FRUGALITY: How CRAZY did you go with it?

by Dogpatch 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  Dogpatch

  Here's a topic I just haven't seen to my recall.

  How nutty did you go with having little possessions and intentionally choosing lesser pay for more "spirituality" as a Witness?

  My situation is somewhat comical by today's standards. At Bethel in the mid 70s I got $14 a month to spend.

  I tithed $5 to the Watchtower (this is what a true believer is :-)))

  something like $4 for either a couple of slices of Pedone's Pizza or a movie once a month.

  the rest for deodorant, aspirin, and beer runs to Jersey. (this was usually supplemented by a couple of fine sistas from the congo who slipped you $20 now and then)

  my prized possessions were my diefenbachia plant that I think I bought on Furman St one day,

  a hand-me down shirt from the hallway "hamper"

  a broken half-shell from a couple of con-game artists on the streets of Brooklyn.

  and yet I felt materialistic!

  If I did it again, I would skip the tithing part!

  Dogz
• 

  Octarine Prince

  I used this cost of living calculator to remember what $14 was like:
  http://www.aier.org/research/cost-of-living-calculator
  
  
  I used 1975 (hehe) and came up with $55.58 in today's money.
  
  You donated $5 of that? Sheee-iiiiiitttt. You should have given them like one bone, and kept it movin'.
• 

  Dogpatch

  I know some of you pioneers that did this stuff! Come on, let's hear it.

  Amicus, hippie that you were, surely you have a story. :-))
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  no more kool aid

  Being raised by two special pioneers, that was my whole childhood. I remember staying in peoples homes for 8 day assemblies( Instead of the Holiday Inn with the pool), living in a trailer, out in service in the cold every sat. morning(instead of at home in my jammies watchhing Casper). Just basically deprived of normal childhood in every way. Sorry Dogpatch, after growing up that way, I like the comforts of life. Could not have done it as an adult. I give you credit for doing what you thought was right. You are a good person.
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  Satanus

  Next to you, dawg, 99% of jws were totally decadent, me included. You actually gave back some of your allowance? That's simply amaxing.
  
  S
• 

  NewYork44M

  I grew up with parents who were products of the "great depression" and lived our lives in preparation for the next depression. The whole jw mentality of the end just around the corner fit perfectly into their mindset.

  Growing up I would hear stories about the great depression, then I would go to meetings and hear stories about the great tribulation. For a child growing up, they were one in the same.

  Frugality does not even come close to describing how we lived our lives. Allocating toilet paper was a big topic of discussion at our house. Never throwing anything away was big. My father would "stock up" on supplies including sugar, flour, coffee, toilet paper, and canned goods.

  His favorite sayings were: "poor people gotta live like poor people," and "watch out for the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."

  Unfortunately, when he died is all he had was pennies and an attic full of toilet paper.
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  compound complex

  Hi Dogpatch,

  My Dollarless Days at the Big House compared to yours. My splurge was to make myself a hanging lamp for my room. A few blocks away I found a store (name - ?) where I bought the lamp shade and the wiring, etc.). Then I went on a health binge and stopped eating lunch. Instead, I juiced carrots and ate homemade yogurt (it set up easily in my humid room). That didn't last long. I either ran out of money for carrots or just tired of the fad.

  The real "Jehovah provides" for me was when I was asked to help out a visiting French brother who spoke no English. He wanted to be shown around the city and I escorted him at my own expense (travel fare). By the time he was about to depart I had already determined I would need $4.00 to buy subway tokens for the remainder of the month. What's an impovershed Bethelite to do? Pray and wait! As we were awaiting his train for departure, Frere La France opened his wallet and declared he had no further use for American dollars and pulled out --------- YES! YES! $4.00! I was, as the French say, "baba!" - flabbergasted!

  I still believe the Lord provides!

  Thanks for listening.

  CoCo
• 

  cruzanheart

  My mother, also a product of the Great Depression, hoarded aluminum foil and toothpaste. It took YEARS to use it all up after she went into a nursing home.

  Nina
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  troubled mind

  After I married I didn't get a full-time job because it looked materialistic to have the wife working .Instead I had babies and cleaned houses . I bought my husbands suits at garage sales ,and all the kids clothes too . I remember losing sleep over the fact I needed to get a part time job.I needed to work because we couldn't meet bills ,but I felt maybe it was because we just weren't leaning on Jehovah as much as we needed . We drove cars that cost as much as a fancy vacuum cleaner costs now ! I would feel so guilty at assemblies where poor pioneers would talk about turning down job offers so they could continue fulltime service and Jehovah always provided for them .
• 

  troubled mind

  After I married I didn't get a full-time job because it looked materialistic to have the wife working .Instead I had babies and cleaned houses . I bought my husbands suits at garage sales ,and all the kids clothes too . I remember losing sleep over the fact I needed to get a part time job.I needed to work because we couldn't meet bills ,but I felt maybe it was because we just weren't leaning on Jehovah as much as we needed . We drove cars that cost as much as a fancy vacuum cleaner costs now ! I would feel so guilty at assemblies where poor pioneers would talk about turning down job offers so they could continue fulltime service and Jehovah always provided for them .