Twice over the past week, I have seen advertising discussing the latest and greatest fashions for the fall season – all “inexpensive Recessionista style!”
Recessionista? The word in itself is kind of ridiculous.
But the best part was that the items for sale were not anywhere near what I would consider inexpensive, frugal, or appropriate for someone worried about the recession. If you are worried about money, don’t buy this season’s new $700 purse.
On some level, the statement “Frugal is the new black” is funny. It’s especially funny to those of us who have always been frugal (even if we do buy $700 purses, we’ve saved in other areas to make that happen). But I’m starting to find the whole Recessionista trend a little annoying and slightly insulting. I get this vision of rich spoiled young women (the sort you find on many reality tv shows) going about as if they’re so great because they’re buying slightly less expensive things and doesn’t that make them fabulous? Doing it not because it’s necessary but because it’s the “in” thing to do.
And on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the young woman who really would love to dress in fancier clothes for work but truly can’t afford the look she so desires. By making do and accessorizing with inexpensive pieces, she’s truly being a Recessionista.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
Yeah, I’m not really keen about the word, but I am liking the idea behind it at least.
I can afford the look, but I still prefer dressing with inexpensive accessories and a few high quality garments rather than going the whole gamut and doing everything on the cheap
Amen!