Selective Frugality

Over the summer I had a conversation that has stuck with me. I was at the grocery store with someone who we will call Sarah, and she commented on the amount of food I was able to buy for the same amount she had just spent on a bottle of Jägermeister and a case of beer. (For a party.)

The conversation went somewhat along the lines of "I am just as frugal as I can be - we don't have cable or a car payment, we don't spend much on groceries, I dye and my hair at home, etc... but it seems like we still don't have much in savings."

Before I go any further, I should point out that Sarah is debt free, including the house, and has a fully funded emergency fund in place.

That is when I thought of the term "selective frugality." I am sure I am not the first person to use this term, but at that point in time it was the best way that I could think of to get my point across.

I explained that we all make choices about what we are going to be frugal with. To illustrate my point, I pointed out my own selective frugailty - I save on buying grocery staples so that I can buy $16 lb. cheese. I cut my hair at home so that I can spend $8 every two months to get my eyebrows waxed. We stay at home to save gas so that we can take day trips. The list goes on.

Of course, I didn't point out Sarah's selective frugality, because I wasn't asked and it wasn't my place. I will do it here, though because it is my blog and Sarah isn't her real name. :o)

Sarah and her husband take yearly trips to the Caribbean, eat out 2-3 times a week, goes out every weekend spending $30 or so, they have satellite radio, etc. They can do those things because of the reasons she mentioned - they don't have cable or a car payment, spend much on groceries, etc. If they didn't do those things, they would have more in savings.

My point is not that yearly trips to the Caribbean are a bad thing. In fact, I can't wait until I have that option. I was just pointing out that just like everything else in life, what you can do is based on what you have done. Or as Amy Dacyczyn said on page 18 of The Complete Tightwad Gazette:

"While the past choices cannot be changed, remarkably the ones we make today become tomorrow past choices."

I don't take yearly Caribbean vacations because I have a car payment. I have a car payment because I didn't save for the purchase of a new car. I didn't save for the purchase of a new car because I spent my money on other things...