Bringing Thrift Week Back!

I got an email this week about National Thrift Week, which I’ll admit I had never heard of until I read the email and checked out the Bring Back Thrift Week website.  Apparently it was a strong tradition that lasted for half of the last century, but faded into history with the latter part of the 20th century.

My family has always been thrifty.  I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere.  We shopped at yardsales, ate homecooked meals, and I learned to drive on the same two cars that my parents had from the time I was a very small child (they still had those cars until about five years ago).  So thrifty ways are pretty much second nature to me. 

But I think that a lot of people who haven’t always been thrifty are heading in that direction now.  The rough economic waters are taking a toll on everyone, and for some, the obvious answer is to focus on spending less money and finding creative ways to enjoy life while sticking to a budget. 

I think that Thrift Week is a great idea.  A week of focusing on spending quality time rather than money, giving thanks for what you do have instead of coveting what you don’t have, and thinking of ways to fix, reuse, and otherwise make do that don’t involve mindless consumerism.

Check out the website.  There’s even a thrifty ideas essay contest (it’s limited to 50 word entries.  Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you can put together 50 words, and you just might win a $100 savings bond for your efforts).

Thrift Week starts on Saturday, so get ready.  I think we’ll do our grocery shopping on Friday, and then my goal will be for us to have at least 6 no-spending days out of the 8 days of Thrift Week (they threw in an extra day for fun).  Now’s a great time to set some thrifty goals for next week.  Of course it’s even better if you can keep them going all year, but having a week dedicated to thrifty living is a great start.