Frugality Goes Mainstream

Wow.  I saw the word frugality on the cover of a weekly national news magazine here in Canada (Maclean’s).  I’ve heard it used in news reports.  I’ve even heard it being called “the new black”.   My favourite Canadian personal finance magazine, Moneysense, recently did a brief piece on hypermilng.  It seems that the media has caught on to what many, many, people have been practicing for years–some by choice–others by necessity.

My father is frugal, my mother not so much.  My spending habits are like my father’s, my brother’s like my mother.  My husband, is willing to learn, but it doesn’t come naturally to him.   Despite this mishmash, we work it out, as I’m sure many others are trying to do.  Without really putting a name to it, I’ve been practicing a frugal lifestyle for the last 12 years–since I left home for university.  I’ve been blogging about it for the last year.  I see more and more personal finance blogs popping up every day.  I don’t know about the longevity of an average blog, but I do know that people are starting to talk about money, and how to get more out of what they have–and more and more readers are starting to seek out that information.

So what is frugality?  I think it means different things to different people.  To the unanointed, it may mistaken for the word “cheap” (I’m cringing just writing that word), to me, it means getting more out of the money I spend every day.  Let’s face it, some people do spend way beyond their means, the bulk of the middle class are already at a major disadvantage though, because proprtionally, after adjusting for inflation and other factors that allow us to compare to a couple of generations ago, the equivalent income of the middle class has not gone up–but income, property, and other forms of taxation have.  If the middle class with their paltry 3% (or less raises), and both partners having to work, feel like their doing the best they can, but they just can’t keep up, it’s because in real terms, their money just doesn’t have the buying power it used to.  Some people have to take on debt, or eat into their savings, just to keep up.   I recognize this, and that’s why I started this site.  Not being able to keep up is not a nice feeling.  Getting value, and more out of the money that we do have available are going to be the key.  Why? The government doesn’t look like it has plans to take on more of the burden themselves and give the hard-working middle class taxpayers a tangible break anytime soon–so we have to take things into our own hands.

For every problem, or hiccup that we face, my mantra has become “there is a way to make this work”… and I find away.  It means regularly thinking outside the box, doing more research and legwork before each purchase, and being organized so less things fall between the cracks–but it is worth it for the great life that I have while still paying back a huge debt from school.   I have also learned to be truly grateful for the things that I do have.  The people who practice frugality in a long-term, sustainable way, have their own individual mantras that keep them on track.

I think that what you focus your energy on expands.  I also think that people need something to believe in right now, need to feel like they matter, and feel like they can make a difference.  If frugality going “mainstream” brings forth feelings of hope, gives people a reason to consciously focus on and re-evaluate their financial situation with fresh eyes, and see what great power they have to work smarter with the money they do have, then amen to that!

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