Let's play a game of Simon Says, as answered by the minimalist in me, and the frugal chick in me.
Simon says: I want bread.
| The minimalist's response: | The frugal chick's response: |
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Simon says: I want a vacation.
| The minimalist's response: | The frugal chick's response: |
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Simon says: I want a manicure.
| The minimalist's response: | The frugal chick's response: |
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Joanna's stomach says: I want yogurt. Every day.
Joanna's wallet says:
$23 yogurt maker, pays for itself in five weeks.
The more I read simple living blogs, the more domestically bipolar I become. I can pay money to have other people make stuff for me so that I don't have to own gadgets and machines and pans and bottles and potions. Or I can own the made-in-China-with-slave-labor contraptions that allow me to make my own gosh darn yogurt and stop throwing out ten plastic containers a week.
Our cabinets in our tiny kitchen are full with all of the contraptions we have to make practically all of our own food (though I draw the line at milling my own flour). I'll have to get rid of some mugs or something for this to fit.
My internal frugal compass and my minimalist conscience are at war. I own a good bit of stuff (particularly in the kitchen) just because it lets me be frugal. Where do you draw the line?
One way to get around that is to borrow things, and lend things - we have had a number of gizmos in the name of frugality that it turned out we just didn't use. So I gave them away. We have others we use rarely, so I lend them out pretty regularly. And conversely, we borrow many tools from friends for DIY projects. And we lend out one of our tents, and many small camping tools, any weekend a friend is camping and we are not.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't go with serious minimalism, but it's certainly less stuff and more frugality than if we all bought all the things we used. You and your friend could share nail polish and each own half as much but have the same range of colors to choose from.
Of course there's a middle ground- you can knead bread with your hands and make yogurt in a cooler or crock pot you already own (well, you can - I kept failing at that so I did buy a yogurt maker this year, after 2 years without one.) I have a soymilk maker and a dishwasher, but for many years I made soymilk in a stock pot and washed dishes by hand.
difficult question...I agree with rosalux, her seems to me the better option to keep a balance between minimalism and frugality :)
DeleteI guess the solution is to just buy gadgets I will actually use! The breadmaker gets constant use so it's worth owning. I'll have to try the yogurt maker and see if I can keep up with it. The camping gear was probably not such a great idea though since we only camp once every few years. Thank you both for commenting!
DeleteOk, I struggle with this, so, SO much! I think we have to be realistically frugal, which can lead towards minimalism. For me, I had to realize what I *really* found important v. what I could give a bit on. I tried to do the frugal thing and make my own compost bin reusing stuff we had, but that was a no go. So I plunked down $100 and have a schmancy compost tumbler that requires much less time and effort. Yet, when it comes to cooking, I could go with the faster, easier stuff, but I opt towards owning more in that department. It's hard not to see it as an all or nothing situation. It just means you have to prioritize, which is hard because sometimes is means you have to give up doing every single think you think you should.
ReplyDeleteAs for the labor issue, you could buy used! Then you wouldn't be adding to the problem since it would already be made. Or as Rosalux stated, borrow/share.
Good luck! It's a battle I'm still waging too!
Yup, I'll be getting into the habit of 'buying' used more often--I just joined freecycle today :o)
DeleteI bake bread about twice a week. I make it by hand and bake in the oven. Frugal and minimalist and a work out for my arm muscles;) It's possible also to make youghurt in the oven, with just the heat of the lamp (should be about 40 degrees celsius), or in a crock pot, if you have one, as someone mentioned..
ReplyDeleteBut honestly, minimalism wins over frugality for me... But sometimes it happens that the minimal option is also the most frugal :D
DeleteI feel like my medical bills win out for me...we had to get the breadmaker because I gave myself tendonitis kneading the bread! Our crock pot is quite unpredictable, but also belongs to the hubs who is allergic to milk. The food allergy separation needs might trump minimalism completely!
DeleteStory of my life! Balance is definitely key. I find it helpful to honestly evaluate how much I'll actually use a gadget or device if I buy it. Sure, it'd be great to have a yogurt maker and you can see yourself using it, but will you actually use it? Will you have the time to devote to making yogurt week after week or will you wind up buying yogurt from the store anyway because you didn't have time to make a batch with your yogurt maker? The same can also be said about the bread machine. Often, when we save money by doing something ourselves, we wind up spending more time on the task. It's a give and take.
ReplyDeleteI like the others' advice about making these things without the gadgets or borrowing them first to make sure you like it.
As a fellow yogurt lover, I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of making my own yogurt. I'll have to investigate further...
You're totally right about spending more time on the task. The gadgets, some of them like the breadmaker, are a good compromise for us. They cut the time down but still allow us to make our own. The idea of a test-drive is great! Now I just have to see who has a yogurt maker I can borrow...
DeleteI remember an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton Brown said that kitchen gadgets with only one use were bad to have... because they multiply! That really had an impact on me, and I'm trying to whittle down my kitchen to just the essentials. That being said... I do not have a minimalist kitchen.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite kitchen gadget is my immersion blender- and the best part is that it was free! My parents had it (it's at least 15 years old) and I wanted one so I asked if I could have theirs. I use it for pureeing soups, chili blending, you name it. It's way more versatile to me than a full blender.
How does that machine make yogurt? It looks kind of science-fiction-y haha!
I have one of those immersion blenders too! Definitely not a unitasker. I love making salad dressings with mine. Which means I need to have jars for the salad dressings, and the jars come with lids...and I have very full cabinets!
DeleteOur breadmaker is definitely our favorite gadget though. It's the largest, but I guess that's okay since it's our favorite.
The yogurt maker is just a fancy warmer. It keeps the yogurt at a particular temperature so that the cultures can incubate. Some people say to use a crock pot or a heating pad for this. Well, we've burned stuff in our crock pot on low and I'd have to go buy a heading pad! Yogurt maker it is, then.
I don't do manicures or go on vacations so what a savings right there! I guess that justifies me buying pre-made bread and yogurt, although really those yogurt cups make me sad. We used to do the bread maker thing a lot but then we burned a loaf and it never has been the same since. Also, since then I'm afraid of the house burning down while I'm at work and the machine is doing its thing. I'd be afraid of homemade yogurt. I could probably give myself some serious germs with that. I have such little free time and little at-home time that I don't do much of the homemade stuff at all. I have a bunch of kitchen gadgets and only a few are useful. It would bring the hubby (child of a hoarder) much grief to get rid of the non-used ones. I'm doing baby steps with him, we just got rid of the 8 year old broken hamster cage so let's not get crazy. Maybe I need to revisit home making things again. That could give me some satisfaction. I'll think I'll pass on the yogurt though. I do enjoy reading your blog.
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