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Simple pleasures of life

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by sln, Nov 3, 2014.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    That was a lovely piece and brought a chuckle as I remembered my dad and the things he did - something that I labelled him a "Marwadi" for - and which I now do myself.

    1. Ungluing unstamped stamps from envelopes and reusing them.
    2. Re-using good envelopes. I often stick a piece of paper on my address and re-address the envelope to whomever I want to send it to!
    3. Squeezing "the life out" of toothpaste tubes like you mentioned. :-D

    It also brought to mind the way I used to use my visa card as a student - buying stuff only between certain dates of the month, so I got to pay after more than 30 days and saved the interest on that pittance - not that it would be more than a few pence, but the joy of "cheating" the visa company was tremendous! :rotfl

    Irrespective of how much is saved or otherwise, the sheer joy of having squeezed out the last bit of value for each paisa spent is something that is incomparable to anything else in the world - the simple art of "vasooli".
     
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  2. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Satchi,
    interesting examples of squeezing the last pie.More than the money the feel good factor that you got the best out of the deal, is a matter of satisfaction.As you rightly coined the term it is a simple art of vasool.
    Regards
    Lakshiminarayanan
     
  3. Kamla

    Kamla IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear LNsir,

    How true! Sqeezing the toothpaste tube till the last speck of paste is out of it seems to be a passion enjoyed by most of the older generation. You hit the nail on the head when you say the younger lot who are so busy with their hectic lives have not the patience to do so!

    I am big about using my ziplock bags repeatedly! I wash them with soap water and drain and dry and re-use them!! My hubby has bought this little contraption which goes around the toothpaste tube and you push it upwards so the paste is cleanly pushed towards the mouth squeezing off the paste as thoroughly as possible!! Ofcourse it is left to me to do the squeezing while he is already at the next new tube! He does the same with the pump up soap liquids and moisturizer creams. I at times wonder why it has to be me working hard at using up the last drop of paste, powder, soap and cream! :roll:

    You took me back a few years talking about the old newspapers. Those were the days when one could sell old clothes and newspapers for money which my mother did religiously only to invest in good stainless steel articles for the kitchen from the steel 'pathiram' guy who came with the goodies balanced on his head in a huge wicker basket!!

    Our ILites are loving this post by you and are nominating it repeatedly! Thanks goes to Iyerviji, memeera12234, Kalpavriksham and stillwaters ---at the last count!!

    L, Kamla
     
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  4. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Lakshmi Narayan Sir,
    A humorous post.All these people enjoying the simple pleasures have earned the life time award of'Kanja Pisinaari',' dharidram' etc.
    Pasting the last bit of soap to the new soap,reusing the stapler pins,using the torn Hawai chapel with a safety pin continuously.
    Thruvalluvar's kept a small needle and a cup of water whenever he sat for meals just to remove even a small morsel of rice that fell on the floor.
    ladies are very often mocked at for enlarging their sizes just because, in the process of not wasting the left over sambar ,rasam etc they emptied them into their stomachs.A famous proverb in Tamil is " Pasi ozhiya saapidu. Paanai ozhiya saapidaathe"
    Our boss known for his 'sikkanam was found with a string around his ears, not noticed for many days.We understood that one of the sides of spects frame was totally broken. As he didn't want to spend on a new frame he tied a black string to the sides and used it for many months.
    When I was the new Vadhu at the age of 20 in my village home, MIL's father known for his thriftness was in charge of the house.
    He asked me," Do you know cooking?'".
    "yes" I said.
    " Do you know to light the aduppu?" In those days- aduppu meant only mud oven using firewood.
    He gave me a match box containing only one match stick. He told " the condition is, you should not light candle, kuthu vilakku or any other lamp and use the flame for lighting the aduppu.
    The house was new.
    I brought small unused bits and pieces of papers, from the garbage ramp( kuppai medu), pieces of coconut fibres thrown here and there, some bita & pieces of charcoal, small twings fallen from the trees.
    Thatha was standing. A group of women neighbours and existing guests after the wedding ceremony were all crowded to see the saamartyam of the new Bahu.
    I came into the kitchen with a dik Dik in my heart, sat amidst the wastage,placed a coconut shell( uri mattai) , charcoal pieces, and a few waste ppr on the top. As I lighted the match stick, neighbouring mamis shouted praying that the flame must be put out. ( Nice intention!).But destiny was on my side. The papers caught fire. Before the fire extinguished I acted quickly adding bits of fuel to the fire. As the charcoal caught fire I placed small twigs and then placed two small pieces of firewood( Viragu) I heaved a sigh of relief. My grandfather in-law asked me not to waste fire and keep the bronze pot( Nengala paanai ) to keep rice.
    Later thatha told me " this is a test to see whether the DIl would be able to manage things with the limited income.

    We find people who are penny wise and pound foolish.
    Strange is the way of the world.
    Thank you Lakshmi Narayan Sir for rewinding village memories.
    Jayasala 42
     
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  5. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear LN Sir,

    You have brought some pleasant memories of my father. He always used to take maximum out of tooth paste. Every time the soap becomes smaller, he used to press it hard into a new soap so that it was not wasted. He was an electronic engineer and he used to save every small components in a desk. After his death, when we opened his desk, we found some unusual electronic components. He even used to make use of tooth paste cap as tuner for radios. He used to wear always white shirts and dhotis and we found so many unused brand new shirts and dhoties in his bero after his death.

    His austerity measures have rubbed into some of our habits. I am almost regular in contacting all my vendors in the U.S. To find new deals. I had an Internet mobile device that allowed me to access internet for at least four devices at a time. Nowadays, I found most places have WiFi capabilities and by canceling that contract, I saved $600 a year. I have cancelled my home phone line and bundled it with broadband service provider and it saves me $1,080 a year. My son suggested to buy Roku instead of satellite services from Dish network. It saved me $480 per year. I have reviewed auto insurance recently and understood because my son moved to a new county that is eligible for better rate, it would make sense to make his auto insurance separate from ours. We immediately saved $1,200 per year. By reviewing our mobile phone plan, we brought down our bill to save $960 per year, I am currently reviewing home insurance plan to find out saving potentials. I always pay my house tax in November to save 3% tax. I always buy major home needs from Sam's club to save a lot of money. I even use credit cards that pay more discount for each category of expenses. All these savings are used for charities regularly.

    Viswa
     
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  6. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear LN sir,

    Awesome read and so many interseting examples. Frugality is indeed in us Indians. Here in the US yohknow when one buys food through a drive through plenty of napkins spoons, sauces are given. I would bring themhomeand soon realized thati dont use them all and also realized that I did not have the heart to thrown it away and soon I had a drawer or twofilled with them. Of course I jave grown wisernd now ask them apecifically not to dump everything in the bag.

    Your snippet reminded me of grandma...even to this when she cooks her vegtablesare big in size. Reason? Having had to raise 9 children duringbdifficuktbtimes she realized that bigger pieces even if servedbonky two made her kids happy and she could use only the vegetables thatshe could afford...quantity wise.

    The other person is my FIL....yes with news papaers. He sees so much value in them that we have piles separated in three areas. Of ourse they get disposed off on a monthly basis but only after important articles have been cut out...for his son, grand son and me.....all based onkur specific interests and everyyear i need to keep some room for all the clippings along with some books. I do have every single clipping he has saved :HIDE:.......look whos talking. With my fil of course i see more frugal habits ashe is getting older but i completely understand. Not that i am a spend thrift and do have some habits like saving the plastic grocery bags to reuse for garbage and am replacing plastic witn cloth and such things, reusing bottles for storage, adding water to the empty laundry detergent etc, I do see the need to bring in more conscious approach in my life.

    Enjoyed reading it.
     
  7. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Kamla,
    As usual, it is invigorating to get a lovely summing up of the snippet with the added bonus of your own experience on the subject.The entire stainless steel vessel gift for my sister's marriage was collected by my mother painstakingly over the years by exchanging old clothes.I congratulate your husband for practising participative management and taking your help in handling difficult and imaginative jobs.It is the feel good factor from fellow ilites which keeps me going inspite of watering eyes and back pain.
    Regards
    Lakshiminarayanan
     
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  8. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Jayasala,
    Your example of lighting the Aduppu is excellent-You cant even think about it these days. More than the money, avoiding wastage was a way of life and every effort was made to balance the budget with limited income and expanding families.
    The same English language has another saying that if you take care of the pennies the pound will take care of itself.
    Thanks and regards
    Lkshiminarayanan
     
  9. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Viswa,
    Using the tube cap as a tuner is such a wonderful idea.I want to try this on the missing regulator caps for the fans.You have demonstrated the saving potential by constant review and exercising the right option.We learn so much from such experience.
    Thanks and regards
    Lakshiminarayanan
     
  10. Kamla

    Kamla IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear LN sir,

    Do take good care of your health for all of us know health is wealth. If any consolation, I too have the problem with eyes tearing up constantly and have an appointment with eye doc next week though I already know not much can be done about it....

    It was disturbing to see Mithila Kannan's username being active and did think it may be you who is using it and later going through this thread, realized it was your daughter! Yes, she should surely join us with her own Id. Being a daughter of parents like you, I am sure writing will be in her genes!

    L, Kamla
     

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