Moneyweek: New mood of Austerity beckons for US consumers

PasturesNew

People have sneered at me for years for frugality.
It's been born out of necessity.

Truthfully, if you are frugal (for reasons of poverty), you get mocked and nobody wants to be your friend! You get called tight... which hurts if you simply don't have the money at all. That's from those that think "I have no money" means "I spent it on tat and I'll have more at the end of the month". They've no idea that real people are living on £10/month after the bills and frugal food are paid.

People assume that everybody has what they have. And frugal people are tight. They'll learn soon ...

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

People have sneered at me for years for frugality.
It's been born out of necessity.

Truthfully, if you are frugal (for reasons of poverty), you get mocked and nobody wants to be your friend! You get called tight... which hurts if you simply don't have the money at all. That's from those that think "I have no money" means "I spent it on tat and I'll have more at the end of the month". They've no idea that real people are living on £10/month after the bills and frugal food are paid.

People assume that everybody has what they have. And frugal people are tight. They'll learn soon ...

It's funny. A very good mate of mine started out at Lloyds earning less than a night shelf stacker at the local supermarket. People would get fed up with him not going out because he had no cash so I thought, "Screw it, I'll pay for him". I didn't earn much but it was more than I needed at the time.

Now he gets good a good six figure salary and a bonus of double that and I'm broke, he calls me up and insists I come out, pays for my taxi and buys me drinks and dinner.

If neither of us had a penny then we'd still be mates. When both of us are rich then we will be.

WTF?_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

People have sneered at me for years for frugality.
It's been born out of necessity.

Truthfully, if you are frugal (for reasons of poverty), you get mocked and nobody wants to be your friend! You get called tight... which hurts if you simply don't have the money at all. That's from those that think "I have no money" means "I spent it on tat and I'll have more at the end of the month". They've no idea that real people are living on £10/month after the bills and frugal food are paid.

People assume that everybody has what they have. And frugal people are tight. They'll learn soon ...

I think people often confuse frugality with stinginess. That is of course simply not the case. Some of the 'stingiest' people I have come across are far from frugal, they're just extremely un-generous. They happily waste lots of cash on themselves. Quite often the' richest' people (usually with inherited wealth) take some sort of perverse pleasure in not paying their way, I've noticed.

On the other hand many people who are thrifty and frugal with their cash when it comes to personal expenses are extremely generous to others.


The thing is that an incredibly profligate culture has developed over the last decade and especially in the last 3-4 years. I wouldn't call my own lifestyle particularly frugal (I definitely could make quite big economies but I like my luxuries) but in comparison to the sort of things I see others wasting money on it just looks that way. When I see people with an income that I know is maybe 1/2 of mine splashing out wildly on stuff I could never justify (although I could buy it out of savings) it boggles my mind. On the other hand, they are living 'paycheck to paycheck' and up to their necks in debt whereas I never have money problems and am sitting on top of a rather nice pile of cash.

However, unless you are visibly splashing out large amounts of money for effect it would seem that many these days assume you either are a pauper or just a bit of a miser

fc123

In my experience, Big spenders, flashy types (whether the cash is borrowed or they are wealthy) tend not to have a very strong sense of self.
Generosity is in the person and will come out if they have spare £££ (as in Gens mate) or they give their time friendship.

More money would give me spare time...and I really miss having that.

Teabelly reckons we should try gambling!

fc123

PasturesNew wrote: »

People have sneered at me for years for frugality.
It's been born out of necessity.

Truthfully, if you are frugal (for reasons of poverty), you get mocked and nobody wants to be your friend! You get called tight... which hurts if you simply don't have the money at all. That's from those that think "I have no money" means "I spent it on tat and I'll have more at the end of the month". They've no idea that real people are living on £10/month after the bills and frugal food are paid.

People assume that everybody has what they have. And frugal people are tight. They'll learn soon ...

Shallow types...not worth the emotional energy.
But some people seem to sail through life quite comfortably but without putting in much effort...those who came from well off families (only those that I know of) so the previous generation did the graft for them, I guess.

SingleSue

I was always laughed at for my knack of getting bargains and was even renamed the bargain Queen (this was way back in the 90's)...now they are asking me for tips.

Austin_Allegro

fc123 wrote: »

I'm not being trite and know plenty who have been frugal continually....but to acknowledge it as a growing trend does no harm......and to use it as inspiration too.
FWIW; the concept is a mish mash of a vintage business we ran through the last decade...earning from what was thrown away

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm very pleased that frugal living is becoming mainstream, I just find it amusing that it's treated as a 'lifestyle choice' or is about 'being green', and it's usually not what I'd call particularly frugal anyway. I haven't seen any articles in the paper about cooking nettles or patching vests, both things I've been doing this week....:rotfl:

Generali

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm very pleased that frugal living is becoming mainstream, I just find it amusing that it's treated as a 'lifestyle choice' or is about 'being green', and it's usually not what I'd call particularly frugal anyway. I haven't seen any articles in the paper about cooking nettles or patching vests, both things I've been doing this week....:rotfl:

What do nettles taste like? My Dad used to talk about drinking nettle tea &c. I imagine they'd be like spinach only with an iodine finish.

fc123

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm very pleased that frugal living is becoming mainstream, I just find it amusing that it's treated as a 'lifestyle choice' or is about 'being green', and it's usually not what I'd call particularly frugal anyway. I haven't seen any articles in the paper about cooking nettles or patching vests, both things I've been doing this week....:rotfl:

Frugal, thrifty, non-consumerism....good, 'modern' fashionable words.(I am tongue in cheek here BTW)
Skint, broke, wanting (for comfort, food etc)..old fashioned words with negative associations.

They all mean the same thing really.

All a bit of a con. Bit like in religions (JUST an opinion...I'm no theologist), to be accepting of things (no matter how bad) is behaviour to send one to heaven.
Bet the Govt can't believe its luck...made us all skint but we can celebrate being ultra coool.



!!!!!! got it right though; stingy, mean, tight NOT the same as those that live 'Needs as must'.

fc123

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm very pleased that frugal living is becoming mainstream, I just find it amusing that it's treated as a 'lifestyle choice' or is about 'being green', and it's usually not what I'd call particularly frugal anyway. I haven't seen any articles in the paper about cooking nettles or patching vests, both things I've been doing this week....:rotfl:

Nettle recipes have appeared in You magazine, and Style magazine (Sunday papers)
Patching and repairing is cropping up in Womens fashion mags too

What do nettles taste like? My Dad used to talk about drinking nettle tea &c. I imagine they'd be like spinach only with an iodine finish.

I've made it.....same as spinach but add plenty of garlic, ginger, onion...not bad...DD wont' go near it...thinks we're mad.