Free Republic

Even the Pope, therapists and Wal-Mart are now endorsing an anti-consumer lifestyle that our wise grannies knew of long ago: thrift, frugality, humble style makes for a merrier life, and a closer family. Wear out those shoes with pride.

Back in 1985, I'm five years old and staring into my lunchbox. All around me, children are ripping into packs of Monster Munch. I've got yesterday's quiche and a mushy tomato. And there's something soggy at the bottom, possibly a homemade rock bun, but I can't be sure. My lunchbox was a testament to my mother's thrifty habits Today, it would be celebrated as a resourceful meal made from leftovers. Back then, I didn't give a hoot about food waste and packaging. I wanted pickled onion crisps and a Penguin bar. It wasn't that my parents were tofu-munching hippies who...

Frugal Public School Teacher Donates $2.1 Million to Alma Mater The Associated Press Published: Jun 20, 2005 HOUSTON (AP) - A retired public school teacher who was so frugal that he bought expired meat and secondhand clothing left $2.1 million for his alma mater, Prairie View A&M - the school's largest gift from a single donor. Whitlowe R. Green, 88, died of cancer in 2002. He retired in 1983 from the Houston Independent School District, where he was making $28,000 a year as an economics teacher. His donation shocked family members and friends alike. "He was a very meager person....

Welfare lines would shrink if everyone became frugal. Being frugal ain't easy. We're variously seen as fringe fanatics, minimalists, or threats to a consumerist driven economy. It's not easy to hide being frugal, either, and it's even hard to imagine a society where being frugal was accepted. What a life that would be! What a cut to the goverment's beloved welfare programs! If everyone understood how to stretch food, how to cut back on utility costs, how to get out and stay out of debt, how to find alternative housing and transportation and how to shop for necessities with a...

After a two-year hiatus, I've brought back my Penny Pincher of the Year contest. The number of frugal folks and the lengths they go to to save money amazed even me. I received hundreds of entries from all over the country, from the tried and true (reusing plastic bags) to the disgusting (bathing in someone else's used bath water is just not right, and it's not sanitary) to knee-slap funny (sisters a year apart sharing the same high school ring). But I just love penny-pinching people. And believe me, I'm right there with them. In fact, my friends and family...

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the professional tightwad worth $25 million who is President Bush's budget director, has plenty of money to pay for landscaping at his big waterside home in Indiana. But he just happened to be pushing a mower around his front lawn last week when a reporter drove up for an interview.

And the winner is . . . really cheapLooking for tips on frugality, a columnist finds connoisseurs of conservation, experts on economy, sultans of scrimping. By Jeff BrownInquirer Columnist There is the granny who has her chauffeur circle the block to find a meter with time left on it . . . The man who goes to Phillies games free by rushing over during rain delays . . . The woman who gets mulch and clothes by gathering discarded scarecrows after Halloween . . . Then there were the many, many contestants who carefully dry their paper towels for reuse,...