Will "forced frugality" last?

Things get better and they'll go right back to how they were. I wish it wasn't true but I believe it is.

There is definitely a lot of pressure to be frugal for my family and me. Even though the harsh economic climate has only been harmful to my parent's 401k, we still "pinch pennys" much more than we used to just because others are doing it.
I notice it most, though, when we went to Europe on vacation and most of our friends were incredulous and almost upset with us for taking advantage of great flights and hotels.
Personally, I don't think that this is at all permanent and many positive things will result from it. We eat out at restaurants less now for health reasons but cutting back definitely has benefits even if you are not in terrible financial straits. As I have said before, people should start living simply and graduate to more and more luxuries.
A starting salary may not be enough to support the new cars that you want or going to the movie theater every Friday but won't it be better in the long run to have enough money to travel and not worry about expensive dinners.

I don't think it'll last for most people. For those that have truly embraced the lifestyle, it'll persist. For those that are doing it out of fear or necessity- it will go away as soon as the fear or need goes away. It reminds me of gas mileage was such a huge deal at $4 a gallon, but the Hummers were back on the road at $2 a gallon.

I am not "forced" to be frugal right now. My husband and I pretty much live the same life style we have always been. We have always try to live frugal life style regardless of our income (from poor college students to double income to now a single income because cuurently I am a stay at home mom). I think if a person thinks that he/she is suffering because he/she has to cut back, then it would be very easy to go back to bad spending habits as soon as the person's financial situtation changes again. I have a friend who is losing her home because she can no longer afford her mortage payment. Instead of looking at it as a blow to her credit, she is looking forward to going on vacations with her extra money since she has stopped paying her mortgage payment. Therefore, I don't think it will frugal life style will last for most people.

I began using coupons shortly before we were "forced" to do when my husband closed his company. I went to a meeting where Stephanie Nelson, aka CouponMom, gave a presentation explaining how to use coupons. I chose to go to this meeting because I had read an article about couponing in a maaazine (Women's Day, Better Homes, etc.). The article intrigued me but I did not get all the concepts. Once I went to the meeting, I totally got it and began saving coupons and using them. I could not believe the deals you could get. At the time, we were doing fine financially at home and did not "need" to use coupons just to make ends meet. While I had started using the coupons I did not do it all the time.

Then my husband closed his company and we sank into an abyss financially for us. We could be considered the poster children for the economy right now and have lost everything that had financial value. Still, we have each other and our children and a good attitude so do not feel sorry for us. When this happened, we really needed to use the coupons to make ends meet. We started using them in full force. My husband has embraced the couponing as much as me. He helps me clip them and helps with the grocery shopping and uses them happily as he shops.

In addition to couponing, we have learned how incredibly awesome Craig's List is. I do not think we will ever purchase furniture at retail value again. We sell things on ebay. We think long and hard before making a purchase. We are quick to let go of things that are not important to us and keep only the things that truly have value and meaning to us. We find multiple uses for things before throwing them away.

We are certainly not the most frugal people out there. I still have a weakness for books. I love books and I love to purchase them new. So, I allow my indulgence for new books as long as they are on the bargain rack at Barnes and Noble or Borders.

Thank goodness there are so many blogs like this one to teach us how to be more frugal. Will we go back to our old ways? For the most part I would say no. Couponing is a way of life for us. We know how much can be saved by purchasing second hand and reusing items. On the rare occasions now when we do make a quick stop into CVS for something we need right away and do not have coupons for it with us, we feel like we are leaving money on the table. A few dollars here and there add up so quickly. These lessons cannot be unlearned.

Now, we would love to have a nice vacation again at some point in our future and I cannot wait until we can have a few spa treatments at some point in our future. So, we might still indulge every once in a while but for the most part there is no turning back.

It won't last long. Already, the stock market is up 39% from its lows and Wall St. is going to pay record bonuses. It's human nature to adapt, and human beings are adapting to good times returning again. Caveat, so long as you aren't one of the 10% of Americans who are unemployed, things have gotten a lot better.

Rgds,

RB

I quit my full-time job in 2007. Since it was by choice, the frugality-requiring consequences also felt like a choice, and that made it loads easier. I stopped looking at my stocks as they were on the way down (since I wasn't going to sell), and I don't look at them now that they are on the way up, so I still feel poor, which helps me to stay in the frugal mindset. For example, I had to go on a family-related-business trip and stayed at a hostel -- it was really fun (and really cheap)!

If our finances open up we set aside for big splurges, like travel. But at home in the trenches, we stay the course. Saving, sale shopping, thrift stores, yard sales, gardening and canning are part of our normal rhythm. We had to be careful before the economy slump, and that hasn't changed. It is nice to encourage others in the frugal lifestyle without being considered oddballs.

How long will it take until forced frugality becomes a habit that can't be kicked even when it's no longer necessary? As bad as things are right now, I don't see that happening for a long time, if ever. It's a habit I want my family to embrace. One of my friends has already filed bankruptcy twice and it's not because of the economy, but because of her ridiculous spending habits and buying wants instead of needs, and I'm sure she's not the only one. At least she's inspired me to save more and buy less. Plus, my kindergartner is quite good at cutting coupons and it improves his fine motor skills.

We have definitely learned to become more frugal than ever before, and while there are some pleasures we would add back into our budget, for the most part we plan to stay the course and build up an emergency fund and remain debt free. If the economy ever improves (feeling discouraged about that right now!) I am hoping we can keep living on less so we can give and save more.

Good question... Those who got really burned and lost a lot might change permanently, or at least live more frugally. The 90%+ still employed might keep the habits/tricks they realized aren't so bad, but it's only natural to spend more when we feel richer. Others haven't learned a thing so as long as they've got space on their credit card they'll use it.

Overall the economy probably won't be quite as strong as it was the last few years. People, businesses and governments all learned one thing last year: the great depression could happen again, because our economy is more fragile than we thought. I think this fact alone will keep people, businesses and governments just a tad bit more responsible than before, on the whole. At least for a few years.

I am fortunate in that the downturn in the economy has not yet affected my income. As a teacher, I can't say that I haven't been worried that it will affect me, though. Luckily, I learned from parents and a grandmother how to be frugal and never really bought into the "have to have this and have to have that" mentality.
Because of the downturn, I have become more frugal but it isn't because I can't live on what I make. It is so that I can sock away extra cash in the event that I am affected.

As a reaction to all the moralizing I hear about frugality, I actually find myself being less frugal than I was a year ago. I don't go overboard, I mean I've never been able to spend a lot because I never had a large income, though I did go through a rough spot about 10 years ago due to overuse of credit. In the process of getting a handle on that, I went to a "cash" system, where I really don't use credit now at all, except where I absolutely can't avoid it.

When I was really in dire straits, I was very penny-conscious and did all kinds of things to cut back, but when things began to improve, I loosened up a little because I couldn't stand it any more. I am not talking big ticket items, I mean I started buying a package of cookies or a used book once in a while - little luxuries that helped me tolerate the deprivation. At this point, knock on wood, but there's a lot to do at work, so much that my job looks like it could survive the recession. I haven't cut back much because there isn't much to cut.

However, since the first of the year I've been splurging a little here and there, things I wouldn't have done last year, like a weekend getaway. As I said, I think I've gotten sick of the moralizing on how we should ALL be "doing our part" by cutting back. At some point my contrary streak rebels. Besides, someone has got to spend the money that's going to get us out of this economic slump. When the economy is back on its feet with consumer confidence up and jobs being created, you'll have me to thank... ha!