Frugal Mania

At least once a day I receive an email from someone asking why I am frugal. Here is the most recent:

Michael,
You live in the greatest country in the world, you make a living, you even have health insurance according to what I have read on your website and you still don’t seem to appreciate what you’ve got. What gives? So the cost of gas is up. We’re at war. It happens. Do you really need to seem to ungreatful? It would seem sir, that you need a reality check.

A.G. in Virginia

Needless to say, I seriously felt that a response was not just warranted but called for. So I did:

A.G.,
First, I want to thank you for the time you spent to share your thoughts and opinions with me. For every response I get there are at least 100 people who can’t even be bothered to do what you did and for that I do offer my appreciation. Now to answer your question:

A report on CNN today revealed that consumer spending was the lowest in the first quarter of 2008 since the previous recession. Not a startling or surprising revelation to be sure, and yet it does illustrate the problems of everyday people here in the United States.

Regardless of how the current administration wishes to spin it, the average person is in a financial bind now more than ever and I can feel the pinch in my own home and every time I have to drive to the supermarket.

The Social Security Administration has been quoted as saying that as many as 85 out of 100 Americans who reach the retirement age of 65 will do so with less than $250 in the bank. Our senior citizens (who survived the Great Depression, I’d like to add) are now faced with the very real prospect of being forced to ration the medications that keep them alive and healthy and even go without other necessities like food and even heat in the winter months just to be able to afford to live.

Sure, I have health care coverage right now, but I haven’t been able to afford the extra $15 it would take for a visit to the doctor, much less the cost of any prescriptions that may be called for. I am quite appreciative of everything I do have and I don’t want to be a part of these statistics. I don’t want to reach retirement age with no money, when the time comes for me to retire and relax I want to spend my days doing what I want to do - relaxing - instead of worrying if I can afford to buy food or pay my bills.

If that isn’t enough of a downer, check out this article that tells the story of a man who has been evicted after paying $30,000 for his rental home, because the home he is living in is being foreclosed on. The landlord, it seems, has not paid the mortgage since he moved in last August and though the renter has paid what was due regularly, he is soon to be homeless and without the security deposit of nearly $8,000 that he paid when he took possession of the property.

I am a renter. This could happen to me. Need I say more on that subject?

And to think, people ask me why I am obsessed with frugal living and teaching other people to live on less and be happy at the same time. The news is grim, and it is up to each and every one of us to find joy in everyday life. Despite the people who are against what I stand for, I have found that joy. I live a reasonably comfortable and happy life even though the average price of gas is higher than ever and shows no signs of going down this year.

You ask me why am I frugal? The real question you should ask yourself is why are you not.

In closing, I want to tell you that I have attached to image files to this email and I have a question for you about them. Which would you want to see when you retire?

Kind regards,
Michael Nolan

The images I attached to that email are shown below. I’m pretty sure I won’t get a response. What do you folks think?