THE "TIGHT TIMES" FRUGAL NEWS. HOW TO TRAIN CHILDREN to be aware and frugal - Awareness is more important than frugality but they go together. To teach a child to be aware of how the economy is evolving, how life is out there in the POSSIBLY COMING-at-us-RECESSION ---- would be an important lesson. Consider variations on these simple "HOUSE RULES for FRUGAL CHILDREN/ TEENS"1.) You made it, you gotta finish it. By that we mean, you opened that can, cooked up that huge batch, made it, it's double down huge, it's enough for ten people, --either YOU EAT IT all or get a group to eat it now. That food cannot sit there in the fridge for a week as it will be wasted. Every single time you make a bowl big enough for a BABY HIPPO and leave half there on th table, YOU GET TO FRIDGE it and that is your next meal. You may not throw food away. You may not leave a sauce pan full of some meal you made for yourself which is enough for two or three. UNLESS you have two or three of your siblings to eat it. If not, SARAN WRAP, FRIDGE and chum, that's your NEXT MEAL! That teaches them to eat a snack that comes in a "ME-SIZED" package. That might be dates and walnuts. Open the big yogurt, pour a few spoonfuls, add honey. If they open a can of beef and bean chile, and nobody else wants the other 2/3rds of that can, it's waste, it's costly. We can no longer do that. TIGHT TIMES
2.) ETERNAL STAIN UPON YOUR SHIRT! See a child with a chin dribble? Tell him: "That berry stain on your shirt could have been removed in the first minute of your doing that sloppy eating. Don't you realize that stains SET with a few minutes time? That shirt cost (x.amt) and you now are going to go without x amt of spending on treats and clothing until the REASONABLE LIFE SPAN of that shirt has passed. It doesn't count for me that NOW you can wear it when you paint the house as you don't paint the house! SLOPPY EATING isn't to be tolerated when you have a 12$ tshirt on, or a 15$ dress shirt. Note that You have a hand and a mouth. Those are the only tools involved in eating. CHESTS are not part of the meal! NOW, give them a lesson in SPOON CONTENTs and how to move a spoon a foot from plate to mouth. CHIN DRIBBLES 101, GRABBING AN OLD TOWEL from Mom's RAG STASH; NAPKIN USE, STAIN REMOVAL. DIRTY HANDS carry stains. And GRASS STAINS and oh yes, REMOVING STAINS http://www.masterjules.net/stain.htm
3.)THE LIFE AND CARE OF TENNIS SHOES- Happy Feet, Thrifty feet
Nikes and Adidas leather tennis shoes cost an armful, or legful. How do we
clean them? Standard method is to take the strings out and soak them in 5%
bleach water, then throw the shoes in the washer with an old towel or 2.
Let air dry not DRYER as then, they shrink!To clean white leather tennis shoes take a Pure-aid (that's a generic
clorox clean) eraser block and get it wet and rub off dirt. It makes them
look new again.Use Westley's Bleche-Wite for whitewall/blackwall tire cleaner. It's in the
auto department at Walmart's. You spray it on, come back in about 5 minutes
then rinse. The tennis shoes will just about glow in the dark. My mom
always asks if my 4 year old tennis shoes are new! Always! Sometimes, I
WILL use a toothbrush to clean around the seams. And the shoes dry in no
time. I love that stuff.Want to clean out those USED second hand thrift store SHOES? For 2ndhand
shoes - apply medicated footpowder/spray - put in and then turn over the
shoes to get the powder onto the inside top lining of the shoes. That way
you can short-circuit athlete foot fungus - If it does appear - & the shoes
are leather - treat the shoes as you would your feet with anti-fungal
cream. OR PAINT THE SHOES with the new TENNIS SHOE ART!4.) THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE CLOSET- There is a lot of wild life in a
closet. MOLD AND MOTHS come to mind. We all need a winter clothing area
with MOTH BALLS that does not seep into a room where people are. So kids
have to be encouraged to BAG UP out of season clothing, throw in ONE
mothball and seal the bag with a rubber band. Put in a box and MARK THE BOX
"SKI COAT, SNOW MUFFS, SCARF, GLOVES. When a wool coat costs 50$ you don't
leave it in back of closet all summer for moths to eat. Leave one wool
scarf or something or other, scrap fabric, in closet all year to show them
the bites out of it.THE MOLD FACTOR- Anything damp from the pool cannot go in closet. Any clothing
wet with sweat cannot be returned to a clothes hanger. SWEAT goes immediately to the
WASHING MACHINE area or the CLOTHES HAMPER which has breathing spaces
on it. Show the kid why it's made with holes. Explain it to them.
SHOES that are sweaty and muddy stay in the SUN in the MUD ROOM or on
a window sill if there is one, or a SHOE TABLE outdoors by common agreement.
TO air-dry. ON THAT TABLE: MUD BRUSHES. Rags.DO NOT TRACK MUD INTO THE HOUSE. When you vacuum, have them look at the contents, how much mud works its way into the house and unfortunately with no SUN to sterilize it or DEW to damp it down once a day, it becomes inhaleable DUST. So out doors is way cleaner!!!
5.) EATING OUT WIL BECOME EATING IN FOR THE DURATION OF THIS RECESSION.
a.) BURGER 101- Mom, it's your job to keep child sized 4 oz burger patties twixt wax paper in a special
package that you created out of multiple slices of sale ground beef, and show them how to remove slices desired from freezer, fry them at low temp on an oiled heavy iron skillet. Show them where the buns are in freezer. How to toast, Where mayo, mustard, catsup is. Help them cut the lettuce and tomato. They are honor bound to fish out
the pickle slices with a fork, (no fingers,) and reward them when they assemble a burger on their own. Keep track of their cooking efforts so that you can reward with praise. Each pattie cost 30c. Compare that to 3$ at fast
food place. Cooking skills are important and Mummy will be giving lessons!FRIES: Homemade french fries don't have to be messy or high in calories, and they
don't need to be fried twice in a gallon of oil, as most recipes suggest.For perfectly simple home-cooked fries for four to six people, pour 1/2
cups of peanut oil into a large skillet, but--this is important--do not
turn on the heat. Stir in 2 pounds of raw potatoes cut into strips. Now
turn the heat to medium-high and cook until golden brown, about 30 minutes.These slow-cooked fries absorb only about 1 tablespoon of fat per
serving--much less than most people slather on a baked potato via butter or
sour cream.ANOTHER RECIPE using the OVEN:
http://www.mediterrasian.com/recipe_makeovers_fries.htmNO MORE SOFT DRINKS EVER
MAKE a pitcher of lemonade every day 7 days a week, Healthy and replaces
costly tooth destroying COKES. If you have teens, make trays of lemon cubes in Lemon season,
Lime cubes. My juicer strains out seeds which I instantly plant as you must plant citrus seeds fresh
and damp. Juice goes into the ice cube tray, not a metal one! METAL LEECHES into acid so use a
plastic ice cube tray. Bag cubes up when they're frozen hard. The child takes a cube, drops
it in water, adds a teaspoon of honey, stirs for a bit. Voila instant healthy ice cold lemonade
And if they can't finish the glass, fridge it. Later it's there. It's a good thing!~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
6) PRIVATE SCHOOL VS. PUBLIC
Private Schools cost about 5k a year. Per child. If a parent finds extra
curricular books at a library and pays the child to read them & bone up on
interesting subjects on the PC, you'll find you are raising a super bright, well
educated child for zero $ a month whereas the private school was 400$.
You will have 5k per child extra for your family's college education fund.7.) STAY-CATIONS - Get a plastic POOL ON SALE, those big ones with steel
siding are only 69$ at summer's end. Give really festive parties Saturdays, Sundays,
barbecues, swim fests, rented movies. Pinatas. Save thousands on gas, no traffic
accidents, no car breakdowns. What's not to like? Screen GOONIES, LOST
BOYS, the FLICKS KIDS LOVE. WATERMELON! Get a POPCORN POPPER that works on
plain corn, from scratch, not costly microwaveable packgs with heavy transfats. HYPERSALT.
Get REAL SOFT DRINKS one or two days or better yet, HAWAIIAN PUNCH MIX as
these do make a staycation special.8.) SUGGESTIONS are ASKED OF YOU, nay, begged! Will put them at the FRUGAL WEBPAGE
http://www.masterjules.net/frugindex.htm~^~^~^~^~~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
<==== BACK TO THE FRUGAL INDEX FOR ADULTS