AFFLUENZA 101

The number “13” was a lucky one for me. During that year of marriage, our family moved to Oregon where I found that folks were down to earth and my frugal lifestyle and I fit right in.

There were local events such as Portland’s “Saturday Market”, grocery stores with great sales, grocery stores where I could buy bulk items out of a large barrel; and a grocery outlet store with deeply discounted food/grocery items. The outlet was selling “brands” that I recognized from other areas of the country at a fraction of the cost.

During those years, “Donahue” was the king of daytime talk. He interviewed a family on his show that had been featured in “Parade” magazine, the weekly news magazine featured in most Sunday newspapers. Amy Dacyzyn raised her family in Maine on her husband’s Navy pension with six children. She wrote a newsletter called “Tightwad Gazette” and several books. I could not get enough of her writings.

Amy was an inspiration to those living a frugal lifestyle during affluent times. After all, these were the early 90’s, a time of prosperous dot.com industries. In 1991, I first scribed “Frugal Bugle”, the newsletter. Frugal Bugle version 1.0 was a flop. Or was it? Maybe it was just a little ahead of its time.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Be willing to try new brands or generics! What may be unknown to you, may be “brand” elsewhere in the country.