Frugal support, part deux. . . .

Wednesday, I met with a small group of people in the Portland area who are also pursuing increasingly frugal habits, attempting to spend less, save more, and basically reduce our own contributions to a society filled with overconsumption and waste.

While the group was small, it was interesting and included the following (names and genders have been changed to protect the frugal):

John: recently moved to Portland, and while the transition has been a smooth one, he wants to learn how to live on less and save more. He shared some of his strategies, which include using coupons, lighting his home with candles in the winter to reduce energy usage (this sounds so cozy), and taking public transportation when he can.

Ann: has been living by the tenets of Your Money or Your Life for the past two years. As a result of insight gained from the book, she decided to sell her house and now rents an apartment. She is also a fan of the Tightwad Gazette, which is a wonderful (though giant) book of hundreds (possibly thousands) of frugal tips. This is someone I think I can learn from.

Jeff: Jeff is an entrepreneur, and was primarily interested in issues related to consumerism, greed, and more 'global' problems. The rest of the group, including myself, were more interested in discussing what we, as individuals, can do to live more frugally. Still, an interesting person.

Mike: Mike is married with a child, and, like John, also recently relocated to the Portland area. He is also a member of a "green parenting" group, which sounds interesting. Although he's been in the city for a short time, he's already made contact with other vegans and those interested in forming a food co-op.

This was our first meeting, and I sincerely hope we can manage to get together again. I'm definitely going to suggest meeting with one or more of the people who were there to discuss voluntary simplicity and frugal issues in more depth.