Living on Half a Dime a Day
Written by Sarah Elizabeth Harper Monmouth
Narrated by LibriVox Community
4/5
()
About this audiobook
How to live on 5 cents a day! How to survive financial ruin without losing your house! How to keep to a bare bones budget and still have money left over to buy books! Tough questions! They were tough questions even in the 1870’s, when Sarah Elizabeth Harper Monmouth penned her quirky memoir, the subtitle of which was “How a Lady, Having Lost a Sufficient Income from Government Bonds by Misplaced Confidence, Reduced to a Little Homestead Whose Entire Income is But $40.00 per Annum, Resolved to Hold It, Incurring no Debts and Live Within it. How She has Lived for Three Years and Still Lives on Half a Dime a Day.” Sarah Elizabeth (‘Lizzie‘) Monmouth, born in 1829, was a Civil War widow, living on a run-down small farm in New Hampshire, when her investments imploded. She awoke one morning to find herself poor--an old roof above her, “dearer than life,” but “not a dollar of money left.” For months she was “paralyzed with cold, clammy terror . . . stunned and knew not what to do.” Then her “mind stepped to the front with a bold standard displayed.” She said to herself “Understand, once for all, that I rule and make your plans accordingly.” She devised (and stuck to) a YEARLY budget, which consisted of $17 for food, $13 for fuel, and $10 for reading! How she managed this makes sometimes harrowing, sometimes amazing, and always fascinating reading. Food: “a pound of oatmeal cooked on Monday would serve for a dessert through the week.” Shoes: “I took the soles of worn-out rubbers, lined them with flannel, and laced them on my feet as sandals.” Books and magazines were the sole exceptions to her parsimony. “My mind . . . is the humored child. Reading is my salvation from total wreck . . . My one solace and relief in darkest time.” In very cold spells, she would save firewood by crawling into bed with mittens on her hands to “read a while, and when the room became too cold for this, cover all up and think over what I had read. This saved me in a degree from enervating myself further by fruitless poring over poverty and privations.” Lizzie Monmouth’s tale will make you stop and count your blessings...
How Lizzie Monmouth surmounted her poverty is an equally fascinating tale. She had an artistic bent and a knack for creating folk art from found materials. Working primarily with donated wallpaper sample books and tissue paper, she filled her home and a nearby church with floral garlands and elaborate paper mosaics featuring homilies and bible sayings. Visitors started coming to see her decorations, which an 1879 correspondent to the New York Times said “produce an effect strange, curious, and wonderfully artistic and beautiful.” Lizzie began charging for home tours and selling picture postcards and pamphlets. The enterprising Mrs. Monmouth said of her new livelihood: “I have honestly endeavored to get a ‘show’ worth a dime.” (Summary by Sue Anderson)
The reader thanks the volunteer staff of the New Hampshire Historical Society for help in researching Lizzie Monmouth’s life.
Related to Living on Half a Dime a Day
Related audiobooks
The Family Kitchen Gardener Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsABC of Vegetable Gardening Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Flower Garden: A Handbook of Practical Garden Lore Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Off Grid Living: Step-By-Step Back to Basics Guide To Become Completely Self Sufficient in 30 Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLangstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee: A Bee Keeper's Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Self-Sufficient Backyard Homestead Garden: Grow More Food in Your Pollinator Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters of a Woman Homesteader Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Live on 24 Hours a Day (version 2) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making a Rock Garden Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Save a Small Fortune - And The Planet: A Guide to Smart, Sustainable Spending Beyond COVID-19 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Homestead Gardening: Your Next Step to Self-Sufficiency Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Household Management Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFarm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Going Off the Grid: The How-To-Book of Simple Living and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Food Preparedness Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Organic Gardener's Composting Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beekeeping For Beginners: A Simple Step-By-Step Guide To The Fundamentals Of Modern Beekeeping Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories of Successful Marriages Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hell Week: Seven Days to Be Your Best Self Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Growing Marijuana for Beginners: A Practical Guide to Growing Indoor or Outdoor Cannabis Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAutobiography of a Thief Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHoney Farm Dreaming: A Memoir About Sustainability, Small Farming and the Not-So Simple Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Self-Improvement For You
How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mountain is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Practicing the Power of Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How To Win Friends And Influence People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You’re Not the Only One F*cking Up: Breaking the Endless Cycle of Dating Mistakes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hang the Moon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Living on Half a Dime a Day
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic. I'm an off grid homesteader on 1 acre. I grew up rich and after grad school chose poverty and building my house ground up while living in a tent on my property. This woman's story is giving new words to my own experiences while showing me I stand on the shoulders of giants - some of them, lone women.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really powerful and thought provoking. I plan to listen to it again