“The New Frugality”

I started reading Marketplace Money Editor Chris Farrell’s book “The New Frugality” this weekend. I know, I’m a barrel of laughs, aren’t I? In my defense, I also watched a bunch of “30 Rock” and “Castle” with my husband, so I’m not entirely focused on finances all the time.

The book delves into the idea that a new trend of being frugal will rise out of our recent Great Recession, and that frugality is helpful in a lot of ways–soft on our bank accounts, and soft on the environment. I get this. It’s one reason I want a small house. I don’t want to pay high heating bills in those cold Minnesota winters, but I also don’t need to heat a huge house for two people (and a dog!) and use fuel unnecessarily.

So far, I also like the little asides in the book that appear in bold. They offer a lot of common sense advice in an accessible tone. I’ll give a more in-depth review of the book once I’m done.