When Rafael La Rosa was a poor, unemployed university student, he took desperate measures to conserve cash.
His diet consisted almost exclusively of ramen noodles. He saved his used cigarette butts, reserving the leftover bits of tobacco to be rolled up and smoked later. Instead of shelling out for public transit, the Montreal resident walked everywhere, shedding nearly 60 pounds in the process. And when he made the trip home to Vancouver, he chose the cheapest route, which usually meant tacking eight extra hours of bus travel on to a six-hour flight.
“That was a very low point in my life,” he says.
And it’s why now that Mr. La Rosa has a decent-paying office job, he considers it ludicrous to see his peers unnecessarily live like paupers, trying to one-up each other by buying the cheapest, nastiest brands of beer and wearing threadbare clothes. One acquaintance, for example, is “a trust-fund kid but he dresses like a hobo.”
But because of the lean economy and concerns about the environment, frugality has become fashionable as people seek ways to reduce waste and consumption to save the planet and their pocketbooks. And, as they regard thriftiness as a challenge or test, some are taking it to the extreme – cutting back in ways that are sometimes even unsanitary.
In an interview published by Britain’s The Observer last week, Hollywood actor Vincent Kartheiser, from the hit television show Mad Men, revealed he has given up all material possessions, including temporarily a toilet.
“My house is just a wooden box,” he said, adding he uses his neighbour’s facilities and relishes his austere lifestyle.
Others, such as Annie Korzen, author of the recent book Bargain Junkie, admit to saving water and money by skipping showers and occasionally rewearing underwear turned inside out.
Meanwhile, money-saving online forums and blogs are rife with tactics such as separating two-ply toilet paper into two rolls, hoarding ketchup packets from fast-food restaurants and even asking funeral homes for flowers after the service is through.
“I think for some people, it sort of takes over,” says Megan DePutter of Guelph, Ont., who works in the non-profit sector, acknowledging that her own penny-pinching became something of an obsession. “It may have started trying to save a little money, but that becomes a game in itself.”
Ms. DePutter says at the height of her thriftiness, she spent much of her weekends collecting coupons and chasing sales. Stores occasionally advertise bargains on a “loss leader,” a product intended to lure customers through the door, she explains. With the right coupon, it’s possible to pick up those items free – or even get money back.
She also used to stockpile items she found on sale, such as razors and shaving gels. But she never took it as far as some bloggers, who convert their garages into makeshift warehouses. That, she says, is “frugality gone wrong.”
Ms. DePutter eventually gave up on her own compulsive bargain chasing after realizing the time she spent wasn’t worth the effort. She says she has now found a balance that allows her to live both frugally and simply.
Cheryl DeWolfe of Victoria, who posts money-saving tips on her blog FrugalVictoria.com, says she draws the line when cheapness poses health risks. For instance, when a reader suggested reusing dental floss as a way of reducing waste, Ms. DeWolfe refused to post the tip, questioning its hygiene.
“If it can endanger myself, I’m not even going to go there,” she says, adding she is likewise opposed to “freeganism,” which involves salvaging food from supermarket and restaurant dumpsters.
