With discussion on "the budget" all over the news lately, it made me think about our budget as well. Around the same time, I just finished a great book called "The Cheapskate Next Door" by Jeff Yeager. The book talks about different people's points of view on how to spend and save money. There are extreme cases in the book as well. Jeff Yeager mentioned a guy who would go on his business trips carrying burned out light bulbs and swap them with good light bulbs in his hotel room....REALLY! This same guy stole pool towels and toilet paper rolls too. Other cheapskates mentioned were dumpster divers (aka "Freegans"). Finally, some cheapskates consider underwear a luxury--- I'm not making this up.
As I was reading it I realized that I live with a cheapskate. Some common characteristics among non-extreme cheapskates sound very familiar: They HATE HATE HATE debt. This doesn't necessarily mean they don't have any. They hate the idea of it and try to get rid of it as soon as possible. They are not interested in keeping up with the Joneses, the Smiths, the Leungs, the Papadopulouses, or anyone else for that matter. Their homes are modest (small according to modern standards). They drive their cars until the cars cry out in pain asking to be put down (1992 Saturn)... or they use bikes and public transportation. They wear out their clothes before they buy new ones (from Costco!). And they do incessant research and price comparisons before a big-ticket purchase. ("Amazon vs. Best Buy... Ohhhh but I have coupon from Slick Deals...")
I think the most striking thing I learned about cheapskates is that they are not insulted by being called cheapskates. It's a badge of honor. They live well below their means and speed up their retirements, or they donate their extra cash to charities, or they find that they don't need to work so much to live simply and comfortably that they can spend more time with their friends and families... There might be a lesson here for all of us.
Is a dozen purses to much?
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