[...] When I last asked, many said they would prefer less frequent, more in-depth original content. I’ve made that a priority. My goal lately has been to post twice a day: a main entry in the morning and a lighter entry in the afternoon. (With “daily links” that post automatically overnight, too.) I still “reblog” several times a week — there’s a lot of great information that I couldn’t cover otherwise — but I try to emphasize original content. I especially love sharing stuff submitted by GRS readers, though sometimes it takes a while to do so. (For example, I was sent the American Frugal Housewife link in July; I finally posted it in October.) [...]

[...] I read a number of blogs that help me live better in the details and in meta-narrative. Some of these are about mmoney; PeaceBang is correct that I meld bits of soap together, even if the results aren’t pretty. Insofar as in me lies, I intend to be content and happy if neither famous nor rich. So I read J.D. at Get Rich Slowly not for its eponymous promise, but in hopes of keeping my head above water and putting back a little for a rainy day. Yesterday, J.D. wrote about the 1832 title, The American Frugal Housewife citing tidbits that might interest the readership. But where did I know the author, Lydia Maria Child? A Universalist. No, a Unitarian as it turns out, and of radical Free Religious sympathies to boot. But she was from the First Parish, Medford, Massachusetts, now a part of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, where my friend the Rev. Hank Peirce is the minister. This is the same Hank Peirce who preached at Eliot Church the day Tierney-Eliot Son #3 was baptized, about which the Rev. (and Papa) Adam Tierney-Eliot wrote yesterday. So we’re full circle, no? Where was I? [...]

I think these passages nicely illustrate one of the great myths about money — that our ancestors all somehow lived their entire lives without going into debt or buying on credit. On the contrary, my understanding is that back in the 1700′s and 1800′s, many people bought everything on credit, which was possible to do, since they were on a first-name basis with all of their local shopkeeps.