Granite Staters Return to Frugality

By Laura Knoy on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.

For centuries, New Hampshire Yankees have always been known for being resourceful. Now, with a recession and many people either losing their jobs or thousands of dollars from their retirement savings, Granite Staters have begun to return to these dime-stretching ways. They are shopping smarter, finding money-saving deals and reacquainting themselves with old school cost cutting measures. Today we’ll look at this trend, what some are doing to cut costs and if this trend will continue when good economic times come back.

Guests

  • Garen Daly, Executive Producer of Frugal Yankee.com, and the “Frugal Yankee” a bi-weekly radio show on WNTN, Newton, MA and a weekly television show on NE Cable News
  • Amy Schmidt, Associate Professor of Economics and Business at Saint Anselm College

We'll also be joined by

  • Wendy Thomas, author of a weekly column in the Nashua Telegraph called “Simple Thrift”. She's also started a blog called Simple Thrift, where she post tips and experiences about having 6 kids and being thrifty.
  • Melody Polakow, A recently laid off vegetarian chef living in Portsmouth. She writes the blog Melomeals, on creative and inexpensive vegetarian recipes on $3.33 a day or less.
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Granite Staters Return to Frugality
April Gregg - Wed, 04/15/2009 - 08:34

My husband and I have 7 dogs and I used to spend about $50 every couple of weeks buying them all natural dog treats. Now that I'm unemployed I just couldn't keep spending that kind of money on them. So now I make my own dog treats. It takes a lot of time but the ingredients are all natural and it costs about a fraction of what I was paying in the store for them.

Baby Boomers & Consumption
bobsr - Wed, 04/15/2009 - 08:35

I would like to make a point I think many are missing. Baby Boomers DON'T NEED to buy very much. We already have everything! We are trying to get RID of the excess stuff we have,
and we are all FEELING poorer.

I would not expect them to ever again start the cycle of spending. Kids are gone, educations paid for, house(s) full of STUFF.

Putting money towards Savings to replace what the Financial Industry has stolen from us is more the trend. I hear people bragging about how they are SAVING money and NOT spending it. Stories abound about how to SAVE MONEY. Even if some really "don't need to."

It won't come back with this Demographic,in my view. And I'm pretty sure the rest of the population has also gotten the message.

10,000 people showing up at a job fair is a pretty good indication of what is REALLY happening.

Frugality
Bruce Eaton - Wed, 04/15/2009 - 09:08

Putting our money in art and craft can help directly stimulate our local economy, provide lasting value, and lasting enjoyment for the consumer. We purchased a painting last year while on vacation in Maine. Spent more than we probably should have, but I look at it every day and really love it. We don't have a big fancy TV but the painting really brings us more joy than a TV ever would, it supported a local person, and it'll keep some value over our lifetime.