Home ec

The high school my wife and I attended in East Tennessee back in the early 70s offered both home ec and shop. She took home ec, but I didn’t take shop. Shop was power tools and home ec was domestic skills like cooking and sewing.

The Boston Globe just published an article that reminded me what real home economics is about: spreadsheets showing inflow and outflow of money. The article highlights several ideas:

• lower housing prices by sharing rent with roommates. I had roommates for three years in college, then got married;

• selective shopping for groceries. Well duh. Buy in bulk. Buy on sales. Prepare meals at home instead of eating out;

• if you buy a house, refinance if interest rates fall. We saved enough living in apartments for a 20% down-payment that avoided mortgage insurance, re-financed three times and paid off our loan in 20 years. Also too, get an energy inventory to insulate against heating and cooling costs;

• shop around before buying a car: well, fine, but how about public transportation? Not a choice in every neighborhood, but Boston does have it. When we lived in the small college town of Chapel Hill, NC, we had annual bus passes for four years and no car.

I’d add another: pay off your credit card bills every month and never carry over a balance.


This is all 3rd grade arithmetic. Learn the difference between lifestyle and cost of living. 

Bonus tip: Not only live within your means but start saving for retirement ASAP. 

<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/30/business/how-to-save-money/" >How to save money</a>

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