Tuning into Reality: A Look at TV Families

Yesterday while surfing the net I came across a story about a well-known TV family who had purchased a reported $1 million home for their brood. Having watched this family for a few years, noting their tips for living on a budget, I felt somewhat cheated. This whole time I thought they were "just getting by". But who am I to look down on people doing good for themselves right? Well, I felt like the image that this TV network portrayed was one of an average American family just trying to make ends meet. And here they were, living in an estate! I just couldn't shake it, knowing that all this time I felt inadequate thinking "well if they can manage to feed that whole family for $xx.xx and healthy, why can't I do it for two?" Then, it hit me. DUH! It's TV! It is not "reality"! These people are paid to do a program so that in itself makes them different from the average family.

There are other TV families that many Americans have become enthralled with. We watch their shows, follow their stories, and learn from their experiences. But we have to remember that it is just TV: no two families or situations are the same. Frugality for some of the nation has become the new fad, but television is a tricky business where not everything is as it seems.

Dealing with Opposition

Dealing with Opposition
An average telephone conversation between myself and a non-believer:

Sid: Hello?
NB: Hey Sid, do you and Jon want to go out to eat with us?
Sid: Where are you going?
NB: Bob’s, like usual.
Sid: Well I don’t have a coupon for that place, and Jon and I usually pick one place a week and reserve some money for that. So, take a rain check?
NB: You guys are old, you don’t ever want to do anything with us.
Sid: Well, everyone could come over here and I could make dinner! I got some great chicken on sale.
NB: (dial tone)

If you are living the frugal life, you have probably met some severe opposition along the way. I find it a daily battle to try and justify my way of living to people who don’t seem to understand. I live in deep South Texas, and being “Yankee-born”, my eccentric way of life doesn’t always mesh well with the locals. So I have a few tips when dealing with friends, family, and strangers who, in attempt to make your feel as big as a Lilliputian, haven’t yet adjusted to your frugal lifestyle.

1. Encourage participation in your frugal activities so people can see for themselves that it does pay off.
2. Offer frugal alternatives and suggestions so you are not left out.
3. Convert as many as you can! I am always dishing out tips or recommending books in hopes that I can get a few converts under my belt, if only to lessen the stares.
4. As Dave Ramsey says, “If they are making fun of you, then you are doing it right.” America has bred a population of people who follow the beat of one drummer, and any side stepping throws them off.
5. My greatest tip: They will get over it. You cannot change everyone, and when people see the fruits of your penny-pinching (and that money saving garden you put together) you won’t have to waste your breath.

I am not a cynic, but I do believe that for so long, we as a people have come to believe many myths and feel compelled to keep up with the Joneses. Just as when you were in high school and you wanted to play the tuba, but that was the geeky thing to do, you did it anyway because you are your own person.

Welcome to November and happy All Saints Day!