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Smart Saving is “In” |
Is it cool to be cheap? I’m sensing a change in attitudes. I don’t hear “It’s only money, honey” anymore.
Do your friends brag about how cheap they are? I was at a get-together where that was exactly what was happening. As we sat around a fire into the evening family and friends started bragging about how cheap they were. I mean everybody was laughing about how cheap they were with stories to prove it. Had I stumbled into an alternate universe?
I remember when frugal was a dirty word. If you said your boyfriend or husband was frugal, you got lots of sympathy. Frugality was almost a disease. Worse than alcoholism maybe. You just didn’t talk about money, much less admit that you were frugal. Most people tried to dress in the latest fashions and would do the humble brag about their vacations and specialty cars.
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Is It Cool to Be Cheap? |
Not so much anymore. Some of these same people are telling stories about how they got such a great deal on this or that. They dress down and when they dress up it’s in classic styles that won’t go out of style quickly. These same people who used to stay at only the best places are now asking Mr. Pennies and me about how they can copy our frugal lifestyle. And they are not being sarcastic.
Is the economy just that bad? Or have people awakened to the fact that being frugal is just smart? “Smart is the new rich” is a saying I hear on tv these days. Being smart about money is just . . . smart.
Have you noticed a change in attitudes lately? Or did I really stumble into an alternative reality?
Maggie says
David, I think a frugal lifestyle is becoming more accepted because it makes sense. Why go for the latest shiny thing when you can build something that really matters? And “viable” is the key word–you can actually live in way that is sustainable.
David says
Your thoughts about frugal lifestyle are true. In the past, a lot of folks considered frugality as unhealthy. Not anymore. It pays to develop frugal practices nowadays. This is a viable option for all of us.
Maggie says
Penny, I agree that individuals are much different from big companies. A person has to make a living wage after all. I see nothing wrong with getting several bids on a project and then deciding for yourself which is the best for your own circumstances. I don’t haggle with individual contractors. I have with phone companies and tv providers.
The people who were bragging about their cheapness were telling how they were too cheap to flush a gnat down the toilet or to waste a tissue on it. So they smashed the gnat with their fingers and then tossed it. Personally, I take them to the front door and “set them free!”
Mr. Pennies is so cheap that he wears a 15 year-old coat that our son wore in junior high. That’s the kind of cheapness stories being exchanged.
Penny Sadler says
Well there’s frugal and then there is still CHEAP. These same people still have the money to pay a fair price for goods and services but would like to not have to. In other words they haggle everything to the extreme. AS a service person and freelancer it’s exhausting. Believe me if you tried to haggle with them on the fee for whatever service they provided they would be horribly offended.
Maggie says
Well, yes, I see those cars too, especially in some areas. It was just so noticeable to me because these same people used to strut their affluence. Perhaps they drank enough to tell the truth!
Jose says
Hopefully frugal is no linger a dirty word! I’m not sur eif it’s going mainstream though. I still see a lot of $100k + cars cruising around!