Perspective: Abundance and Contentment Through Thrift
Cultivating an Emotionally, Mentally, and Financially Sustainable Way of Life
One of the principal topics I write about at Life UnCorked is family finances. Things like saving, budgeting, spending habits, debt, etc.
An overlapping topic is retirement. Not the cookie-cutter dribble you hear from the typical “financial planner", but more of the philosophical mindset both before and after retirement. You can catch up on that series here:
Today’s post will focus specifically on the art and discipline of Thrift as a way of life.
Britannica Dictionary defines Thrift as
The careful use of money so that it is not wasted
In our consumer-oriented culture, thrift has taken on a connotation of deprivation, skimping, scrimping, penny-pinching, and second-hand stores.
But thrift speaks to much more than just economics. It is a mindset that embraces resourcefulness and contentment.
Mary Elizabeth Thérèse Brodeur, in a January 8th, 2024 article, Embracing a Lifestyle of Thrift for Verily Magazine, wrote:
Reflecting on these questions has helped me recognize many different ways in which we can embrace thrift in the day-to-day, regardless of income or season in life. These strategies aren’t just good for our wallets and lifestyles, but can benefit our hearts and minds, too.
Benjamin Franklin wrote much on the subject of financial management. I’m sure thrift and resourcefulness were on his mind when he coined the phrases, “Waste not, want not” and “A penny saved is a penny earned”.
I believe most savvy financial thinkers would agree that being thrifty and resourceful should be a part of any financial strategy.
In a recent conversation, the subject turned to resourcefulness. If you have read any of my previous financial posts, you know this is near and dear to my heart.
Resourcefulness: Able to meet situations: capable of devising ways and means.- Merriam-Webster
In other words “making do” with what you have.
During WWII, when so much production was geared toward the war effort, there was a phrase coined that would do us well to practice today.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without
The unprecedented prosperity explosion of Middle-class Americans and the economic growth in the decades following the war can be attributed largely to the fact that this practice carried over into the early Baby Boomer generation.
As families moved up the economic ladder, in terms of opportunity and income, they continued to practice thrift and resourcefulness.
In their best-selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko document the “quiet” millionaires of the Silent and Baby Boomer generations who embraced the combination of thrift and opportunity.
As their net worth rose, their thrift lifestyle did not change. They lived in the same neighborhoods, drove the same cars, dressed in the same clothes, and kept the same friends.
Most famous among these is Warren Buffet, described in an article in Picture Perfect Portfolios as :
“… an epitome of frugality and simplicity, eschewing the extravagant and opulent lifestyle often flaunted by those in his elite financial stratosphere.”
Warren Buffet still lives in the house he bought in 1958. As of August 2023, he still drove a Cadillac XTS he bought in 2014. He says he usually drives a car for a decade or so before purchasing another one.
Who knows, maybe even Warren Buffet follows my 10-10-10 Rule I wrote about here:
It wasn’t until the late 1960s and early 70s, with the high-powered marketing efforts of Madison Avenue, the proliferation of media (Radio, over the air, and Cable TV, and eventually the internet explosion that our society began to rapidly embrace a more consumption-oriented economy.
The focus became “must have” vs. “need”.
We slowly became a throwaway society, discarding perfectly good items as soon as newer versions became available.
Suddenly, that two-year-old phone, or plain drip coffee maker, or the older but reliable car, or (you name the product) isn’t good enough anymore. We must have that latest bell or whistle.
Of course, today we are bombarded with insufferable pop-up ads that seem to track us through anything we do online — always pushing us to believe that we “need” the latest and greatest model or version.
Parents of Baby Boomers were resourceful. They knew how to “stretch a dollar”. They knew how to live within their means.
The astute ones passed this knowledge on to their children. Kids learned the value of things early in life.
In my small town in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the community pool was just a block away from our house. The admission price was .50. Chump change, right?
Not to my Dad.
To him, that admission was worth about an hour of yard work before he forked over the money. Dad would squeeze out a couple of hours of work before giving us a dollar for the Saturday Matinee at the local theatre (.75 for the ticket and .25 for popcorn and a drink).
The bigger purpose was not about the money. It was learning the value of something.
Many of the Baby Boomer generation have abandoned thrift and resourcefulness as a way of life. They don’t practice it and they have not passed it on to their children. The seduction by high-powered marketing has convinced us that we “need” everything we’re being bombarded with.
The results are not very pretty:
Burgeoning personal debt
The need for both parents to work away from home to support lifestyles (read larger houses and more toys) that otherwise would exceed their means.
Farming young kids out to daycare where they learned values from someone else.
Older kids either become “latch-key” with little to no supervision (yes they still need guidance in H.S.) or are immersed in expensive after-school programs and sports endeavors, which consume even more $.
Abandonment of faith-based values has led to being spiritually, morally, and personally unfulfilled.
Skyrocketing divorce rates and physical and sexual abuse are tearing the fabric of society apart.
Drug addiction is rampant across every single financial and social rung of life.
This list could go on, but I think this presents a clear picture.
In The Trap of Comfortable Misery, I wrote that the term “Living the Dream” was cynically coined to describe this lifestyle:
So, what does “living the dream” really signify?
In reality, it should mean that someone is living the life they’ve always dreamed about.
More often than not, it indicates we feel trapped in a life of Comfortable Misery and fake the dream. We have all the things we need for a comfortable life, yet we feel unfulfilled, miserable, and trapped.
So we lie to ourselves and others. We pretend to be content and fulfilled when nothing could be further from the truth.
You can read the whole article here:
So, what will it take to get back to some sort of balanced lifestyle?
A change of mindset is essential. Acknowledge that the way things are now is not working. Realistically, we don’t need most of the “stuff” that we have or the latest version of what we deem necessary to keep.
We all rely upon technology to a huge degree now. Almost anything from information to simply clicking a button to get whatever it is that we want is now ingrained into our psyche. It is simply the way of modern life.
This piece is not about the detrimental effects of technology, per se, but it does tie into the discussion of a Thrift lifestyle because it drives so much of what we do.
So, there are things we can do to minimize the effect technology has on our daily lives. Many writers here on Substack, such as
and have devoted a good bit of their writing time to “Digital Detox”, the limiting of interaction with digital communications technology (smartphones, tablets, computers, TV, etc.). I highly suggest reading their pieces on this subject.Most people do not have a budget. That needs to change if we truly want our lives to change.
And once we begin using a WRITTEN budget, we must stick to it. Use this link to access all the Life UnCorked Personal Finance/Budgeting articles and why they are so important.
If you have never budgeted before, the first thing you need to do is get a grasp on your spending.
For a really unique lifestyle and retirement philosophy, take a look at what
writes at . Definitely worth the read.Do you think you know where you spend all your money? Think again. Keeping a spending log (down to the penny)for one month is essential. It will surely be a shocking eye-opener for most. It was for me.
Here’s the thing - knowing your spending habits will enable you to have much more control over where your money is going.
There are many other personal finance and budgeting articles in the link above. But these specific pieces below will give you a good perspective on the power of budgeting in personal finance:
Contentment = Abundance
Last, for this article at least, is to change our consumer-oriented mindset to one of contentment through resourcefulness. As we begin living a more purposeful lifestyle, we can teach our children.
My wife and I have lived through many financial ups and downs. Through it all, we not only survived but thrived. Many times we did not know how certain situations would turn out. But, we did have faith that we would come out better on the other end. And we did.
You can read about our journey here:
The interesting thing is when we were going through the hard times, we learned how to be more resourceful, which came into play as we hit the next hard time.
We raised five children who have entered adulthood with a lifestyle of sound financial principles, resourcefulness, and thrift. It is my hope and prayer that they also will teach these principles to our grandchildren.
Next up in this series, we’ll take a look at specific practices that cater to the financial peace of living a resourceful lifestyle.
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Thank you Cork so much for your sharing great article ❗️💖
We’re a thrift family at heart. It mostly started out of principle, and that more times than not the price of something new is not worth it and you could still achieve the same end goal using something used at half or even quarter of the price.
It’s funny that in a time where climate and therefore waste is at a all time awareness, the majority of people still want what’s new rather than buying something that already exist.
The majority of our ‘shopping’ happens on Craigslist and if I absolutely have to have it new I make sure to get the best quality I can afford, even if it means a few extra bucks upfront.