Sometimes my need to be frugal can cause me to question things. Take my gardening. It's something I love to do. I love to tend my garden and herb gardens, and see the beautiful plants transform and grow. But I've never really spent much money on my gardening hobby. I've used empty milk jugs for watering and as mini greenhouses, I've made my own compost, I've found free mulching materials, and I've used secondhand tools that I've found or been able to snag at a yard sale for a few quarters.
Now all these money-saving things are good and good for the environment---except for the secondhand tools...as I've just come to realize. Over the years, I've only had a few mis-matched tools that didn't work very well. One garden trowel bent in two as I tried to work with it. For years and years, I've pulled weeds by hand using brute force of will. As I'm getting older, the time in the garden is getting harder.
About a year ago, my sister gifted me with a wonderful garden tool set. It is in a carry case, has beautifully crafted tools and handy gadgets that have been a delight for me. What a revelation! I could actually enjoy gardening and do so easily. I looked into investing in a weeding tool to help uproot those pesky weeds. For less than $35, and for the rest of my life, I can cut my weeding time in half!!!
My garden has gotten smaller as I deal with my disabilities and my age. Now it consists of a bed along the back of the house and a few pots and wheeled raised bed. There is a patch of grass along the bed at the back of the house that my husband's mower can't reach. The old rusty hand cutter was not cooperating with me. "Why don't you see what kind of trimmer you can get?", my husband asked. Why not?
I found the perfect solution online. A handy battery-operated trimmer and grass cutter. Less than $40. It would last a long time and I thought, why not try it? So I ordered and it came in under two days. I charged it up by using the USB cord. Then I ran out to the bed and trimmed it all in under 20 minutes. Do you know what joy I got out of that thing? It was so easy and all these years I have been struggling with that grass line, sometimes even just letting it go because I had no easy solution to the problem.
So here's my take-away. Sometimes we can be too frugal. To the point where we are driving ourselves crazy. Sometimes it makes sense to spend a little as an investment in ourselves. The pleasure far outweighs the money spent. And your hobby can be a joy instead of a frustration. So right now, I'm going back out to use my trimmer, and with a smile on my face too.
For anyone interested in what I got, here's a link. As an Amazon Associate, I benefit when you purchase and it doesn't add to your bill. Thanks.
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