Thrift, Wealth & Velveeta Cheese

I guess the new trend spawned by the Great Recession is to adopt "thrift" as our operating theory although I am not altogether sure "thrift" is good for job creation, at least in the short run.

Many people could probably benefit from thinking about thrift and true wealth in terms of being less ostentatious and less insecure. If you came from or ever hung around "old money", you're likely to find the family wearing clothes that they have owned for 20+ years, driving orange diesel-fueled Mercedes Benz wagons from the early 1980s, letting parts of their houses go to Hell, slipcovering old furniture, talking about ideas, books and music instead of other people and never, ever, talking about what material things they have or don't have. Save money, buy quality stuff and never get rid of it until it's completely destroyed. The Lily Pultizer shift dress, purchased in 1962, still looks good. If it still fits, why get a new one?

You probably won't find a flat screen television in their houses. (By the way, it's "houses", not "homes", i.e., "I live in a neighborhood where all the houses have marvelous shade trees" or, "what a wonderful house..." Trust me on this.)

You will often see their philanthropy listed at the back of a publication under the name "Anonymous". They are quieter, better listeners and if they talk about politics or religion, they'll be gentle about yours and won't talk much about theirs. Often, they are lousy cooks but superb bartenders so by the time you're eating, you don't care what they made or who made it. (Please wait until the hostess picks up her fork before you pick up yours and compliment whatever was burned in your honor.) You'll leave knowing very little about them because they value their privacy more than whatever cash they have lying around (which probably isn't as much as you think). They probably spend far less than you do on an annual basis except for property taxes. If they trust you, you're a friend forever - but probably not too close. If they don't trust you, they will be even more polite than if they did trust you. They appreciate a hand-written thank you note, lending them a book you enjoyed or inviting them to a picnic instead of a restaurant. Obviously, not everyone can or would want to live that way, but if I had limited choices, I'd probably choose that lifestyle over many others. The best part is that you can adopt any political stripe you like, be eccentric and wonderfully witty and will never be nervous hosting a dinner party and can even run for office if you're genuinely humble and let others deal with fundraising.