Whatever happened to thrift?
- Details
- Created: Monday, 02 July 2007 17:26
- Written by Tom Lipp
Who needs it? Of course money doesn’t grow on trees, but in our province it oozes out of the ground.
Haven’t you noticed? With the Alberta advantage all around who wants to be a tightwad freak?
If we were all thrifty wouldn’t our economy shrink? Wouldn’t the banks go bankrupt? Who would make the fat cats fat? Who would keep all that money if they didn’t keep it? (Now that is a good question!)
Let’s go back to the beginning. Once upon a time in Virtueland courage, honesty, diligence, self-control, kindness, humility, honesty, thrift and others all lived happily together. They worked together and played together. In those days people went shopping to “spend” rather than shopping to “save”. It was the time when there were three “R’s” to the wise use of resources – reduce, reuse and recycle. Now only recycle remains. Why save money in tiny amounts when you can spend just a few dollars to buy a chance to win multi-millions? Thrift was no longer popular. Impatience made that obvious.
One day news came from a distant land across the great waters that the Irish had a new idea. It came sweeping into the county and set up stakes all around. From then on (1960) money could be made fast and easy. Lucky lottery had immigrated. Lucky lottery made thrift look stupid. Why save money in tiny amounts when you can spend just a few small amounts to buy a chance to win multi-millions? Thrift was no longer popular. Impatience made that obvious.
The rulers of the land were soon spending more than they took in. About this time they decided that the first $1000 on interest income on savings accounts should also be taxed. This discouraged ordinary citizens from building and holding funds at the bank. Soon credit card cancer grew up and cash started to disappear. As the land became more cashless, thrift became a fugitive. Finally thrift was caught unawares with an easy line of credit using the home equity takeout as bait. Now thrift is being held captive by arrogant abundance.
What would it take to release thrift from captivity? I see two alternatives. Arrogant abundance could be expelled from Alberta and replaced by a drastic depression or valiant vision could come to the rescue.
Thrift is a learned skill. It can survive in a time of abundance but only if we have a strongly held financial goals not motivated by greed.Many years ago my mother worked in the towers of downtown Toronto. She had stared out in the Sears steno pool and then over a period of almost two decades as she and my dad raised us four children, she climbed the administrative ladder to become a bilingual executive legal secretary.
One year she and my grandmother went for a fancy winter vacation in Florida.
The other secretaries were shocked. They said how can you afford to go on winter vacation in this economic climate on a secretary’s wage? My mom asked them how much they spent on lunch that day. The reply was three dollars. My mom replied, “I brought my lunch from home and saved three dollars today, sixty dollars this month and almost seven hundred dollars this year. My vacation money came from my lunch money.
I relate this story to make a point. Thrift is a learned skill. It can survive in a time of abundance but only if we have a strongly held financial goals not motivated by greed.
It’s time to make an important distinction. Thrift is not the same as stinginess. Many people confuse the two. Thrift is defined as frugality, wise economic management and the careful use of resources. On the other hand, stinginess is the a selfish reluctance to share resources. In other words, although both concepts have common ground in safeguarding resources, thrift is self-less in its direction whereas stinginess is self-centered. Thrift is a virtue. Stinginess is a vice.
As a financial planner I have found that thrifty people are often amazingly generous. They are very reluctant to waste money but very willing to give it away. It’s time to make an important distinction. Thrift is not the same as stinginess.
I suspect that thrift will make a comeback when virtuous vision and generosity arrive on the scene. Consider the thrift (good use of resources) that Jesus demonstrated when He multiplied the loaves and fish as recorded in John chapter six. After He had fed thousands of people He said. “Collect the left over pieces so that nothing is wasted.” Imagine that. He didn’t want to waste food. He didn’t even leave it for the birds and gophers. He could have made more bread and fish on the spot anytime in the future. Instead, He wanted to train His disciples in the proper use of resources and focus more on the lesson than on the food. It’s always good to learn from the Master.
