never, ever eat the fresh food first. Always eat the old food first. That way, everything is always old.
• When butchering your own chickens, remember that the feet are very tasty.
• Never throw leftover bar soap out. Those thin remnants work just fine when stuck together into one, ragged bar.
  
• Dirty face? Save water by spitting on your hand and cleaning off the face of the dirty child. Ever heard of 'spit baths'? Well, now you know.
• Save all the hair you sweep up from the floor. Enough of it makes a great pin-cushion stuffing.
• Think those dandelions in your yard are weeds? Think again. They make into a very tasty salad.
• Milk soured.....throw it out? Forget that. It makes splendid sourmilk pancakes.
• Roadkill? If it is warm it is safe to eat. This includes raccoon, muskrat, turtles, rabbits, squirrels, deer, pheasant and opossums. I was never fed snake, equine, canine, or feline.....to my knowledge.
• No food in the house? Bread and milk or crackers and milk will fill a tummy just fine.
• If it can be grown in a garden or orchard, then it can be canned or frozen.
• There is good meat on the neck of all animals. You don't want to know about other body parts.
  
• Chicken feathers make mattress and pillow stuffing.
• Windshield wipers failed? Rig up a long string or rope with two rags tied in strategic positions. Open car windows just enough to get the rope out but not let in too much rain. Pull back and forth until you reach your journey or the rain stops......whichever comes first.
• There were no expiration dates printed on food stuffs back then. Good thing. Those dates would have been ignored anyway. Frozen food keeps for decades and canned food isn't far behind.
  
• Most spoiled food can be thrown into a big soup pot. Boiling makes everything safe.

There you have my culinary childhood experiences in a nutshell. Speaking of nuts, if they were edible, I picked the nuts up and placed them into burlap bags, which then got hauled home, contents spread out over the attic floor until dried. Then I got to haul the nuts to the driveway where the car could run over the outer shell covering, exposing the actual shell. Did you know that forty-plus year old black walnuts and pecans are still edible if frozen?

If you need tips on other subjects, let me know. I'm certain my parents had solutions to those categories as well. Sometime I'll share how my family saved on dental expenses.

Happy to be of help in these tough economic times.........

Ancora imparo