The recession has hit Main Street like a hurricane. Discretionary spending? It disappeared with the 401(k)s and secure jobs. Drastic measures are now mandatory for many families struggling to stay in their homes and maintain cohesiveness as household incomes are cut in half (or worse) and benefits disappear.
Penny-pinching is not just the new chic; it’s a survival skill. Credit cards are not status symbols any more. Rather, they are symbols of shame over personal histories of conspicuous consumption and a lingering struggle to pay off debt. They are the enemy. Cash, pay-as-you-go spending, and even bartering have earned new respect.
Generation Next Learns to Live Frugally
Living large is simply no longer an option for a growing segment of Middle America. Living frugally is not easy. It takes effort, creativity, endurance and a change of heart.
Instead of feeling deprived, people new to financial hardship are adopting attitudes of gratitude as a success strategy for modern times. It keeps things in perspective and keeps bitterness from taking root. Flexibility and optimism are being clung to as lifesavers, keeping American heads above water as they tread daunting financial waters.
The Greatest Generation provides a historical model for many to follow. Those who came of age as World War II became inevitable had already survived childhoods threatened by the ravages of the Great Depression. But that generation did not develop into listless, aimless teenagers. Rather, they became the brave heroes of WWII and later, the parents of the Baby Boom generation. These Depression Babies went on to become the most educated and productive generation in modern American history, building solid careers, families and lives from their enduring hopes and dreams.
Generation Next can do it, too. The global recession and ongoing war on terror is this generation’s Big One. They are starting to learn what they’re made of, and are beginning to exercise their true grit. In this crash course of life, they have learned that comfortable half-measures are no longer effective. Their lifestyles need drastic surgery.
Prices are high and a dollar just doesn’t stretch as far at it used to. A new era has dawned, featuring nearly-forgotten virtues from generations ago:
- Frugality (making careful purchases rather than impulse buying);
- Thrift(cutting coupons, waiting for sales, buying in bulk, etc.);
- Modesty (buying what’s needed rather than what’s desired);
- Saving (setting money aside each pay period rather than spending it all);
- Reducing (using fewer consumables and cutting back on the rate of consumption overall);
- Re-using (saving former throw-aways like margarine tubs and plastic cutlery for future use);
- Recycling (saving metal, glass, plastic and paper waste to redeem their values for cash at the recycling center);
It used to be called common sense. It’s just not so common any more. Middle-aged folks are being reminded and young adults are learning for the first time how to slow down, think soberly, and learn the rewards of delayed gratification and sacrifice.
Family members are once again team members, pooling resources and pitching in to make things a little easier. Times are tough, but from this crucible of hardship are coming timeless virtues of the human spirit.
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