Everything That’s Old Is New Again
As well as providing food for thought (e.g., Monday’s post), the NYT often supplies unintentional amusement.
Check out this story by Christine Haughney about young people in Manhattan scrimping to buy their first apartments. Seems they have discovered “new” ways of saving: limiting dinners out, avoiding meaningless money drains (lattes! Prada shoes!), banning impulse purchases, hanging out with people who are also trying to save, and working at jobs they don’t particularly like for a while so they can sock away some cash.
Apparently these activities are so rare they qualify as news.
Of course they are novelties to those twenty- and thirty-somethings who have never experienced self-denial or doing without. Bravo to them for having the self-discipline to do it.
The article does not mention this but in addition to money, you get another great benefit from controlling spending: power. Lovely, glorious power.
The moment you realize you don’t have to buy that new iPhone or Coach bag is a moment of. . . . liberation.
This is where you want to be: If you want a thing and have the money–sure, go ahead. But you never forget that you don’t have to have it. You don’t need it. You wouldn’t be unhappy without it.
You, in the driver’s seat.
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Working Girl,
One might accrue more than money by not purchasing Prada shoes or a Coach bag. Just read what Anthony Trollope had to say:
They are best dressed, whose dress no one observes.
Al
Yikes, Al. I had no idea you were a Trollopean.
Note I did not say “trollop.” That I don’t know about. . . . .
Good old Tony Trollope. He’s almost as funny as you!
(Truly, Trollope is very funny.)
You sort of had to be there, when it comes to Trollopean humor.
I have to say that this was the most intelligent summary of this article that I read, and I noticed several personal finance blogs with entries on it. My thought when I read the article was basically, what sacrifices? One of the men profiled was still eating lunch out every day, for $6, which I guess is cheap for eating out, but preparing food from home is much cheaper. If these stories are exceptional, it is hard to see any crisis in affordability. Although I guess New York City is just in another galaxy in terms of discretionary spending? I expected to see something really special in terms of frugality, like second jobs, taking in roommates, never eating out…
Thank you, Liz, for the compliment and for lending a bit of good sense to this thread!
Weaning myself from buying stuff just because I could was a long, hard slog. But I did it, and I know precisely that feeling of being liberated you mentioned. It’s bliss. I wouldn’t ditch bliss for bling, not even for a shopping spree at Kate Spade.