Elemental Grace

Budgeting is a creative pursuit…

August 10, 2009

This post was rather inpired by Lauren, over at A Typical Atypical, who recently blogged about money and budgeting in her Rags to Riches post. It’s a subject near and dear to my heart, as I’m sure the world and its wife knows1 by now, but Lauren’s post inspired me to look at it from a new perspective.

With credit-crunchitis in full swing, we have all felt the need to tighten our belts a notch or two, and most of the time we look at budgeting in much the same way as we do dieting: with a sense of obligation and doing what we must and very little enthusiasm for the task, which probably accounts for why, as with dieting, we tend to break after a while and have a little splurge.

I chose to give up a well paid job, work fewer hours for a lower wage and I’m happy with my choice because it’s given me freedom to do the things that I’ve wanted to do and so my choice to budget is equally my choice and I’m enjoying what I’m doing. Then, it occurred to me that there was something perhaps a little unusual in ENJOYING budgeting and I began to consider why it was that I find budgeting and being thrifty enjoyable.

Largely, I find the experience particularly creative. That sounds unusual, but it is without question the right word. I couldn’t deny that it’s occasionally difficult and juggling bills can be an issue but the thought and creativity that goes into finding alternatives to purchasing the expensive things you want can be a very exciting and creative process, and very often, the sense of pride that comes with the solution outstrips any retail thrill and your pride and delight in it is renewed every time you see it.

My current example would be my curtains. I searched high and low for a relatively cheap pair of curtains from somewhere like John Lewis or Next that suited what I wanted for the cottage but nowhere could I find exactly what I wanted. So I looked at getting curtains custom made and realised that I couldn’t afford that as an option either as 3 sets of curtains would set me back well over a £1,000.

So I was left with the options  saved over a thousand pounds by making them myself just adds to that.of buying curtains that I didn’t really like and customising them or buying some fabric, overcoming my fear of sewing something so vast and unwieldy and trying to make them myself. Being foolhardy and a little creative, I decided that I wanted the perfect curtains and I was going to make them myself if it killed me.

So I bought the fabric and lining for a fraction of the cost of a pair of curtains, looked up instructions on the web and got cracking. It has been, in turn, terrifying and vastly rewarding. I’ll happily admit that the first time I picked up my fabric and sewing machine, I was absolutely petrified:

• What if I got it all wrong?
• What if it looked awful?
• How the hell did you use a sewing machine properly?

Memories of tangled lumps of fabric and an irate sewing mistress at school lurked at the back of my mind as I considered my new project, so I sat down with a cup of tea and considered my reservations. What if I got it all wrong? Well, what if I did? It wasn’t going to be the end of the world, it was just a pair of curtains! Step by step – what I was doing was essentially sewing two rectanles of fabric together – not so difficult. To make it easier, I was using striped fabric, so essentially I had built in rulers (woo). So far so good. I was breathing a bit easier. So, I didn’t have to start sewing straight away, I could mock it all up first: iron the creases, pin and tack where I would later stitch and it looked alright.

So, what if I got it all wrong once I started stitching and it ended up looking all lumpy like my stitchwork at school? I was introduced by a friend to the magic of the quicker unpicker and I decided that if worst came to worst and my first attempt looked awful, I could always unpick it and start again. Reassuring. So far so good and here comes the scary bit. The sewing maching was looming in front of me, looking scary and complicated, with  seemingly infinite number of stitches and tightness. How was I supposed to know what to use? I decided to stick with the default settings until I was more sure of myself, which turned out pretty well and step by step the curtains started to take shape. I checked them at every stage to monitor my progress (and see if I needed to redo anyof them but each stage seemed to yield positive results, which boosted my confidence no end.

My first pair of curtains are now lying over the kitchen door, waiting for the header tape (the bit you stick the hooks in) to be applied before I give them a final iron and hang them for the very first time. Nothing I ever buy will rival the sense of pride I have in that one set of curtains, and knowing that I have saved hundreds of pounds in the making just adds to the pleasure.

After trying to train myself into a more frugal mindset for the last few months, I surprised myself on a meander around town this morning. I’d lost my makeup case and wanted a new one. Just a little thing to cart the bare essentials around with me. It was one of those shopping trips where nothing quite fit the bill. The affordable ones were generally a bit tacky and the nicer ones were waaaayy out of my price range. In my previous mindset, I’d probably  have settled for one I wasn’t mad about and paid the extra but today I had the make-do-and-mend angel on my shoulder, reminding me that it wouldn’t take more than an hour or so to make one myself using some of the lovely fabrics I have at home for a fraction of the price and yet again end up with something unique and perfect. So that’s what I shall do.

I have the same reaction to my clothes now. When I am bored of an old v neck top, I sew a bit of coloured lace into the V, or decorate the V and sleeves in a  bit of lace, broderie anglaise or beading. Voila, a pretty much brand new top for next to nothing, and I know that nobody will be wearing the same as me!

It is a liberating realisation to know that I am not restricted to owning what I am told to buy at the shops, but that the only restriction on me is my imagination … and I haven’t even come close to plumbing the depths of that yet.

So I’m off to finish my curtains and have a cup of tea. I will be posting pictures of my new curtains as soon as I have hung them up. Wish me luck.

Filed under: Rolling with the Punches