Comments on: Is Frugality the New Norm?

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:59:22 +0000

“It’s like the dieter who once they hit their goal weight, starts eating cookies again.”

And yet, that is the common pattern.

By: Ms. Clear

Ms. Clear — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:51:25 +0000

Personally, my hubby and I are committed to our frugal ways.

Nationally, I think it depends on whether or not the economy bounces back. I’m not sure it will. I think we may in for a “new normal” of fewer, lower paying jobs.

By: Emily on the Southern Prairie

Emily on the Southern Prairie — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:48:29 +0000

I also follow a compact of sorts, and have bought nothing new in the past nine months other than lady underthings and a few baby things that needed to be new. My reasons, like you, have been both frugal and environmental. And while this has been become a way of life for me, I don’t think it will stick on a mass level. People seem to want to get back to shopping, spending and eating out at the same level they did before to feel like their “old selves” again. I don’t think the connection has been made in the general public that a high level of spending + waste = economic downturn and environmental problems. And I don’t understand why. It’s like the dieter who once they hit their goal weight, starts eating cookies again.

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:12:54 +0000

Personally, I am sure my frugality will last too. The changes I am making are more than just financial, or environmental, or lifestyle – all three are tightly entwined as I move towards a new way of living. I am not in the USA and here in Australia the recession hasn’t hit us as hard, but my personal family situation has been hard for some time, and I am far more motivated by the need to support my family in a sustainable way.

As for the rest of the western world, I have no idea. I think there is this shift towards a more sustainable future, we just need to figure out how to merge the current digital age with the way things were before the world wars, when consumerism really seemed to get out of hand.

By: Marie-Josée

Marie-Josée — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:42:00 +0000

Amy, I agree with you. I’m Canadian, and live in the Province of Québec, where I have the privilege of paying the highest taxes in all of North America. Health care and education is highly subsidized, and we now have a $7 a day provincial day-care program. But we are broke, and are on the verge of having a major melt-down, as we have one of the highest numbers of baby boomers who are going to massively leave the work force into retirement beginning in 2012. I have no idea how we are going to finance all our public services: taxes cannot go up here, and our health care expenses are skyrocketing. We need to make the difficult choices now, not later, because our children, and perhaps even us, will have to make untenable ones. I think the economist Peter Schiff offers smart, but very hard solutions.

By: ksmedgirl

ksmedgirl — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:08:18 +0000

I disagree with your population prediction. However, your point is valid about limited resources.

see “The Next 100 Years” by George Friedman
or the United Nations website

By: Kris-ND

Kris-ND — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:50:40 +0000

Good point! I think another category of people that would fit in your theory are those who have never had to deal with losing their jobs before, thus were more free, and I would say from personal experience, more irresponsible with their money.

My husband retired from the Air Force 3 years ago. This is the first recession that we have paid any attention to in our almost 22 years of marriage, because it never touched us, or our families in that time.

While we live in an economic bubble up here, it is now on our minds that job security doesn’t exist anymore. That is what kicked us in the rear to get serious with how we spend.

I think people in the same situation as my husband and I, are going to be more frugal out of shock of a totally different lifestyle.

Most of our friends are now retired as well, and they all find themselves with the same attitude as we have…”wow, we could lose our jobs. We had better watch our spending”

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:39:13 +0000

My frugality will last!

By: Marie-Josée

Marie-Josée — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:42:39 +0000

I think those who considered the sustainability aspect of thrift were actually thrifty and green way before the recession occurred, and will continue to be so once the economy turns around. One thing that I think has been gained and will perhaps remain once the economy picks up is the distinction between frugality and cheapness. I think the people who will remain frugal, of those who recently adopted the behavior out of necessity, are those who have been deeply touched be the recession, especially those with children to support. My husband and I bought our house in 1990, and were hit by a deep recession in 1992-1992. My husband was laid off on three occasions during that period and on the last occasion, he found a job only a few weeks before his unemployment benefits ran out. We had a baby I was nursing and a preschooler at the time, and I was not in a position to help out job-wise apart from babysitting. Thankfully, we only had a modest mortgage and a small car loan to pay at that time, and no consumer debt, or else we would have been in deep trouble. That experience made me realize that even with the best intentions and hard work, crap happens. I felt really vulnerable during that period and it made a huge imprint on me. Although our revenue has grown a lot since then, we have remained modest in most areas of our lives, and I will never, ever, forget those times.

By: oldboyscout2

oldboyscout2 — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:05:47 +0000

Hope TINA keeps NonConsum… informed on her efforts on cheap/green eating. Go TINA!