A Whole New Level of Frugal

Tracy Knutsen
A Whole New Level of Frugal

A Whole New Level of Frugal

 

I recall in clear detail, the recycled paper milk carton that my 3rd grade teacher opened at the top and sat in the corner of our classroom. It didn’t take long for all of us to learn that any time we used glitter for a project, we had to take our creation to the corner and tip all the extra glitter off our artwork into the carton.  We used the surplus whenever rainbow glitter was appropriate (which is ALWAYS, by the way!) While I’ve always loved this example of being frugal, it pales in comparison to the extraordinary example I found amongst the daily mail.

I received an interoffice mail envelope in my box this morning at work. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones with rows and rows of lines to inscribe who the contents are “To” and “From.” Big deal, right? Usually not. I get grant-related goodies from teachers and staff from all over the District and typically don’t look twice at the envelope in which it arrived. Until today, however.

I try my best to be frugal, reduce/reuse/recycle, and all that stuff. But I have to hand it to Donna J at the County Office, who took a 9×12 envelope she’d received in the mail, crossed out the addresses and taped a handmade Interoffice Delivery sheet to the front. The envelope began its nomad lifestyle that very day- immediately filled with treasures and sent to a high school principal. That day, my friends, was in May of 2000!

 

A Whole New Level of Frugal

 

I perused its journeys and smiled at some of the names and places it had visited. It had landed on the desks of co-workers who have long moved on to desks in other places, and in the laps of those who have steadfastly remained all these years “for the children.” It even briefly lived with a dear friend whom we lost to ALS last year. It has meandered diligently from school to school, sometimes in the bullpen for a year or two at a time. Perhaps passed over because it was different from the all the other Interoffice envelopes.

Thirteen years later, my name lies on the final line of its well-worn surface and I feel compelled to honor it in some way. I suspect that subsequent recipients will not recognize the significance of this particular lesson in being frugal. The little things like this are even more important as we faced eight furlough days this school year. In response, rather than unceremoniously decommission this gem,  I created a new Interoffice Delivery sheet for this envelope, with a nod to its humble start, and sent it on its way to the media specialist at the elementary school.

Have you witnessed any impressive bits of being frugal?

 

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47 thoughts on “A Whole New Level of Frugal”

  3. I wash out all plastic bags & use them until they can’t be used any longer. I use my waxed paper dog food bags for garbage bags. I use a clothesline, don’t eat meat(that’s a bigger environmentally) use rain barrels, have groundcover instead of grass,, those are a few of the things I do.

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