Tightwads

Shortly after my daughter’s wedding, an attendee described the details to a friend who could not make it, concluding with, “I think they had the reception catered.”
The friend negated that idea with a scoffing laugh, “No way! She is too cheap to have it catered. She probably did herself.”
Ahhh, a friend who understands my financial personality but refuses to join me in establishing a support group for the cheapskates who live by the old proverb: “Use it up, wear out, make it do, or do without”
Recently, I discovered such a support group already exists: they have written volumes of books. The unofficial founder, Amy Dacyczyn, refers to herself as the frugal zealot. For six years she published “The Tightwad Gazette” promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle. Her followers can be identified in restaurants as tho ones mumbling under their breath, “I could have fixed this meal for a fraction of what this is costing us.” In 1998, Dacyczyn, compiled a telephone sized book from her three Tightwad Gazette books, newsletters and testimonials from those who had discovered the frugal way to prosperity and fun.
I bought my first Tightwad Gazette book at a garage sale, took it home and promptly consumed the entire book to the annoyance of everyone around me. I read aloud ideas which I considered interesting, fantastic, unbelievable, ridiculous, practical and exact duplicates of ways I have saved money for years.
Dacyczyn summarized a great deal of my thinking, with one sentence, “Early on we recognized it was poor financial management to spend most of our money on disposable things.”
She defines disposable purchases as items purchased for short-term use such as food, clothing and entertainment. While a business suit may be an investment for a business person, any parent of a growing child knows how disposable their clothing is. I once purchased a whole new wardrobe for a son at a garage sale – the child who previously owned it, outgrew it a month after it was purchased.
Food is necessary, but as Dacyczyn said, “tuna fish provides a similar food value to lobster.” I still catch myself silently computing the cost per serving at dinner, a necessary survival skill during the rollicking years of teenagers who ate anything and everything in sight.
“Entertainment is an investment in family time, but generally free entertainment can be as fulfilling,” Dacyczyn wrote. I agree, we spent hours reading free library books, traveled the country staying with relatives or pitching a tent in-between. We borrowed a VCR and watched movies from the library after I succumbed to buying a garage sale television.
For Dacyczyn automobiles can be disposable or an investment. Since our 10-year-old car has 330,000 plus miles on it and is still going strong, I am not so sure which category fits, either.
Over the years, Dacyczyn has received many books about saving money, including one written in 1833 which detailed every principle of a tightwad support group in the formal language of the early 1800s. The principles, do not change, nor do the long-term benefits. Dacyczyn and I both succeeded in our determination to own our home, have a houseful of children and not have to count on a second income to do all of that.
Dacyczyn’s children, now all in their teens are heading off to college. The years of weddings await. If Dacyczyn wants any tips on putting together the cheapskate wedding, I have my notebook and receipts handy.