Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A Thrifty and Saavy Twenty Something

When you think about the following words, what type of person comes to mind: thrifty, frugal, spendthrift and economical? Most people think of a woman in her 30's or 40's with a kid or two, trying to squeeze every penny out of the family's paycheck. Or at least that's the gist I got when asking my friends.

There is definitely a certain type of person or people that come to mind that would embody frugality more than others. And it's easy to say that we judge others based not only on their outward appearance, but their age and the setting we find them in. It's easy to think that person buying 12 buy one get two free t-shirts is a savvy shopper, but in reality, they could be great at 'spaving' and be up to their eyeballs in credit card debt.

There are tons of people out there who believe in the generalizations that have been fed to them about the different generations. When you deviate from those ideas, they look at you pretty funny and start to wonder what you are up to. It definitely takes a lot of courage to break away from the ideas of the mainstream and start down a different road. There are times when I find it difficult to say no to a dinner or a certain outing because I don't constantly want to be viewed as the homebody who doesn't want to go out.

And let's not even start with the grocery store or my favorite place, Target! Do people look at you odd when you hand the cashier over a stack of coupons, half printed from the web and the other half clipped, and then stating that you saved over $40 on your shopping trip today? They usually do for me, because no one is expecting a 20-something to be willing to put that much effort into anything, especially to save money. They see us as the lazy and entitled generation, not the clipping coupon and stooping to pick a penny class.

I've come to accept what people will think about me, and what sometimes my friends think about me. Those who have stuck around, even when I suggest a walk in the park followed by ice cream instead of dinner and drinks are those who are meant to be there. Logging onto Facebook and seeing those that have purchased their brand new car or a 5 week vacation to 8 points in Europe, reminds me that we grew apart for a certain reason. Not because they are not nice people, but our priorities in life at this given point are different.

Have you ever met someone who didn't fit your 'frugal' or 'thrifty' image? Have you ever seen someone save a whole bunch with coupons and give them a mental high-five (I have!)?

2 comments:

  1. Yes! I have a dear friend who cannot understand why I would shop at Ross, TJ Maxx, and Marshallas for clothes. She came with me once and just stood there watching me.

    A lot of people get annoyed when they see me using coupons at the store too, but it saves me money so I don't really care.

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    1. They actually have amazing clothes!!! It surprises me that people really 'need' the name brand stuff to be bought at the mall or the exact store. I've found tons of Michael Kors at my local TJ Maxx!

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