Here's a new one for ya!

[MustachianKentuckian]

Stumbled across this article on yahoo today:
http://lifehacker.com/avoid-keeping-up-with-the-frugals-to-improve-your-fin-1701461062

Really??  Keeping up with The Frugals?  When will people learn that being frugal doesn't mean being miserable and spending hours upon hours just to save $1.  Articles like this are what convince Americans that its OK to keep living their little lives of luxury and buying things they really can't avoid.

OK, rant over.  Carry on!

[jmusic]

I agree to some degree that we can be a bit too religious over here.  The point of MMM is to challenge assumptions that people make these days that are absurd once you consider it from a different point of view. 

The class warfare arguments that are circling the media are a great example.  FWIW, the main difference between the poor and middle class is that we don't fall for the really stupid deals like payday loans, buy here pay here, pawn shops, etc.

[velocistar237]

She has a debt emergency. Maybe stretching herself as much as possible would be a good thing?

The class warfare arguments that are circling the media are a great example.

And you bring an extremely loaded topic to this discussion... why?

[Eric]

The title does not match the body.  How exactly does spending more improve your finances?  It's not explained, probably because it doesn't make any sense.

I agree to some degree that we can be a bit too religious over here. 

Hmmm.  Case in point?  :)

[velocistar237]

The Lifehacker title doesn't make any sense. The original post is called "Keeping Up with Those More Frugal," and the author just talks about spending a little more to preserve her own sanity.

[FatCat]

It seems like an issue with semantics... 

Frugal vs Cheap Vs Miserly

[RetiredAt63]

And spending hours finding the best coupons won’t save you nearly as much as reducing one bill permanently.  There seems to be a certain lack of understanding on her part - I think everyone here would agree that reducing one bill permanently saves time, money and frustration.  Couponing?  Lots of time used up, for how much gain?  Efficiency rules!!!

[phillyvalue]

It's a useless article but not incorrect in perspective. I think most people's view of frugal people is as the person clipping coupons to save $1, etc, and the point is to broadcast to the average person that that isn't the goal to strive towards. The MMM philosophy is not to be frugal but to live a different sort of lifestyle that simply costs less. While ultimately most here are careful with small expenses as well as large ones, the key to MMM's budget working out is cutting down on big costs rather than on tiny things.

[velocistar237]

Someone correct my ignorance, but there just aren't coupons for what I normally buy, nor are there coupons for staple products. Trying to coupon makes me tired.

I can see why people do it, though. It's the bargain hunting part, the thrill of winning against your grocery and drug store costs. I do the same thing for thrift store shopping, where I'm willing to spend a bunch of time panning for that gold.

Some people like it, some don't. If you don't like the couponing or thrift store shopping itself, then it's not worth the effort. That's not true for the big stuff like housing and cars, but it can be true for the smaller stuff.

In this way, the original author, Kayla, has a good point.