Treasure Hunt Fashion

Even Gourmet Magazine is Highlighting Extreme Frugality

Broke is the New Black: Fashionable Gals Dish on Debt

The ladies of TMI talk about saving money and paying down that credit debt. Clearly they enjoy shopping much more than I do, and have a somewhat different "level of broke" than I have. ("Sleep on it before making a purchase of more than $200." Wow. You buy things that cost more than $200?)

Proves broke is the new black, and "not spending" is a trending topic. Enjoy.

What is Thrift? The View from 1919

"...it should be perfectly clear that thrift does not mean the hoarding of money. To hoard money is one of the most thriftless things one can do with it. The miser of romance who kept his money in a secret hoard where he might gloat over it and enjoy the sensations of feeling, hearing and seeing it was, in the strictest possible sense, a thriftless consumer of wealth. Instead of using money as a tool of production or instrument of business, he was using it as a means of direct physical enjoyment. To have used it for the adornment of his body would scarcely have been more frivolous, thriftless or selfish."-Thomas Nixon Carver, War Thrift, 1919.

If you'd like to read the whole book, here it is:

Schaden-Frugality

Here's a story, courtesy of the Colbert Report, that mixes frugality with a hefty dose of Schadenfreude:

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Dubious Money Saving Ploy of the Day

I love the legal blog Lowering The Bar. Kevin Underhill has a great eye for irony and a gift for humor. When the headline "Fake Policeman Stolen" came across my radar, I had to stop and read.

So what do you do when you can't afford to employ a full contingent of police officers? You buy cardboard cutouts, of course. That, it seems, is what the county of Essex in the UK has done.

"So far, the fake policemen in Essex do not seem to be having the desired effect," Underhill writes, "or at least I infer that from the fact that one was recently stolen."

The whole article was good for a morning laugh. Enjoy.

The Most Reckless Spenders

The Book of Thrift, T.D. MacGregor, 1915

Bankers Are Always Busily Engaged Preaching the Homely Virtue of Thrift

This segment of an essay by economist Alvin H. Hansen from the 1920 book The New American Thrift, reminds us that there was a time when bankers were in the business of promoting savings, not pushing credit cards and other consumer debt.

This one was from 1915.

In 1913, Bankers Magazine ran a long article on the "Nationwide Thrift Movement."

On every side we see signs of a great awakening Editors in their newspapers are pointing out the necessity for conservation and clergymen in their pulpits are preaching the folly and criminality of waste The idea that greater thrift is essential in private life in business life in the home the school and the workshop is slowly but surely taking root In order to foster and encourage this great work the American Bankers Association has invited GY Clement originator of the idea of observing February 3 of each year as National Thrift Day and Chief of Staff of the Collins Publicity Service of Philadelphia to cooperate in the Nation Wide Thrift Movement With this end in view Mr Clement has recently perfected a textbook for use in the inauguration and operation of a community thrift campaign This text book or Plan A as it is called is at once a most unique and original plan As far as a thrift campaign is concerned it can have no serious rival inevitably it must make and maintain a position of its own.

The article goes on to describe a coordinated marketing campaign designed to promote thrift.

Plan A provides a scientific publicity movement initiated by bankers and then permanently continued by public spirited citizens in every walk of life It points the way by which may be secured the necessary co operation of the local newspapers the clergy employers of labor principals of schools, scoutmasters of boy scouts etc. These co operating in turn with the local business association board of trade the YMCA and women's club represent a force that cannot fail to exert a mighty influence for good on behalf of any community.

It included posters:



And even sermon topic ideas to pass along to local preachers:

It has been recommended by the American Bankers Association and will commend itself to every banker who gives it his consideration The text book demonstrates how easily a group of public spirited citizens may be banded together in a productive thrift campaign and how with a little effort and a small expenditure of money the seed of a bountiful harvest for the community at large may be sown Plan A puts the banker shoulder to shoulder with the people and bridges the gulf that too often exists between him and them As a result of its campaign of education it creates greater confidence in both the bank and the banker and clears the track for great results.

A Post-Halloween Soup Recipe

I made this spicy pumpkin soup recipe last year with a post-Halloween carving pumpkin. It was excellent.

Most cooking sites will point out that cooking pumpkins (sugar pumpkins) are different from carving pumpkins, but I made this with the kind of giant pumpkin sold to make into a jack-o-lantern (one pumpkin made several batches), and it tasted great. The hardest part is breaking down the pumpkin. It's a bit of work, but worth it. Yum.


Jack O Lantern image by Mansour de Toth, Creative Commons license.

Stop, Look and Listen

-The Nation's Call for Thrift, Frank L. McVey, President of the University of Kentucky, 1920

Fight For your Right to Dr-y-y

Remember the humble wooden clothes pin? They were invented by Shakers. The clothes pin is becoming an endangered species writes The New Scientist. National Clothespin of Montpelier, Vermont, the last U.S. manufacturer of wooden clothespins ceased its manufacturing operations and now imports clips from China to make novelty refrigerator magnets.

Most Americans would rather watch their wet clothes tumble around in a dryer. Even if they wanted to dry their undies the old fashioned way, many home owners associations forbid it.

Why? "Clothes lines evoke a negative emotional reaction from many Americans, who view them as flags of poverty. Property owners often fear that a clothes line in their neighbourhood will lower the value of their house."

Project Laundry List, a pro-line drying organization, estimates that most of us could save about 10 per cent on energy costs if we did our laundry the green way - cold water, line dry, no bleaching or ironing.

Photo by Michael Jastremski

Interview with the author of In Cheap We Trust

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Have you ever gotten into a debate about whether it is actually cheaper to pack a lunch or to just buy something from the fast food stand in the lobby? (Incidentally, did you know that the Louvre in Paris is about to get its very own McDonald's?)

Cockeyed.com, which has also made it a mission to quantify how much is actually inside product boxes, has a handy sandwich calculator. Choose your style of bread and toppings and voila! You can see just how much that sandwich will cost you. My avacado and swiss on rye came to $1.79.