The value of thrift

You know, the science of spending less money but living well is just so personal. Not only does appropriate thrift depend completely on your personal values, but appropriate thrift also depends greatly on your individual situation.

Here's an example of the first principle: (thrift depends on your values)
When we were attending SCAD, our main goal in life was 1. stay married and 2. Get Royal through college. So, we didn't value embellishing our home, for instance. We didn't spend much time or money improving our home decor. A great carpet sale would not have "saved" us any money.

Now, on the other hand, our main goal in life is 1. Keep growing a stronger marriage, and 2. Enjoy our life as a family. So, beautifying our home, and obtaining an appropriately sized home, is a greater priority. We've spent much time, mental power, and money toward the goal of getting a beautiful home since we moved here. We are almost ready to buy a home, and a great sale on carpet could save us a lot of money!

Here's an example of the second: (Thrift depends on your individual situation)
We live 5 miles from a small Amish community. We now buy 2 gallons of raw milk from an Amish family every weekend. It costs us $1.50/gallon, plus transportation expenses. In that 2 gallons of milk is 4-6 cups of cream. So, we get about a pound of butter, 3 cups of fresh buttermilk, and 1.75 gallons of milk every week for $3 plus gas (about $1.50/week).

Any other time in my life so far, raw milk would have been either unobtainable, or prohibitively expensive. Not to mention the organic butter and buttermilk.

By the way, Raw milk tastes like milk, only better. And its a whole lot better than homemade soy milk. (Another thrifty alternative to storebought cow's milk) But the main reason we love it so much is that our lactose-intolerant daughter has no problems digesting it.

(bytheway, we're still pregnant.)