17 things frugal people never buy

Here’s an article I stumbled across entitled “17 Things Frugal People Never Buy.” Being deeply interested in the issue of frugality, I clicked on the piece with interest. How would we measure up?

“Those of us who are frugal know deep in our bones that there are things we would never, ever pay for. Ever,” begins the article. “If you have the tightwad gene, you can probably feel your skin crawl at the mere thought of plunking down hard-earned cash on certain items. Following are some things sensible spenders avoid buying at all costs.“

The first – the very first – thing listed is … books.

Books, we are told, is “where you can separate merely cautious spenders from the true hardcore tightwads. The latter will only buy books as a last resort. The library is king for truly frugal readers. We’ll even resort to interlibrary loans if we must.”

The older I get, the more I marvel at how little value people place on a home library for both reference and entertainment. Putting aside the issue of limited library resources in deeply rural areas, who doesn’t want to just be able to pluck a book off the shelf and dive in? Books don’t have to be expensive. Ninety-nine percent of our books were purchased second-hand.

I have to admit, this first listing was poised to put me completely off the rest of the article. Fortunately things improved after that.

Here are the other things frugal people purportedly never buy.

• Bottled water. Agreed. Of course, it helps that our well water tastes delicious.

• The latest technology. I just paused in the writing of this blog post to light up our wood cookstove to start heating the house. This tells you everything you need to know about how we feel on “the latest technology.”

• Lottery tickets. Agreed. Of course, part of our disinclination to purchase lottery tickets is our concern of what would happen if we won.

• A brand-new car. This made me chuckle because at the moment all three of our vehicles are out of commission. One is being repaired, one is due to be repaired in about three weeks (the earliest the mechanic could squeeze us in), and our 33-year-old pickup truck has been temperamental to the point where we may be shopping for another truck in the very near future. Despite these challenges, it would never in a million years occur to us to purchase a new vehicle. Chief among the reasons is price. Who can afford to buy new? We refuse – we absolutely refuse – to go into debt to purchase transportation. We’ll limp along with our cadre of used vehicles, just as we always have.

• $5 coffee. Well, since I loathe coffee, this is no hardship. I do, however, purchase the occasional $5 chai tea latté. However since this is limited to about three times per year, I don’t think I’m going overboard. As for Don, nope. He never purchases fancy coffee. Ever.

• Cable TV. Nope. Haven’t had TV reception since 1993 and don’t miss it. Don’t have a TV at all.

• Brand names when generics are available. Agreed. I have very few brand loyalties.

• Dryclean-only clothes. Ahem. I’ve already discussed the extent of my wardrobe and how little clothes interest me. Besides, the nearest drycleaner is about a two-hour drive away.

• Beverages at restaurants. Um, why are you in a restaurant to begin with? Truly frugal people don’t eat out. “Wondering who the frugal person is in your dinner party?” asks the article. “It’s the guy or gal who just ordered filet mignon, but also asked for a glass of free water.” Frankly, that’s just stupid.

• Big homes. This kinda depends. We downsized from a big home (3600 sq. ft.), and are much happier for it. Our new home is 1,400 sq. ft. (400 sq. ft. of which are Older Daughter’s suite), and a house this size is far more economical, easier to heat and maintain, and perfectly suited to our needs. When we originally purchased our 3600 sq. ft. home in 2003, we bought it for the property and just took the house that came with it. If someone has a large family, a big house makes more sense. That said, I don’t have a lot of patience with pretentious McMansions designed to impress the neighbors. Not many people need that kind of space, and certainly I would not want to heat, cool, clean, or pay the mortgage on a McMansion.

• Impulse items in the checkout lane. I’ve done this. So have you. So has everyone. However I do this rarely and I’m not fussed that it’s breaking our budget.

• Professional car washes and detailing. Bwahahaha. Do we seem like the kind of people whose vehicles are professionally washed and detailed?

• Pets. Pets? Yes, according to this article, it’s not frugal to keep pets. “There’s no getting around it: Pets are budget-busters,” says the article. “I once heard a financial pro say that the best way to get rich is to never invite anything into your house that you are responsible for feeding. That rules out two of the best things in life: kids and pets. Sorry, Rover.” Um, no. Pets may cost money, but they pay us back in spades with love and laughter.

• Paper towels. Agreed. A few years ago, I put up a blog post about America’s obsession with paper towels. We seldom use paper towels in our home; in fact, one roll usually lasts us anywhere from one to two years. Instead, we use dishcloths or rags.

• Extended warranties. Since we seldom-to-never purchase anything that would require a warranty to being with, this is not an issue. Neither of us have ever purchased an extended warranty in our entire existence.

• Fancy vacations. I’m trying to remember the last time we went on vacation at all. Six years ago, Don and I took a rare trip together to attend the Mother Earth News Fair in Oregon, where we were treated to the gracious hospitality of Dave and Ilene Duffy, founders of Backwoods Home Magazine. We had a wonderful time! (Ahem. We even bought some books.) Does this count as a “fancy” vacation?

So there you have it. Based on these criteria, I guess we’re officially frugal … books and pets excepted.