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Has Scrooge been wrongly demonized?
01-18-2016, 01:22 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
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Has Scrooge been wrongly demonized?
There's a widespread feeling that it's bad to be careful with money, mean, frugal.....to be like Scrouge in Christmas Carol. Of course it's bad to treat others unfairly and I see generosity to others as a positive character trait. But is it bad to be frugal when it comes to your own spending? Some people seem to think so. For example I keep my heating at 62F and a visiting friend recently said my house was cold and I was being "too mean", but I bumped the temperature up to 68F for her because I wanted her to be comfortable......it went back to 62F when she left.
The thing is I like being frugal. It's a sort of game to see how little I can spend and still be comfortable. So I cut the cable cord and found other ways to watch programs; I cook and bake a lot which is cheap, fun and tasty and now. I just had an unexpected $11k expense for new furnaces which consumed a third of this year's budget and I could dip into reserves, but I wonder if I can trim spending by 33%. I'm going to try and even if I only do 20% or 10% it will be worthwhile and an enjoyable challenge....I do actually mean enjoyable.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
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01-18-2016, 01:35 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Les Bois
Posts: 5,761
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some people consider stinginess a character flaw
__________________
You can't be a retirement plan actuary without a retirement plan, otherwise you lose all credibility...
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01-18-2016, 01:39 PM
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#3
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,056
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Looks like you've been frugal with your spelling as well. Would you like me to correct the thread title? (wromgly to wrongly)
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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01-18-2016, 01:39 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Years ago, I read Andrew Tobias who said that "cheap is how you treat others, not how you treat yourself". I completely agree with this philosophy.
On the other hand, Scrooge is cheap towards everybody, himself included.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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01-18-2016, 01:41 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nun
......... For example I keep my heating at 62F and a visiting friend recently said my house was cold and I was being "too mean", but I bumped the temperature up to 68F for her because I wanted her to be comfortable......it went back to 62F when she left............
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When I was single. I found the women considered 72 to be a lot better temperature to get naked....Just sayin'
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01-18-2016, 01:42 PM
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#6
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Austin
Posts: 661
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I've always been "frugal". Being so has served me well. I enjoy saving money and getting the most for every dollar spent. I watch others spend their money without a thought as to whether or not what they are purchasing is worth the price they pay and struggle to understand how that can even be possible.
It's just how I'm wired, I guess.
__________________
ER'd 6/1/2014 @ age 53. Wow, is it already 2022?
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01-18-2016, 01:49 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Looks like you've been frugal with your spelling as well. Would you like me to correct the thread title? (wromgly to wrongly)
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Yes please correct it. It's was caused by big thumbs on a small phone.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
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01-18-2016, 01:50 PM
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#8
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,056
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nun
Yes please correct it. It's was caused by big thumbs on a small phone.
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I knew it had to do with frugality, you need a bigger phone
I'll fix it.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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01-18-2016, 01:51 PM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nun
There's a widespread feeling that it's bad to be careful with money, mean, frugal.....to be like Scrouge in Christmas Carol. Of course it's bad to treat others unfairly and I see generosity to others as a positive character trait. But is it bad to be frugal when it comes to your own spending? Some people seem to think so. For example I keep my heating at 62F and a visiting friend recently said my house was cold and I was being "too mean", but I bumped the temperature up to 68F for her because I wanted her to be comfortable......it went back to 62F when she left.
The thing is I like being frugal. It's a sort of game to see how little I can spend and still be comfortable. So I cut the cable cord and found other ways to watch programs; I cook and bake a lot which is cheap, fun and tasty and now. I just had an unexpected $11k expense for new furnaces which consumed a third of this year's budget and I could dip into reserves, but I wonder if I can trim spending by 33%. I'm going to try and even if I only do 20% or 10% it will be worthwhile and an enjoyable challenge....I do actually mean enjoyable.
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After reading this, the thought occurred to me that you may not even need the furnace (could have saved the $11K). A few strategically placed space heaters may suffice. And if you have a fireplace, maybe some fire wood on a cool night?
__________________
*********Go Astros!*********
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Has Scrouge been wrongly demonized?
01-18-2016, 01:52 PM
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#10
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gone traveling
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,135
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Has Scrouge been wrongly demonized?
+ 100
Use real soap too. And deodorant. And Minty toothpaste
Some things while frugal just won't get you where u need to be ...
It can go too far and become obsessive compulsive ...that's an illness
Everything in moderation. Including frugality.
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01-18-2016, 01:58 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound
Years ago, I read Andrew Tobias who said that "cheap is how you treat others, not how you treat yourself". I completely agree with this philosophy. On the other hand, Scrooge is cheap towards everybody, himself included.
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Yes I agree. Scrouge's meanness with money was an outward expression of his inner meanness and we know he's saved he celebrates with is relations and employees and expresses it by spending money. I always think that a nice ending would have has Scrouge at the end of the day being happy, but maybe still not lighting a second candle because generosity is very well, but there's no need to burn money.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
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01-18-2016, 01:58 PM
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#12
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
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Quote:
Originally Posted by papadad111
+ 100
Use real soap too. And deodorant. And Minty toothpaste
Some things while frugal just won't get you where u need to be ...
It can go too far and become obsessive compulsive ...that's an illness
Everything in moderation. Including frugality.
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There was nothing like a little Everclear in the fruit punch to loosen things up too!
__________________
*********Go Astros!*********
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01-18-2016, 02:00 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,598
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As long as someone is keeping the house at 62 degrees in order to save money to buy me more jewelry...nakedness and an electric blanket work well together. It's all about agreeing on the priorities.
__________________
If you understood everything I say, you'd be me ~ Miles Davis
'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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01-18-2016, 02:01 PM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Thrifty and miserly are not the same.
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"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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01-18-2016, 02:01 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Looks like you've been frugal with your spelling as well. Would you like me to correct the thread title? (wromgly to wrongly)
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Are you on a tight budget and unwilling to spend the effort to correct the spelling of Scrooge as well?
__________________
Numbers is hard
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01-18-2016, 02:04 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
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Well now that you mention it I did buy some space heaters.......but they were for my tenants. I own a two family and the rental unit's oil furnace quit big time. It was very old and had to be replaced, you can't rent a flat without proper heating. I bought the tenants 3 space heaters to use until the new gas furnace was installed. I decided to have my 25 year old oil furnace replaced at the same time as the payback for the $5.5k extra expense was about 7 years. Sometimes being frugal requires you to spend money.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
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01-18-2016, 02:16 PM
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#17
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,056
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In subsequent posts nun still uses Scrouge so I assume that he is either talking about the Scrouge who lives in the USA, or his thrifty phone has a spill chucker that keeps auto correcting to Scrouge
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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01-18-2016, 02:19 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nun
......... I decided to have my 25 year old oil furnace replaced at the same time as the payback for the $5.5k extra expense was about 7 years.
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If you bumped the temperature up to 68 degrees, the payback period would only be 4.5 years.
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01-18-2016, 02:38 PM
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#19
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
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You are right, my brain had the wrong spelling....nothing to do with poor typing in that error.
Still Scrooge's frugality expressing a meanness of inner spirit has become part of the zeitgeist and the distinction between his treatment of other people and his own penny pinching is rarely made. Without the excuse of some religious calling, is it possible to be frugal with money today and still be thought of as generous in spirit and living a full life?
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
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01-18-2016, 02:47 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,203
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Sorry to say that my DW would be turning up the temp big time if she was with you...
Our temp downstairs is 74 and upstairs 72... really upstairs does not turn on much as the temp from downstairs does the job....
I do agree that if you want to be that frugal, then that is fine.... but if you kept the temp at 62, I would only come to your house once... I am not willing to come if it is that cold... my mother likes it very warm... like 78... she turns it down when I come over and back up when I leave... sure, it is YOUR house and you can keep it at any temp you like.... but if I am uncomfortable I also do not have to stay....
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