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In CHEAP We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue

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Actually, Lauren Weber's words are "Cheap is the new green," and are her hopeful nod to ecology as the prompt that might finally make frugality sexy in America. Because, to date, nothing else has much tempered its persistent unpopularity and negative connotations with miserliness, self-denial and unworthiness.

To be clear, it's primarily frugality and thrift that Weber explores here (as in the economical use of resources ... living simply and mindfully, without waste), and cheapness (as in consuming inexpensively) to a lesser degree. In a journalist's voice, she writes about the history of thrift and spending from the Puritans and Quakers to Emerson and Thoreau; from wartime rationing to the expanded postwar industrial capacity that spurred consumerism; from the origin of savings banks, through the growth and decline of home economics, to the Depression and today's financial crisis.

She also explores economics, sociology and a number of competing tensions. For example, is it good citizenship to demonstrate personal responsibility through personal savings, or better to support the national (even global) economy by spending? If you do spend, should it be on "productive" (essential) goods with their long-term economic benefit and not on "consumptive" (luxury) goods? Do your personal savings on ultra-inexpensive imported goods outweigh their high political and environmental costs? And what about advertising, forced obsolescence, ego gratification and keeping up with the Joneses?

Readers with any level of interest in frugality will find themselves repeating the WWII mantra, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without," and will see themselves described in this book -- somewhere along Weber's continuum from Dumpster-diving freegans to folks who simply believe that less is more.

While I did enjoy reading some of the historical background of the frugality movement, as well as the presentation of the "Freegan" movement. Overall I found the read quite a bit disjointed, among other things, when it does not differentiate between cheap and smart consumers.

For example, author's father was shouting anytime a light was left on, even though he did not know the cost of the electricity wasted. In many cases switching on and off a light, reduces the life of the bulb, which is wasteful, while saving a negligible amount of electricity. The author continues to brag how her father, despite his cheapness, paid for her expensive tuition at a private college. Again, that's not rational, considering that a state school in most cases provides the best value.

The author also could have touched on how modern technology allows for a more frugal living. For example such avenues like Amazon Marketplace and eBay allow the sale of non-needed goods in a much more efficient way than garage sales (by selling online I usually can recover at least 50% of the original cost of the items, and sometimes more than 100% !). Also, it now becomes more and more feasible to not own a car, even in a suburb with limited public transit, thanks to proliferation of eCommerce (I do more than 3/4 of shopping online, even ordering some of my groceries online from sites like Amazon Fresh. I not only save upwards to 75% of what I can get at local Mall, but also don't need to own a car to transport bulky goods)

I also wish the author talked more on planned obsolescence. I personally like shopping from stores that give a lifetime warranty on their products (like LLBean), even though it require extra hassle, than buying it from a local store. However the $50 backpack I've bought at LLBean endured a lot of weight and abuse, and its zippers never failed for many years of daily use. While those "cheap" ($10 on sale) backpacks I used to buy from drugstores, didn't last even a season of daily use ! So while both were made in China, one was made to last, and the other to not lost. Like that old story goes:

"An American businessman goes to Italy and ask the factory owner if a pair of shoes can be made for $70, "We should be able to", how about "$50", "No, we can't make shoes for $50" the Italian factory owner responds.

The same businessman goes to China and asks if a pair of shoes can be made for "$50", "Certainly", "How about "$30", "Sure", "How about "$10" the greedy businessman asks the Chinese factory owner. "OK. We can do that." Chinese factory owner responds. So the delighted businessman makes a large order for $10 shoes, hoping to make a steal on them. However when he gets the shipment and starts selling them, he quickly discovers that the sole of those shoes falls off only after a couple months of wear. He goes back to the Chinese factory owner and complaints about the shoes he sold him. The Chinese factory owner responds: "You asked for $10 shoes, and that's what you've got, shoes that are worth $10. So stop complaining !"

The moral of the story is that buying cheap, disposable things is often wasteful. Long time ago I've heard an adage, "We aren't wealthy to buy cheap things." And there is a lot to it. And while I don't like buying luxuries or status symbol items, I do strive to buy premium quality ones, especially for something where quality is important, like kitchenware or small appliances. (I do quite a bit of research on Consumer Reports and online, reading reviews and comparing prices, before buying) And in the end I am much better off monetarily and frustration-wise, buying smart, that buying cheap.

Finally when it comes to the simplicity movement, I am a bit confused what does it exactly mean. Personally I like to think that I practice simplicity by adhering to the rule: "Use it or Lose It (i.e. Sell/Donate/Throw)" for all my belongings. I also try to eliminate any redundancies for any merchandise I own, or services I am subscribed to. For example, I've dropped my landline, since cell phone + Skype makes it redundant. I've dropped TV cable, since Netflix + Hulu makes it redundant and offers a much better value. I've sold my GPS, amateur Camera & Ipod touch since my Droid makes those items redundant. I've dropped Starbucks because my premium coffeemaker makes it redundant. I can go on and on, but the fact remains, that the practice of simplicity can be easier achieved by embracing the technological progress, rather than avoiding it.

Cannot tell you how many books I have acquired on the issue of simple, frugal, cheap living over the years. Its a topic near and dear to my heart,since unlike many of my peers, I valued the wisdom my parents and grandparents had taught me about living well during the Great Depression and WW2, because they didn't waste anything and were wise in knowing the different between a need and a want.

What makes this book fun as well as informative is how the author shows how wasteful we have become as a society in the last forty years. She is also smart because she shares with the reader the difference between being wise and being foolish. Like not eating extreme out of date canned food, and learning the signs of food that shouldn't be saved or eaten. Like temperature sensitive foods, be it seafood that smells spoiled and probably is, which is needed info is you are into the freegan movement also called dumpster diving.

She also reminds the reader to think before they consume, which is the beginning of stopping waste. She reuses plastic bags, whereas I never buy them. Used to save the zip lock bags my flour tortillas came in but now I make my own tortillas. And the book is geared more for the city person.

Back in the 70's Amy Dacyczyn started teaching people about this type of living in her excellent Tightwad Gazette which is still available for purchase. As a rural homesteader I also want to recommend two magazines that are part of my home library. Backwoods Home and Back Home magazines have similar information as In CHEAP We Trust but geared toward saving money if you have animals and grow most of what you eat.

No doubt once the economy bounces back most people will resort to their old ways, which often includes looking down on people who live by the adage 'waste not want not,use it up, wear it out, find a need or do without. This has been my observation.But its refreshing to see a younger person who is sharing her frugal wisdom.

In Cheap We Trust is a captivating portrait of America's conflicting attitudes toward saving, spending, and splurging.

Weber manages to get across serious economic concepts in a book that reads like a guilty pleasure. She accomplishes this by leavening the theoretical and historical backstory of cheapness with touches of memoir and biographical sketches of spectacular spendthrifts and champion cheapskates (including Weber and her thermostat-policing father). She addresses thrift's applicability to today's issues but deftly avoids oversimplified proscriptions. Combine all this with a non-preachy, smart-but-fun tone and you have quite a feat. In Cheap We Trust, an important, digestible book for anyone who wants a smart perspective on our country's wallet.

Topical books such as journalist Lauren Weber's IN CHEAP WE TRUST: THE STORY OF A MISUNDERSTOOD AMERICAN VIRTUE are worth reading if you take away one or two good ideas. This title's history of American frugality and different reasons people are tight with money will stay with you, but IN CHEAP WE TRUST hits its stride when it underscores the environmental benefits of spending wisely and getting better use out of what you own. That's an idea that should stay with anyone who's seen the polar ice cap lately.

People who skip-read books should not rush through IN CHEAP WE TRUST chapter 8, "Eco-Cheap," which presents a case for saving Earth's environment through thrift. Even if it's too late to reverse global warming (web search the Ted Rall commentary "Give a Hoot, But We're Still Doomed"), consider cheapness-for-greenness the equivalent of quitting smoking. You're going to die anyway, but by giving up cigarettes you won't croak as soon as if you don't. Stop abusing the environment now and maybe Earth will last long enough for a few extra generations.

In its final pages, IN CHEAP WE TRUST moves from theory to practicum with the passage "Talk is Cheap: A Primer on Frugal Living," which recommends books, web sites and publications to help you save some money and give our planet more time.

Read IN CHEAP WE TRUST.

Found this a vert interesting read. The book shows it pays to be frugal. We need more of this kind of thinking.
The delivery of this book from Amazon.com was great. So was the price.

The book shouts from the cover the word in big letters: CHEAP.

But that's only half the story. If I remember correctly, she states somewhere that the real thesis of the book is not about cheapness, but about thriftiness and frugality. The problem is, would you pick up a book that shouted from the cover in big letters: FRUGALITY?

I probably wouldn't, but that is why we have marketers. When I have to think of the central word, I think not of a consumer too hard to part from their money; I instead think of a bargain that doesn't last, the dime-store clown shoes whose vinyl cracks on the first wear. Only in passing do I think of a tightwad.

What this book is is a history of that characteristic that we have so many words for; the dead opposite of a fool and his money. What Weber reviews is the history of the popularity of thriftiness, and not surprisingly it follows the business and political cycles. One day everyone is eating sawdust and the next people are lighting cigars with currency, as long as it isn't German. What she does very well is dispel the notion that Thrift is some bedrock American value that we are forever getting away from. It is part of "Kids these days" syndrome, where everything was better back then). It is a fashion that cycles with the times.

She transitions from the history and looks at the current state of thriftiness. The most interesting for me is her extended look at people that consider themselves Freegans or are honest with themselves and call themselves dumpster divers. This is a group of people who have tried to remove themselves as far as possible from the consumptive society. While these people are interesting, I was missing one thing. The biggest critique of such a movement to me, is that they are parasitical in a way I don't mean to be derogatory. They opt out of buying things, but their lifestyle depends on others buying and discarding the consumer goods and foods that they then can appropriate. It works as a fringe movement, but it doesn't scale up.

For me, that seems to reflect my ultimate issue with Cheapness as a movement, even the 'Ethical Cheapness" Weber calls for. It feels like a first world issue that we can wear at our choosing and still splurge. It hides the real effects of poverty and the degradation of the planet that capitalism imposes to all of the riders. As long as cheapness and thrift are choices we can look at them as idiosyncrasies. The problem is that thrift is a necessity for billions, but that we can ignore in the first world. I enjoyed the book, and I kept wanting more, I just wish that issue would have been looked at more in depth, especially as she moved from history and into personalizing the experience later in the book.

If a book such as this had been available in the years leading up to the recent economic downturn, the bubbles may well not have developed. This excellent book should be required reading for high school Juniors or Seniors, in an effort to educate them in concepts that may prevent the development of another round of irrational spending habits in the future.

Gross over consumption as a synonym for the American way never made sense to be before. Thanks to Weber's book I now know why. Cheap was never meant to be a bad word in America and Weber employs a bright, entertaining style to cleverly tell how it become one. After reading this book you'll never be able to look at or think about American history and your spending in the same way again.

First, let me tell you what this book is not. It is not a "how to" giving us hints and ideas on how to be cheap or save money. Yes, there are a few passing suggestions, but this book is not really about that.

Rather, this book is actually about detailing for us, the history of "cheap" - where it came from, how it was viewed throughout history and who actually took up the movement. I found this part of the book absolutely fascinating. I liked that the author did so much research into the subject and goes way back in time to show us the basis behind the "cheap" attitude. Its amazing to me how much of a bad reputation the word or the attitude of "cheap" has gotten over the course of the "excess" years/generations.

Of course, I am not sure that I can dumpster dive - as this author mentions in the book - but I believe this is more about security for me than about "never been caught dead doing something like that".

This book is a fascinating look at the subject matter that, suddenly seems to have become almost fashionable again!

I loved it.