Lesson from the Recession

Two friends of mine bought a rundown farmhouse on three brush-filled acres. They’ve spent the better part of two years cleaning and fixing up the place, and, though they have a ways to go, their farmette is already lovely: The house is updated, comfortable and homey, the new chicken coop is home to a rooster and a dozen beautiful hens of various breeds, the vegetable garden is flourishing, the tiny orchard is bearing fruit, and the new fence will confine llamas someday. Their yard bears flowers, trees and grass where piles of trash, broken glass and brush used to be. They say they are happier than they’ve been in years and that it was one the best things they’ve ever done.

Yet one of them confided to me that she’s intimidated by the idea of inviting her city friends to visit, for fear they will find it lacking. I was aghast when she told me that, and I made the usual comments about how they aren’t really your friends if they feel that way and how could people be so snobby and why do you think you have to prove anything to them, ad infinitum. They’ve worked so hard for this, I thought. How can their friends be anything but happy for them?

On the way home from their farm, I saw an old car with the bumper sticker, “Don’t laugh. It’s paid for.” Now, I don’t mean to equate my friends’ place in the country with an old beater: Far from it. Not even close. But a sentiment is there that I have come to understand during this Recession. It’s a pride that says, “I worked for this. I am not interested in what others may think about it, because I own it, and I’m happy with it.”

I did not grow up with a lot, and as a single mom, I couldn’t always provide for my children the way I wanted to. Over the years, as my financial circumstances changed for the better, I wanted my surroundings to be architecturally significant, my cars to be classic, my clothes to be Eileen Fisher, and my children’s education to be Ivy League—until I looked our financial situation in the face and saw a real possibility of losing everything we’d worked for. I learned very quickly to be grateful for what I had and for what I could afford. It changed my outlook on life in a fundamental way. It now comes as a relief that I can be content with less, that I don’t have to compete—with the Joneses or with myself—and I now look forward to someday owning my own little place where I can raise chickens and grow vegetables.

Kit Yarrow, Ph.D., wrote recently in Psychology Today, “Insights acquired during the Recession will crystallize a notion that Americans have been nursing for years: That perfectionism causes anxiety, and that ‘keeping up’ keeps people apart. Many Americans are frankly relieved to have a little less expected of them and will live by a new mantra, ‘Good enough is good enough’...For some, it’s a rationalization to soften the blow of living with less, for others it’s a passion.”

For me—and I hope for my friends—it’s the latter.—Carol Wiley Lorente

Thank you, from Alice, Carol and Margi

It sounded so simple. Write mini eBooks pertaining to frugal living and sell them on a web site, at a frugal price, of course.

Alice, Carol and I have met many, many times since early February, and our intent was to put everything we had into our new business with the hope that our efforts would help people at a time in their financial lives when they really needed it.

We set out to do this on our own, but oh, my goodness, we found that we needed the help of others. And we got it!

This, then, is our humble and most appreciative “thank you” to all of those who gave us the help we needed exactly when we needed it.

Frugal Living Press needed its own logo. Thank you to Barbara Domagala for understanding just what we needed. Barbara created more than a dozen designs so that we could vote on the one we wanted. She then tweaked her creation as needed, and we couldn’t be happier.

We had to have a web site, and we turned to Patti and ‘Mas Pickering of PourHouse Productions in Kewanee, Ill. It’s been a long, interesting and informative experience building our business from the ground up, but these two were more than up to the task. Thank you for your talents, wisdom and patience as we all learned what it takes to make our site successful.

Bob McKee and Kris Wexell of WKEI-WJRE Radio in Kewanee have been generous with their radio program, “Tuned In.” They have allowed Alice and Margi valuable air time to promote our business.

Brian Johnson (http://peorialawyers.com) is our lawyer, and the three of us learned the intricacies of a small business through a conference call that netted us priceless information that we won’t soon forget.

Alice met with Don Rohn, the Chapter Chair of SCORE in Peoria, IL. We gained valuable insight from the free business seminar, and Don has been staying in touch with us – something we appreciate very much.

Business meetings are an integral part of any new venture, and the three of us have met in a few places. We had to have a spot with great coffee, delicious food and most of all, understanding owners who didn’t mind having us there with our paperwork spread hither and yon, discussing business for several hours. To those patient people, here is our “thank you”:

To Jaime and Vicky at Victoria Grace Catering in Marseilles, thanks for allowing us to pick the best spot in the place, bringing extra cream, coffee and other goodies to the table.

To Eric and Elizabeth Wolfe, owners of Country Morning Coffee Café in Kewanee, we thank you for the delicious lattes, coffee and tea, and we can’t leave out the mouth-watering soup we’ve sampled at every meeting. You let us pick a spot, spread out and stay for hours too, and we needed that.

The Station House in Kewanee has been a favorite place to meet for a quick (and delicious) business breakfast. Thanks to Ed Jacoby and Bill Coffey for welcoming us, and an extra thanks for the calendar you gave us to plan upcoming meetings.

Loretta Wiley came through for all of us when we needed someone to run a bank errand in a hurry. Time was of the essence that day, and Loretta came through for us, even though she was using a walker at the time.

Here, too, from Alice, Carol and Margi is a big “thank you” to all of you who have purchased an eBook. We wrote each of them with you in mind, and we have plenty more on the way!

Margi L. Washburn