A BETTER PLACE

"When I was at home, I was in a better place."

---William Shakespeare

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Dearest Tracey,

Originating from Massachusetts, my family was taught about being frugal early on in our lives. We learned about squeezing the "Yankee dime," from our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents--just as a normal way of thinking and acting.

My mother was (and remains) a super cook and, to this day, she still scrapes the butter wrapper to get that last smidgen of butter, and still uses her finger (clean!) to get the last drop out of the eggshell (perhaps this is why her cakes are always so moist and yummy!). Of course, paper towels (an early luxury) were often found drying over the kitchen faucet--after all, they were only used to dry already clean hands, and could be reused! Diluted shampoo, kept in a recycled, clean catsup bottle over the washing machine, was used to remove "ring around the collar," as well as on grimy cuffs and other stained areas of clothing.

My favorite way of having frugal fun is to save quarters. (We collect these in a pretty, salt-glazed pottery pitcher.) Every three months, my husband and I treat ourselves to our "quarterly night out." It is amazing to me that we usually have fifty to seventy dollars to spend from this quarter collection!

Before our date, I take the quarters with me to our movie rental store, dry cleaner, mini-market, bookstore, and so on, and exchange them for bills as I am transacting my necessary business. These small establishments truly enjoy and appreciate receiving the quarters, as they use them for making change. (And this saves my husband and me the trouble of lugging a bunch of jangling quarter to our favorite restaurant.)

These "quarterly nights out" are such a treat for my husband and me--especially because we feel so frivolous and decadent! We have found them to be such a nice way to splurge on ourselves, and support our time out together (and the strategy is relatively painless, financially, and very enjoyable to boot)!

I thought you and your readers might enjoy hearing about all of the above, and perhaps be inspired to create your own frugality and fun in a kindred manner!

Warm regards from your faith reader...

Susan Vrh

California