BEING FRUGAL IS FOR THE RICH

[CoffeeAndDonuts]

"BEING FRUGAL IS FOR THE RICH

The Frugalwoods made a name for themselves teaching millennials how to save money. Trouble is, you have to start with a lot of it."

https://theoutline.com/post/3840/frugalwoods-frugality-millennials

Have to get ready for work and kid to school so little time to comment but will likely add more later.

Some good points but just because the fw did it super fast doesn't mean that those without such high incomes can't take something from this community (as we all know here).

That said, I do wonder about the authors thoughts that this plays into a media narrative that masks the relative economic issues facing millennials (and many Americans at large imo).

[Freedomin5]

Wow...complainypants much?

Okay, I get that many people can’t afford to retire early. At the same time, I have frugal friends in China who grew up on a poor farm with bad schooling, put themselves through college, earn USD$700 per month in the city, find ways to spend only $300 per month through many of the principles espoused by MMM and other frugalists, and live a good life in general.

Even while I lived in Vancouver (HCOL city) and earned $2000 per month after tax, I had a 25% savings rate. Would have been higher if I had gotten rid of the car. You don’t have to be rich to reap the rewards of frugality.

[Maenad]

I'm bothered by the false dichotomy epitomized in this:

...the latter conditions us to look at wealth-building as an exercise in personal improvement, as opposed to surviving — or, better yet, fixing — the structures and policies that keep most of us trapped in economic insolvency.

If your doctor diagnosed you with cancer, would you skip all treatments while complaining about how unfair fate was and insist on a cure being found RIGHT NOW? No, you'd both pursue treatments and raise money for those who are trying to find cures.

I agree that it's a lot easier for me (an engineer) to save 50% of my salary and claim frugality while still living far more luxuriously than my parents with their actual frugality (they're retired working-class folks). I agree that large income disparities are bad for societies in general due to destabilization, etc. However, complaining about the Boomers doesn't actually help one to build up an emergency fund and prepare for a rainy day.

And claiming that frugality is only for the rich is insulting to many working-class people like my parents and my brother who are responsible with their money.

[Mr. Green]

If you look up the definition of frugal, nowhere does it include a component that relates to income. I'm not a fan of distorting the definition of a word. It's disingenuous.

[Cromacster]

This dead horse was supposed to be cleaned up weeks ago!

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/what's-up-with-the-frugalwoods/

[GuitarStv]

Being frugal is for everyone.  It enables the rich to do stuff like retire early.  It enables the poor to not starve.

[jengod]

Trent at the Simple Dollar had a wonderful response to this. tl;dr - frugality is a TOOL, like a hammer or a saw.

https://www.thesimpledollar.com/on-being-frugal-is-for-the-rich/

My own take is that I think once you are out of the abject poverty stage (WHICH FRUGALITY CAN HELP WITH), being frugal is a mindset that encourages valuing investment and creativity over simple consumption. Sometimes that investment is in mutual funds. Sometimes that investment is in any number of goods and services that provide durable long-term returns on your money.

Invest in a crock-pot so you don't hit the drive-through as often.

Invest in cloth diapers so you can skip buying disposables every so often.

Invest in training and education to increase your value in the employment marketplace.

Etc.

[Davnasty]

And exercise is only for the healthy because it's so much easier for fit people to run a mile and pick up weights.

[Davnasty]

So much hate on the Frugalwoods but articles like this must really drive up their blog traffic. Seems like every other word is a link to a Frugalwoods article.

Oh, and pandering to millennials because they talk about the environmental aspect of frugality. Really? That's not something people in all age groups care about?

Stereotypes and defeatism are all I got from this article. This author is part of the problem reinforcing a bad attitude.

[kpetar]

No it isn't. Frugal is getting the most for your money, frugal is picking up something instead of paying the delivery fee, so in most cases being frugal means that you're not lazy and the other way around.