frugal mom seeks penny pinchers

[Sara Noel]

Frugal mom seeks top penney pinchers
Sunday, June 5, 2005
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?C...&ID=226254&r=1
COLOR of MONEY Michelle Singletary Washington Post columnist

WASHINGTON — In a time when conspicuous consumption is the “in� thing, I feel like a frugal outcast.

To me the world seems less in tune with me and more with poet Ogden Nash, who wrote: “The further through life I drift, the more obvious it becomes that I am lacking in thrift.�

But I know there are legions of penny pinchers who are thrifty to a fault. In fact, I want to hear them, which means it’s again time for my Penny Pincher of the Year Contest.

The contest is simple. I’m looking for original penny-pinching strategies. You can nominate yourself, a friend, co-worker or relative. Winners will be featured in a future column. And, of course, there will be prizes.

So what’s original?

Susan Ganger of Dublin, Ohio, won honorable mention last year for saving money by going through other people’s trash. And where is some of the best trash? A university campus on move-out day, Ganger said.

“Students throw out perfectly good items because they don’t want to move them,� Ganger wrote in her entry last year. “There is no need to buy a dorm refrigerator as the students throw them out like they are paper. Carpet, clothing and furniture are there to be had.�

Now that’s a great idea.

Third place went to Mary Pat Wirkus of Middletown, Conn., who wrote that her husband saved $7 by replacing just the driver-side windshield wiper. Tina Leap of Lusby, Md., won second place for trying to concoct a homemade sports drink for her softball-playing daughters. The mixture of Kool-Aid, sugar, salt and water was not a hit. “They spat it out into the sink,� Leap wrote. “We all had a good laugh.�

Last year, the winning entry was submitted by a Virginia expectant mother, Lauren Wells, whose husband, Matt, took her for a penny-pinching ride she never will forget.

Wells had waited a little too long to start for the hospital. As the couple climbed in the car on the way to the hospital, her husband opted to skip taking a toll road to save $2.

Thank goodness this mom had a sense of humor. She arrived in plenty of time to deliver her baby girl. And she wasn’t even mad at her maddeningly frugal husband.

I loved her attitude. Wells knew her husband wouldn’t put her or the baby in danger. She appreciated — although not at the time — his penny pinching.

“I had to laugh,� Wells said. “I’m so grateful for him because he saves us a lot of money.�

You have to have a good sense of humor if you’re married to, related to or friends with a penny pincher. I know I drive my family nuts with my constant preaching about penny pinching.

In fact my oldest child, Olivia, had a money meltdown recently because I was grilling her about a particular purchase. Her school had an arts and crafts fair in which the children could purchase each other’s creations.

Olivia decided to buy a dream catcher, a work of art inspired by a Native American tradition in which a web is hung over your bed to catch bad dreams while good dreams are allowed through.

Olivia was proud that she had bought the dream catcher for $6.

“Are you sure that was the best price you could get?� I innocently asked.

“Mommy, please,� she said with exasperation. “It was a good deal. Why are you always talking to me about money? I know more about personal finance (seriously, she actually used that phrase) than any 10-year-old in the world.�

“Good,� I said trying to muffle a snicker.

My friends tease that one day Olivia is going to write a “Mommy Dearest� book about my frugal follies. I don’t care. At least she’ll make some money.

As I tell my children often, I sweat the small stuff because when you do you have big money for the things that really matter — like a college education.

In my house, every time one of my children asks for something and it’s not in the budget, I have two words for them — “college fund.�

Recently, when I used my two wise words on Olivia, she replied:

“Well, I have two words for you — nursing home.�

True story.

So what’s your penny pinching story? Enter the Penny Pincher of the Year Contest and let others share in your frustration or pass on a helpful hint.

Just so you know, edited versions of entries may be published (so nothing too gross folks). Only e-mail entries will be accepted. Send your entries by June 20 to

colorofmoney@washpost.com

Please put “2005 Penny Pincher of the Year Contest� in the subject line. Include your address and daytime and evening phone numbers.

[Heather]

Very good!! Love the nursing home line!

[homesteadmamma]

What a fun contest.

[Mom23boys]

Sounds like a fun contest.

[Lori Biever-Launder]

Should we ALL enter??

[mom2matty]

How fun!!!!

[Early Bird]

Originally posted by Sara Noel
My friends tease that one day Olivia is going to write a “Mommy Dearest� book about my frugal follies. I don’t care. At least she’ll make some money.

Now that's a great idea! Would she like to share co-author credit w/ my DD?