If necessity is the mother of invention, then frugality surely must be the father. What's a person to do when trash heaps are the size of mountains, the world's population bulges much like American waistlines, and even scraping a living seems harder? Don't agonize, my friend. If you believe that cheap is chic and think it's cool to be creative, then Frugal Engineering is for you. Impact your little corner of the world by saving money and the planet at the same time. Frugality has been heralded as a virtue by kings, ancient philosophers, American founding fathers, presidents, and industrialists. Learn and apply five basic principles of Frugal Engineering to change your little corner of the world. Come on now—you've got this! But you, my friend, are no ordinary American. No, you keep stuff. Plenty of it. You have the foresight to know that one day you are going to need that broken rake, those mismatched socks, or that electrical cord that does not work.
If there's one thing the Frugal Engineer is schooled in, it's the art of reusing and upcycling. He (or she) can take something that is broken, faded, rusted, mismatched, or just plain ugly and find a new use for it. Before you can let your creativity take hold, however, you must stop throwing things out. Even if you cannot currently imagine another use for that unwanted item, just keep it. Stash it in a safe place, as you never know what need might arise later. It could take years, or it could be week. One day you are going to need it, and you will be so thankful you saved it— provided, of course, that you can still find it. My dad is my favorite Frugal Engineer. He has perfected the art of keeping stuff, having devoted an entire garage and a spare bedroom to storing assorted items with potential future use.
Some might say it borders on hoarding, but no worry. Just let 'em talk. He's got plans for his stuff. Our family refers to Dad's overstocked extra bedroom as "the Walmart room" because there's a little bit of everything in there, including homemade weightlifting equipment, a refurbished table, office supplies, books, computers, and gardening items. If you cannot find what you need in the Walmart room, you probably don't need it. My daughter once needed a centimeter ruler for a class activity, and she didn't tell me until I was driving her to school. Rather than fretting, we simply swung by my parents' house and found what she needed in the Walmart room. Be warned, however. Walmart rooms do not happen overnight. Think ahead by starting yours today. You'll be glad you did. Not everybody understands the potential of their broken or surplus stuff. No, they just toss out whole sections of surplus fence. They discard rusty wheelbarrows and old encyclopedias. They toss mismatched dishes and utensils as well as out-of-date suitcases. You, however, see the potential in other people's cast-offs. You can breathe new life into someone else's junk.
Put on your thinking cap and cruise the neighborhood on trash day before the garbage truck comes. Better yet, cruise a highfalutin neighborhood where they toss out really nice stuff. It'll be like going treasure hunting. The rule of thumb is that if it's at the curb, it's finders keepers. My dad has salvaged items ranging from sun bleached lawn furniture to a broken table to a neon highway worker's vest to a prison uniform. Yep, a prison uniform. Isn't it intriguing to consider how that ended up in someone's trash? Although I am merely a Frugal Engineer in training— a mere babe in the woods—one thing I have learned is that everyone wins when you're thrifty. When my neighbor's son outgrew his bike, they simply set it at the curb with the rest of the household garbage. Even though we had no use for it, I couldn't stand to see a nice bike go to waste.
