‘Ultimate Cheapskate' offers lessons in frugality

Author's tips popular as economy continues spiral

Friday, April 24, 2009

At his talk Thursday night at the Calvert Library Prince Frederick, Jeff Yeager's only prop was a pile of empty sugar sacks collected by the library beforehand. Durable and free, the paper bags would last for months. He urged his listeners to take one on the way out, and not pay for lunch sacks ever again.

The Accokeek resident is the author of "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches," and in his April 16 talk, based on his book, he urged Americans to embrace economies large and small to fatten their wallets and improve their lives.

Yeager was dubbed "the Ultimate Cheapskate" by Matt Lauer during an appearance on the "Today" show, and some of his message has been considered subversive in a culture that emphasizes consumerism, he said. Before his book came out, his publisher was leery of his advice to "finish in a starter home," or "consider buying a modest house when you're just starting out and staying there for the rest of your life." At the time, the advice was considered foolish, but "now, frankly, I'm heralded as a prophet," he said.

Cutting back on spending will benefit the environment as well as making people happier by lessening money worries and causing them to seek out creative, healthy ways to spend their time, he said.

"I believe that current rates of spending in America and other developed nations is unsustainable to the Earth and possibly unfair" to poor nations, he said. "… Unless the universe is offering a buy-1-get-1-free deal on planets, I think we're screwed."

To cut down on spending, Yeager urged Americans to learn skills that promote self-sufficiency, enabling them to skip the "money step" of buying something or paying for a service.

As an example of the benefits of this approach, Yeager told a story from his youth which he dubbed "the allegory of the ax and the basketball." When he was a teenager, he and his brother were splitting driftwood for use as firewood when they fished a basketball out of the river. His brother offered him $5 to split the ball with his ax; Yeager accepted, only to have the ax rebound off the ball, with the flat back of the blade striking him in the forehead and knocking him unconscious. The experience shows the perils of thinking that earning money will be easy and ignoring the consequences of seeking it, he said.

Liz Stoffel, land manager for the American Chestnut Land Trust, said much of what Yeager said was familiar to her but that she enjoyed the talk anyway.

"When I was a younger person, I ended up going back to school," she said. "Not a lot of money as a single mom. My children wanted school sneakers and those sorts of things, and we often had to look for brand names in thrift stores. They were embarrassed by that aspect of our life at the time but now as adults, they appreciate it because they're the ones that, as times get tough, they can do better without [things]."

Helen Cummings of Port Republic said she already considers herself frugal but "it was nice getting reinforcement."

She said there can be social consequences to trying to be thrifty in a consumerist culture, but that the recession has made life easier.

"Yes, definitely, you can say, ‘I can't afford that'" without feeling uncomfortable, she said.

Dianne Nestor, Cummings' neighbor, said the downturn might have long-term effects for Americans' attitudes about money. While she doesn't aspire to Yeager's level of frugality, she agrees that "We need to spend less and be more careful about the environment and have less stuff," Nestor said. "Unfortunately, I live with someone who is big-time into stuff, so I bought this book," she said, teasing her husband and waving a crisp, new copy of Yeager's book.

emitrano@somdnews.com