Jane Austen’s book, Persuasion, begins with the retrenching of the Elliott clan. Sir Walter Elliott’s vanity and overindulgence have lead the family to near poverty. In order to preserve the family name and societal standing, they let the house and severely reduce their spending.
During Lent, we’re often more in tune to our finances here in the Williams household. This leads us to eat in more, consider ways to save money and time, think about the value of things, and reduce our carbon footprint.
I keep coming back to this a lot. What am I wasting? What can I reuse? How can we better contribute to society?
Retrenching can be hard, arduous. It can also be joyful and full of discovery. So far, we’ve learned about ugly veg boxes, the power of buying meat from a responsible, grass-fed ranch, the power of Aldi, the joy of simple meals, the convenience of meal planning, and the joy of staying out of stores by using delivery.
That last one — while requiring a tip — saves us gas, time, and impulse buying and forces us to plan out our meals. (Failing to plan is planning to fail when it comes to eating more healthy.)
While I’m not sure all of these things are truly retrenching, I know that this past week, we’ve been happy and blessed to eat food cooked at home with a little more time. ❤
TotallyKris 