The Ultimate Cheapskate

One of Bryon's and my New Year's Resolutions this year is to really try and control the spending of our discretionary income. We always enjoy a spending detox in January following the holidays and both boys' birthdays! We both just feel like we have enough stuff in our house to keep us entertained all year long and never want to raise our kids with a sense of entitlement and that spending money leads to happiness. We don't want to alter our lifestyles too much, but are just planning our meals better, avoiding our weak spots (Best Buy for Bryon, Hobby Lobby for me), and just saying no to the Grande Chai Lattes.

We certainly don't have all the answers and still struggle with our vices (50% off at Hobby Lobby!) but when you are consciously taking notice of every dollar going out, you start to rethink purchases. I am trying to go to the library more and reserving trips to Barnes and Noble for special occasions.

All that to say, I read a great book on the subject last night. Bryon and I went on a date (and split a meal, thank you very much) and ended up at Barnes and Noble. We bought the book, The Ultimate Cheapskate, after I saw the author on the Today Show. I must say, that the book was eye opening! I know, I know, it was a weak moment. The stronger Elizabeth would have waited to rent it at the library. I am only human.

Now, I will say that the author can at times have a crude sense of humor, so reader beware, but I came away with some interesting nuggets that should help with our new less spending resolve. For instance:

*Studies have shown that the only time money leads to happiness is when it takes a person from abject poverty to middle class. Otherwise there is no correlation between money and happiness.

*Americans spend an equal amount of money on hair removal and hair replacement. Spend vast amounts of money on indulging in food and drink and gym memberships to burn off the excess. In the 1950s, people would pay off their houses in 4-5 years and stay in them for a lifetime marriage, and now the opposite is true. People rarely pay off their houses and usually don't stay married for a lifetime.

*People's square footage has tripled as American family size has diminshed. The author also reports that there are studies that show an increase in teenagers loneliness and isolation and the increase in square footage in a house.

Don't get me wrong, I love our house, but I have a distinct memory of going over to my sister's adorable, but somewhat smaller house after we had been living in our bigger house a month, and missing the coziness that a smaller house offers.

The book was a secularly (is that a word?) based book, but I also think it has huge spiritual implications. If everything we own, and all the money we make, belongs to God, would he be pleased with how we are spending it? Is our need, as a society, to buy more and more just a way to try and replace that God shaped vacuum?

I enjoyed the book but could never go to the extreme of the author. Barf bags in airplanes finding a new life as a luminary on the kitchen table during a romantic meal? Not on my watch!