These Are Frugal Tips? Is the Today Show Nuts?
Monday, November 10, 2008 7:01Dear Today Show on NBC:
I am a loyal viewer. I have only two channels - NBC and PBS - so I enjoy watching the Today Show with my morning cup of coffee. Sunday morning (November 9), I sat down for a little quiet and a little weather and news and whatnot. As the writer of a blog on being green and frugal, I was very happy to see that you would be doing a segment on how to save money in these tough times.
Imagine my surprise when you gave us, instead, two beautiful young ladies who told me how to save money by doing some of the silliest things of which I had ever heard.
Cut back on my cellphone service? Really? That’s a “frugal” tip? If I’m that strapped for cash, shouldn’t I give up the luxury of a cellphone? I don’t have a cellphone. I also don’t have a Blackberry. I don’t pay for things that require contracts or extraneous services. Besides, I live in rural Vermont and cellphones don’t work here.
Cut back on my “morning cup of Joe?” My husband and I thought about this. It used to be that a can of Folger’s or Maxwell House was the “expensive” brand of coffee. No one would have considered paying $4 for a cup of coffee every morning. Now, buying coffee out is the norm. Not me! I have a big, old-fashioned coffee maker and fill it up - twice - every morning.
I won’t go through the whole list of silly tips, but what I will say is that the reason people are in the position we are in is because we have been brought up believing that we are entitled to the “finer” things - regardless of our income level. We have been coaxed by marketing and television into believing that it’s OK to buy on credit or that we need more than we do.
Silly little tips on how to save money on manicures or cellphone service is not going to do it. This country needs to go back to the basics. People need to understand that cellphones are not a “need.” Salon visits are not a “need.” Pre-packaged, pre-processed food is not a “need.”
What we need to be giving people tips on is how to start a small garden that’s going to provide the bulk of a family’s produce. Or how to shop for bulk food. Or how to cook from scratch. Do you know how many people write to me and ask me how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch? Most kids that come to my house think mac and cheese comes out of a box - they didn’t know you could make it with real cheese!
Please, concentrate on giving us tips that are helpful. I appreciate wanting to live “well,” really I do, but it’s not until we, as a society, see that hard work, growing food, and saving money is the key to living well that anything will change.
Best,
Michelle Kennedy Hogan
Lori says:
November 10th, 2008 at 10:13 am
great letter, great post. people need to rethink needs vs. wants, luxuries vs. basics. the kind of change they were promoting on the show isn’t real change.
Amber says:
November 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am
It’s like you read my mind with this one! Makes me laugh when “cutting the premium channels out of your cable bill” is a suggestion for people in “financial crisis”. I haven’t had cable since I moved out of my parent’s house 14 years ago!
People can be so silly…
Pages tagged "frugal" says:
November 10th, 2008 at 10:46 am
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Condo Blues says:
November 10th, 2008 at 11:30 am
The fake frugal tips things drives me nuts too. My local tv station has started doing these and sometimes I just want to call them up and say,”please find a real person to give workable tips than just parroting something you read on the Internet.” Unless it’s my blog.
I try to give people real options and try to realize what works for me may not work for you. For example, having a cell phone is a money-saver for me because I use it as my home phone, which was killing me in long distance charges. but this option works for me because I live in a city and most of my friends have the save service (free mobile to mobile calls.)
The same thing goes for “fake environmentally friendly living tips.” In that case it’s of the “I did this so everyone else should do the exact same thing too!” which isn’t always realaistic given regional and economic differences.
Lydia Beyoud says:
December 4th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I think those talk shows are inherently superficial and am not surprised that their tips weren’t really all that helpful. The frugality and knowledge of my grandparent’s generation has been totally superceded by this “I deserve the finer things” ethos you talked about. But I think we’re going back to it! My university has a community garden, so do many of the K-12 schools in my city. PBS had a great special recently about how a farmer’s market and community gardens in New York City (and surroundings) is genuinely changing the lives -eating habits and health- of low-income families in high-crime districts. THAT’s the kind of advice our nation needs! (If you’re interested, you can probably find it on their website). Great post, I hope they listen to you!
Valerie Deneen says:
December 8th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I could not agree with you more. It is time to get back to basics, and for most people there is a steep learning curve. And I understand completely about the make it from scratch issue… I have had kids visit and they did not know what real chicken looks like. They had only ever seen chicken nuggets! How sad is that???
Valerie
Frugal Family Fun Blog
Good times on a budget!