Fighting Back

Let’s begin with a few things about me. I’m not especially attractive. I’m terrible with directions. I can’t build Ikea furniture to save my life. I once used a knife upside down for two minutes, wondering, with increasing frustration, why I couldn’t cut a cafeteria pork chop.

I am, nevertheless, great at saving money.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no finance guru. There’s no string of credentials after my name. I have but a humble degree in journalism (ka-ching, right?!). In another lifetime, I was a business journalist, with my work finding its way into the pages of Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal. This is true. But beyond that, I’m just an amateur frugal enthusiast, partly out of necessity and partly for fun.

Necessity because I’m a millennial who entered the job market during the Great Recession with some student debt. Necessity because wages have not risen in tandem with worker productivity since the mid-seventies. Necessity because the cost of everything from healthcare to education to childcare to housing has risen dramatically. Necessity because we’re now in the middle of another recession. Necessity because pensions have all but disappeared and 401K matches keep getting more and more pathetic. Necessity because social security might (probably will?) disappear.

Fun because I like a challenge. Sure, I could go all Network and get mad as hell. But that’s not going to change anything. Ditto for moping. The rules of the game have changed. So let’s start playing the game differently.

I see two main ways forward for the ninety-nine percent. We either all land lucrative, six-figure jobs (I’ve tried and failed) or we start spending less and saving more. This is a blog about the latter.

It’s premised on the belief that it’s easier to save a dollar than to earn it. You typically have to earn more than a dollar to earn a dollar. Taxes, right? You also have to put in sweat equity. To save, however, is to embrace your God-given laziness. I could drive to the mall (which costs money in and of itself) or I could just sit here and read this library book. I basically always choose the library book. How about you?

Nothing earth shattering is going to appear here. Most of what’s to come is common sense. But hopefully I can provide some helpful guidance to my fellow millennials and Gen-Z brethren who are at the mercy of an unfortunate (polite euphemism) economic landscape.

Shared henceforth will be small, actionable steps you can take today that will add up to something meaningful in the aggregate. Add up to a nest egg. Add up to greater financial independence. Add up to flexibility. Let’s take this journey together. The first step is changing your “default spend setting.” The system. The man. The machine. This abstract entity that increasingly operates at odds with your self-interest. Whatever you call it, it wants you shelling out your hard-earned dough like it’s nothing. Screw that. Viva la frugal résistance.