A Guide to Making Ends Meet

When the financial crash of 2008 landed like a ton of bricks on struggling writer Lorilee Craker, she wondered why the North American Amish community was still, in her words, at peace, unruffled and rich in contentment.

At the heart of the Amish community there is their Anabaptist Christian meeting for worship, a sociable gathering which fosters community responsibility for overcoming problems. At times of shared difficulty people want to help each othe,r and setting up “warm banks” in public buildings where hard up and cold people can go to be in a comfortable temperature is a welcome response. In September the Welsh Government set aside £1 million for organisations to provide these heated refuges.

Lorilee Craker’s useful guide to thrift, Money Secrets of the Amish, details their simple yet sufficient lives, and the basic education system of the group was of little consequence to their clever way of getting by on a small income.

The book is available through libraries.

Alan Martin is a Pembrokeshire native who has worked in several UK locations as an engineering inspector. He now lives on a smallholding in mid-county with his wife and son.