Where does frugality come from?

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

What a different age it was during the Great Depression! Now, it seems that instead would be said:
"Use as much as you like, wear it until you tire of it, purchase something new, and throw it away when you feel like it."

Are we really happier living in the second world, rather than the first?

Many years ago I was faced with a choice -- my husband at the time was ill, an alcoholic, and had just lost his job, I could get a full time job to support myself and three young kids or I could continue to work part time, mostly from home, running my own business. To complicate matters, one of my sons had severe behavioral problems and could not be put in daycare, and although I had a college degree I had not worked full-time for about 8 years. I decided that my kids needed a mother more than they needed a "normal" income, and, although I did not know it at the time, I began my journey into "extreme frugality."
I will admit that it has not always been fun. However, as the years rolled by frugality has become a lifestyle. And, to my amazement, through frugality I've been able to provide for my children a childhood that approximates my own middle-class upbringing -- on a fraction of the income. This is the reason that I want to share what I have learned with others.

Frugality has a bad rap. But frugality is woven into the fabric of American existence. For me, it started with my parents. They wanted to have a traditional, middle class home where father works full time, and mother is home with the children. It was the latter 70s and then the 80s and the 90s. My mother flirted a bit with bringing in an income: she tried in-home daycare, Amway, Tupperware, etc. None of them stuck, and instead my parents kept to a budget, broke the neighborhood trend of having a pool put in the backyard, we did our own yard work, and most of our vacations included road trips, camping and/or staying with far-flung relatives. Where did my parents get these odd ideas? Mostly from their own parents -- who grew up in the Great Depression. Life on the American continent was often not so easy