Frugality is sexy

Canadian Penny
Originally uploaded by Martin Ujlaki

It's official: I am totally hip.

The internet tells me that I am have been on the leading edge of the coolest new trend: frugality.

Except that the examples of frugality given in article is for chumps. Amateurs, I say! What about riding your bike to save on public transportation costs? What about giving up on your in-flight meal and bringing your OWN food? What about reusing your Starbucks cup to get the $0.10-discount? Or using the registered Starbucks card to get free syrup in your drink?

What about staking out all the PWYC nights for plays and especially those Shakespeare in the Park options that you can enjoy for super-cheap-to-free?

Turning off the lights and turning down your air con and using air flow to cool the house -- of course these are old-hat for savers like me.

But scouring the flyers for the cheapest groceries and best sales is a new habit I've come to enjoy. Even my house hunting (after selling the house -- closing date, Sept. 30th!) involves not compromising on a price that doesn't involve a stretch in my monthly payments, even though the bank assures me I could afford so much more. Even if it means quite a bit of elbow grease. That's OK, it just means that I'll have more cheap-to-free exercise.

Ah, it's nice to be cool!