Is becoming Self Sufficient the new fad?

[valmom]

Even if I HAD the money, I would not spend it that way. That is part of why we left Los Angeles. I refused to buy 100 dollar outfits every day for my children for them to fit in to the upper middle class white neighborhood we lived in. Tain't right! And I've never been a keep-up-with-the Joneses type. I've always preferred blue jeans to nylons and a dog friendly jeep to a fancy sports car.

And if I won the lotto I'd build a cool SS house right here and put a boarding kennel/shelter right here with the money, maybe take a vacation to the beach.....or Ohio to visit all my SS friends. But those would be my goals and aspirations, and they were BEFORE we saw soapmaking demos on the morning news and backyard chicken articles in the Sunday paper.
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My partner and I always think wistfully about what we would do if we won the lotto. We are leaning on buying enough land for a family compound for her parents and some brothers and sisters who are interested in the same sorts of things- like gardening, and animals, and making your own things (some would probably have heart attacks at how we would like to live). Now we just have to unbend the wallet enough to actually buy lottery tickets!

 

[chickenone]

I think that people who brag about how much money they have and people who brag about how little they live on arent' really much different from each other.

 

[Wifezilla]

Yeah right

 

[chickenone]

Yeah right

It's true. One is proud of their possessions and the other is proud of their humility. They both think they are better than the other. They look down on each other instead of celebrating their differences.

 

[Wifezilla]

When the rich guy who brags about his wealth hits a rough spot, what happens?
When the tightwad hits a rough spot, how would he react?

Now it is true they are both jerks for bragging as you pointed out, but one is going to totally crumble, the other one will be fine.

 

[chickenone]

The rich one will sell something of value or take money out of savings or call on one his rich family members.

The poor one will suffer.

 

[Wifezilla]

That is not my experience.

The rich guy will continue to live his high lifestyle and get in such bad shape he needs to move in to his sister's basement. (happening to someone we know right now!)

The frugal guy just lives on his savings.

 

[chickenone]

That may be true; but here again, we are talking about who is right and who is wrong; who has the better lifestyle. Some people prefer to work in an office and watch TV in their spare time; some people enjoy the challenge of wresting a living from the earth. Why does one have to be right and one wrong? That was really what I was getting at. I was just surprised at the attitude that people who don't spend every second of their lives trying to become more frugal are deluded slaves. Some people just don't want to work that hard. Some people can't. I don't think there is only one right way to live, and I was amused to realize that people who are dirt poor can be just as snobbish about their circumstances as the wealthy can be. It's funny when you think about it.

 

[abifae]

I was just surprised at the attitude that people who don't spend every second of their lives trying to become more frugal are deluded slaves.

I don't think anyone said that at all. Most of this forum is about balancing it out. How much can you actually do and what things do you have to give up on.

 

[chickenone]

I was just surprised at the attitude that people who don't spend every second of their lives trying to become more frugal are deluded slaves.

I don't think anyone said that at all. Most of this forum is about balancing it out. How much can you actually do and what things do you have to give up on.

I just hear a lot of "us vs them" sometimes. Maybe I am mistaken, but it seems to me that people who like to watch television, or who dont' grow their own food are looked down upon here.