I'd Rather Be a Tightwad

Frugal living, tightwading, voluntary simplicity or simply saving money: whatever you call it, it's as old as your grandmother and the newest trend sweeping America. 

The popular wisdom energizing this movement is the belief that a dangerous condition, called affluenza, has gripped the hearts of Americans for the last three decades. Well-worn slogans such as "Keeping up with the Joneses" and "Living the American Dream" are said to punctuate this spirit of affluenza.

The new lifestyle gurus warn that the only winners in this American dream are the Madison Avenue elites who have happily promoted this market driven "Got to have it" atmosphere since World War II. "Shiny," "slick," "modern," "all new," and "in" are just a few of the buzz words the advertising industry has successfully imprinted on our national consciousness. Meanwhile, old-fashioned concepts such as "used," "leftover," and "homemade" have become almost foreign. 

The devastating result for many hard working, well-meaning families is severe indebtedness leading to fear, relational stress, feelings of depravation and perhaps even despair. The parents are working, the children are shopping and the credit card scanners take your money at the speed of light. The human spirit is crying "Stop!" and people are listening.

Tightwads are emerging everywhere, looking back to Grandma's time to learn how to live today. Families are cooking from scratch, cleaning with homemade soaps, repairing torn garments, shopping at yard sales and much more. However, there are some visible differences between the homemakers of the 30's & 40's and the 90's / Y2k generation.

One difference is the level of social regard given the brave pioneers of this frugal frontier. Burned out baby boomers, tired and empty after pursuing a lifetime of aggressive consumerism, are returning to the peaceful contentment found in the heart of a loving, comfortable home. 

The house or apartment that was once just a place to sleep, a mere base for the "more important" vocational pursuits, is now becoming the focus of the new values. The result is less talk of malls, restaurants and flaming red hotrods and more about herb gardens, popping corn, fluffy pillows and window treatments. This staying-home trend has been coined as the nesting movement and is expected to continue, full strength, through the boomer's retirement years. 

As with most movements, nesting has its celebrities, such Amy Dacyczyn, publisher of the Tightwad Gazette. Also of note are Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, co-authors of Your Money or Your Life. This notoriety is changing the image of the frugal homemaker from that of the boring housewife of the 40's, to an extraordinary, miracle working, Martha Stewart clone. 

The new badge of honor is not those well-earned cranial scars from years of banging your head against the corporate "glass ceiling" (after all, every woman has these). Today, your most impressive achievement is that you can make a light and fluffy homemade pie crust. Wow! 

Another difference is the gender factor. The image of the 60's male swinger, touting a giddy young woman on each arm as he carelessly tosses about his money, is about as passé as his polyester hip huggers and chain link belt. 

Today, the male heart is turning, with what may be a newly found inner compass, toward hearth and home. The old adage, "It's a man's world" has come home to roost. Predictably, male involvement in the new domesticity tends to elevate its status. This is no longer exclusively a woman's territory. 

You see, he's been watching Home and Garden Television too and he thinks that the window treatment in the guest bath should be a simple pair of tab curtains with a blue nautical stripe. Yes, it's different, but it's fun. What's the new family outing? Yard sale-ing, of course. 

All this social acceptance makes it safe to venture back (albeit timidly) into our kitchens (okay, barefoot if we want to), where we may excel and find ourselves principle players, on the cutting edge, as a new domestic. Without a paycheck however, how are we to gauge our success? 

Many testimonials springing from popular culture credit frugal practices for pulling families out of major credit card debt, freeing them from workaholism and allowing them to get to know each other again. Women, quitting their jobs to practice frugality, claim they have markedly improved lifestyles and family savings for the first time. 

You know you're a tightwad if, "you wash your zip lock bags and use them over and over." Better yet, the only plastic you use are the free bags they give you at the grocery store. You know you're a tightwad if, "you can make a homemade pizza for about a dollar." You know you're a tightwad if, "after you slice the homemade bread you sweep the crumbs on the counter into a recycled margarine tub you've previously labeled bread crumbs." There are hundreds more. 

Far from being drudgery, these skills have been elevated to the level of a relevant challenge. Just how thrifty and homey can you be? How much have you been able to reduce your monthly food bill? This is the "right stuff" of today's homemaking heroes. 

But having been out there "winning the bread" all these years, do we still know how to bake it? Fortunately, technology offers the new homemaker many resources. The internet is loaded with sites featuring both frugality and home cooking. If you are new to the frugal lifestyle, home cooking is the best place to start because you can probably cut your food costs by half or more. 

Many of today's homemakers are a generation or two away from scratch cooking. They may desire an opportunity to acquire kitchen skills but are bereft of the inspiration and support once provided by multi-generational circles of home-cooking mentors. At some point, it seems, we started bringing store bought Kentucky Fried Chicken to the church pot luck and just never looked back. 

Today, women who have traded in their suit jackets and pumps for a pair of oven mitts are feeling a bit insecure about their kitchen skills. Fortunately, there is help. The new multi-generational family (also multi-cultural) is the internet.  

Every recipe, frugal food tip and cooking basic can be found somewhere on the internet. Homemakers from all over the world are there freely sharing their tricks and secrets. Want to know what to cook for dinner tonight? Just log in, ask someone, and voila, you've got a cooking friend.

If you have access to the internet at home, school, work or public library, why not get connected with today's tightwad community and start your own frugal adventure?