Rise up all you frugalists and be heard! Now is your time to finally enjoy some bragging rights. While your friends bought multiple homes, boats, cars, and racked up some serious credit card debt to keep up with the latest trends, you quietly lived within your means and saved up a pile of cash for troubled times.
It may not have been easy at first, but after awhile you found it became a natural part of your everyday life.
Well, those troubled times you expected have definitely arrived. And although it's not any easier for you to deal with shrinking retirement portfolios, plummeting home prices, and rising unemployment, you can actually get some sleep at night. That, in itself, is worth a lot in this economy.
I've found it intriguing to watch how frugality has quickly become chic amidst all the uncertainty that surrounds us. People rarely flaunt their consumption and material possessions like they used to. It's just not cool anymore. Instead, it's more common to hear people openly share how they are trying to cut back on costs, save more for a rainy day, and make frugal decisions that will protect their financial futures. My, how fast things can change. I, for one, have always considered myself a "part-time" frugalist, so in some ways this has been a refreshing change.
I certainly don't hope our current economic situation will tarry any longer than it must, but I do hope this new era of conspicuous frugality will take root in the lives of US consumers and their posterity alike. Spend and enjoy life my friends, but always spend wisely.
