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How would you cope?

Because I am saving money to go to Russia again I decided that when appliances broke down I would not replace them.  So my hair drier stopped working. Now I dry my hair under the fan heater in the bathroom. My microwave went up in flames, so now I remember to get things out of the freezer in time for them to defrost naturally.  Microwaves can be very good and save you money, but I didn't want the expence of getting a new one. My home phone broke recently but I had a spare very basic version in a cupboard.  O.K. so I can't walk across the room with it and it doesn't have an answer machine or remember numbers, but for Russia putting up with that nuisance is worth it and I'm used to it already. I suppose I'm on the road to being a minimalist. My carpet was looking shabby, but instead of spending out hundreds of pounds on a new one I bought some cheap rugs and the room looks so much better. Be creative, save your money for what you really want.  Be disciplined about your spending.  It is so easy to desire all the latest gadgets.  I like gadgets. I got an iphone last February in time for my first visit to Russia and was able to keep it on airplane mode so that I wasn't getting expensive updates from home, instead I  used Whatsapp and the ship's wifi (I was on a river cruise from St Petersburg to Moscow)to communicate with home. A friend showed me that trick and it's a good one.  Not bad for a canny Granny!! So what could you do without, if you really wanted to?

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