Thriftiness: It’s All About Where You Are

The following is a guest post.

As you read this, my little family and I are preparing for our annual summer treck to Bulgaria, my husband’s homeland. Once hidden behind the iron curtain, Bulgaria and its people have been making adjustment after adjustment to the fall of the Societ Union, to the robbery of its treasury by immoral and corrupt officials, to inclusion in the global economy and to its inclusion in the European Union.

All of these historical changes have meant for positive and negative economics…both on a national and a personal scale. A second world country, most Bulgarians know more about getting the most for their money than even the thriftiest North Americans. Here are the lessons they have taught me to make me aware not just of how much I have, but how gratefully I should manage and share those resources for future generations.

1. It’s better for your stomach to be cash poor and land rich.

Most Bulgarians hold on to their anscestral land. You might be able to get cash for the sale of an apartment or a plot of land, but you can’t grow food in a bank account.

2. Buy only what you need.

Most multi-packs that come into Bulgaria are broken up by the time they get to the cash register. If you’re on vacation and forget to bring a razor, you can buy one disposable razor for one-third the cost of a pack of three. Disposable diapers? They cost 30 stutinki, about 24 US cents, per diaper. They are used only when travelling or visiting. When I tell Bulgarians about “buying in bulk to save money” they are rather shocked at the wastefulness. You might save a lot of money per pound of beef if you buy half a cow, but you’re only one electricity blackout away from losing your investment.

Bulgarians grow and conserve a lot of their own food, but canning and storage never depend on the power grid that could fail at any time.

3. You can’t save money with a trip to the store.

When Bulgarians want to save money, they stop spending. They find a way to make do with the things they have rather than buy something new. As a result, they have so many solutions to little problems that about half the convenience products we buy are considered, well, kind of stupid.

Here’s an example: I assumed we needed some plastic wrap for the house. I just assumed it had run out.

My husband then spent an entire afternoon trying to find cling wrap. He is probably the only person in the history of Bulgaria to get stressed out over the lack of plastic film. Traditionally Bulgarians have been stressed out over bread and cooking oil shortages, but not things that they don’t need. By the time my husband found the cling wrap, I’d been converted to the local solutions: put your leftovers into a cold clay bowl and cover it with a cold clay plate. I haven’t used plastic wrap in years.

There are other examples and here, thriftiness just becomes more and more Earth-friendly:

Seed trays from the gardening shop? Bulgarians use recycled yogurt containers…if they don’t make their own yogurt. Seed? they save it from the previous season’s crop. Weed killer? Who needs such a thing? You put down a layer of straw around the plants and let your chickens scratch and peck up any weed seeds that might blow in.

I am not sure what the world has in store for all of us. The environmental crisis, global food shortages, and clean water issues are indeed scary. Of all the experiences I have had in my life, of all the people I have met, I am grateful to ordinary villagers in Bulgaria for teaching me to make use of everything, to waste nothing and to pay attention that I am not using more than I need.
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Kate Baggott is a Canadian writer currently living and working in Europe. Her work has appeared in Today’s Parent, The Technology Review, The Globe and Mail, and the Christian Science Monitor, among other international publications. Her web site can be found at http://www.katebaggott.com