There is an excellent post about living a frugal life over at Little Jenny Wren today which has got me thinking about how I've changed my view on being frugal as I've got older.
When I was a teenager I can clearly remember thinking 'If only I had x, y or z (insert any consumer item here, usually some item of clothing) I will feel content with myself'. Eventually I would acquire said item and did I then feel content - no I did not - by then I needed some other 'essential' item to make me feel happy. And on and on it would go, with me thinking that my key to happiness and confidence rested on some unattainable consumer durable.
When I went to college it was considered really 'trendy' to get your clothes from a jumble sale and I gained a lot of confidence about buying and wearing second-hand clothes. It is from this time that my life-long love affair with all things 'pre-loved' stems.
Then I went out to the big wide world of work where I once again felt the pressure to make myself 'happy' by buying things. I still bought and wore mainly second-hand items as that was all I could sensibly afford, but I felt that these were second best, and really wished I too could go and buy gorgeous little items in Hobbs or Jigsaw or some other ludicrously over-priced emporium of dreams.
As I got older I continued to frequent jumble sales and, later, car boot sales and gradually I began to realise that I was choosing to live my life like this, and that it was making me happy. I had grown out of the need to conform with my peers. Now I am truly delighted when I am wearing something pre-owned. It is just too easy to go out and buy something new, it's the thrill of the chase in finding just what you need second-hand, and the knowledge that in some very small way you are choosing not to be sucked into the all-pervading shopping / spending culture which seems to be endemic now.
Phew, that was a bit of a 'heavy' post, back tomorrow with something a bit less wordy.
How I agree with your comments Elizabeth! Trouble is when we're young we don't have the confidence to be different, it's only as we get older that we realise it really doesn't matter what others think about us or our style. I so wish my 14 year old daughter would stop worrying about trying to fit in, but I know she just doesn't have a 46 year old brain!
What fun though to enjoy the thrill of a bargain as we get older....just think of all the bargains still to come!
Posted by: Gill | 07/03/2007 at 10:54 PM