Frugality

We are frugal. Tonight we had a delicous dinner from the leftover chicken and rice we served to friends last night. Vegetables came from our garden and we ate bread we had made yesterday.
This morning with a chill in the air we were energized to examine the front porch for the first time since the heat of the summer. The metal retro chairs and tables we have had for  years looked quite shabby with peeling paint so we hauled them off to the barn to scrape off the old paint and repaint them with a new coat of forest green. I washed all the old cushions and we found a sort of new flag to  replace the old tattered one flying on the porch.
No trip to Ikea was required. After we hose off the spider poop, the porch will be perfect.
In another iteration of prosperity we would have just ordered new porch furniture and cushions.
We are not particularly fashion conscious because we are always doing dirty work on the ranch. I find that our local Walmart has pretty good everyday clothes: soft and lovely White Stag tee shirts for $4.00. (So, why buy LL Bean's tees for $25?) For $4 a pop I can have many colors of tees and refresh them often. Men's jeans and pajamas are the same. Who needs Brooks Brothers for these things? Frugality!
In the name of frugality we repurpose many things. My spouse cut down a dead orange tree yesterday. Most of it was cut up to be wood for our fireplace. The huge leftover stumps will be moved to the doorway garden as sculptural elements.
Our trimmings from cooking vegetables go into the compost. Our old newspapers become mulch for the vegetable garden. Crap from cleaning out closets go to the library or the consignment shops.
I cannot be so pure as those folks who have no waste. But we try to have a light footprint on the land and on the globe, ever mindful that we consume A LOT.
In our own ways, we need to be frugal because our earth depends on it.