Garden Queen Marjorie Harris goes frugal
House of Anansi Press
Really, frugal living is seriously the meme of the month, everyone is popping up with books and lists and how-tos. Now the prolific Canadian garden writer, Marjorie Harris, has thrown her second-hand, off-season and vintage hat into the ring with a new book Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style.
I have requested a reviewers copy, but thought it was worth a post to discuss yet another list of thrifty tips, provided on her book's website. Some I agree with; others I question. In fact, I think I am becoming a bit of a list reviewer; I am surprised how many are rote, repetitive and frankly a bit sloppy. Here are a few comments I have regarding Marjorie's list:
General:
"Make a budget. Stick to it." Budgets take work, they are aspirational and they are not always necessary. People have a lot of trouble sticking to them and fall off the wagon regularly. As Trent at the Simple Dollar put it,
"A grid on a paper can never truly contain the complexities of a human's life, nor is it meant to - that's why strictly following a paper budget (for most people) is doomed to failure in the long run."
If you don't buy anything you don't need and you are saving money, if you know where your money is going, why bother? And what does it have to do with frugality? A budget that includes a daily bottle of Dom Perignon is not frugal, even if you stick to it.
"Consolidate debts. Your bank can help you with this, take advantage of that -- they are supposed to be money experts, after all." That will shock a lot of American readers, but most Canadians actually like and trust their banks, which were not allowed to play the kinds of games that American banks did. That is why so many Americans now see TD Bank all over- it stands for Toronto Dominion, around since 1850, and they have been giving me good advice for twenty-five years. Find an honest banker and the advice is free. And, do consolidate your debts; I did.
Food:
"Have a meal plan for the week so that you buy what you need and use it all up, keeping food waste to a minimum." Well...maybe. PG food writer Kelly shops every day and has the option to adapt meals to serendipity, the daily ebb and flow at the greengrocer and the farmers market. Obviously not everyone can do this, but if you have that flexibility, and you know what quantities to cook, and if you use up the leftovers for lunch, then a weekly meal plan can be perhaps too rigid.
Home:
"Deal with heat escaping from the house by closing unused fireplace openings, installing quality thermal windows, and thermal-wrapping ducts and hot-water heaters." NO! There is an order to these things, covered in Planet Green's series on Greening Your House for Winter. The thermostat comes first, the caulk comes second, and the new windows are so far down the list of cost-effectiveness and money saved that they are barely on the scale. All those full page ads for new windows may be good business for Pella, but they are not good advice for frugal green living.
"Turn off the A/C when you're not going to be at home." How about not turning on the air conditioning at all, and looking instead at planting shade trees, getting awnings, ceiling fans and other traditional alternatives. Or go out into that beautiful Marjorie Harris garden.
I am not trying to be picky, but sometimes these lists look a bit thrown together. I look forward to the book.
