Poll: influences? Spendthrift or frugal?

[Goonie]

Originally Posted by Rambler

I'm the first sibling out of four, and I wonder sometimes if the first apple lands closer to the tree as far as frugality is concerned.......... Any opinions?

I'm the last sibling out of three, and as far as frugality is concerned, I fell closest to the parental frugality tree. My other two sibling didn't even fall in the same orchard as our parents and myself!

[unclemick]

Depression era parents - so voted frugal. Pretty much stayed frugal.

However -with hindsight - as standard of living drifted up over time - the level of frugal rose also - both my parents and myself. Always saved and invested but also spent more as time went.

Except for my glorious born again 'cheap bastardhood period.'

I think I'm sucessfully deprogramed and pretty much past that - and back to ordinary ho hum retirement frugal.

heh heh heh -

[Martha]

Originally Posted by Marquette

So you mentioned that if it wasn't for Greg that you probably never would have ER'ed... once you saw the light, did you find it easier to go back to your roots?

I did, although I'm still more talk and less walk than I could be. My mom told me that she made garbage soup this last weekend (long standing tradition I've mentioned before... she cooks and freezes meals for the month so she's only out one day a month. When it's time to clean out the freezer, everything that might go together does... through the food processor first if needed). Me, I at least save leftovers and mostly get through them but we still go out a fair amount.

Mom was always a coupon-clipper and would compare the coupons against the store brand and go on double-coupon days. Me, I go right for the organic isle and buy the brand that I know is consistantly what I want and I buy it as needed.

Mom would buy in bulk when things were on sale. We had to help with stock rotation... the rhythm was to go to the store, buy a lot, go home and then I'd get to put the new stuff in the back and bring the old stuff forward. We had everything sorted by type and we'd pick out what the veggie was with dinner based on what needed to be used. Now, I'm buying fresh or frozen, even if the canned can be had cheaper (a choice I make because I'm fortunate enough to be able to)

Still, some of what I learned and observed growing up has stuck with me. And, at least I have a role model of what a frugal lifestyle is supposed to look like. I'm guessing a spendthrift child of a spendthrift is repeating some mistakes because they don't know better.

Going back to my roots makes me want to have a panic attack.

[Meadbh]

The scientist in me thought: surely somebody has studied this! So I browsed on the Web of Science, using search terms like "frugal" (nothing); "spending" (nothing); "budget" (nothing relevant). "Money" yielded over 32,000 hits; combined with "family" and "materialism" it started to get close. Anyhow, here are the five most relevant articles I found:

Flouri, E. Exploring the relationship between mothers' and fathers' parenting practices and children's materialist values. Journal of Economic Psychology, 25 (6): 743-752 Dec 2004.
Abstract: Data on 2218 British secondary school age children were used to explore the relationship between parenting and materialism. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis carried out to explore the role of parenting in children's materialism showed that although father involvement was unrelated to materialism, mother's involvement was negatively and inter-parental conflict was positively related to child's materialism. Emotional and behavioural problems and goal-directedness were both positively associated with materialism in adolescents. Compared to girls boys scored higher in materialism. Age and materialism were positively related. Peer support was more strongly associated with children's materialism when both fathers' and mothers' involvement were low rather than high. Neither child's sex nor family structure moderated the relationship between parents' involvement and children's materialistic attitudes. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Banerjee, R (Banerjee, Robin); Dittmar, H (Dittmar, Helga). Individual differences in children's materialism: The role of peer relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (1): 17-31 Jan 2008.
Abstract: Associations between materialism and peer relations are likely to exist in elementary school children but have not been studied previously. The first two studies introduce a new Perceived Peer Group Pressures (PPGP) Scale suitable for this age group, demonstrating that perceived pressure regarding peer culture (norms for behavioral, attitudinal, and material characteristics) can be reliably measured and that it is connected to children's responses to hypothetical peer pressure vignettes. Studies 3 and 4 evaluate the main theoretical model of associations between peer relations and materialism. Study 3 supports the hypothesis that peer rejection is related to higher perceived peer culture pressure, which in turn is associated with greater materialism. Study 4 confirms that the endorsement of social motives for materialism mediates the relationship between perceived peer pressure and materialism.

Flouri, E. Parental socialization in childhood and offspring materialist and postmaterialist values in adult life. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33 (10): 2106-2122 Oct 2003.
Abstract: This study used data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS) to examine the role of parental socialization in offspring materialist and postmaterialist values in adult life. It was found that for both genders, educational attainment was positively associated with postmaterialist values. Poor relations with father in adolescence and absence of partner in adult life predicted postmaterialist values in women, and religiosity and absence of financial difficulties in childhood predicted materialist values in men.

Achenreiner, GB. Materialistic values and susceptibility to influence in children. Advances in Consumer Research, Vol XXIV, 24: 82-88 1997.
Abstract: Materialistic attitudes of children, ranging in age from 8 to 16, were examined using a multi-item materialism scale for children. The findings indicate that materialism is a relatively stable trait, varying only marginally with age, despite the numerous developmental changes taking place as a child gets older. The study also examined the relationship between materialism and susceptibility to peer influence and found a significant correlation of .44. The findings support the hypothesis that materialism and susceptibility to influence are positively related. This research is critical for better understanding how materialistic attitudes develop and the role peer influence has on these attitudes.

Easterlin, RA; Crimmins, EM. Private Materialism, Personal Self-Fulfillment, Family Life, and Public Interest. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55 (4): 499-533 WIN 1991.
Abstract: From the early seventies through 1986-87, private materialism as a life goal increased greatly in importance among American youth, goals relating to family life increased somewhat, public interest concerns diminished modestly, and the goal of personal self-fulfillment declined sharply. Accompanying this shift in values was a change in young people's college majors and career plans toward those leading to higher paying jobs and a marked increase in the attractiveness of working in large corporations. Jobs offering money and status became more preferred relative to those with opportunities for self-fulfillment or public service. Support grew for capitalist institutions such as profit making and advertising. At the same time, there was a retreat from political involvement, and a conservative shift in political beliefs. Explanations of the shift in values in terms of the impact on the young of major political and social events or the emergence of a feeling of economic insecurity among the young are not supported by the evidence. Nor are a number of hypotheses relating to changes in young people's family structure or socialization experience. The shift in values of the young does, however, apparently correspond to a similar change in the values of adults generally and, thus, may reflect changes in the values transmitted to young people as they were growing up. We speculate that the shift in values among adults was, in turn, caused by a growing feeling of economic deprivation in the post-1973 period as real wage rates declined and material aspirations continued to rise. In the last few years, the shift in the life goals of the young appears to have ended and may even have started to reverse, but young people today are still much different from those 15 years ago.

[HFWR]

"We didn't know we were poor" sums up my depression-era parents. Not particularly sophisticated financially, but they managed to live within their means, while raising four kids on blue collar wages, then retire in middle-class fashion with modest pensions and SS.

[CuppaJoe]

Originally Posted by Martha

Going back to my roots makes me want to have a panic attack.

I was scared out of my wits this morning by an e-mail from my high school reunion committee.

[mountaintosea]

I picked average/frugal. Not sure what average was. Nice house but we brought lunch to school saved the paper bags and cellophane. Coupons was a big thing. Sales were a big thing. Parents bought a new car when it hit 50,000 miles or every couple of years. Saving was always harped on, but frugal/frugal? I don't think so. In fact I think they think I'm too frugal and my brothers and sister are too "spendy".