Over the Christmas period, I picked up a great book from the library titled “The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less” by India Knight. It gave all sorts of tips to help you stretch your dollar further and was split into chapters on
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Food
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Clothes
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Crafts
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Community
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Having Fun
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Beauty
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Holidays
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Home
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Money
India writes in down to earth, plain language and in a humorous way that makes the book an easy read as well as entertaining! Most the shopping references were from the UK, so not so relevant to me in Australia but for the most part the principals can be adopted and local shops/farmers markets/organisations can be sought.
While it made for interesting reading and got me thinking a bit about my spending habits, it was the last page of the book that struck me with a bit of an “ah huh!” moment.
It went like this:
“Appreciate what you’ve got, even the really small things. For me, those really small things are often domestic, and I hope this book has communicated my enthusiasm for the nourishing significance of the very small. Everyday happiness, as opposed to one-off great bursts of pure ecstasy, is intricately tied in with tiny everyday events: the jaunty-looking teapot that pours without dribbling, the children’s bath-time, blossom in spring, an especially good book. These things aren’t sexy, or glamorous, or envy-making, but they are the fabric of all our days. Concentrating on them, and on all the small joys they provide, can be intensely fulfilling. Moaning because you can’t afford a $300 pair of shoes is not.
Be happy. We are all blessed, in thousands of different ways. There is enormous beauty in everyday life and it doesn’t cost any money to look and it and feel glad to be alive.”
If you’ve read any interesting books on being thrifty, I’d love to hear about them. Send a post, or email me alivewelllivesmart@gmail.com .
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