During those first uncertain weeks of the coronavirus lockdown, I reached for my bible. No, not the actual Bible with its New and Old Testaments, a source of comfort and help to many, as are so many other religious books -- especially these days. The bibles I’m talking about are the go-to books when you need help on practical matters. Maybe it’s a cookbook, a gardening book or a nature book. (I recently heard about a friend’s husband who always takes on vacations a book about how to tie knots.)
My lowercase bible is “The Complete Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn.
The book, a compilation of her newsletters on how to live a thrifty life in the 1990s, saved me once back in 2002. I wanted to leave full-time work to freelance and adopt a baby. Using the principles in this book, we were able to cut down on expenditures and live on one income before I made the leap. The thing about it was that it didn’t take all that much effort (or time) and some of the new habits were fun, really. I made yogurt, baked bread, cooked from scratch and filled a pantry. I learned how to fix things, refinish discarded furniture, cycle around instead of driving and create a bountiful garden. Mostly, I learned how to organize our home to make it efficient, so we weren’t running out buying yet another hammer.
Sound familiar? I saw how people were adopting some of these skills, especially the bread thing, when the pandemic hit and I felt nostalgic, and guilty.
Since my first foray into thrift, some old habits have cropped up: too much takeout, driving and spending.
Then coronavirus happened. I panicked. We had no idea if we’d lose work (thankfully, we haven’t) or what the future would bring. Compile that with the anxiety over a disease experts are still trying to figure out, and I was a wreck. Then I remembered “The Complete Tightwad Gazette.”
The book had grown dusty on the shelf. I cracked it open, the slips of paper that I had used to bookmark favorite chapters shifting. I used her garage sale tip: Shopping with a list of things we needed, rather than making impulsive buys; it came in handy with young kids. Organizing hand-me-downs was also key. She does mention making a mask: A Halloween Frankenstein out of dryer lint.
Reading through the book not only reminded me of the tips Amy espoused, but the book gave me comfort. She published countless letters in “The Tightwad Gazette,” many from older people who had lived through tough times, like wars and recessions. We were sort of living through a war against a disease, so it made sense, and the economy is still an uncertainty with so many people losing jobs and health benefits. The book also got me off the internet, where I could search for similar tips but without the draw of the constant social media feeds that make me anxious.
I’d much rather read her articles about The Pantry Principle and The Supermarket Versus the Stock Market. Her systems involve shopping for food at the lowest price and stocking your pantry. “The sole purpose of grocery shopping becomes replenishing your pantry, not buying ingredients to prepare specific meals.” Her voice is funny and soothing. A graphic artist, her illustrations break the book up in a pleasing way.
She has strategies for the grocery store that include a price book in which you jot down how much things cost at various stores. And checking unit price, rather than the actual price, is a tip my girls use all the time. The book is a mix of common sense and good old Yankee ingenuity; it’s no surprise that Amy is from New England.
The book made me feel in control: Here were tactics, ways to navigate this new challenge, get my act together. Again. In a sense, an opportunity.
During the pandemic, we are trying to stay home as much as possible besides short walks in our neighborhood. We started making due with things we had in the house. Instead of running out to shop, we’d give the house a good search and usually find what we were looking for, like wrapping paper, or something we could repurpose into wrapping paper, like a plain paper bag. Art supplies surfaced, pens, food containers, tools, we sorted and sifted, rather than running out. We ate our leftovers. We searched the freezer. We made do. And making do isn’t just about accepting less. There’s a beauty to living a bit simpler.
When I wanted to start seeds for a garden, I looked to see what we already had and found some I saved from a delicious heirloom tomato last summer. I started those tomatoes on my window sill, brushing my hands against their leaves to stimulate growth, something that grounded me. When I walk by the plants in the garden that are now several feet high and bearing fruit, I touch them.
The book is still available for sale. Not knowing what’s ahead, I highly recommend making the investment. It will pay dividends.
Here are a few tips that I've used:
· Reuse your pickle juice after you've eaten all the pickles by slicing up cucumbers and putting in the jar back in your fridge for four days. Works.
· "Be more organized. This will save money as well as time." I'm getting there.
· How to make homemade croutons, yogurt and muffins. (The muffin recipe is really versatile.)
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July 22, 2020 at 11:38PM
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Bibliofiles: 'Complete Tightwad Gazette' a guide to COVID life - Times Union
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