I’ve learned a new word today and I’ve been rolling it off my tongue constantly, excited about the concept as it buzzes right through the world I’ve inhabited all my life.

I have always been an anti-consumerist, a dumpster diver, but I’ve now learned about Fregans who are known as

scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet, and to distance themselves from what they see as out-of-control consumerism.

I absolutely love it. I wished I’d have thought of this first, it’s not about being a cheapskate but simply someone who doesn’t get her jollies from the mall. If anything, I holler, itch and scratch inside stores as the chemicals and the dyes burn my eyes. I remember complaining as a teenager, eons ago, in a fabric store, actually having to leave just to get air in my lungs.

“Many freegans are predictably young and far to the left politically,” couldn’t be further from my own reality at age 52 and quite conservative. That was so the 1960s which I left far behind. I may have noticed that 40 years have passed since then, yet many of my things from then still are useful now such as that sewing machine that had sent me to the eyeball-searing fabric store...and my Ball jars and cast iron skillets.

I’m not about to shop for tonight’s supper in the trash cans, but I am fundamentally opposed to over-spending, to debt, and to commercialism. More importantly, besides teaching my children that they don’t need weapons, I’d like to share with them the healthful benefits of growing one’s own food, of living beneath one’s means, and being happy with non-material needs and things. Let’s eliminate the stress of debt and of trying to keep up with everyone else and what they’ve bought.

There’s Freecyle and Compact, excellent alternatives to materialism. I have successfully taught the children about ‘treasure hunting’ at yard sales and truly we have everything we need. I couldn’t have raised 39 children if I had champagne tastes. By necessity we’ve needed to economize on a scale that might be uncomfortable for most middle class people but I personally thrive this way.

I wouldn’t have been able to retire at age 48 if I had expensive tastes, losing 14% (early retirement penalty)of my pension for life meant relatively little to me. My children needed me at home 24-7. It’s been a great decision as I’ve since adopted some horribly tough kids who’ve needed so much more supervision overall.

Stuff doesn’t make me happy, but seeing my children heal thrills me.