Thriftiness: Not a Four Letter Word
The recent economic downturn has left most of us in a state of anxiety. We’ve seen our 401(k) assets shrink. We hear rumblings that Social Security is going to run out of money. If we are fortunate enough to own a home, we are well aware of its declining value. If we haven’t been laid off ourselves, we know someone who has been.
Perhaps the emotional impact has been hardest on the Baby Boomers. Those of us in this generation came to expect high returns on stock market investments and to believe that our home prices would always climb. We depended on a company pension and Social Security to take care of us in our old age. Thriftiness was not necessarily on our radar screen.
Most of us grew up with media messages that suggested we were entitled to “The Good Life”. We spent much of our financial capital on items that we did not really need, but just wanted. We took on too much debt, assuming that our good fortune would continue indefinitely. As a result, we have been in less of a position to ride out the recent grim economic storm.
When I teach ParentCare (a class for working adults who are faced with the responsibility of helping their aging parents), one of the things that comes up is that our parents
were “pack rats.” We’ll chuckle as we realize that our parents indeed saved for a rainy day. Some of the saved items don’t make a lot of sense: tuna fish cans of rusty nails, scratched Teflon fry pans, clothing items that represent over forty years of changing designs, sixty pairs of mostly worn out shoes. But you get the idea, our parents didn’t throw things out, because “there might be a use for this someday”. Many of our parents (or grandparents) have vivid memories of living through the Great Depression.
Maybe there is a good spin off from all the bad news--a return to thrift. A wise use of
our resources can lead us to having financial reserves for that proverbial “rainy day”. Thriftiness as a way of life can leave us less dependent on the vagaries of the economy and with more energy (and capital) to do those things in life that matter to us most. Strangely enough, one of the dictionary definitions of thrift is prosperity.
Many years ago I read a powerful book that I recommend to anyone who wishes to regain control of their financial life. The book is Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. If you are wanting a quick course in thriftiness, look at Chapter Six (“Achieve the American Dream—On a Shoe String”). This chapter includes “101 Sure Ways to Save Money.” (Note: Item #47-Borrow books and magazines from the library instead of buying them!)
From Dominguez and Robin’s book is the following quick checklist:
Think Before You Spend
- Don’t shop. (The authors call shopping our nationally sanctioned addiction, the all-American form of substance abuse.)
- Live within your means.
- Take care of what you have.
- Wear it out.
- Do it yourself.
- Anticipate your needs.
- Research value, quality, durability and multiple use.
- Get it for less.
- Buy used.
Being thrifty doesn’t have to mean that you aren’t enjoying life. I was amazed when my sons told me that my broiled Poverty Pizza (day old English Muffins, tomato sauce seasoned with oregano and basil, and bargain cheese with the mold carefully removed) was a positive memory of their childhood.
Judy Davidson