Published at 11:24, Tuesday, 06 January 2009

Frugality, that’s the thing. It’s cool to be mean in 2009. The penny-pinchers shall inherit the earth – or what’s left of it after the recession.

No wonder she looks depressed... she should get herself along to the pub for a £3.99 night out

And happy new year, by the way. No, really – enjoy! Keep it simple, keep it affordable and make it happy. Who knows where a bit of healthy economising could lead?

To be honest, we haven’t properly tried the belt-tightening side of life for more than a decade. Like Viv Nicholson with her Littlewoods cheque, we’ve been spend, spend, spending for longer than too long and showing very little for it beyond sacks of impulse shopping destined for charity outlets.

But now the tables have tipped pointedly in our direction. Our cash is limited and those who want it will have to compete fiercely for it – because we’re no longer in the mood to risk rip-off.

Suddenly there’s undiscovered virtue in shaving a bob or two from previously extravagant expenditure. Unchartered waters maybe – but any soul-cleansing virtue has to be worth a dabble of exploration after all those years of exhausting, debt-building hedonism.

“I’ve never bought clothes at full price – always shop in the sales, simply always,” said the sharp-suited young man at a swanky new year’s lunch party.

“Spot a must-have garment at £500? Wait for them to throw it at you for under £50. These shoes were so heavily reduced I bought six pairs... they’ll go on for years!”

You’d never have known it. No Vogue fashion model had ever been so well dressed to impress. Here was a bargain-hunter to beat all the floozies who’d considered themselves seasoned sales shoppers into tearful submission.

His point was well taken by shamefaced ladies who’d been wondering where their next designer stilettos were coming from; how they’d fund the next iconic bag, invest in a new cashmere coat – or downgrade the gin from Bombay Sapphire to Co-op without anyone noticing.

Gosh, what a turn-up for the books this chap was. A man with bald, bold common sense. A man with a shopping habit, a budget, a keen eye for a good buy – it was enough to make his female elders and betters shed tears into 2008’s unopened credit card statements.

But he was precisely the tonic 2009’s opening days had required. A sparkling picture of attractive frugality with not a hint of sackcloth and ashes or pity-my-purse-strings complaint. Cheap? Dear me, no – not a bit of it. Creative, more like. A thrifty man of the moment. And no worry lines. He was clearly onto something.

But while examples of honest to goodness, within-means living may be inspirational in hard times, there’ll be plenty who’ll consider it their duty to thwart all our efforts to economise. Taking individual responsibility for personal budget management isn’t going to be as simple as it should be. In fact, taking personal responsibility for anything at all isn’t yet fashionable enough to be openly allowed.

The very idea of patiently waiting for the affordable (reduced) pricing of what we want is likely to make some retailers hit the roof. And make no mistake, they’ll soon be playing determinedly on our duty to shop at full ticket price; to shop for England – as most of us have been doing without thinking for ages.

They need to protect their interests and secure continuing solvency, they’ll assert – with some justification. Our stylish young man in the cut-price suit wouldn’t argue but...

“So do we,” he can match their assertion. “And the market is ours.”

Clever, sorted and a natty dresser too. Quite a combination, all that – for a bloke. So driven to nab the best deal on the high street. So unwilling to be sidetracked by obstructors.

Like the health campaigners aiming angry blows at pub chain JD Wetherspoon’s, for instance. Its plans to cut beer to 99p a pint and serve meals for around £3 a head have taken a hammering from self-appointed protectors of our health, welfare, morals and social behaviour.

It seems a bit extreme, to say the least, to crusade to stop responsible, budget-managing, moderate drinkers from enjoying the odd social evening out because a few mindless idiots don’t know when to stop.

“We believe that our new food and drink prices will allow people to enjoy a visit to a Wetherspoon pub without it costing them too much,” said the chain’s chief executive John Hutson.

The customarily polite response – certainly from the newly frugal majority of moderate drinkers and well-behaved – should be a simple: “Thank-you.”

But nothing much is normal in these post-hedonistic days. Minorities still impress sufficiently to fuel a runaway desire to order the conduct of all our lives – even when the economy is sicker than a drunk in the gutter.

Maybe not for too much longer though. In newly dawned days of virtuous frugality, sound logic and consumer rule are likely to switch on like light bulbs as the nip of downturn grows chillier.

Frugality is cool, thrift is the new overspend, bargains the new must-haves and – as our friend, the natty dresser insists – the market is ours.

How can it be other than a fascinating new year?

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk