Lawyer Uses Coupons, Frugality Is the ‘New Chic’ for Wealthy
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on March 12, 2009
By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone
This short article in the ABA Journal caught my eye: A Sign of the Decline of Conspicuous Consumption: Lawyer Uses Coupons.
George Cruikshank's original 1837 illustration of Dickens' Oliver Twist
I found certain quotes a bit disconcerting: It’s a little bit chic or something to save money, and It’s disrespectful to the people who don’t have much to flaunt your wealth.
The lawyers interviewed seemed to be channeling their inner Oliver Twist, an orphaned pauper holding an empty bowl and asking for “more.” Here’s a portion of the ABA Journal piece:
Conspicuous consumption appears to be on the decline, at least in Atlanta where social butterflies are wearing older dresses and even lawyers are trying to save money.
A story in the New York Times concludes the recession is affecting not only the stock market but also “the very ethos of conspicuous consumption.” The story says even those with a regular income are trying to save money by holding on to older cars and clothes and downscaling their vacations.
One sign of the times, according to the story, is the frugality of Atlanta corporate lawyer Jennifer Riley, who has begun patronizing restaurants that take coupons. Riley says big spending appears to be déclassé—at least in the short term. “I do think that maybe now it’s a little bit chic or something to save money, or to be pinching pennies,” she told the newspaper. In the long-term, she thinks Americans will return to their money-spending ways, the same way they began buying more gasoline when the prices went down.
Atlanta lawyer Monica Dioda Hagedorn, who is married to an heir of the Scotts Miracle-Gro fortune, sees another reason to refrain from big purchases. “It’s disrespectful to the people who don’t have much to flaunt your wealth,” she told the Times.
Next thing you know, the ABA Journal will find other wealthy lawyers who will extol the new-found frugal virtues of actually eating leftovers (how deliciously bourgeois!) and shopping at *gasp* Neiman Marcus Last Call (where they can pretend to be upper middle-class for an afternoon).
I hope that their conspicious consumption is indeed replaced by frugality, but the well-to-do are typically a fickle lot. Once the fad fades and they become bored, they often ask for more. Which usually isn’t a bowl of gruel, as it was for Oliver Twist. But I’ll give them a B+ for at least trying to be less self-indulgent during these rough economic times.
If only for an afternoon.
Related reading:
Michelle Malkin: Frugal Shoe Friday!
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Gleefully Frugal, NY Times Acknowledges Benefits of Thrift During Recession
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