The Unlikely Financial Benefits of a Good Iron by Mary Hunt on Creators.com

Recently

Mortgage Insurance? Not on Your Life! Dear Mary: I just bought a house, and I've been getting a lot of flyers about mortgage protection insurance. Is it something good for a new homeowner or just a waste of money? — Donna, email Dear Donna: Great questions. "Mortgage …Read more. Tips That Make You Feel Like a Genius Secretly, I feel like a genius when I discover a secondary use for this or that — in case I run out of this, but have plenty of that! Like using a paper coffee filter to wash a glass top or mirror when I'm in a pinch for paper towels. Or using …Read more. Supermarket Tricks That Makes Us Spend More I've always thought of myself as pretty sharp when it comes to spotting supermarket trickery. I'm not even fazed by an end-cap display announcing, "Special." I know their ways. They hope we'll just assume that "special" means …Read more. The Struggle to Actually Use up Gift Cards My love-hate relationship with gift cards has intensified. What a pain, really. I'm one who just forgets to use them, and when I remember, I try to figure out how to use each one to the last cent. I was reminded of my situation recently when I …Read more.

The Unlikely Financial Benefits of a Good Iron

Though it's true that life is uncertain, there's at least one thing of which I am very sure: I never will be held hostage for refusing to iron.

Unlike Mrs. Tyrrell — whose son held her at gunpoint, according to police, for six hours because she refused to iron his clothes (recently reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) — I love to iron. I'm not saying that I would be that thrilled to do it for a 29-year-old son who refused to leave home, but I have a feeling that probably I would do the chore.

I know that my love for ironing is a little odd. It's just that I find the process to be soul-soothing. It gives me instant gratification. I love the sound of a good surge of steam over an ample ironing board that is positioned in good, natural light. More than that, l love ironing for the fact that it helped me get out of debt. I'm not kidding.

Years ago, when I came to terms with the fact that I had a serious shopping problem, I sat down to analyze it. I figured out that I love the emotional sensation of buying stuff. Buying stuff on credit made me feel as if I had money, so using my credit cards gave me an emotional high that defied description. I loved the feeling, and I wanted to repeat it as often as possible.

Trust me; I'm no therapist. But I figured that if I could find something less damaging that would produce a feeling at least equal to my shopping rush, something that was easily accessible at a moment's notice, maybe I could use it to modify my behavior.

That activity became ironing.

Giving myself permission to iron whenever I got a sudden urge to respond to an infomercial or head for the mall was like giving a kid a key to a candy store. You wonder why I didn't tell a soul about this for so many years? Because I feared people would think I'm nuts, the way you're thinking right now.

My secret worked better than I ever could have imagined. I didn't realize how quickly my urge to spend would vanish once I could distract myself successfully.

Over the years, my ironing habit has evolved. I have possibly the world's finest home ironing system, for which I make no apologies. It was pricey. But compared with multiple sessions with a therapist, untold thousands in credit card debt or the heartbreak of divorce, my IronMaven has turned out to be quite a bargain.

There are some who might believe I've just traded one obsession for another. It could be. But I'm happy with the results.

And I never fear being held hostage for refusing to do the ironing.

Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her best-selling classic "Debt-Proof Living." You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Comments

5 Comments | Post Comment

I don't like to iron, except when I'm sewing. There's something therapeutic about pressing seams for me. Otherwise, I'll tumble stuff in the dryer until it's hot and then hang it and smooth it to keep from ironing. I guess I'm lucky because I hate, hate, hate to shop. I buy everything but groceries on-line. When my girlfriends talk about "retail therapy" or ask if I'd like to go shopping, I cringe.

Comment: #1
Posted by: Joannakathryn
Sun Aug 1, 2010 10:14 PM

Report this post

I do like to iron. And when you mentioned that pressing seams is therapeutic, so is pressing other objects. It is very therapeutic. A nice, quiet activity where one is alone (who else wants to be there?) and can think one's thoughts and organize one's mind while one organizes the laundry. And shopping, especially online, does require you to get out that credit card usually. We have very much overshopped in America. We've had to erect storage centers and purchase storage boxes to keep all our stuff. It's time to scale down. Ironing can help.

Comment: #2
Posted by: Judy Land
Mon Aug 2, 2010 9:17 AM

Report this post

Judy--I do have to iron occasionally, but I don't like it. Stuff that's 100% cotton winds up being seldom worn. Sewing, on the other hand, comes under the heading of crafting for me, not chores. I only shop on-line when I'm in dire need of something. T-shirts, everyday pants & shorts, and underwear do wear out, but I'm currently wearing clothes that are 10-15 years old, too, so I don't overshop. When I need something new, I shop in my closet first. I haven't bought a new dress since 2004.

I love repurposing. Last week, I needed a new king-sized dust ruffle, so I made a new one out of a queen-sized and an old sheet. A towel that's frayed around the edges becomes either 4 new hand towels or 6 new washclothes with bias binding made from fabric scraps.

If I can't reuse things, I give them away on Freecycle.org. I agree that we all need to purge our stuff and stop accumulating so much, but I started doing that years ago.

Comment: #3
Posted by: Joannakathryn
Mon Aug 2, 2010 9:40 AM

Report this post

I'm not much for ironing cloths unless I absolutely have to. I think it's a rebellious feeling after ironing my uniforms for ten years in the Army and and ironing my Husbands uniforms until his retirement. For not being much into the ironing thing I still somehow have managed to acquire three irons. I use them in my home remodeling projects. The last time was for sewing curtains and the time before that was to iron on wood veneer trim to the TV stand I built.
I can see where something routine and mellow like ironing could be soothing and meditative... just as long as there are no more uniforms involved :)

I like the idea for utilizing worn out towels. I use to cut worn up cloths into various size rags for the kids pet rat cage. Cheaper than the wood shavings, reusable and the rats loved to play in them and make nest out of them.

Comment: #4
Posted by: Michelle Keane
Mon Aug 2, 2010 12:24 PM

Report this post

Re: Michelle--I color-code our towels and only buy solid colored ones, so everybody has their own towels and (shocker for some people) they can use the same one more than once. Anyway, they're still pretty plush, even when they start to get worn around the edges. I go through my fabric scraps and make bias strips with matching or coordinating fabric. The results look like designer hand towels and washcloths.

I keep every last scrap of fabric when I sew. My husband's worn-out oxford cloth shirts make good lining material. When a friend of mine was making reversible purses to sell, I was able to make about 8 for her, using old fabric that I had on hand.

A couple of years ago, I needed a purse for a wedding and I took an old skirt and cut it up, lined it, (and ironed it!) added wooden beads, and had a beautiful floral purse to carry with a solid-colored linen suit. Cost--about $3 for the lining and the beads. I got the pattern off the internet. I posted the picture on craftster.org, but I don't know if it's still there after 2 years.

Comment: #5
Posted by: Joannakathryn
Mon Aug 2, 2010 2:07 PM

Report this post

Already have an account? Log in.

New Account
Your Name:
Your E-mail:
Your Password:
Confirm Your Password:

Please allow a few minutes for your comment to be posted.

Enter the numbers to the right:
Creators.com comments policy