ATTACK OF THE "WILD INFLATION BUNCH"

I certainly learned how to be a frugal shopper through experience. When I first lived on my own in the autumn of 1972, I discovered that corner grocery stores had higher prices than large chain stores such as Safeway.  Then came the attack of "The Wild Inflation Bunch."

A CBC radio show called Inside From the Outside performed a wild west parody where Prime Minister Trudeau was the sheriff of a town. He swore that he would stop the marauding gang who planned to shoot up the main street. Instead of firing at them as they road through town, he just shrugged his shoulders.

As with any comedy routine, there's always a grain of truth. Canada experienced rapid inflation in March of 1973. Whereas the money Dad gave me for groceries was adequate, I suddenly found that prices skyrocketed to the point where I had to scrimp. At one point, I bought mint jelly because it was only 39 cents where as strawberry jam was 59 cents for the same-sized bottle.

When I applied for Social assistance in the autumn of 1974, it was like a windfall. I purchased the groceries I wanted rather than whatever was cheapest. I began buying clothing as well because I finally had more than enough money.

Those financial lessons I learned during my teenage years have benefited me throughout my life. The hard times I experienced during the rampage of "The Wild Inflation Bunch" have formed habits of frugality and thriftiness in me. What a shame these lessons aren't part of government spending policies. Our nations would be far better off with bargain-hunting bureaucrats in charge.

I included stories of my economizing in my three memoirs. In How I Was Razed, I focused on the right level of donations to one's church and other organizations. Read more about my latest e-book and paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

FRUGAL VERSES CHEAP.

What's the difference between being frugal and being cheap? Frugal people understand that some expenses are necessary whereas a cheap person skimps on everything.

In When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies), I learned the difference when I thought my home remedies were sufficient to cure my rabbit, Esther. Here's what happened in May of 2003 when I was too tight-fisted to call the vet.

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Several times during the winter, that naughty girl had ripped up the carpet. When I took down the beaded curtain and the door was back in its place, she started ripping up carpet in front of it.

In April 2003, she stopped eating and all my home made remedies didn't work. When I went with her to the vet, I was told that Esther had been ingesting the rug and the vet managed to dislodge a lump that was blocking her intestine.

Esther ate well for a few weeks and then stopped again

I was extremely fed up at being broke and having to pay bills that I tried to cure her at home. By early May, nothing had worked?not even rubbing her belly or giving her canned pumpkin through a syringe.

After breakfast one morning, I went down to the radio room to check on her. When I tried opening the door, something seemed to be blocking it. I pushed it hard, thinking that a bundle of junk mail had fallen over.

To my horror, it was Esther's body that jammed the door.

She lay next to a puddle of pumpkin that had risen in her throat .I mentally kicked myself because I should have taken her to the vet again, but I'd been too cheap.

I resolved then and there not to adopt any more pets of any kind, until I was in a better financial position and had a reliable way to get medical help for them.

Then I wept.

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When a Man Loves a Rabbit contains many more fascinating stories of life with house bunnies. These range from the tragic to the hilarious. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.