The Frugal Family Guide. . . .

Hey all, this is a late-day post to turn you on to a wonderful article I just discovered, in the online version of Newsweek. It's called The Frugal Family Guide, and although it's not really a 'guide' per se, it's a rather funny essay by a writer named Steve Tuttle.

Mr. Tuttle writes about his parents (who are in their late 60's, early 70's) and their lifelong commitment to frugality. For the senior Tuttles, frugality isn't just a reaction to the latest grim economic news. No, living thriftily (is that a word?) is just a state of mind, something that comes naturally, and has allowed them to send two kids to college, pay off their house (that they built themselves), and amass a rather large savings account.

THIS is what I aspire to. To live frugally not because I have to, but because it's the right thing to do. Mr. Tuttle's parents remind me of my grandparents (now in their 90's) whom I used to think of as 'miserly' but who re-used anything they could rather than replacing with a shiny new 'thing' (my grandmother still had her 50 year old working toaster when we moved her into an independent living facility). My grandmother can afford to live in a nice apartment with good nursing care and in close proximity to her children because she and my grandpa lived like the Tuttles.

Anyhow, this post was supposed to be a few lines intended only to introduce you to this article, but I'm so blown away by the simplicity and common-sense approach of it that I seem to have lost control a bit. . . . Enjoy!