Why Aren't You Frugal Anymore?

So asked two of my students who found my not-so-secret blog. The post where I discussed my luxe-on-a-budget lunch at Restaurant August.

First, I should point out that my being LESS frugal than I am normally would be EXTREME frugality for others--not quite in the Amy D. of Tightwad Gazette category, but pretty darn close.

What I said to my inquiring students was this: I had three major financial goals, and I've reached two of them. Goal one was HOUSE. Goal two was COLLEGE for kids. Goal three is retirement, a scary proposition, but the only one left.

Once I realized that, we decided to live it up a little more. Just a little.

Have you reached any of your financial goals?

Cutting Off the College Graduate: Thoughts

Frugal Son--a recent graduate--has asked me this a few times: Why do parents let their kids spend extravagantly in college and then--at graduation--insist on immediate financial independence? He went on to say that many of his friends, many of whom are from families more affluent than ours, lived a snazzy college lifestyle, with cars (and insurance!), lots of clothing, meals out, and so forth.


Then, according to Frugal Son, upon graduation, the ultimatum comes: You must be independent within x months. So from the upper-middle class lifestyle of riches . . . to rags, especially in this scary job market. Frugal Son said that for some of his friends, the ultimatum came suddenly upon graduation.


Frugal Son and I were discussing the fact that it might be better for mom and dad to put a rein on the student's spending during the college years. This would teach the student how to survive a somewhat less opulent lifestyle than the one they had growing up. It would also allow the parents some time to secret away bits of cash that might otherwise have gone to meals out and clothing purchases college-style. What a gift it would be to give the graduate a small dowry of sorts to make the transition easier!

So: do you think our idea--the dowry for the recent grad--is just MORE parental over-indulgence? Or is it sensible for parents who can squirrel away some extra money?

Frugal Splurges: Restaurant August for $20.11

Here is an update of our meal at Restaurant August, second installment of a conscious decision to be a LITTLE LESS OBSESSIVELY FRUGAL. We don't eat in restaurants all that much, primarily because I like my own cooking better than what we get in most restaurants; also because it is for us an easy way to save money for the big stuff. A while back (a long while, now that I think of it) we had some truly bad meals at New Orleans restaurants, the worst at NOLA, part of Emeril's empire. This was really embarrassing because we were being treated by relatives. Otherwise, we would have sent the food back--all of it.

Anyway, the COOLINARY prices--$20.00 or less for lunch--seemed a good occasion to dip our toes back in. It was a good experience. The food was good, the staff nice. Customers were a blend of upscale New Orleans types (a power party of people in power suits, including seersucker with Panama hat, Hermes ties in pink and baby blue on both men of the party), tourists, and regular old people. The power types ordered a la carte and the regular people ordered the COOLINARY selection.

Everyone got an amuse-bouche of what looked like a soft-boiled egg in shell. Turned out it was a layered fish mousse topped with local caviar, truffle oil, and a toasted brioche crouton. John Besh himself was there, having his picture taken with various patrons.

You really want to see the pictures, right? We had peach salads and pate to start; we had all three main courses, and the three desserts. We are a sharing family, so all was fair.

Graduation Lunch: Pretty Frugal

If you like reading menus, here are our choices for Frugal Son's graduation lunch. Luckily, we are a party of three, so we can try all the main courses and desserts.

RESTAURANT AUGUST MENU


COOLINARY LUNCH MENU
Appetizer
(Choice of)

Washington Parish Watermelon Gazpacho
Covey Rise cucumbers, pickled red onions, mint

or

Salad of Grilled Chilton Peaches
Aceto baalsamico, basil pesto, bacon crisp, whipped ricotta

Main Course
(Choice of)

Crispy Mangalitsa Pork Belly
Creole cream cheese malfatti, mustard greens, tomato confit,
sauce blanquette

or

Pan Seared Gulf Sheepshead
Silverqueen corn custard, succotash, tomato vinaigrette

or

Brandade de Morue
Ravioli nero, mint persillade and soffrito marmalade


Dessert
(Choice of)

Tart of Local Celeste Figs
Brown butter and bourbon ice cream

or

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Croquant
Salted caramel and McEwen's buttered popcorn ice cream

House made Ricotta Custard
Candied citrus, toasted brioche, local pecans, and Aleppo honey

$20.11

Excluding tax & Gratuity

What would you pick?

Treat Time! Frugal Food Splurges

I do have a tendency to be a little too hair shirt in the frugality department. I keep saying--to my family, not here--that I am going to loosen up. It's easy for me to loosen up in the travel department, as witness my blissful month in France. We came in way under budget on that one--mostly owing to the fact that we had a free place to stay, courtesy of Frugal Son's beloved teacher.

Frugal Son will be going back to France soon: he will be an assistant in a lycee. So exciting. Certainly, his recent graduation from college and his upcoming departure are good excuses for loosening up.

First loosen up: We bought soft shell crabs at the local grocery. Only $5.00 a piece, these are fried and made into po-boys.

Second loosen up: There's a Coolinary celebration in New Orleans: many famous restaurants are participating. So, we are taking Frugal Son for his graduation lunch to Restaurant August, part of the empire of John Besh, who has even served as a catalog model.

Third loosen up: Louisiana lump crabmeat is $9.99 a pound. So Frugal Son will make us crab cakes on Monday when we get home from work after a 12 hour day, weary.

These three treats will be under $100.00. Not bad for three threats.

If you want to check out some wonderful cookbooks for inspiration and temptation, see these!


What are your latest treats?

Listen to Funny: Debt Consolidation and Getting Out of Debt

Once again Funny About Money has taken the time to explain something: debt consolidators are not your friends. Some of these outfits are OK--sorta--but it's hard to tell the real non-profits from the faux non-profits. Funny mentions that she is often offered "free posts" by these companies: so one gets an advertisement disguised as a blog post.

All I know is that the two people I know who sought help from debt consolidation companies--more than TEN years ago--are STILL paying their debt. One person told me the debt has grown--and then listed all the reasons why this was a good thing (??).

The best book I've seen on getting out of debt is an inexpensive paperback based on the model of Debtor's Anonymous: How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously.

I learned a lot from this book; it is more than a get out of debt tome: it's also about how to value your life.

Frugality 101: No Coupons Needed

I hate coupons, partly because I have enough trouble keeping track of the little bits of paper in my life, partly because I don't buy convenience foods and don't want to be tempted in that direction by freebies, and partly because the whole scene strikes me as obsessive and addictive. But that's just me. Yesterday, when I gave some students the first lesson in frugal grocery shopping (buy two peanut butters when it's on sale), they were amazed that I didn't use coupons. They had all seen the shows featuring extreme couponers on television--something I haven't done yet.

So I nosed around the internet and discovered that Teri--of The Grocery Game, a for-pay site that teaches you how to combine coupons with store sales--says that MOST of your savings will come from store sales. In fact, she says, you save about 50% with store sales. She says with coupons, you can save UP TO an additional 17%. Note the UP TO, by the way. Read it here.

I've been saying for years that I wouldn't save that much with coupons. I would have to buy a paper, for one thing, which would add even more clutter to my life. Now, thanks to an expert in the field, I KNOW that I don't need to use coupons.

Do you use coupons?