Frugality is The New Black

Okay, so did you realize being thrifty is so very chic right now, dahling?

Blech.

Everyone from Time to The New York Times is running articles about this new, fabulous feeling of thrift that is sweeping the country like it’s a runway fashion or something. The Times article highlighted a man who has (gasp!) cut out his wine-club membership and a woman who has switched to using cloth napkins! (Wha?????)

And in the Time article, titled “The New Frugality,” we learn about how nobody wants to live in a McMansion anymore and how one family decided not to go to Monaco for their vacation. My God, people really are cutting back, aren’t they?

I don’t know why I’m getting all uptight about any of this. If
anything, I suppose I should be glad that my fellow citizens are taking
responsibility for themselves and living within their means for once.

But
I guess what ticks me off is that Mr. Pop Rocks and I have been living
this way for years — used cars, resale shops, staying in on Friday
nights — all on a pretty modest income. And most of the people we run
with are the same.

I don’t know, I suppose there’s a part of
me that feels jealous. Should we have been spending our asses off
during the boom, filling our home with flat-screen televisions and
Prada purses to help us ride out the economic storm when the bill
finally came due? Or should I be relieved that for us, this “new way of
living” didn’t take much getting used to because it’s actually the old
way of living for us?

Regardless, I have a feeling that despite
the proclamations on high by the media that the new frugality is here
to stay this time, I can’t help but fear that this thrifty fad is just
that — a fad. I just don’t think you can teach an old dog new tricks,
and most Americans dig the old tricks a little too much, don’t you
think?

Meanwhile, Mr. PR and I will be hanging on our outlet
store furniture sipping homemade cocktails and watching our bulky old
television, if anyone wants to drop by.