Austere Times? Perfect

[RonBoyd]

A good article with some useful links for the frugal amongst us:

In Age of Austerity, the Miserly Thrive

Americans’ spending is down and their personal savings are up — sharply. The savings rate in the United States, which had fallen steadily since the early 1980s, dropped to less than 1 percent in August of 2008. It has since spiked to 5 percent.

“It’s huge,” said Martha Olney, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in the Great Depression, consumerism and indebtedness. The rapid reversal is even more remarkable, she said, because in recessions consumers usually save less money. Not this time. “It implies a re-emergence of thrift as a value,” she said.

Indeed, economists call it the Paradox of Thrift. While saving is desirable, if everyone does it then consumption falls, businesses fail and the economy grinds to a halt. Professor Olney, from Berkeley, said that the increased rate of savings would most likely slow down the pace of recovery but she also said that a higher savings rate was not inconsistent with a strong economy; from the 1950s to the early 1980s, the savings rate hovered around 9 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

 

[Midpack]

I sincerely hope this is for real, and not a fad...

 

[Cattusbabe]

Thanks for the link. This will be a fad for some and a lifestyle for others. We are all grown and can make our own decisions.

 

[W2R]

The savings rate "has since spiked to 5 percent"? Be still, my heart.

That does not seem like very much savings. Possibly some of these savings may be for anticipated large expenditures now that credit is harder to obtain.

 

[TromboneAl]

I wonder if the increase in savings rate benefits banks significantly.

 

[ziggy29]

That does not seem like very much savings.

It isn't, especially when some of us here who are saving 20%, 30%, even 50% of their after-tax income are screwing up the curve so badly. Yet it's rather amazing how, in terms of economics, what doesn't "seem" like a huge shift in the savings rate can tank the economy when it comes so suddenly and reaches critical mass. Kinda scary, really, if you think about it.

Every time I see another one of these "frugal is sexy" articles, it makes me want to market bumper stickers that say "I was a cheapskate before cheap was cool."

 

[RonBoyd]

it makes me want to market bumper stickers that say "I was a cheapskate before cheap was cool."

Hmmmmm. The timing seems right. Of course, you would probably make a fortune and forget us little people.

 

[Midpack]

it makes me want to market bumper stickers that say "I was a cheapskate before cheap was cool."

I'd buy one, with a discount...

 

[ziggy29]

Hmmmmm. The timing seems right. Of course, you would probably make a fortune and forget us little people.

You'd know everyone who slapped it on their car is a liar, because cheapskates wouldn't spend the money for one.

 

[RonBoyd]

You'd know everyone who slapped it on their car is a liar, because cheapskates wouldn't spend the money for one.

Ah Ha! I believe you have your target [-]sucker [/-]market nailed. Certainly seems large enough.

 

[Walt34]

Every time I see another one of these "frugal is sexy" articles, it makes me want to market bumper stickers that say "I was a cheapskate before cheap was cool."

Can I get one for free?

 

[Grep]

Right on. Now if only the ladies I date would stop expecting me to routinely pay for $300 dinners and $25 per drink.

Me: "Hungry? I know this great little Thai place. The food is fantastic!"

Them: <long, vaguely-threatening pause> "... or we could go to <yuppie palace of financial pain for portions so small that the food inevitably arrives cold.>"

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Right on. Now if only the ladies I date would stop expecting me to routinely pay for $300 dinners and $25 per drink.

Me: "Hungry? I know this great little Thai place. The food is fantastic!"

Them: <long, vaguely-threatening pause> "... or we could go to <yuppie palace of financial pain for portions so small that the food inevitably arrives cold.>"

Agreed. Those places are more see-and-be-seen than bastions of gastronomic delight.

 

[TromboneAl]

You'd know everyone who slapped it on their car is a liar, because cheapskates wouldn't spend the money for one.

The authentic ones are made with magic marker and duct tape.

 

[Nords]

Right on. Now if only the ladies I date would stop expecting me to routinely pay for $300 dinners and $25 per drink.

Sounds like you need to date a new set of ladies... but at least it's good to find out up front how bad the pain could be if you'd persevered.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

You'd know everyone who slapped it on their car is a liar, because cheapskates wouldn't spend the money for one.

They'd use the sticker to patch a hole on their pants. Nay, a real cheap skate would just use his hand to cover up the hole.

 

[jazz4cash]

The authentic ones are made with magic marker and duct tape.

And the duct tape is actually holding the bumper in place.

 

[Grep]

Sounds like you need to date a new set of ladies... but at least it's good to find out up front how bad the pain could be if you'd persevered.

The "desert" that may follow can be fun. But yes, if they are not roughly compatible on the frugality scale, they don't last long.