Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Practical Wisdom From Yesterday's Women: Frugal Does NOT = Stingy

The last bit of wisdom I shared with you from The American Frugal Housewife involved not spending all that you had available.  We did not discuss the subject of what to do with the excess, but Ms. Child would not say we should hoard it away for ourselves!

"Economy is generally despised as a low virtue, tending to make people ungenerous and selfish. This is true of avarice; but it is not so of economy. The man who is economical, is laying up for himself the permanent power of being useful and generous."
Child, Lydia Maria Francis (2009-10-04). The American Frugal Housewife (Kindle Locations 154-156). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

She makes it very clear that she is not encouraging extravagant giving from those who already have great debt, because this is not fair to his family or his creditors.  To those who have no debts, she advises that "true economy is a careful treasurer in the service of benevolence."

In other words, if you have been blessed with excess, be mindful of those whom you could help.

Now my family is not debt free.  We are thankfully credit card free and no longer acquiring any more debt, so we are on the right path.  We will get there, but we aren't there yet.  But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't heed this piece of advice.

There are many other ways that we can be "useful and generous" that do not involve handing out actual cash.  We can share the fruits of our couponing!  We can share a coupon we won't use.  We can share a meal with those going through a rough time.  We can even just give of our time.

Lately couponers have gotten a bad rep, especially in this economy where many are becoming desperate to save money and feed their families.  There is shelf clearing.  There is rudeness, both to cashiers and other customers.  There is no need for that to be us.  As the quote above says, that is the definition of avarice, not economy.

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