How We Became The Frugals - I No Longer Remember How It Was to Spend Recklessly

 Finally, we are getting respect. The Wall Street Journal features us The Super Frugals. During this time of escalating prices we continue doing what we do best: aggressively limiting spending.

For those who wish to try out that lifestyle - sometimes called "minimalism" - you should know that many of us were not always this way.

I used to assume that I had been entitled to a Big Old House on the Gold Coast of Connecticut and a getaway at the Jersey Shore. Then, in 2003, I woke up one day and realized that I was in heavy debt. There was no fast way out because my industry had collapsed. In this ebook I chronicle that tale. It has had more than a million downloads so I have to assume myriad others had been in or were heading toward a similar financial pickle.

Actually, I know that. What I didn't mention in the book but did discuss in a blog I had started in 2005 was that I haD toyed with this solution: selling a kidney. Boy, the calls came in. Others discussed their horror that they too had somehow spent their way into financial ruin. No, I didn't sell the kidney. I was able to do a startup which took off. But since then I have been doing frugal living. 

Others found their way there through errors of judgment.

One woman here near the border of Mexico retired too early from a well-paying career. She wasn't able to get back in. 

Another paid for her children's education. That left nothing for her. As she aged she could no longer get well-paying jobs.

A man who had been a brandname lawyer made the mistake of embezzling. Along with losing his freedom by having to go to prison, he somehow lost his assets. He talks about his minimalist lifestyle with pride. But it doesn't ring true. He did quite like the good life. What he seems to especially miss is having access to beautiful women.

Since I have been doing frugal for almost two decades, I can't even recall how it felt to spend self-indulgently and recklessly. No, I don't even envy those who can. It's just who I am now. 

How to get started doing frugal? Reflect on how chasing the money to buy stuff took away pieces of you that you want back. Yes, you can get them back. My piece is the ability to love myself.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com. Conjure up magical results in your communications.

 

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