Posted in Eclectic Me

Most homeschoolers are thrifty, at least in some aspect of their lives, as well as resourceful.  Many of my friends buy curriculum used, drive older vehicles, shop yard sales & thrift stores, pickup and use what someone else puts to the curb, etc.  There is a certain unspoken comraderie amongst folks of this lifestyle.  I myself have been known to over hear someone looking for a particular item at a thrift store or yard sale and offered either a solution of where I have seen such an item.  We stick together.  

This is truly no different than those who shop for everything new or everything name brand, etc.  Mom's will let one another know about a sale or where to find a particular hard to fins item. 

These 2 main groups of people don't seem to understand the other group at all.  People who fall into the "has to be new" or "has to be a certain name" category can't understand why I would spend hours pouring through thrift shops and yard sales for used clothing.  I myself have wondered, why would anyone buy this new when it can be found readily used for considerably less.  We just can't seem to let our minds think as the other side does.

However, I have noticed there is another side to all this.  Those who judge based exclusively on what they see.  While I buy clothes used, I also shop discount stores for deals.  My kids are not fancy dressers, for the most part, so one dress shirt for each boy, is plenty.  When I find a good deal on something new, I buy it.  Sometimes those items are name brands.  You know the deals I am talking about; a Ralph Lauren item for $2 that happens to be the size you need or the MUDD jeans that are $5 on the clearance rack because they are last year's style.  Anyone who is truly cost concious would not pass up a good deal just because an item is new or has a name.  Thrifty shoppers look for cost quality not names.  We are indifferent to names, aren't we?  Well, not exactly.  I admit that I am more likely to spend money on a second h and shirt that comes from old navy than from Target.  The main reason is, I have found ove the years that overall, Old Navy T's hold up far better than any other brand.  The pass from child to child to child regularly with constant usage, and yet still no holes.  So even when the clothing is washer worn, it's still perfectly suitable for play and camping, because it appears indestructible.  That's not to say we don't ahve other T's, but for cost qulaity, if I want clothes to last and be able to be handed down I must buy what wears well, regardless of the tag.  It happens, that I think the denim that wears the best, is good ol Lee's.  My oldest is 15 and my 4 yo is currently wearing the Lee jeans the oldest romped around the woods in.  Still look good, and no holes in the knees yet.  Even if the 4 yo  causes holes, the next child will have patched jeans for play and camping, because the rest of the jean is in GREAT shape.  Or perhaps we will turn them into shorts or skirts.  The point is I spent about $3/pr for those "low name brand" jeans 11 years ago and they are still wearing well from child to child.  I can't say that for the Ralph Lauren, Old Navy, or Osh Kosh jeans...they are long gone.  Off brand sneakers just don't hold up well with my younger kids.  Those bought for $5-10 new @ Wallyworld have a life of about 4 months...if we are lucky.  However Land's End and Nikes have been handed down right along from oldest to youngest (regardless of sex) and I expect will still have enough life left in them, to be passed along to another family.  The only exception here is when I have bought these brands second hand.  Some have lived through all the children so far and some have gone to the trash.  Label just isn't important.  It's cost quality.  Yet, is that what people see? 

Recently, I have noted that people sometimes judge us based on what they see, and not ourselves.  They see my kids with a name brand article of clothing, look at the fact that I stay home, and see what we drive and make a judgement.  Clearly its a reverse judgement of who we are, but that doesn't seem to concern those doing the judging.  So I think to myself, if my kids has on $3 shorts (Wallyworld) and a $.50 shirt (yard sale) and your kids is wearing $3 shorts (name brand) and $3 shirt (Kmart)...is there any difference?  Does it matter in the slightest?  

My husband currently drives the biggest 2005 Ford Excursion with plenty of bells and whistles.  We bought it new.  Here's how and why.  We had a suburban and the rear end was ripped out of the back when we were hauling our RV the the sales rep insisted was well within the weight limit.  So we had to buy a new vehicle, one that could haul our family and the RV, and could handle the mileage he runs up on a vehicle each year (appx 50-60K miles).  This vehicle is a diesel...because the engine will last for at least 400-500 miles, if we take good care of it.  There weren't any used ones worth buying at the time, and we get a tax deduction because the vehicle is used for work.  In addition, we had a hefty down payment (we were saving for a vehicle to replace my truck and believe strictly in the cash and carry policy) and knew we would be paying it off quickly.  What does it say about us?  Nothing.  People don't see the story behind our "shnazzy" vehicle, they just see the big price tag normally associated with such a vehicle and make a judgement about our family.

Without knowing people, you know nothing.  Never judge a book by its cover.  I used to do a lesson at the library about this.  I would bring my antique version of the Wizard of Oz; old & ugly as it is.  I would show it to the kids and ask them to describe the type of story inside.  I would ask if they had seen the Wizard of Oz, ask about the story, and what type of book cover they thought a story like that would have.  Then I would tell them about my book, show them the elaborate painted pictures, & talk about parts of the story not included int he movie.  By the end of the session the kids were marvelled and had a greater understanding of not judging a book by its cover.  Each time I gave that lesson, the number longer chapter books being checked out rose considerably.  We never looked at the books to see if they were ugly or interesting, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the message seemed to come through; one must gather all the facts themselves before making judgements about anything. 

These are my thoughts.