The American Frugal Housewife

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The American Frugal Housewife, by Lydia M. Child

A fat kitchen maketh a lean will.—FRANKLIN.
Economy is a poor man's revenue; extravagance a rich man's ruin.

It has become necessary to change the title of this work to the American Frugal Housewife, because there is an English work of the same name, not adapted to the wants of this country.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1832, by CARTER & HENDEE, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts

The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time , as well as materials . Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever be the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money.
'Time is money.' For this reason, cheap as stockings are, it is good economy to knit them. Cotton and woollen yarn are both cheap; hose that are knit wear twice as long as woven ones; and they can be done at odd minutes of time, which would not be otherwise employed. Where there are children, or aged people, it is sufficient to recommend knitting, that it is an employment .
In this point of view, patchwork is good economy. It is indeed a foolish waste of time to tear cloth into bits for the sake of arranging it anew in fantastic figures; but a large family may be kept out of idleness, and a few shillings saved, by thus using scraps of gowns, curtains, &c.
In the country, where grain is raised, it is a good plan to teach children to prepare and braid straw for their own bonnets, and their brothers' hats.