With inflation high and the prices of so many everyday items heading into the stratosphere, America’s home ec teachers have a new challenge on their plates: teaching students how to cook, clean, and keep house on a budget. Not a Scrooge budget, either. We’re talking Harpagon territory. That’s the philosophy, at least, at Hart Knox Afterschool Services in Hoboken, New Jersey, where a promising course has recently drawn heaps of interest and thousands of students.
“In terms of cleaning, you can forget actual soap,” says lead educator Miele Brookstone. “Those are for nepo babies and sports stars now. Our teachers are rediscovering baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, bottom-shelf booze, and citrus peels—all the software the kids’ll need for most jobs.” Students report that many of the almost-zero-dollar tips are cribbed from Glamour magazine in the halcyon days of 2009: Just blow that dirt away by opening your windows as part of your cleaning routine. Dirty microwave? Boil some water and steam clean it, wiping those grungy surfaces with rags leftover from your old clothes. Gotta wash those rags? Splash out for generic borax in bulk or go with old fashioned baking soda and vinegar. Wool dryer balls are an almost-infinitely reusable alternative to dryer sheets—and can save energy, too.
And indeed, this is all essential information for 2023. Inflation isn’t just for soufflés and quiches anymore. It’s everywhere. America’s kids need to be equipped to survive. Thanks to the good folks at Hart Knox, though, graduates’ pennies will be getting pinched so hard they’ll be screaming.
