You have wonderful childhood memories of the food your grandmother made,or the style of decoration she used in her home. She and your grandfather probably tended a huge garden and kept some livestock outside as well. You’re now trying to adopt a lifestyle in line with their self-sufficient system, and you’re having a tough time finding out…how.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of living an old-fashioned lifestyle is finding information about it. Locating the materials, skills, and ideas it takes to move back in time is tough, because so much of the information has been lost to time. Or so it would seem.
In an ironic twist, modern technology can actually rescue your efforts to become more old-fashioned. Books, pamphlets, and memories fade away with time, leaving knowledge of yesteryear’s life to disappear with them. But thanks to the internet–where almost nothing ever goes away— you can still track down plenty of information about how to do things the way Granny and Pap used to do them. Cable television, as modern as it is, can also feature cooking shows, farming information, and other programming that will teach you what you want to know.
So the necessity of those ultra-modern things to the retro life is real. The issue now is, how do we keep them affordable? The keys are to set priorities, use good consumer techniques, and be efficient.
Get Deals!
Granny and Pap squeezed their nickels tightly, getting everything they could from everything they spent. You need to do the same. Rather than go out and pay face value for everything, get AT&T coupons that work with U-verse bundles to save on phone, TV, and internet. What’s better than getting a good deal on a purchase that will allow you to save money on a lifestyle that’s more affordable anyway? You’re saving money three times.
Shop Carefully
Did your grandparents simply grab the first package of bean seeds they saw at the store? Of course not. They carefully compared all the options and chose the ones that were best suited to their needs. You should do the same. When looking at cable TV packages, don’t start at the cheapest and say, “For another $5 I can get these channels, and for $5 more after that I can get these.” Instead, start high and say, “I can save $5 by eliminating these, and another $5 by dropping these.” Focus on the channels that will carry the most programming that will be beneficial to your lifestyle, and you’ll see your bill drop while you still get everything you need to get.
Share and Share Alike
If you want to limit your data consumption while using your smartphone to learn, don’t reinvent the wheel for your old-fashioned needs. Instead, get involved in groups that share information and ideas. That will drastically cut the number of web sites you’ll need to check, because most likely someone else has already found what you need and can quickly direct you there, or they may have even re-posted it in a central location. Should you be in a remote area with internet packages that aren’t unlimited, and might even be on dial-up, this is doubly helpful for you.
You may feel a little dirty for using such modern things to augment your purportedly old-fashioned lifestyle. But unlike your grandparents, you don’t live among dozens of neighbors who use the same techniques, and you don’t have generations of handed-down knowledge. So the boost of technology is a justified way to keep your way of life rooted in the past.
