Learning Frugality From Our Grandparents

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Frugality = Prudence in avoiding waste !
We really need to teach this to our kids, not only for saving money, but for saving our planet .... it amazes me how much food we throw away in our school cafeterias every day ... we could feed millions of people in the world with what we waste daily.
We need to teach by example and to require our school districts to teach our kids from kindergarden / elementary, etc ... about frugality, this is not the new thing to do, it should had been the way to do it, always !

Zelaznog of TX 3:16PM February 11, 2009

Now it looks like everyone is a Yankee. My parents are people who buy used cars and then run them to the ground. Only when the cost of repairs becomes exorbitant do they break down and buy another new used car. The passed those same values down to me: If it isn't broken, don't replace it. Sure I'm 25 years old and could probably afford to get a new TV if I really wanted to, but my 13 incher I bought before I went to college in 2002 still works. My laptop I bought in 2003 still works, and I just used part of my tax refund to buy a new one lest I be left without a functioning computer for my last semester of grad school. I got a new digital camera for Christmas in 2007 because I couldn't bring myself to replace my camera that only had like 1.7 megapixels and no optical zoom. Sure this mindset probably isn't good for the overall economy, since I don't buy products...but it means I can use the money I'm not spending to pay down some of my debts or save for the future.

Veronica of NY 2:32PM February 11, 2009

I was in a Golden Corral Buffet restaurant the other day and was ASTONISHED at the amount and value of food left on plates by an entire family when they left the building. The parents were obviously both ungrateful and incapable of "educating" the kids about basic responsibilities in life. Too bad, too. Some poor public school teachers instead will "inherit" those little kids. Think they'll be easy to teach?

Muser of NM 11:26AM February 11, 2009