The search is on for a refrigerator. My son’s family desperately needs one. We had a trailer pulled onto our property them, but it came without appliances. We’ve never been the sort of people who run out and buy brand-spanking new things, especially big-ticket items. So, I started looking.

The first thing I did was help the kids determine what size refrigerator they need. The space is relatively small, and we decided that a 14-cubic-foot refrigerator would be about as large as they could go. I did the obligatory Internet search to compare prices. Even the smallest of refrigerators ran upwards of $400.00 when purchased new. I need to do much better than that. In fact, those who know me well, will tell you I am so frugal that I will look for a free one first. They’re correct. Never pay for something you can get for free—and they’re are plenty of free things. You just have to look for them.

Without a doubt, the best free stuff on the Web can be found at www.freecycle.org. Freecycle lets you join a mailing list from your area. It’s like a cyber garage sale that never ends. When you sign up, you receive an updated e-mail every day. I’m constantly amazed at some of the items that people are giving away. Here’s a sample from this morning’s e-mail for the Wausau, area:

1. Offer: 25″ Sanyo Color Television – Weston From: Super Lou
2. Offer-small TV stand- Rothschild From: Lisa
3. Offer-Chemistry set-Kronenwetter
4. Offer-Shoe Cabinet

I haven’t found the refrigerator yet, but I do have my eye on the scrap wood and the shoe cabinet. Some folks want the items picked up immediately, which a problem for me, as we only make one trip a week into Wausau (sometimes less). So, we have to coordinate pick-ups and drop offs.

If you have something that someone else can use, and you don’t feel like driving it to the thrift shop, consider giving it away on Freecycle. If you’re looking for something, look at Freecycle first.

It seems there is wave after wave of discouraging financial news lately. And as bad as it seems, the holidays are bound to make things worse. We all know that the winter holidays are a major cause of stress for most people during prosperous times, but when a nation of spoiled consumers aren’t able to spend themselves silly, their self-inflicted pity party is bound to leave them in a stupor.  If you find yourself in dire financial straits, wondering how you will afford the latest gizmo or gadget for little Johnny or Jane, take heart. You don’t have to consume to give great gifts.

At our house, Christmas is a religious holiday. We have never been extravagant in the gift department. Growing up, my children always got fewer gifts than the other kids. However, we never went into debt to buy them anything. If they wanted a big-ticket item, we waited until the late-January clearance sales.

Every year, I pick a theme for my gift-giving. I pray and meditate on what new things I’ve learned in the past year. This year, I’ve learned the value of creating memories. While others are pouting and whining about what they don’t have because of the “global economic crisis,” I was blessed with the gift of remembering the good times. So, everyone on my Christmas list will receive a memory book from me.

When my kids were little, I took copious amounts of pictures, ordering doubles when I went to have them developed. I have a huge plastic tub full of pictures. Each of my children will recieve a photo-album filled with old pictures from their childhood. My in-laws and parents will recieve one also. My youngest daughter started a scrap book in the seventh grade, and abondoned it the tenth. I’m going to finish it for her and give it to her on Christmas Eve. I’ve been picking up photo albums whenever I find them on clearance. When I add up the cost of giving seven albums complete with photos, it is under $40.00. Add in a few pounds of fudge, dried fruit, and other homemade goodies, and we will have a wonderful Christmas for next to nothing. Joy to the world.

After years of reading about the homesteading adventures of Countryside readers, it has finally dawned on me. The difference between the homesteading success stories and the  tales of smoldering ruin is that successful homesteaders are craftsmen/women. They didn’t choose a minimalist lifestyle; instead, they combined determination and knowledge to craft a way of life , a heritage.  A lifestyle takes money. A  way of life takes time.

Established homesteaders like Sue Robishaw of Many Tracks and my friends Roger and Ann from Confessions of a Tightwad, are masters of the craft. They know full well that homesteading is a gilded craft, requiring the knowledge of the ages to sharpen modern skills. In the pages of Countryisde, the words of sage homesteaders guide others through the often tenuous steps to mastering their own level of self-reliance. I’m often in awe at the personal mastery of the readers who write to us. They are willing to try, repeatedly, to forge a way of life that reflects who they are and what they’re doing here. If you want to know someone’s heart, simply look at the things they care enough to do for themselves. Homesteading isn’t about a lifestyle; it’s about personal mastery.

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