Mary's Home Economics
The antidote to ringing in the new year with a wicked hangover and big credit card biill.
The antidote to ringing in the new year with a wicked hangover and big credit card biill.
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SubscribeAh, January, ringing in the new year with a wicked hangover and big credit card bill. Fortunately, I learned money management from mom.
I have vivid childhood memories of “flyer day”. You know, the day of the week when all the stores advertise their sales and specials using flyers that arrive in your mailbox. My mother made toast and cocoa (she never drank coffee or tea) and scoured the pages, researching and planning that week’s household procurement. Even as a child, I found this financial security habit to be comforting. Mom knew it wasn’t just about the price tag though, quality made the purchase cost-effective. That information wasn’t in the flyers, she had to get that it from friends, neighbours, other housewives — and experience.
While she would use the flyers to help her prepare for her weekly shop, not everything was in there. She would check around all the stores downtown for what she needed and compare the prices, going back to wherever had the best price. Mom’s financial management was a lot of work and consisted of many tactics, more than I can remember I’m sure.
Mom was an expert shopper, always finding deals, using coupons, layaway and points. When I graduated and moved to St. John’s, mom got me my first suitcase using her Zeller’s Club Z points.
When we were little we had loads of hand-me-downs, toddlers grow out of everything so fast. I’ve always been a boots girls and that started young, as a toddler I had a pair of cowboy boots and Logan hiking boots. Over the years those boots have been handed down, not just amongst my siblings, but around to many cousins and second-cousins; this is what happens when things are built to last.
Mom would pick up second-hand toys from garage sales and she introduced me to second-hand clothing stores; of course, this was before “vintage” became trendy and many stores jacked up their prices for the instagram set.
We had a lot of handmade, homemade items, mom made a lot of things that people usually buy now. She sewed curtains, quilts, clothing, halloween costumes, Christmas stockings. Most of these items have stood the test of time, the opposite of fast fashion.
Restaurants and take-out were an occasional treat, mom cooked our meals, despite how much work it was and how much she hated it. What she did like was baking and she baked a lot, not just bread and rolls, but also pies, cookies, cakes and such - it was cheaper than buying junk food (and probably a little healthier).
Mom much preferred working outside to working inside. She got a manual push lawnmower, which of course required no fuel. Running the dryer was avoided, clothes were put outside on the line to dry unless it was the dead of winter. When school let out in June she would cancel the cable for summer because, as she said, it’s beautiful outside and the tv’s full of old reruns all summer.
One of the biggest money-savers’ was not driving a car. She didn’t drive and we couldn’t afford a car anyway. While she’d get the occasional taxi, mostly she walked; she’d push a baby stroller, pull a wagon or a sled — or she’d pop a kid or 2 in a bicycle seat or chariot and take them on her bike. Us kids walked and biked everywhere and grew up being pretty damn fit.
My modern version of home economics isn’t the same as my mother’s, but I have always treated her financial management style as the basis for my own approach. You may be surprised to know those lessons can be applied to buying investments, currencies or housing…even the decision of where to live.