The old Lorilee Craker would have picked up a couple of $16 children’s shirts without a second thought, ordered a $20 pizza without checking what’s in the fridge, and sent out her bills a few days late.
The Amish-makeover Lorilee peruses garage sales and finds a lovely $5 oil painting of pears to match her home decor; a $5 bird cage she envisions spray-painted a metallic color, and a $2 Pier 1 Imports bowl, originally priced at $24.99. She then barters to pay a total of $10 for all three items.
She makes pizza-chili with ingredients on hand and is sure to send her payments on time to avoid late fees (which she equates to money tossed into a creek).
Wow, she actually wrote up this common sense stuff and found a publisher to print it? I think that’s more remarkable than her “transformation,” lol. I’ll bet the Amish were amused, as well.
The Amish don’t hang pictures on their walls and I’m almost positive they wouldn’t dream of spray painting a bird cage and passing it off as a decoration. So there’s $10 they’d save right there. They also save a bundle by having no car, no cable TV (I’m with them there) no phone, no internet connection, no electricity, and no central heating. And of course producing 99% of their own food. And building their own houses. And making their own clothes. And owning no jewelry. And never having their hair done. And not wearing any cosmetics. And not sending their children to college. Something tells me she is not passing on any of these “secrets” which have a lot more to do with their ability to save money than bargaining down $2 from people running garage sale. The word for that one is not “Amish” its “cheap.”
Interesting. . . . the Amish I know have first-class diesel-operated electrical generators to power their home and carpentry businesses and power equipment, have a complete telephone – answering machine service set up in a small “phone” booth out by the road outside their houses, own the finest of self-propelled lawn equipment to manicure their lawns, and pay $1.00 a mile to “English” car-owners (please, bring the air-conditioned one!) to transport their wives to the grocery and the kids to the dentist. I live in the midst of a large Amish community, and they are fine, frugal people; but they do spend money, and they do it without credit cards. I have seen a 260-acre farm bought and paid for, at auction, with cash carried in the pocket of the Amish bishop, on behalf of the Amish community, which then sold it, on contract, to a young “farmer” and his wife. And that is pretty much how they do it.
I didn’t say they didn’t spend money. They obviously have to spend a large amount of money to run their farms and businesses. And they use diesel powered appliances (like refrigerators) instead of electric ones. And they pay out-of-pocket for medical and dental care. But very very little of their money is spent on entertainment/relaxation/enjoyment/personal adornment etc.