Always be prepared

As I'm writing this, we're recovering from quite a long blackout. It started quite early- when we woke up for fajr (morning) prayer today at 04:00 AM, we found that our bedroom fan wasn't working so we figured it must be a blackout. That happens quite regularly, as in a few times a week, especially during the summer. But we didn't anticipate that it would be the longest blackout yet to experience. Assuming the blackout didn't start at 04:00 but, say, half an hour before that, and the electricity came back at 11:45, we were roughly 8 hours without electricity- possibly even a bit more. Since we experience blackouts every so often, I honestly don't really panick. Yes, it's annoying especially if you can't use a fan, or air conditioner when it's warm. 

I'm actually more concerned with the fridge. Even though the fridge is quite full and the two top shelves are nearly a freezer temperature during the summer, still, 8 hours is a long time for a fridge to be without electricity, especially in this heat. The same goes for the freezer. I've learned to be prepared for a blackout by storing a lot of bottles in the freezer. Usually it's broth, but if there's room left the gaps are just filled with bottles of water. Those bottles can go straight into the fridge in case there's a blackout. I put a few bottles in the fridge, just in case, and it probably did help, as those 8 hours powerless didn't seem to affect the temperature a lot. We did try not to open the fridge unless strictly necessary, so that helped too. Fortunately, I wasn't planning on using the washer or oven today, so that wasn't an issue. Another way we prepare ourselves for these kind of small calamities is to have an alternative source of light. Even during daytime, our house doesn't have that much sunlight, as our house was built to be insulated against the heat- not so much against the cold or to let sunlight come in, just like pretty much all houses here. We usually need to use lamps, especially in the kitchen.  Today it happened to be a cloudy day so that definitely meant we needed more light. Apart from our phones, we bought a lamp that can be charged either by electricity or by solar power (there's a tiny solar "panel" on the lamp). It's a very strong light so that comes in very handy. Much easier than candles. So even during daytime blackouts, we need to think about light, but obviously during nighttime blackouts that's even more of an issue. 

Water being cut off is more rare than electricity blackouts here, but still it does happen, especially since there is water scarcity. In our city it doesn't happen as much as in oather areas, but we've still found ourselves in situations with the water being cut off. Usually that happens a bit gradually, with the tap stream becoming weaker and weaker until no single drop of water comes out of the tap. There have been instances when neighbours had to ask us for water since they didn't have any. Honestly I don't really like asking others unnecessarily, even though I know my neighbours wouldn't mind at all. 

This is why I think it's important to be prepared. And I've noticed that a lot of people, even more so frugal minded people, talk about preparedness. But this preparedness is usually about greater calamities such as possible war or terrorism, wildfires, floods or earthquakes. To be honest, even if there is a chance that would happen, I think it's also good to look at the smaller calamities and it's much more likely we'll have to deal with them at some point. Now I understand that where we live blackouts are more common, but not so long ago, there was a blackout in a huge area in Spain, Portugal and even some areas in Morocco. I bet those people weren't really anticipating that either. It's not a major crisis (in most circumstances, anyway), but it's always good to be prepared. And yes, we should be prepared for bigger calamities, in my opinion, but also for the smaller ones. I would be quite annoyed if there's a blackout and my phone's battery is almost empty. Or our spare lamp wasn't charged. Or we didn't have enough cold water in the fridge. Not insurmountable problems, but still problems I'd rather be prepared for. 

                     Our nifty rechargeable lamp, in the kitchen

Who hates cooking?

I recently read something quite interesting. It was about people always "bragging" (as that person put it) they love to cook, and how in reality it really sucks having to cook every single day, again and again. I found it interesting as I'm quite the opposite- I love cooking. I actually can relate to people not wanting to cook everyday, as my health issues sometimes make it difficult to have the same energy level everyday. I might have a few "good days" in a row, in which I do a lot of cooking, which is usually followed by lower energy days in which I'm happy when I have enough energy to reheat the previously batch cooked food, plus the few dishes needed for that. So yes, I get that people don't want to be cooking every single day. 

What I can't relate to, however, is not liking to cook. When my lower energy days are over and I feel better I can't wait to do some cooking, meal prep, or start a new "project" in my kitchen. Or bake some fresh bread- as long as it's kitchen related, I'm thriving! Even on some of the lower energy days- because I like cooking and making things from scratch, it does give me energy (well, not always, obviously). I think it would feel terrible to have to do something everyday that I really dislike. Especially in a country where there aren't a lot of convenience foods, as is the case where we live. And by convenience foods, I don't necessarily mean TV dinners and other unhealthy stuff but even frozen foods, most tinned foods, pre-made sauces etc. It made me think what I would do in such an instance. Would I just accept that cooking is part of life even if I'd hate it? Or live off of instant ramen and sandwiches? Or get daily takeaways, hiring a private chef even? Those last option is probably out of budget to most people and it would certainly make a big dent in our monthly expenses. And solely relying on sandwiches and ramen is just too unhealthy. What's left is accepting that not every part of life is always fun. 

Probably not a popular opinion, but even the dishes I don't mind, on most days anyway. And I say that as someone who doesn't even own a dishwasher. Some people might see it as bragging but that's really not my intention. I think it would be a good thing if we'd all be a bit less hedonistic. There's nothing wrong with having fun, but not every single thing has to be fun. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, today's society makes it so complicated. 

What I also don't get is people don't want to think in solutions but rather see difficulties. As I mentioned, I find it hard to cook every single day due to health issues (despite actually enjoying it). But that doesn't mean we can't make things easier for ourselves... Why not do meal prep, so you have one day of work and the other days it's simply re-heating or at least be ready faster? Why not just have simple meals? As long as we get our nutrients, meals don't always have to be complicated. Apparently, some people do meal prep for weeks or even a whole month. While that wouldn't work for us (I'd need an extra freezer, lol) it's definitely food for thought and a good idea for those that despise cooking. One day of work, 29 days being free of cooking, sort of of.  It's easy to just nag and see things negatively.  And although disliking certain tasks might be natural, a bit of an attitude change, as well as some practical preparation, go a long way. 

Being poor is expensive

Lately I read something on Reddit which, I must be honest, was a bit triggering to me. I sometimes get triggered when it comes to people discussing poverty, wether that's in real life or online. I must say, I've really improved in the past few years and have managed to deal with it better, but sometimes suddenly there's this small thing that can really be triggering. So someone said that being poor is expensive. And of course there were many people disagreeing with that person, claiming that poor people actually are expensive themselves 🙄 (for society). Even though they're just random people online and I should really care about what such people have to say, it did make me angry. Because this is what I've been hearing for years now and it's so wrong. 

Whenever someone becomes poor it's almost like they've become society's property- you're poor so everyone must have an opinion about you. And you bet they're going to mention every single thing you're doing wrong. Even if you're being a "good poor person", you'll get criticized anyway because why being poor in the first place? (As if that's our own fault...) Fortunately, we've been able to work ourselves out of poverty, living very different lives now- not just our financial situation but also having emigrated to another country. It's still nice and valuable to reminisce every so often. 

And I fully agree with the statement of it being expensive to be poor. Having been there and done that, there's so many things that cost a lot more money to us than it did to rich/middle class people. 

- You can't afford to get a driver's license, so you rely on public transportation. Not only is public transportation not very reliable, it's also much more expensive than it is to drive a car. Fortunately, we were able to cycle, even though we only could afford a crappy bike instead of a nice one, which also cost us more money as it needed repair more often. 

- You're living in social housing (similar to council estate in the UK), which usually aren't of great quality- it's usually old houses, not insulated that good, etc. So you end up having a higher gas/electricity bill than those people that can afford to live in nicer, better houses. 

- Because you don't have a car, you can't always just go to the cheapest grocery store (such as Aldi or Lidl). We were fortunate to live in a smaller town so we could get everywhere with our bicycle, but for people living in bigger cities with only the more expensive grocery store nearby, there are less options. Fortunately, at least there isn't really such a thing like food deserts in the Netherlands. However, where we lived there was no such thing as food delivery at the time, we lived in a kind of remote area and supermarkets back then only delivered in bigger cities. Doing groceries by bicycle wasn't necessarily easy but we did figure out the best way to do it. We bought a bicycle carrier (which officially is meant to transport small children) so we could carry a bit more at a time, and at least take advantage if there were items being sold at a good price. Fortunately, we were able to buy ours second hand, which saved a lot of money. 

- When you're poor/low income, you can only afford to pay the basic, mandatory health insurance. There's no room financially to pay for additional health insurance that covers things like dental care, glasses, physical therapy, dietitians etc. We ended up paying for them ourselves- I did have to quit going to the dietitian as it became more expensive. I never really told her the real reason because I was a bit ashamed. 

- Which brings me to another point: social stigma. This doesn't necessarily always cost money, but ultimately, you're paying the price when it comes to mental health. For me personally, I didn't find it very difficult to discuss our situation with people I knew (and trusted); most of my relatives and friends knew we didn't have a lot of money. But I did find it more difficult when it came to other people that I didn't really know that well. What if they'd think I was a bad mum and call CPS? I think those thought are on almost every poor parents minds in a lot of countries. Fortunately, here in Tunisia, being poor isn't considered a failure or a crime, and poor people aren't treated like they've done something wrong or that they're bad parents, but in most of Europe, that really is the attitude towards poor people.                        In some cases, though, being poor and especially being ashamed of it can actually cost money. People are ashamed and because they don't want their poverty to be apparent, they'll end up buying things with money they don't have, adding more debts and ending up in even more problems. Being poor is mostly perceived as being dumb, lazy and just taking advantage of more well to do people. And that's really hard for low income people that try to do the best they can. Eventually that really backfires on ones health, both mentally and physically. Stress can cause a lot of health issues. 

- Speaking of debts: a relatively "small" debt (unpaid phone bill for example) can end up in outrageously high amounts of money. While poor people definitely aren't always in debt, there are a lot of poor people that are. And all those debts add up. Until you're just drowning in debts... It's really scary, but unfortunately the reality for many people. 

- Poor people usually can't afford to eat as well as richer people. Unfortunately, in many countries at least, ultra processed foods are more expensive than produce, healthy fats and whole grain products. While it might seem a cheaper option to buy cheap processed foods, it usually comes at a price for one's health. Yes, I know there are ways to still eat healthy on a very restricted budget, but generally speaking, not everyone has the time/energy/ability to stick to such a diet, think outside the box (due to bring chronically stressed out in long term poverty, etc). Buying in bulk is another thing not every poor/low income family can afford. Buying in bulk can save money, but initially, you'll need a larger amount of money than your weekly budget allows. 

All in all, those are some reasons why being poor costs a lot of money. Which is actually very wrong from many sides- it's as if poor people are being punished (by society) for being in the situation they are in. It's hard to wrap my head around that. Having been in most of those situations myself, I really can't imagine someone disagreeing with it- let's just think those people come from a very privileged pplace. The situation we were in wasn't exactly fun, but least it's something I've learned a lot from. I've learned not to judge, not to think thar just because someone doesn't look poor they aren't (we certainly didn't look poor). And that low income families certainly aren't lazy or dumb. I think that's the most stupid prejudice about poor people out there, to be honest. 

What if electricity was free?

The temperature is increasing almost per day now, yesterday was the first day above 40° (104° f), 42 degrees to be precisely. Today was around 45°. Yes, that's very hot! Fortunately, we live in a dry semi desert climate, which makes it a lot more bearable. Humidity makes the windchill a lot hotter. 

Despite the hot temperature, we still try to be moderate with the use of air conditioning. It's set on 26° c, and it's not on for the majority of the day. It's not that we cannot afford running the airconditioner all day long, we can, but I really don't see the need to pay that much for utilities.  And not just because of finances, although that certainly plays a role too. My first and foremost reason is the environment, then our health. Yes, I don't think airconditioners are good for our health - especially if there's a huge gap between outdoor and indoor temperature. The other day I read an article written by an pulmonologist about that, and how it can trigger issues for asthma patients. Both my oldest daughter and me happen to have asthma... We're not with a lot of issues during the summer drought, fortunately, but anything we can do for our lung health is a win. 

But something got me thinking: what if electricity was completely free? What would I do in such an instance? I need to be honest with myself (and my readers 😉). I'd probably use it a tad more than I do now. Not necessarily all day long, and I wouldn't mess up with the temperature setting, I still want summer to feel like summer. And I still value protecting the environment, within my limited means anyhow. It doesn't really feel hypocritical to be honest, because I just don't want to spend fortunes just on getting our house cold enough so I can wear sweaters at home (lol). So I would still use it moderately even if electricity were free. 

There's a reason why that came to my mind. Somebody I know is married to a man who works for the electricity and gas company. There's just one such a company here, owned by the government. Their employees get the privilege of having free electricity- and also for one extra house of their choice, for example their parents home or whatever other home they wish. I think that's pretty cool. Without wanting to sound too socialist, it seems like things like these usually stop when those companies are being privatized, sadly. As soon as it's being privatized, company greed changes a lot. My grandfather also worked for the electricity company in the Netherlands, before it was being privatized, and he had exactly the same privilege. I remember my grandmother using only an electric hob, which was a bit rare, and I only ever saw it at her house, not anywhere else. Apparently, now it's getting more common to use an electric hob but at the time it wasn't- she even got hers from Germany as they were better available there. Interestingly enough, my grandmother was one of the most frugal people I've ever known, despite her electricity bill being zero regardless of her use. She didn't have a lot of electric guzzling appliances, such as a dryer or even an electrical lawn mower (despite having a big garden). So basically, electricity being free didn't affect her use at all - she could have taken advantage of that privilege but didn't.

And to get back to my acquaintance I was referring to, it happens to be the same with her. I was visiting her recently and noticed that she still hadn't installed her airconditioner. She owns one, but having moved to her current house around a year ago, the airconditioner being installed apparently wasn't a big priority. She said they didn't really miss one and that her fan was enough. I must add that she lives in a house that stays relatively cool during the summer, but still, most people in her situation probably have taken advantage of free electricity. Also, like most people here, she's frugal by nature. She doesn't necessarily call herself frugal but she definitely is. 

And of course, then there's people who have plenty of solar panels to have enough electricity during the summer for all their appliances. That's a bit of a different story. I wish we had solar panels, but unfortunately they're so expensive! That might be a disadvantage of the grid not being privatized... it's still a future goal of ours to have enough renewable/sustainable electricity. Not necessarily going offgrid, but to have our "own" power for the majority of the time and to still be connected to the grid as a backup. I think probably when one has solar panels, that's also a way of being more mindful of your usage of electricity. Because you never know when you run out. 

I guess the moral of this story is that we should always be mindful of what we use, regardless of its abundance, it being free of charge, etc. In the end, even "free" stuff is never totally free- someone or something is paying a price. In this case, that something is the planet. 

Fast food vs real food, which is cheaper?

We've been told a lot of lies by the food industry. One of my biggest pet peeve is the claim that fast food is cheaper than real food. It's probably one of the biggest food myths out there, but somehow people keep believing it wholeheartedly. And I don't think it's to fraud themselves, it's just that the food industry's propaganda machine is really working. 

First of all, let's define fast food. I'm not necessarily talking about the literal meaning - grabbing an apple from your counter could be faster than driving to your nearby McDonald's restaurant. I think we all know what's meant by fast food. But just for clarifications sake, when I (or most people) think fast food, we think of not so nutrient dense meals, coming from factories or fast food style restaurant, highly processed at least. And usually not very expensive, which is why people get attracted to those foods. 

Secondly; it might be interesting to look at some reasons why people buy fast food. Some may like the taste, but for the majority, it probably has to do with a lack of time or not a very big budget. 

What I find quite interesting is that looking at the poor people from the past (and no, i'm not necessarily talking about centuries ago), they all cooked from scratch. Eating out was considered a rich person's hobby, and absolutely unaffordable for poor people. And not just the past- it's still like this in most parts of the world; where we live, eating out or having a takeaway isn't the norm, even for people that are financially well off. And not only that; people were very resourceful and great at not throwing away anything, stretching whatever they had to feed as much people as possible. It sure might have been nice for that exhausted homemaker living in poverty to have had the ability to have a takeaway, but when everybody's living like that, it's just your normal. So, despite limited resources, people still put a lot of love and effort in making simple yet wonderful meals- and above all, used their creativity! It's amazing how much that has changed over just a few decades. 

When it comes to time, I get that people that are working multiple jobs and come home exhausted late at night don't have energy to cook. Still, there's solutions to (almost) every problem, including this one. Why not do one from scratch cooking marathon on a day you're not working and freeze all those meals? Or just buy canned vegetables or frozen vegetables, which are usually just as nutritious, but it's still saving you some time. Eggs are also fast to prepare, as is boiling some rice or pasta. A sandwich can be whipped up in a few minutes and can be made as healthy as you like. And these days, with all our technology, we can use crock pots (some people put them on right before they go to work), or they do some meal prep in advance and they throw those ingredients in a pressure cooker once they've arrived home. Others might throw some "homemade fast food" together of items that are considered convenience foods, but still are healthier than what most fast foods restaurants would sell (for example: some tinned vegetables, instant mashed potatoes and something quick as a protein on the side). 

There's so many options!

But now, when it comes to money- which are actually cheaper? Is fast food really that cheap? It probably depends on where you buy your food and to which restaurants you go to. Some restaurants may have an "happy hour" with reduced prices, or some small convenience stores in food deserts will have higher prices. I'm not really up to date with most prices in the US (I'm talking about the US specifically since that's where the fast foods are so prevalent and more of an issue than in other countries), but I'm sure that cooking healthy, homemade foods from cheap ingredients still is much cheaper than fast foods or even convenience foods such as frozen dinners. It's just that it takes a bit more effort and adjustment, but once you're used to cooking from scratch, you'll probably don't want to go back and you're not really into that greasy, MSG-ish fast food taste anymore. 

Remember that you don't have to buy meat or fish products all the time, as those are quite expensive. Or even the more expensive vegetables... For example, now that it's winter, we have plenty of cheap vegetables in season, such as different kinds of cabbage, turnips, chard, carrots, pumpkins... Those are all so cheap and very versatile. In fact, I'd find it hard to mention a dish in which one of those vegetables don't fit. When it comes to starches- just find the ones that are most affordable for you. For us, it's bread, pasta and couscous. Potatoes, barley, and rice are more expensive but can still be made into a healthy frugal meal, especially when you keep it vegetarian. I like to have lunch with leftover pasta or some fried potatoes, an egg and some vegetables on the side- nothing special but still a nice and filling meal. On the days when we don't have meat (those days outnumber the days that we do have meat), we either have legumes such as lentils, chickpeas or white beans, or I make an egg based meal. Yup, no eggs for breakfast here 🙂 Same goes for breakfast foods. Just keep it simple, don't set very high goals- that way you'll burn out and are tempted to get a takeaway.

Not that there's anything wrong with a takeaway every so often; we just shouldn't make it a frequent habit. I could go on but I think you're getting the idea of trying to make meals stretch as much as possible, prepping ahead and thinking of cheaper ingredients. While fast food may seem cheap, when keeping our health in mind it's not quite that cheap at all. 

Living with food shortages

This post is probably going to be a bit long, and perhaps triggering to some people. Just saying. 

Lately, food shortages, food insecurity and subjects connected to that are on my mind a lot. I don't know if it's just me, but it's almost like I keep reading about yet another food crisis: then it's rice, or wheat, or coffee, then it's sugar and then suddenly bananas are threatened with extinction. I honestly don't know what to think of it, as I know that there are so many people somehow benefiting from crises like these. But I'm not necessarily a conspiracy theorists so I'll just leave it with this. All I do know is that how the world is right now is giving me much anxiety. 

For all (or most, anyhow) of my adult life, I was very frugal, and as a result of that, very waste conscious. My husband and I married young and started off very humbly with not a lot of money. We really tried to work up ourselves. There were good times (in terms of finances) and bad times. And there were also very bad times (for reasons beyond our control, but I won't elaborate too much on that now). I'd say it was definitely relative poverty, as we were living way below the poverty line. But I must admit, I don't like to use that word a lot, because there are millions of people who are way worse off than we were. And when I say "very bad", I think mainly of how food was a major stress point. I didn't really care about our furniture being from garbage bins or thrift shops, or cheap outings, thrifted clothes etc. But food insecurity was much more of an issue. There were weeks that we had 20 € or less to feed the four of us - still we were very "lucky" that our youngest daughter, as a newborn back then had allergies so her formula was covered by insurance. But still, it was very tight. There was always this anxiety of not having enough for the whole week, or having unexpected guests and not being able to serve them something slightly decent. Even though our friends probably wouldn't have minded, but the anxiety was still there. With lots of hard work we tried to get out of poverty which we did and were proud of that accomplishments. Probably we would still have classified as "(very) low income", but to me, it wasn't really poverty because I didn't really stress about food anymore. Still, you can get out of poverty but it's more difficult for poverty to get out of you - the anxiety stays. Not with everyone, probably, but this is what I've heard a lot from "formerly poor people". I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing in and of itself- it's human nature to be aware for dangers and to be prepared for that. It does become a problem when it's causing anxiety though. 

Fast forward to now and I'm kind of in the same boat. Kind of, because it's not due to a lack of money. But the anxiety is the same. Ever since we emigrated we were used to having some food shortages, from time to time. A few years ago, it wasn't such a big deal because it was usually very temporary, and limited to one product at a time. It wasn't really an issue. And then came covid, which made it a bit more difficult - there were more shortages, with a few items at a time. And for longer periods of time. Then came the Russian/Ukraine war and with that, energy and multiple food crises, causing more inflation (and I mean, it's not that the economy was going good here before that). And dare I say, a crisis of greedy multinationals who can't stand governments subsidizing certain food items. 

So anyway, that's a brief summary of how things got how they are currently. We have been dealing with shortages of many staples: rice, flour, semolina, milk, sugar, tea, certain pastas, couscous, coffee, eggs, oil, chicken. As of lately, it's actually better than it has been for a long time; there's milk, semolina, and white flour at the same time! Yeast is yet again a new item that seems to be not available... sigh. But fortunately, we found a box of small sachets and bought that despite the higher price. Some products had been unavailable for a year or longer until they came back to the store shelfs- white flour, for example, has recently come back but hadn't been available for a year and a half. Rice is another staple that has been gone for around a year and a half. Subsidized oil even around two years. It's quite frustrating and as one item comes back, people can't help but wonder for how long the said products will stay- it has happened many times that they came back and then went unavailable again. Some products are completely unavailable, whereas other products are slightly available, or at a very high price. Oil, for example, is available but at least 5 times more expensive than the exactly same but subsidized oil (the only difference being the packaging). This is especially difficult because the price of olive oil has skyrocketed as well, so more people use vegetable oil now. Same with sugar, which is now mainly important from a neighbouring country, for double the price. Even if some items are slightly available, or available yet suddenly very expensive, I think this still talks under the umbrella of shortages, because the supply is still limited. And since we're dependent on importing that's another uncertainty- the border of Libya has been closed for a few months now. For a good reason, but it still affects the shortages even more. 

This whole situation does affect us more than one would expect. I think it's the uncertainty that is particularly difficult for me. And it brings back memories from our toughest financial situation.We could live without these products obviously, but since they are staples they're just used a lot by many people, including us. It's just having to be creative all the time and look for solutions, which can be quite tiring. And having to cut back even more for a lot of people since so many foods are a lot more expensive. It's always on your mind. It's being afraid you can't buy that flour anymore next week, and not knowing how long it'll be gone. 

There was a time that most pasta, couscous, and every kind of rice weren't available all at the same time. Now we were fortunate that we build a stockpile, but for those that didn't, it was quite a challenge. And for some reason, stockpiling isn't something most people here do, even after these years of shortages. What do you eat if all your go to staples aren't being sold anymore? At that time, even bread at the bakery was very limited. You could buy oatmeal or ground sorghum and make porridge of course. But at least for us, that's not really considered dinner foods- I know, it's food and very filling, and if that's all you have it's certainly better than nothing but it is an adjustment to switch to other types of foods. Also, sorghum and oatmeal are quite expensive here, much more expensive than pasta and couscous, so some people (especially with large families) can't afford to eat that three times a day. Fortunately, the couscous and pasta shortages didn't last long, which was a big relief for many people.

This is an important lesson. Despite the difficult situation, and it being a trigger because of our previous poverty situation, I think you truly learn to be appreciative, be even more frugal and resourceful and to come up with creative solutions. When there were milk shortages, I made oatmilk to use in pancakes, French toast etc or to just make some hot chocolate (I don't lile drinking oat milk as is). Despite milk shortages, there was always yogurt so we had that regularly, as well as sesame seeds and sardines for our calcium. I came up with rice substitutes, such as wheat/barley burgul and orzo pasta. I drink more herbal tea to stretch the bags of loose leaf tea that we still have at home as much as possible, herbal tea is better for you anyway I guess. In many recipes, I halved the sugar.  And I'm still planning on trying to make date pit coffee. Apparently it's quite good and almost similar to the real thing. My husband will need to test that, as I'm not a coffee drinker. I must acknowledge that we're privileged not to be poor anymore (and our poverty being very different from the poverty where we live now anyway), so if we do want to splurge on an expensive product, like rice imported from the neighbouring country, we can do that. The sad reality is that for many people, this simply isn't possible. It's either buying the regular, cheaper products and if they're short of those, poor people just have to go without. I sometimes feel sorry for people whose only "splurge" was coffee with homemade cake or something, can't even buy that anymore because sugar has become too expensive. Or they have to cut back on other essentials even more. That's the sad reality for many people. But if you're living in absolute poverty, things like a nice drink once in a while isn't a luxury but an essential to feel human (in my opinion), as being poor really takes a toll mentally and physically and you really need such a "splurge" sometimes.  

I truly learned to appreciate that we do have. Although we might not always have exactly what we want, it's always much more than we actually need. I also learned that as much as I like planning, sometimes it's best to just take things as they come- by just buying what's available instead of having everything planned ahead. We obviously went never without anything we needed, even if it meant that the type of food wasn't our first choice necessarily. It makes one very creative. As aforementioned, I found a lot of substitutes for everyday items. Even though my anxiety is still there, I've tried to be a bit more relaxed about it- trying to relativize, because we're not going hungry. It's just that we're going without some food items. Yes, that can be hard, but there are many people in much more difficult situations. 

What's interesting is to see how people in general deal with this situation. People tend to gift each other bags of sugar as if it's the most valuable thing they possess, or coffee, etc. It's both funny and heartwarming at the same time. But unfortunately, as always, there are people trying to take advantage of the situation- I've heard of people trying to sell one kg of sugar four times higher than the original price. It's just ridiculous. But as long as people are willing to pay that price there are others that continue to do these things I guess. Witnessing less foods being wasted is something that really excites me. In the past, many people would buy their bread fresh everyday, usually more than actually needed. Leftover bread would be put near the trashcans on the streets "for the cats".  Only, stray cats (and dogs) couldn't finish all the foods being put on the streets- because it wasn't just bread, but also lots of leftover cooked pasta etc. It was just so much. Because of the way that hospitality is ingrained in the culture, people are used to cooking more than necessary for unexpected guests. But guests showing up unexpectedly isn't a daily occurrence, which is why sadly that extra food is thrown away. This is at least one thing in which a difficult situation still had some positive impact! It makes me happy to see that people are becoming a bit more conscious about food waste, even if the reason isn't necessarily the most fun. I do hope that once this shortages situation is over, people will remain this waste conscious. 

So, all in all, it's a tough situation but it had taught me gratitude at the same time, as well as ways to deal with my trauma based anxiety when it comes to food insecurity, food shortages etc. All we can do is pray that the situation will improve and in the meantime we'll just have to find ways to be creative and come up with substitutes and alternatives. There is however so much to be grateful for. 

A kitchen without an oven

One thing in particular has caught my attention when it comes to being frugal with utilities, and cooking in general. And that is that we don't use our oven a lot. It seems like for most people, an oven is a kitchen essential, and they'd be lost without one. The other I saw someone on a Facebook group asking what other people make if they have no oven. This was supposed to be a frugal living group, so I assumed that most of the people there were like me and used their oven occasionally. But I was wrong, and most people's responses were that they absolutely didn't know what to do without one. 

That made me thinking of my use of the oven and what I do differently from others. First of all, the frequency. Last week, I used the oven twice- once for making a cake, and once to make baked chicken. I usually bake chicken on the hob, but I sometimes like the convenience of not having to flip the chicken every 10 minutes or so since I had other things to do. The cake was a big one, and I froze about half. That's not only healthier (if I wouldn't freeze it right away we'd surely be tempted to finish it anyway), it's also more frugal - less electricity used, as well as saving money on the baking ingredients. This week, I made some cookies and muffins. However, there are also weeks that we don't use the oven at all.  So I'd say, on average it's being used once a week. Another thing is that we don't eat casseroles as much. We rarely do, in fact. I like to make lasagna on special occasions- all of the ingredients are quite expensive, and it's a time consuming meal to make when you make about everything from scratch. Every so often, I make Tunisian tajine (which is like a crustless quiche), and makarouna bechamel, also known as "Arabic mac 'n cheese". But for the most part, we don't do a lot of other casseroles. Probably partly due to the fact that casseroles are considered cold weather meals (in our family, anyway), and around these parts, the cold weather doesn't last that long. For most of the year, it's nice warm weather or unbearable hot. And while I don't mind eating hot foods during the summer, for some reason, casseroles are a bit different. They're just too "heavy", and usually containing dairy of some sort which makes a meal more expensive. Casseroles aren't really a thing in Tunisian cooking anyway, and while I do make dishes from other cuisines from time to time, it's Tunisian foods that are our go to meals. Pizzas are a rare occasion here too, and a rare treat. Bread is either purchased at the nearby bakery or if it's homemade, it's usually stove top flatbread. 

All in all, I think that an oven isn't really an absolute necessity, although it's a nice extra. I've had people asking me what in the world we have for dinner if we don't use our oven regularly. Well, just that: soups, pasta dishes, potatoes, rice dishes, couscous, stews, and I think I can go on and on. I, on the other hand,wonder what they do serve for dinner if they can't function without an oven! My husband was raised in an oven-free household for the most part; my MIL didn't have one until he moved out of the house. And now she doesn't really use the oven anymore and is just used as a storage space. My MIL did have a "wonder pan", a pan you use on the hob and functions as an alternative for an oven. She used this when making cake, among other things. For cookies, the communal oven (which I wrote a post about earlier) was used. She didn't really make casseroles and when baking bread she used the tabouna (outdoor oven, which is comparable to an Indian tandoor). This bread tasted absolutely amazing. 

Here's some other ways we save on electricity when it comes to the oven, other than just not using it very frequently: we have a toaster oven, albeit a relatively large one, but still smaller than most average ovens. This takes less electricity. When we do bake, we tend to do a "baking marathon", as preheating the oven does take more electricity. So we might make muffins and right after that, cookies or bread for example. This is actually quite an old fashioned thing to save on utilities- most women did a baking day once a week. Also, I might be a bit stubborn but I go against some conventional "rules" when it comes to baking. I rarely adjust temperature, for example, and our oven is set at 200° c (which in reality is more like 180° c - talking about stubbornness, ovens kind of do have their own characters I guess 😄). I also don't really preheat, which is an advantage of having a separate/toaster oven, as they heat up much quicker. I turn off the oven before it's "officially" ready, and make use of the residue heat. Yes, I do this when baking cakes too. I must say that I usually stick to the easier recipes, so I'm not sure how that would work out with more complicated recipes. 

Anyway, those were some insights on the use of ovens. I could definitely live without one, although it's a nice extra to me. But a necessity it is not (in my opinion, anyhow). 

Summer savings

I  guess I was on a blogging binge yesterday. It can happen... 😃 

We've had a few weeks of nice autumn weather, in March and April, but especially for the past two weeks it's been very hot around these parts. It might not be "officially" summer yet in the northern hemisphere, but the weather is certainly more summer-like than spring-like here! I'm aware of the fact that summer is not something everyone necessarily enjoys, especially very hot summers. I still prefer summer over winter though. Even though we don't have very cold winters, I quite enjoy the heat. The added benefit of summers is that there's a lot of things you can save on. 

Air conditioning: Our days without putting on the air conditioning are probably numbered, we can only delay it so much... But, every day without having to put it on is yet another one! Yeah, I know living without air conditioning is the ideal, both frugality wise as environmentally wise. There was a time when I didn't want one for these two reasons, but I'm glad we eventually purchased one. It was during a heat wave, when temperatures outside reached nearly 50°c... (which is 122° f). Living in a desert without air conditioning can be like living in Siberia without heating! It didn't feel as a luxury anymore and we were so relieved after ours was installed. Both my husband and me suffer from the heat when it reaches a certain temperature in the home. He sweats a lot, and gets warm easily. I'm quite the opposite, where the heat kind of stays in my body and doesn't come out because I can't sweat. I also have asthma and a lot of muscle contractions during the summer which both decreased immensely since we have an air conditioning. Still, we try to be relatively frugal with it - we put it on when it becomes almost unbearable and it's set on 26° c (78° f), never lower. We only have one unit in the living room- I guess that's one of the benefits of living in a small home. In our bedrooms we have fans, and I actually prefer sleeping with a fan on rather than AC. Also, the air conditioning is not on all day long. That's how we still try to use it minimal but still make it more bearable during the summer heat. Still, I've found that our "minimal air conditioning use" tends to be cheaper than minimal heating during the winter. 

Another way of saving on utilities is by using cold water. Our pipes are outside the house which means the water heats up fast. On very hot summer days that means you can have a warm shower with "cold" water. This applies to the washing machine too- I usually turn the temperature setting completely off, as it's usually still at least 30°c, if not more. Same with doing dishes. We also try not to cook dishes with a long cooking time to avoid heating up the kitchen, and use the oven less. 

Speaking of laundry: since line drying is something we do all year round, it's not necessarily a saving, but it is much easier now than it is during the winter. Also, since the house isn't cold like it is during the winter, we wear less layers of clothes. Less clothes = less laundry. 

Gas: our car is mostly used to drive and pick up the children from school. Since they have a three month long break during the summer, we're defenitely saving on gas. We still use the car during the summer break, but much less than our average use. 

Fun things: since it's so hot here, it's not adviced to go outside during most part of the day, so we really need to find ways to entertain ourselves at home. This usually happens to be a lot cheaper too! We do enjoy going outside at night for a stroll and an ice cream every so often. Vacations are not something we do a lot, last year was the first time in 4 years that we went on a small vacation. To be honest I'd rather stay home, but I did enjoy the children having a great time. I'm not sure whether we'll go on a vacation this year or not, but if we go, it'll be as frugal as possible. We don't go abroad but stay in our country. Since we live in a small country, it's just a few hours drive to get to the coastal region. 

Food: we generally eat less during the summer, and prefer lighter meals with more veggies. In season produce is quite cheap here, fortunately, so that's a big saving right there. I've also noticed that some foods that can spoil quickly (like eggs) tend to be cheaper during the summer months. 

Nose to tail

On monday, DH and I decided to do some shopping at the souk, the north African equivalent of a wet market. I love going there every so often. Everything is divided by category- vegetables, fish, etc. There's also a large meat section. We wanted to see what the butchers sold that day- as they don't always sell the same meats everyday. We were all craving an organ meat dish, which I'll go to in a minute. I also wanted to see if they had some fat to render. 

Coming from Europe, it's quite interesting how it all works here when it comes to meat. First off, meat is very expensive here, hence, it's not something that's eaten a lot. Most people here won't eat meat on a daily basis, especially red meat. And we are no exception to that. Since meat is so expensive, people are in general not very picky, so they won't just eat only certain cuts of meat. They don't shy away from eating the "weird" parts - or which is considered weird in western societies, anyhow. Everything of the animal is appreciated equally, it seems. Since I was raised as a vegetarian, I think this is why it's not that big of a deal to me. I wasn't used to eating only chicken breasts and mince, like many Europeans, rather all meat was foreign to me anyway. So when I did start to eat meat, because of that, I didn't differentiate between a chicken breast and sheep lungs. It's not to say that people here eat the "weird" parts just because it's more economical. In fact, some parts are truly considered a delicacy. 

I wanted to make douara (a stew with offal meat), something which we realized we didn't have in a long time and is one of our favourite dishes. There is absolutely no reason to look down upon organ meat; organ meats are super nutritious, and delicious. If the picky eaters would only get over their initial hesitation! The fun thing is, that even if it's not insanely cheap, the "regular" meat is 5 times as expensive, or 3 times as expensive when it comes to very old meat that requires a long cooking time. It's interesting that organ meat is becoming more and more popular in certain circles, especially those that focus on eating a nourishing tradition kind of diet, also known as ancestral diets. 

Honouring the whole animal and being appreciative for the nutrients that all of the animal has to offer, is also known as 'nose to tail eating'. Where we live, one can take that quite literally! When we walked by some of the butchers (there are a lot to choose from) there were several butchers selling heads: goat, sheep and cow's heads. I was amazed by how massive that cows head was though! I must probably be integrated quite well, because I don't have a problem seeing this. I do eat meat, so I have no problem to see that it actually came from an real animal. I would have a problem eating meat from a factory, but I know these animals were raised at the countryside, which is probably also why they're expensive. 

Hopefully I'll be posting my douara recipe soon. 

Some reasons for being frugal

I read a article the other day on why people choose to live a frugal lifestyle and I found the perspective interesting, although I didn't really agree with it- it claimed that being frugal is usually done out of necessity, which is why being frugal is not so sustainable long term, as it might make people feel deprived. 

Feeling deprived is defenitely something that can happen when you're making a lifestyle switch cold turkey, especially when you simply have no other option. So I get that. Where I don't agree is claiming that necessity is the only reason to be frugal. It's almost saying as if being frugal is somewhat pathetic. I am pretty sure that most frugal people are frugal out of choice. It's also interesting that poor people are often the least frugal people out there- despite being frugal would help them a lot to struggle a bit  less. As someone experienced both periods of poverty as well as more comfortable stages financially, I can tell that being frugal absolutely helps when you're in dire need, but it also helps when you don't absolutely need to. It all depends on the reasons why you're being frugal in the first place. 

The environment is not the first reason people think about when it comes to frugality, but for us this is one of the biggest reasons. Not only was I brought up to value green living, but being religious we believe that we need to take good care of the creation. We are not allowed to misuse resources and pollute the earth even more. Especially when we're facing crises like these days, this should be even a bigger argument to be very frugal. Yes, of course money plays a role too. As I mentioned, having experienced relative poverty, I know what's it like to have to pinch pennies. Even though I don't *have* to anymore, I think having gone through a more lean period can change people for good, I'll never take having a good material life for granted anymore. That being said, our income is fluctuating so it's always good to have money to spare for periods when money is more tight. 

Some people will be surprised by this, but I just really, really like being frugal. I probably have the same excitement over having found a way to reuse a certain item or a way to cut down on electricity use that others would have after going on a shopping trip. This is why I never will become "normal" when it comes to spending money, throwing out stuff etc. But what even is normal? 100 years ago, frugality was the norm, whereas unfortunately these days, overconsumption and tossing away perfectly functioning stuff is considered normal. It's sad. I'd rather be the weird one than being wasteful. And I'm convinced that us frugal people will eventually prove the consumerism wrong. It probably has to take a few more crises until that happens. 

I also find it very important to set a good example for the next generation, particularly my own children. It's funny to see them coming with random items they're about to throw away and asking me first if I'd want to keep it. It's also cool to see them making their own decorations for their rooms, rather than buying. Yes, they do have store bought decorations, don't worry- but I guess they just know the value of reusing stuff just too well. Most things they make are real pretty though. My oldest is becoming more into fashion and clothes and she rather buys them second hand. Our second hand market for clothes here is huge and she's always so excited when she found clothes that matches her size and taste perfectly! 

Also, as much as we value frugality, we probably value slow and simple living even more. Even if it might cost a bit more in some cases. Having turned my back to the consumerism culture feels just so liberating. Trying to meet al the standards that most western societies set is like having your mind turned on 24/7, and I'm glad I refuse to take part in that rat race. Slow living and frugality usually go hand in hand though, they seldom contradict each other. You refuse to buy the newest trends just because they're the newest trends, you don't feel the need to buy that "necessary" new kitchen appliances that promise you to make your life even more easy- for busy people, that is. You don't have to upgrade your house a the time. You don't feel like you need to meet all the expectations of keeping up with the Jones's. Here in Tunisia, especially in the more impoverished areas (like where we live), there is no such thing as "keeping up with the Jones's" anyway, because very few people can afford to be like the Jones's. So that's an easy one. That can be one's definition of frugality, but for us, it's not just frugality, but also more simplifying our life.

As I mentioned before, being frugal and "simple" can make you being the weird one often. For a long time that bothered me a bit, because why would people be so judgy? I now know that that's just the way most people are- afraid of the unknown. I now try to do my best to set an example in the hope that I can inspire others to live a (little) bit more sustainable/frugal/simple, because I truly believe that's also in their best interest. Also, when you're trying to set an example, that leads to more accountability. Which is a good thing for my own conscience. 

Saving for a rainy day- without having social security or a pension to look forward to, I think it's defenitely important for us to live frugally right now as we basically have to save up for our own pension (if it's decreed for us to reach that age anyhow). Or just unexpectedly high expenses. This feels different for us than to be frugal out of necessity. Some people might say it's similar, but since we don't actually need it right now to survive, it's still a bit different. 

So- that were our reasons to be frugal. Yours might be different, and that's ok. 

It's only single use if you use it once

Single use products are typically not very wise to use because you're paying for something you're essentially throwing away within seconds. You're tossing money directly into the trash, not to mention it takes a couple of hundred years (!) for that plastic to break down. And even if the products aren't made of plastic, but aluminium or cardboard instead, the environmental impact still can't be neglected. Of course, sometimes single use products are beneficial. Think medical single use products, period products (especially for women who don't always have access to water), and it can extend the shelf life of foods, etc. This is why I'm not radically against single use products, as it sometimes just makes sense. 

However, here's the thing: I've found that not all single use products are truly single use. In fact, there's a LOT of things around our home that are officially single use products, yet are being used over and over. That doesn't mean they last forever, but using them just once because marketers tell you to do so is just silly, in my humble opinion. Of course, I'm not talking about the obvious single use products that involve personal hygiene -other than tooth brushes- (although I have seen people reusing diapers here, which really is out of dire poverty). 

Of course, marketers, driven by their capitalist world view, want us to believe all their products are single use, and bad things will happen if you dare to use them more often. How else will they profit from the working class and destroy the environment? I'm very grateful that my parents taught me to think outside the box. It really is a necessary life skill to ask questions and come up with creative solutions for things "that are just the way they are". As a young girl, I remember that one of the presents I have the most vivid memories of was some sort of appliance that could cut styrofoam with heat. Those appliances were a rage in the 1990s, with toy shops selling them quite expensively. The one I got, however, was hand made by my father. My father was very handy- he once made one perfectly functioning car out of two older cars, need I say more? It didn't matter to me that it was handmade and had a bit of a "homemade look", I just remember the excitement of getting such a present. At that time a lot of foods were packed with styrofoam so I did a lot of crafting with that. Unfortunately I can't remember what actually happened to the styrofoam cutter, but I hope it was either disassembled (which is most likely, knowing my dad), or given away to someone else. Either way, looking back I think that even though I haven't been always as waste conscious as I'm now, my parents defenitely instilled this mentality from early on. 

Back to the "single" use products. As mentioned, there's obviously things that cannot be reused. But then there are so many products that *can* be reused! 

Bags: I try to always have a tote bag with me but plastic bags coming in the house still happens. I generally use them to freeze meat. You really don't want to re-use bags in which meat or fish has been. When I do use store bought sandwich baggies, I sometimes reuse them. Especially when they were used for freezing produce, if the produce comes out dry/clean (such as broad beans), I just hang them to dry and put them in a drawer in which I store my pre-used baggies, which works so well. Oh, and hoe could I (almost) doet er bread bags? They seem to last ages and are very suitable for freezing.

If that's not possible, I tend to divide the baggies in two, especially if I'm freezing smaller amounts. Other bags I use for the garbage bin. Sometimes, there are holes in the bags so they aren't really suitable for the garbage, but I use them instead of plastic wrap. 

Egg boxes: when my children were smaller, they did a lot of crafting with egg boxes. If you don't have small children you can also donate your egg boxes to local schools, or so I've heard. I'm yet to decide whether the crocodile or the train was their favourite egg box crafting project. You can also use them in your kitchen drawer to store small things that would otherwise clutter up the kitchen: thumbacks, rubber bands, etc. They're also very suitable for gardening, as you can grow seedlings in the holes. I have also used the boxes to sprout cress seeds. There's certain games you can play with your toddler using egg boxes, such as matching game. 

And lastly: I usually put some of the egg boxes in our trashcan- under the bag. That way, if something spills or leaches, you don't have to clean up the trash can immediately. 

Toothbrushes: my father had a huge collection of old toothbrushes, which he used for his car and many other things. Now I won't keep hundreds of them like he did, but I do have some old toothbrushes that I use for certain cleaning chores. Speaking of toothbrushes, it's a myth that you have to replace your toothbrush every few weeks. This is again a marketer's trick. Some people think it has to do with hygiene, but that's not the actual reason why this is adviced. It has to do with the brushes being "worn out", and because of that, don't function as they should. If you're not an angry brusher, you really don't need to replace it that often. And if your concern is hygiene you simply disinfect your brush with boiling hot water. 

Balloons: Now I think this is somewhat of a slippery slope. How on earth can someone be environmentally conscious AND even think of balloons? Don't worry, we generally don't buy balloons. Actually, I've always found them scary so it's rather a good thing they're considered bad for the environment. That way, at least I have a valid excuse to avoid them altogether! But, sometimes my in laws give a balloon to the children during our eid holidays, and I don't want to judge them for that. I think one balloon a year is quite good, though. Anyway, I've found that balloons can sometimes be blown up again when it's beginning to shrink. This way, my youngest daughter once had a balloon for months- instead of a few days. 

Disposable containers: I think most people will consider plastic food containers reusable, especially when they have a lid. But I'm talking about the plastic/aluminium boxes similar to disposable plates etc. We sometimes order cookies and they come in such boxes. They are very reusable. I like to use them for when I myself send food over to others, because if you give a plate they feel obliged to give something in return. (Which is OK, but especially when someone is ill or has just given birth or something, cooking food for someone else isn't the first thing that is on their priority list.) 

Food packaging: back in the Netherlands, we used to buy 5 KG rice sacks that were made from very firm plastic. I reused them over and over, especially when baking bread or other foods that needed plastic wrap. I now have some plastic from a bulk bag of sugar which is made from the very same material. As I mentioned earlier, milk cartons are very reusable too. I use them a lot in the freezer, as well as plastic bottles. 

Tins: we go through a lot of tomato paste, which comes in 800 grams tins. While I don't always reuse them, my husband has quite a few of those tins in the garage, as they're very handy to store tools in. I also use some in the kitchen: one for the breadcrumbs that are left after cutting bread, one for my small spoons, etc. If they're not reused, I use them as garbage tins. I've noticed that a lot of vendors at the local market use clean emptied tins as a "measuring cup", to scoop out their dry goods, and I found that genius! People in Tunisia are truly very resourceful.

Razors:  if disposable razors are your shaving method of choice, costs can add up when using them according to the "official" instructions. Still, there are ways to extend the use, which is by sharpening the knifes. A disposable razor can easily be sharpened using a small piece of denim fabric. I use a small old pair of jeans of one of the children. Some people also use a box of matches for this purpose, but I haven't tried it myself so I can't tell whether it works as good as denim fabric. 

Bottles: Throughout the years, I've seen so many ideas using bottles- from decorations (such as curtains), to planters, to homemade toys. We sometimes do an old fashioned game of bowling with empty bottles and the children have a blast! Not only water bottles can be upcycled. I have detergent jugs that I use for storing bulk bought or homemade detergent, and made some into baskets in which I store my unpaper towels. I also have planters made out of old detergent jugs. 

Aluminium foil: I try not to use aluminium foil a lot, but there's still some things it's used for at our house. For example, when I bake chicken in the oven, I always cover it with aluminium foil. That piece of foil is perfectly fine to use another time. Since we don't eat oven baked chicken often enough to leave that piece of foil in the fridge, I keep it in the freezer until the next use. 

Coffee filters: let me preface that I'm not a coffee drinker, so I can't make claims about the taste of the outcome of certain methods. However, my husband does drink coffee. When he uses a disposable filter, he uses the filter multiple times (it's important to let the filter air dry in between uses). He tried a reusable filter but unfortunately it didn't work as good, and the coffee he mostly drinks is made with a percolator. So this reusing filters thing is something done every so often if he feels like trying out something else. 

Kitchen paper/kitchen towel: I try not to use it often (I have a box of unpaper towels in the kitchen), but when I do and it's not too dirty I reuse it after having air dried. That second use is usually for more "dirty" stuff. Wiping spilled foods on floors (oh, and something that has to do with summer... and starts with a c and ends with ockroaches 🤫)  

I really could go on, but I think it's elaborated enough now. The point is that you really don't have to be afraid to (re)use your "disposable" items. 

Some of my recent failures

I know, I know, this is not the most uplifting title out there. But that's exactly the point- I don't think we should always only share our nice accomplishments. I know there are people who try to hide their failures so that their image isn't being tarnished. Especially if they have many followers or make money by "influencing" others. I want to stay authentic and if that's by being honest with my readers about things that didn't work out as well, I'm happy to do so. 

• Homemade laundry detergent: I loved making this relatively easy detergent as it's very frugal and environmentally friendly. However, unfortunately it didn't get my oldest daughter's shirts clean. She's a teenager, what else do I need to say? So I switched back to powdered detergent. 

• Fabric softener: I had never used fabric softener since owning our current washer, and always used vinegar. I found that even the powdered detergent didn't get my daughters clothes as clean as I liked, so despite it quite being against my values, I bought my very first bottle of fabric softener. 

• Disposables: unfortunately I have been using disposable items a bit too much lately. It's quite convenient when it saves on doing dishes and you're insanely tired. No, not disposable plates or pans, but still a bit too much paper towels and sandwich bags. This is really something I should be improving. 

• Did an unsuccessful attempt to make my own shampoo. 

• Wasted a bit too much of leftover foods- a few containers of food totally got overlooked in the fridge. Oops! This is me reminding myself to always store leftovers in transparent jars/containers. 

• Had to replace my kitchen scales' battery, although it was not replaced a long time ago. I guess that's one of the cons of living in a place where generally bad quality is being sold. 

These are the things that came across my mind immediately. There are probably a lot more, but it's just some insight in how my "perfectly" waste free live isn't that waste free at all. 

Living low waste: reality check

If you're looking around on the blogosphere and even more so on social media, living low waste can look like a dream life. Nice beautiful garden, beautiful shelves with streamlined glass jars in which shelf stable, package free bought foods are stored, not to mention the perfect white empty uncluttered kitchens. I can go on but you probably get what image I'm talking about. That might be true for some people, and I'm not saying there's something wrong with very nice looking kitchens and gardens. However, my problem with this image being created is that's not the reality for most environmentally conscious people. Showing these kind of picture perfect lives will trick people into thinking that they're not ready yet to live more green and frugal because they're not yet living in the perfect house or without the perfect monthly salary. I think quite a few of our low waste practices are very un-aesthetic. Reused glass jars (and not all looking the same...), reused tins with some reused "disposable" straws and ice cream stick, reused plastic bread bags to store homemade bread in the freezer, so many repaired objects. And much more. 

My 2nd problem is that people rarely talk about the work that goes into such a lifestyle. This morning I was emptying a 10 KG sack of laundry detergent into smaller containers - one regular container with a lid and the others were cleaned, empty washing up liquid jugs (of 5 litres each, I filled two to the rims and the 3rd for about half). I kind of underestimated how long that took and had to clean up the kitchen afterwards. Yes, of course I used a funnel but still this can get quite messy. We still bother to buy those sacks because the cost per load of laundry is about half the price compared to when we buy smaller bags. I also find it important to use as minimal package materials as possible- there's a difference between 20 smaller bags or one big bag. The bigger bag we can just use as a trash bag, whereas with the smaller bags, I haven't found any other way to reuse. And I was just thinking about how (most) other people go to the store and just buy a bottle of detergent and they're good to go. 

Anyway, this got me thinking about how much physical work goes actually in such a lifestyle. One might think 'well it's just a sack of 10 KG powdered detergent which will probably last a year or so'. Which is true, but then again it's not just this detergent- it's a lot more. Conserving as much water as possible, something we're very big at, already is a chore in and of itself- I usually reuse the rinsing water of our dishes to flush the toilet, and I reuse the water of washing vegetables to water our tree and plants. Doing household chores my way is probably quite different from how a lot of  people do it. I don't necessarily say that others do it wrong, I just like to do these things as energy efficient as possible. For example, we don't have a dryer (absolutely unnecessary in the dry climate that we live in where you can even line dry outside during the winter), so I hang up all our laundry. That includes a lot of reusables for which other people would use disposables. I can honestly admit that I don't like hanging up so many cleaning wipes/unpaper towels. But then again I just can NOT use disposables. So despite the work it still gives me a lot of joy and contentment. Cleaning the floors is also something that most people will take for granted with appliances. I don't vacuum, but not for frugality or environmental reasons. I just can't stand the sound. So our floor gets cleaned the old fashioned way, which is a lot more time consuming. (FYI, we do have a vacuum which my husband uses every so often to clean the sofas and the car - as long as I can't hear it, that is 😆). I must say that with housework being more laborious, the benefit is obviously that you're getting a workout for free. And as silly as it might  seem, your brains get a workout too! There have been various studies about physical labour being good for your brains (don't ask me about the specific details though), so all in all that's a win win situation I'd say!

The most work, however, probably goes into making our food. I don't make ALL of our food, and I honestly think that's rather an unattainable goal in this era. But we try to do our best. I have to make sure we don't run out of homemade bread, buttermilk, peanut butter - some of the staples in our house. And then I cook homemade meals, ferment, make desserts from scratch, store bulk bought and packaging free foods, rotate our stockpile, make condiments, make a year supply of garlic paste, jam etc. So this probably takes up a large amount of my time. Which is ok- this is, and always has been, a conscious decision. But, I think it must be said that this type of lifestyle just can be time consuming, which is something not everyone is anticipating. 

Sometimes people just need to be aware of the real life aspects of certain lifestyles, not just dreaming about picture perfect situations. It's not my intent to complain at all. As long as it's a conscious decision, I think we should accept the nicer and less nice parts of our lives. 

Double items

Ever since we've downsized from a terraced house to a bungalow/apartment kind of house, a lot of things have changed. Obviously it's always a big change to make a move to another country, but the fact that we downsized defenitely changed many aspects of our lives - and I don't mean in a negative way. Apparently, for some reason, it's not really acceptable to live in a small house, and I'm yet to understand why. Probably people view big houses as a status symbol and it's something to be ashamed of when you can't meet that standard, but I personally couldn't care more about other people's opinions about where and how I live. It's hard to imagine that there are actually people who care about that that much. Perhaps there are people who really thrive in a big house, and don't live in a house for the wrong reasons such as status, but personally I'm glad we downsized. I love living in smaller places, and always have. I have vivid memories of me as a very young girl asking my mum as to why we didn't move to a flat- we were living in a very big house/mansion at the time. 

Since we moved abroad we couldn't take most of our belongings with us. Well technically we could, but that would have cost so much money that it wasn't quite worth it, especially given the fact that most of our stuff we bought was very cheap, like thrifted or bought at a dollar  store kind of shop, some belongings were even free. We did take some things with us though, but it was very minimal compared with what we had. To pare belongings that had sentimental values was a bit tough, I must admit, but overall it was a good fresh start to have much less. What stands out mostly is probably the fact that right now, we don't have multiple floors here. As with everything, multiple floor buildings have pros and cons, but when it comes to having stuff and especially trying to minimalize your stuff, I'd say there's a lot of cons to having a multiple floor house. Why? Well, because let's face it... People tend to be forgetful and lazy at times. So the items cluttered on the stairs, intended for the next person to bring upstairs, usually never reached their end destination- unless the stairs became too cluttered OR someone started to complain about it (just forget about minimalism for a second- this can be quite unsafe, especially in case of an unexpected fall or fire!). And usually people don't like to move items from upstairs downstairs (and vice versa) all day long. For this reason, we had a lot of double items. Still not quite as much as some others do (I remember my grandmother having two vacuum cleaners, for example), but still a lot of more "double stuff" than we do have now. To mention a few: toys, cleaning supplies/wipes, books, and so much more. 

Having multiple floors aside, I did have too much double items anyway. I was a bit obsessed with having "spare items", and still am at times, although not as obsessed as I used to be. For example, I had two ladles in the kitchen, and actually remember to consider even buying a third one! Even though washing up that used ladle to use for something different is just a matter of a few seconds probably. It's just a matter of habit. People have double items because they're just so used to it. The same with chopping boards- I used to have three, then when we moved, it was "just" two. But then I switched to a wooden chopping board and bought one, and tried to make do with that one for as long as I could. And guess what- i'm yet to miss my spare chopping board! Some friends suggested that I'd get another one- one said "just in case", the other claimed that it was "essential to have more than one". Although I do a lot of from scratch cooking and with no such thing as pre cut vegetables here, I cut all my vegetables, I still wonder how "essential" that really is. And this goes for so many things I once had double; or even triple... The thing is, double items can be quite convenient, but I learned to actually consciously decide whether I should have doubles of certain items. Double items can trap one into being a lot more messy- you have a few of them anyway, so it doesn't matter if it ends up in a pile of stuff, or you can wash up all those double/triple items "later". And yes, it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm talking from experience now! 

So have I become more organized after minimizing certain objects? Not necessarily, not in every aspect anyhow. But there's certainly some improvements, which I'm actually quite proud of. Unfortunately I'm not the neatest person by nature, and it takes some effort to actually get myself to decluttering, so avoiding clutter altogether is of course the best option. But having less double items has made my life a bit easier for sure- not to mention it's way more cost effective. 

Is minimalism just about stuff?

I remember years ago, I was introduced to the idea of minimalism. I must say, it didn't quite appeal to me initially because I thought it was like having very little possessions for the sake of having little possessions without any purpose. Later on, I learned that some people's definition of minimalism was more like to focus mainly on the stuff that matters to them. Which in fact means that if somebody, say, values shoes a lot, it could be possible to still own 20 pairs of shoes but only one single cup or plate. That didn't quite sit right with me. That's not a good balance. 

I know that "maximalism" (whether that's an existing word or I just made it up, lol) certainly doesn't sit right with me either. It goes so, so against my values of simple and frugal living, of how to treat the earth and its precious resources. The "maximalist" industry makes big profits by selling and inventing new organisations tools and systems. I can't really understand how they succeed in leading to believe most people that they actually need all those boxes. If you've ever been to an IKEA or even a dollar store kind of shop, you defenitely know what I mean. It's ridiculous to have that much stuff to need entire rooms to store all kind of "nifty" boxes and drawers and containers full of stuff you don't use and likely are never be going to use, in my opinion. A lot of people who aren't well off financially could be benefiting from all those stuff people don't use, so even find this a bit selfish too. That's why and how I kind of embraced minimalism, but certainly in my own way and not the "trendy" kind of minimalism where you have a completely empty counter because you're afraid that your kitchen actually will look like a kitchen. Walking into our home you'll notice that there isn't a lot of trinkets on shelves etc. That's defenitely the "minimalist look" I guess. What parts me from other minimalists is that I'm not afraid to have an actual functioning kitchen where a lot of stuff is going on, so I'm defenitely not having a spotless, empty counter all the time. I'm also not afraid to reuse things like food containers and put them on shelves instead of hiding them because they don't quite match. And I really don't care that my mismatched reused jars in which I store my herbs in, don't make my kitchen look like a museum or laboratory- in fact, I'm even proud of that! It means that I have a fully functional kitchen full of activities going on, and that I'm not against reusing things, even if they're not the best aesthetically, which I really like. 

But- when it comes to minimalism, I've noticed that it's usually only about stuff and clothes. Even when people are really into that, I guess after a while you're done with minimizing your stuff and clothes. After all, you can't minimize possessions you don't have anymore. When I read about other people's minimalism, they proudly tell that they just own two jumpers and three plates. While I can understand that makes life a little less complicated, I also wonder what's it with this focus on stuff. A while ago, I began to wonder how I'm not your average kind of minimalist (in the traditional sense), yet I'm really a minimalist in so many other ways. 

For example, I don't have a lot of friends and acquaintances. I do have friends who live in another country, and I've never bothered to start new friendships after we immigrated (being autistic doesn't quite help with this of course). I enjoy my alone time and I've never felt lonely. Unlike many neurotypical people, I guess being alone for me is something different from being lonely. Being alone isn't something I do a lot, having a family. My husband doesnt work outside the home, so he's home a lot, which I really don't mind though- but this means I actually value my alone time even more when I get to enjoy some alone time! I must add that I'm not against friends or socialization in moderation. I just don't really feel the need to. 

Another thing that I minimized which wouldn't fall in the stuff/things category, I think, are our meals. In the past I really felt the pressure to try out new meals at least every so often. This had probably something to do with all these nutritional advices; eating as balanced as possible is a must, or that's what some nutritionists make us believe so. I don't think we should eat THAT balanced- in the past, people would just eat what was available in their country and people would only eat seasonal produce. And they only had a few staple foods. I was also afraid that my husband would find it boring if I'd serve certain meals regularly. Turns out it was the other way around; he actually complained a few times that there were dishes I'd only made once and he never saw them again. :') It took quite a while to figure out what our favourite dishes were, and how often we were willing to eat those etc. But now that I'm not experimenting that much anymore, I feel like we're enjoying the food that we do eat even more! And I still do try out new things every so often- just not as often as I used to. I also don't really go on vacations a lot. The other day I read this phrase: I want to a create a life in which I don't need to go on vacation, and I really liked that! I'm very much a homebody so being comfortable and cozy at home just makes sense. 

Ok, this one does have to do a bit with stuff, but I still found it worth to mention. We lived without television for a lot of years, and only recently own our very first TV. That doesn't mean it gets used a lot though, there's only 3 channels - educational/religious ones. And we don't have streaming services at all. If we feel like watching a documentary there's always the free optio of YouTube. So I guess we're quite minimalist in this aspect. 

When it comes to cleaning products, we're also quite minimalist- right now I use plain household soap (solid for cleaning random things/stains on clothes/the sink etc, and a liquid one for the laundry), washing up liquid, and vinegar. (And the occasional bleach but please don't tell anyone! Lol) I hate scented stuff anyway and it's much easier if you can't choose between 16 products. 

We defenitely minimize our outings: because we try not to use our car a lot (for environmental reasons, as well as financial reasons), and because of the weather- there's not a long period of really nice weather where we live, it's either very hot or very cold. Right now we're in a very nice month, but it won't be long until it's getting cold. Plus, we're just homebodies, all of us genuinely enjoy relaxing at home. Especially on days when the children don't go to school, because their school is quite demanding. A few months ago, we went on a small vacation to the coastal area of our country. It was the first time in at least 4 years. Can't say we didn't enjoy it, but I wouldn't care if we didn't go, honestly. So that's an area in our lives in which we're quite minimalistic too. And the same goes for eating out. It's sometimes a bit hard to understand for me why people enjoy that. We enjoy having a delicious home cooked meal rather than waiting for your food to come, not even knowing how nice it'll taste, and then of course paying a whole lot of money for that!

So in what areas ARE we minimalist when it comes to stuff? That's an interesting question because we're drowning in some stuff (who said it's a bad thing to collect empty glass jars? 😉), whereas of other areas, we don't have a lot. Let me start with appliances that most people do have, but we don't! We don't own a dryer, dishwasher, microwave, slowcooker, instant pot, standmixer, coffee maker, boiling water tap, and my hair dryer is 23 years old and is closer to not working than to working and I'm not planning on replacing one, just to name a few things. And oh, I really hate single purpose appliances, like egg boilers or electric pancake makers. It takes up so much space and it's just pointless in my opinion (we do have a waffle iron though... And even though you can technically use it for other things than waffles, we usually don't. But we just really like waffles, and fortunately it doesn't take up that much space). That's when it comes to appliances, but the interesting thing is that we don't own a lot of stuff that I see in homes of people who typically call themselves minimalist, which I think is rather interesting. We don't have a ironing board, knife block, "fancy" china (my grandmother used to have two sets of China- one for daily use and one for special occasions, but I just see that as needles space occupation), a wok, grill pan, Dutch oven, multiple chopping boards, tape holders, an attic full of camping stuff -which is common with so many people I now, and thankfully I don't have hobbies that require lots of things, like puzzles or crafting. Oh, and believe it or not, but as a family of four, we recently bought our first laundry hamper in a few years! Living without one is doable but it just began to irritate me, as I'm typically not the kind of person who is good at being on top of tasks such as doing laundry. Speaking of laundry hampers, as I mentioned earlier how I dislike all the so called organisation tools/stuff and the marketing around it, this is probably why it took me so long to buy that new laundry hamper- we had one, but my husband used it to make a grocery shopping trolley, and then I decided to do without a laundry helper for as long as I could... It reminded me of how needless all of those boxes, baskets and "nifty" organisation stuff really are (of most of them anyhow). 

So all in all, I would probably fit in the image of a minimalist but I'd rather not call myself one.