Respect the frugal.

I grow a garden every summer. I carpool every chance I get. I shop at Aldi. I’m frugal. F.R.U.G.A.L. Then I see this headline at Foxnews.com:

Frugal Americans Hurt Economic Recovery

Um, what? How is this news? I dropped Econ 101 during the first week of class and I still have no trouble wrapping my numbers-phobic brain around this concept. We're not spending. You’d think our jobs/homes/401Ks were on the line or something. Do we have it all wrong? Maybe we should... Yes, that’s it! Incur more debt! Saving is for sissies.

Honestly.

Snarkiness aside, the next few years are going to be very, very interesting as über-consumers are forced to revert to more traditional financial values. We’ll all feel it, spenders and savers alike. Given all the other drama (housing, banking, Wall Street...), to take the stance that frugality is even part of the problem strikes me as a rather out-of-touch assertion.

Don’t hate. Respect the frugal.