Saturday, January 31, 2009

Everything I know about home economics I learned from mom

When I six, my parents were working their way up in academia. My dad was a college teacher. My mom was working on her Ph.D., acting as the primary caregiver to two kids, working part time in the women’s department at Woodward & Lothrop on a seasonal basis, and feeding a family of four on $60 a week.

I got my foundation of home economics from her. She made as much of our food from scratch as she could. She watched every purchase with an eagle-eye vigilance. And while we weren’t rolling in toys or accessories or sweets, we didn’t have a Spartan lifestyle shoved in our faces, either.

It’s no news to anybody that things are tough right now. Everyone’s trying to tighten their purse strings, cut corners, and get the most out of every dollar. The Homey Economic is a forum to share ideas on how to do just that. I’m starting this off as my personal sounding board, but feel free to debate or contribute in the comments—and if you have an idea for a post, drop me a line--I'd love to share the platform.

The biggest challenge to the home economy, in my experience, is time. You need time to make things from scratch, time to buy the supplies, time to plan out projects, and time to organize what you already have and to figure out what you can do with it, instead of just going out and buying something that’s been prefabricated for you.

The internet can be one of our biggest assets when trying to cut back, plan things, and find solutions. DIY recessionistas are constantly innovating better, greener, more efficient ways to make do with less, and do it with style. This blog is just one more avenue for tossing out ideas and promoting the dialogue.

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