Thrifty Living

The idea for a page on how to live as thriftily as possible was inspired by a book called The Thrift Book written by India Knight. (published by Penguin). It is crammed full of money-saving ideas and well worth seeking out (available at less than full price if you buy online).

Living within your budget is something most of us, of a certain age, are used to and it is nothing new. I was taught to sew at school and made most of my own clothes for years. Whilst not a favourite pastime, mending was a necessary evil, and the idea of throwing something away because it needed a button replacing or a small hole mended would never have occurred to me. My mother-in-law even used to 'turn' shirt collars which was an appallingly labour-intensive and time-consuming process. However, good shirts in those days were very expensive and I can see the reason for doing it. We all used to get our shoes mended too and took care of our clothes in order to make them last as long as possible.

Then shirts, shoes and just about everything else became much cheaper and the throw-away culture began. Now, the days of making-do and mending are perhaps back so I hope the ideas on this page are helpful!