Comments on: Frugality is a waste of time

By: Money and Marathons: Guess what, they're related at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:02:49 +0000

[...] this week, I refuted an argument that frugality is a waste of time with a post that frugality is about more than saving money. Today, I’ll show another argument [...]

By: KMull

KMull — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:55:41 +0000

The American lifestyle lends itself to this:

Earn money
Spend 99-103% of said money
Earn more money
Spend 99-103% of said money
etc.

Frugality is a lifestyle choice. He makes a decent point, but being an internet troll and cursing on a blog is a fantastic way to get your point across. This cat is obviously successful if he handles people so well!

By: Family Savings

Family Savings — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:02:27 +0000

Why would we want to stress ourselves out with high-powered jobs making more money just to spend that money on wasteful things like buying lunch everyday?
I would rather work at a conservative paying job without the stress and find ways to reduce wasting money along the way.

By: TMac

TMac — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:37:51 +0000

Frugality works at all levels. Look at Warren Buffet, second richest guy in the world! He still lives in Omaha, Nebraska driving the same truck and living in the same little house he has been in for years!

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:37:47 +0000

It’s true that some rich people don’t care about things we all try to do to save money, but we truly believe that it is our way to gain wealth and retire early. That’s enough. We really don’t care what other people think

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:31:12 +0000

Presentation aside, the commenter brings up a good point. If frugality is a good defense, earning more is a good offense. Also, playing defense is usually at the expense of the offense (frugality takes time that could be spent earning more) and playing offense often means neglecting the defense (taking a class, working extra hours means less time to prepare meals, comparison shop, and do other frugal activities).

By: Baz L

Baz L — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:12:43 +0000

Don't sweat it dude...I was an avid reader of your blog while I was in college. And I've bee frugal for as long as I can remember. It's worse right now.

My roommates laughed at me when I went around replacing bulbs in certain fixtures with CFL's and reducing the number of bulbs (who needs 4 bulbs in one fixture?). They laughed when I went around turning off monitors in the apartment (We had 3 computers...on just about 24 hours a day). They laughed when I went online and shopped around for the cheapest electricity provider in my area. They laughed when I ran fans instead of AC.

Now I'm out of college, live on my own and my last months electricity was $26.00. Their's is almost $200.00. Who's laughing now?

My point is...Frugality is a good habit no matter who you are and where you end up. Sure, Bill Gates doesn't go around packing his own lunch, but he's STILL rich because he's frugal in other ways.

The commenter has a slight point, but he's still an idiot. You increase your income then buy a car you can't afford....Then where do you end up? Frugality should be taken relatively. When I was in college, it made sense for me to do certain things, like riding the bus and asking friends for rides to the store. Now I'm making a salary, should I forget all what I've learned? Instead of biking to school, I'm rolling down my windows on a fuel efficient car. It's all relative, but the concept is the same: Earn a dollar, save a penny. When you start earning $1,000,000 you think about saving $10,000.

People always feel that more money is that answer, when the real benefit comes from saving. You always hear excuses like "We'll I don't drive me so I can buy a gas guzzler" or on the flip side "my car gets good mileage so I can run my AC all day and don't need to shop around for gas". People sometimes surprise me, but then again, that's why there world is where it is.

Finally, he's a further idiot because he doesn't understand the purpose of this blog and blogs like it. The Dude and Dudette are teaching others how to be frugal from their experiences. As I said, college students would benefit immensely from this knowledge. If you're trading on Wall street, what are you doing reading this blog?

Hey, some people are idiots then there's the rest. Keep up the good work Dude.

By: stacie

stacie — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:09:31 +0000

I think about frugality in the little things in life: the food and clothes I buy, where I buy my gasoline, and turning off the light when I walk out of a room. I don’t think about the bigger picture financially–I leave that up to my husband! I think my post a while back was meant to touch those of us who want to think about the little things, who want to make a small difference in our daily lives. But then again, I live by the idea that I can touch one person’s life in this world and make a difference–I’m not out to change the WHOLE world (though it’s a nice thought). Same thing for me living frugally–make a small change and you’re more apt to stick to it.

By: realist

realist — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:19:00 +0000

rich people stay rich by paying people who dedicate their lives to investing other people’s money and to look on how to cut corners on taxes.

look at michael jackson (not now, but during the 80′s)…he listened to the advice of paul mccartney, and bought the rights to songs, they just happened to be the beatles catalogs. yeah, he got even more richer by doing that. can any of us just drop money like that on investments, if so, please contact me

normal people do not have the benefits of the rich, no matter how many pennies they save. if that was the case, everyone would be living on easy street.

people get rich by luck and talent. if you do not have a supply of either, you become part of the working poor.

the key to obtaining material riches in life…look at the cost of something. divide that number by how much you make an hour after taxes. then realize, “is this new (insert object here) worth that many hours of work”. if it isn’t don’t buy it, and you saved your money.

and one more idea: better food is worth it. that is why you see more lower paid people always at the doctors, because the food they are eating is junk. spending a lil more on better quality food saves your sick hours for extreme times of need, and saves you on any costs on co-pay.

that is realist’s tip of the day: buy more fruits and veggies.

By: Mark A

Mark A — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:14:39 +0000

There’s a saying in my family, “if you use a four letter word, then you are a four penny person”

In other words, you’re not worth much if you resort to obscenity.

On the other hand, managing money is difficult for Americans because it takes values our society doesn’t have anymore like:

Hard work,
Delayed gratification,
Patience,
and Good Stewardship.

You don’t necessarily have to look for “deals” with the frugal lunch concept, just understand that anything a restaurant sells is cheaper when made at home. (Tastier too) Just that change, even if you move from restaurant steaks to home-grilled steaks can save you hundreds of dollars, without checking prices.