Extreme Savers (Updated)
By Kevin
CNN/Money has an amusing ongoing series about the lives and habits of "Extreme Savers" -- people who invest wisely, spend frugally, and live like there's no today. These homo-economicae are so good at the penny-pinching lifestyle that they sound like caricatures of real people from The Onion.
Still, I kind of like Rick Kuhlman's approach:
The 33-year-old Topeka, Kansas resident replaced all 52 light bulbs in his house with fluorescents three years ago, in order to cut his monthly electricity bill.To me, the incandescent glow is worth a few bucks a month, but that's just me."I even replaced the one in the fridge," he laughs.
His savings, however, are no joke. Rick explains that his $60 investment in energy efficient light bulbs saves him some $20 a month. And he has yet to replace a single bulb.
"The return on that is astronomical. I wish that I could find that in the stock market," Rick states.
Anyway the ending is just sad:
"If you're smart 360 days a year, then you can celebrate the other five," he explains. A couple of extra days of celebration, though, can hardly be held against him.See also the woman who won't look at advertising, and saves over half of her gross income:
"If you have the philosophy of saving 10 percent to 15 percent then you end up spending the rest. That also puts you in the trap of thinking, 'As my income increases, so will my spending,'" she said.And don't miss the parents of twins:
"I spent my pregnancy lying on the couch, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and working on a budget," said Jenny, who in true twin mom fashion recounted her story while working out on her Stairmaster....There are several economic justifications for "extreme saving", most of which involve a substantial preference for personal or liesure time today, or early retirement. There are stories of people getting by on garbage scraps for decades and at death bequeathing millions of dollars to charitable foundations, schools, and even complete strangers. But these strategies aren't for most of us; in fact, I'd argue that the median household thinks these people are nuts.The couple lives in a remote location – so Will can coordinate highway maintenance – but the price is right, at $115 a month for a three-bedroom house. Moving to the middle of nowhere was just one of their tactics for keeping costs in check.
This opinion is based on one anecdote: I remember watching an episode of Oprah when I was a pre-teen. The episode followed a family that lived in the middle of nowhere; there parents wanted a large family and had about a half dozen kids. They lived on the husband's meagre income, and the mother stayed home. To keep in budget, they bought everything generic and in bulk, rarely went on vacation, had a beat-up car or van, and almost never went out to eat (and when they did, they went to McDonalds).
Do you know what the audience's reaction was: respect, understanding, and humility? NO: scorn, disbelief, shock, and horror! I think thir response reflected an attitude of most big-city Americans, who have become used to a much easier and pleasure-filled life. They think that real sacrifice and discipline is unnecessary in this day and age. This is, in my opinion, a very narrow view...
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