Frugal Homemaking Lessons from the Great Depression Inspired by Janette Oke ~ Part 1

"Frugality is founded on the principle that all riches have limits."

~ Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

My daughter and I just finished reading the Seasons of the Heart series together by Janette Oke. The final book in the series, Spring's Gentle Promise landed the newly married couple right in the beginning of the Great Depression. As a result, the novel included a few gems on how women made do during the lean times. The author herself grew up as a child during the Depression Era. Perhaps these are the frugal homemaking lessons she learned from her mother. I would like to pass them down to you... inspired by the excerpts written by Janette Oke from her gentle story.

Note: This was a really sweet (and often humorous) coming of age novel. It is told from the point of view of a young boy growing up an orphan on the farm with his elderly grandfather, uncle and young aunt. The set of four stories takes him all the way to manhood and with a family of his own. I don't want to ruin the plot for anyone who has not read it so I am going to remove his wife's name from the quotes and replace it with "her" and "she" in order to keep the suspense for a future reader.

#1. Economize

'"Anything I can do?"

I could have said, "Economize. Watch each dollar. Skimp all you can." But I didn't need to say those things. I knew she would do that without me asking."

 ~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" was the famous mantra of the Depression Era. If we scrutinized every dollar and decision with those words in mind, we would benefit greatly. Do I really need this? Most likely you have gone thus far without it and you can continue to if your budget is breaking. The word "skimp" is rarely said in this modern culture of abundance but it is the foundation of frugal living.

Make a list before you go out and buy only what you truly need. For example, if you were to purchase something in the dollar bin because it was such a "great deal" and yet you really did not NEED it, you are not practicing a frugal lifestyle. It only means you have just spent a hard earned dollar. Many dollars make up 20's and many 20's will make up hundreds!



Buy groceries from bargain food outlets, look for scratch/dent specials, discounted day-old bread and marked down dairy about to expire (they are still good past the due date and whatever can not be consumed in time can be made into meals and frozen). Cook recipes with thrifty ingredients that don't require butter, eggs or milk (such as this crazy carrot cake). Accept hand-me-down clothes and shop exclusively at second hand stores, garage sales and estate sales. Cancel subscriptions to magazines, cable and the newspaper if necessary and utilize your local library instead. Invest in reusable products when possible. Consider handkerchiefs instead of tissue paper, fabric towels instead of paper towels, fabric napkins in lieu of throw-aways, cloth diapers versus disposable and cloth bags instead of paying for the store bought ones.



The other aspect of economy would be services. Are you paying for things you can do yourself such as manicures, yard maintenance, gym memberships (running and jogging are free forms of exercise), making your own meals, baking your own bread and so forth? Consider budget cuts in these areas when the times are lean. Here is our guide to Prudent Living the Pretty Way. It does take willpower and work to achieve these things but your household will be significantly blessed by your efforts!

"... he that gathereth by labour shall increase."

~ Proverbs 13:11b

#2. Grow and Preserve Your Own Food

"All summer long she fought to save her garden. With our finances as they were, it was even more important that she have produce to can or store in the nearby root cellar. Day by day she carried water by the pail and dumped it on her plants, coaxing them, imploring them to bring forth fruit."

 ~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

I think this lesson is quite obvious. There is nothing more frugal than growing and preserving your own food. Freezing and dehydrating are great options if canning is not feasible. I would also like to point out that this is the only way we can afford to eat organic which is an added benefit!

"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

~ Genesis 2:15

#3. Save Your Seeds

"She planted her garden too. She had carefully kept every possible seed so she wouldn't need to buy any. She even exchanged some with the neighborhood women..."

~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

Once you have the gardening and preserving in action, it is time to take it to the next level. Seed saving is not only a thrifty step but a self-sustainable one. If you have an abundance of certain seeds, trading is a wonderful option for building up a collection. Seeds also make nice and frugal gifts (visit here for an idea)! 

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

 ~ Genesis 1:29

#4. Conserve

"She knew better than to even start drawing water from the well. There simply wasn't enough there. She saved every bit of dishwater and wash water that was used, though, and carefully doled it out to her plants."

~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

Learning to conserve water and energy will not only save you money, but will also prove a valuable skill during hard times.  If any item is not in use, unplug it! The plug itself will leach a certain amount of energy (called energy vampires). All our electronic equipment is hooked up to a power cord and I unplug it every evening before bed to conveniently reduce consumption. Unscrew excess lightbulbs in ceiling fans during the day that are not necessary and keep all lights and fans off in rooms where no one is present.

Water should not be taken for granted either. During a crisis, it may not even be available. When our well ran dry, we collected the water in the shower that got wasted as we waited for the hot water to run through the pipes (it took that for us to value this resource!). Do you wash your dishes and brush your teeth as the water runs? In the old days, baths were once a week on the evening before church and the same water was used for everyone in the home!  I am not saying we all should do this but how seriously do we conserve? Do you catch rainwater? Every ounce counts as it is a precious commodity. It may be wise to re-evaluate the conservation efforts of water and energy in your home today. 

"Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet?"

~ Ezekiel 34:18

#5. Smaller Servings and Stretch Your Suppers

"It was another of the things we had learned to do without. Coffee -- weak coffee-- was reserved for breakfast, and each of us was allowed only one cup a day... She sliced some bread and spread some of her carefully hoarded strawberry jam over it -- thinly, I might point out. She set this on the table to go with the coffee."

~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

Stretching your provisions by adding oatmeal (or legumes) to a pound of hamburger, watering down coffee or tea, limiting your daily "cups", rationing your special foods or simply serving up smaller portions will positively impact the budget during lean times. Making large batches of soup and stews will stretch vegetables and meats and create multiple meals. Serve with filling foods such as simple muffins or biscuits. Purchase a whole chicken (it is more economical) and roast it or pressure cook it. Remove the meat from the bones and use it to prepare many meals such as chicken pot pie, chicken and dumplings, chicken casseroles, chili, chicken n' biscuits, etc. Take the remaining chicken bones and boil them for a rich, nutritious soup and/or rice base which in turn has created more meals. If you butchered the chicken yourself, the feet can be boiled into a nutrient-rich broth and even the feathers were made into bedding during the Great Depression. When living with my great aunt who grew up in that era, I found that she would take the oil that she fried her foods in and once warm, she would filter it back into a clean bottle. This oil would be used again and again in her cooking (for safety, give it a 3-month shelf life). 

Serving your food on a smaller plate will give you the sense of abundance when a reduction is in order. Cutting toast into triangles also helps with the bountiful table image. Serve water with meals, iced/hot teas or herbal tisanes for frugal beverage options (mint is easy to grow and is a very healthy, tasty drink). I would also like to add something about children's servings. I notice that so much is placed on their plates and 3/4 of it gets thrown away (it grieves me so!). There is no shame in starting off with smaller portions. They can always ask for more! But to give them so much and then to dismiss them from the remains is a grave amount of waste. And finally, don't forget to save your food scraps! Vegetable scraps can be boiled down into a tasty stock which can be drunk as a healthy, hot, beverage in the winter or used as a base for rice, soups and stews. The scraps can also be fed to chickens or composted. Fruit scraps are especially fun to work with and can be made into many useful household products! Remember, "waste not, want not."

"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."

~ John 6:12b

#6. Seek Comfort in the Psalms

"I took my Bible and began to leaf through it, looking for some kind of comfort in its pages. I read a number of Psalms and they helped..."

 ~ Janette Oke, Spring's Gentle Promise

Many sad souls turn to the bottle during hardships which brings them into deeper debt and despair but the believer drinks in the Living Water. The Word of God is free comfort food for the soul! Whenever challenging times come, the Almighty has provided us with promises to sooth our sorrows (some may fulfill in your lifetime while others may fulfill in the eternal life to come). When in need, go to the Psalms. Whatever distress, hopelessness or agonizing trials, you will find solace from every affliction in those pages. This is what has kept the faithful homemaker's of the past afloat when they felt like they were drowning in heartache.

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

~ Psalm 73:26

Thank you for taking the time to visit here today -- Part 2 is shared HERE. If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in Titus 2 Homemaking Lessons Inspired by Jane Austen and Titus 2 Encouragement Inspired by Louisa May Alcott. Have a lovely week and happy frugal homemaking to you!

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