Posted on 03/06/2009 2:27:51 PM PST by Caleb1411
Maybe thrift isn't dead after all. The Year of the Bottomless Bailout has yielded a much needed correction in the lives of ordinary Americans. While fiscal restraint is AWOL in Washington, individual frugality has made a cultural comeback. Better late than never.
In large and small ways, we are cutting back. An online Zogby International survey this week reported that 70 percent of households are foregoing movies and restaurants. Forty percent of those polled said they were delaying the purchase of major items such as automobiles, home entertainment electronics or a computer; the same percent said they were giving up vacations. Notably, Reuters pointed out, "nearly 80 percent of younger adults, aged 18-29, said they have scaled back on going out, compared to 55 percent of people 65 years and older."
Pollster John Zogby called the results "depressing." I beg to differ. Out of necessity, a consumption-based society is learning to live within its means. For decades, government policies fueled that insatiable appetite and new government programs are desperately trying to preserve it. But the Obama administration's frantic efforts to encourage more brainless home buying, car buying and consumer borrowing aren't producing their desired results. Generational theft, it seems, has a silver lining.
The phenomenon is spreading beyond America's borders. London-based economic journalist Hamish McRae recently observed: "We may be on the cusp of a big socioeconomic shift. We have had half a century when the developed world has gradually moved away from regarding thrift as a virtue. It has moved at different speeds in different countries, faster in the U.S. and UK than in Germany or China. We have created the institutional structure that has supported this shift: from credit cards to collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). The world has clearly reached a point where
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Do as I say...not as I do mentality in the White House?
Are we sure he isn't really from somewhere a lot warmer than that? ;-)
ok, so you take cube steak, dip it in flour, dip it in buttermilk, redip in the flour and deep fry..cover with a good white gravy and that’s some good eatin..(In this southerners mind)..
Denny’s is practically empty but an upscale steak house with excellent food and very high prices is full every night. So far. At least in my ‘hood. OMG, the Norwegian salmon was to die for.
CFS is delicious, but it’ll make your heart explode like a kid’s balloon. Plus, all that gravy and breading — I can’t eat stuff like that any more. Schnitzel tastes great and is better for you.
Just fixed that the other day, and gee was it good. I have to admit that I always went to Cracker Barrel to eat theirs, but mine was even better. We are eating out less.
Well, this will be the first May in 8 years that i’m not going to Las Vegas, Even though the room rates are FREE the airfare is worse than ever.
Whatever...all i’ll see there is the same old and the half-built hotels sitting there quiet.
“Are we sure he isn’t really from somewhere a lot warmer than that?”
Not sure if that’s where he came from, but that’s where he’ll end up(unless he meets Jesus).
Oh man... with green beans and butterd bread! Thanks!
hot cornbread right out of the oven is even more better..THEN you drench it in butter..
sure, the arteries clog just thinkin about it, but dang it’s good stuff..:)
We can’t afford cube steak.
I fry ‘em up naked in pan then dump in a can of ranch beans and can of corn.
It’ll be fun to post our thrifty dinners on a “What’s For Dinner/Supper Tonight” thread!
Me first - Tonight I had a hot dog on whole wheat bread w/relish and brown mustard, half a cup of canned small green peas and half a cup of mandarin oranges with unsweetened tea.
sigh. . . I think I’ll be the winner of the commendation medal for the cheapest meal tonight.
Only rule is NO MAKING FUN OF ANYONE’S VITTLES!
Mmmmmm....chicken fried steak :-)))
heh..lotsa people know exactly what I was talkin about just based on the description..
good eatin..get some mustard/turnip greens (boiled with sliced bacon/ham hocks), garlic mashed taters, some cornbread right out of the oven, sit down to eat and you’ll think you done died and went to heaven..:)
Now fix me up some of them biscuits and gravy :-)
“Are we sure he isn’t really from somewhere a lot warmer than that? ;-)”
You mean like...HELL?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.