美国最节俭的人
以为自己知道怎么对一美元精打细算？看看行家里手是怎么做的。
作者：Lenore Skenazy
锅巴。那是我13岁的儿子在我们的购物单上草草写下的字，这真使我因省了几分钱而从心眼里感到高兴。我儿子没有潦草地写下Rice Krispies牌脆爆米，是的，他心甘情愿迁就妈妈对没有牌子的、标签褪的、有时稍微有些过期的谷类食物的偏爱，因为他要么是已经认命了，要么是（我有这么幸运吗？）到如今还没意识到别人早餐吃的是全国名牌食品，里面没有偶尔会吃到的未膨化的、硌牙的米粒。
真是我的好儿子。
不管他是否意识到了，那种精明而讲究实际的、从牙缝里抠钱的节俭行为恰恰正是在这经济动荡时期所提倡的。债务到处都是，但工作却不是。但我们还不都是在歌帝梵（Godiva）和iPod上大肆挥霍吗？还有运动型多功能车（SUV）？这有点过分了。是时候少花钱多享受了！或者至少少花钱。这个我喜欢！
抠门对我来说是很自然的，作为一个母亲，把早上的一壶咖啡重新加热，使一整天都有滋有味；从一家店逛到另一家地淘剪掉商标的打折衣服；在二手商店里买形如卡西莫多（Quasimodo，《巴黎圣母院》里的敲钟人，十分丑陋且有多种残疾——译者注）的糖果，或者看起来像但实际上不是奥利奥（Oreo）
的饼干，事实上，它们的标识看起来好像是用土耳其文写的。
有些人喜欢区分“节俭的人”（从省钱得到乐趣的人）和“吝啬鬼”（花一块钱好像足足要了他一千条命一样）。但这种区分对我来说毫无意义，我节俭因为我是个吝啬鬼，反过来说我是个吝啬鬼所以我节俭。像许多节俭的人一样，我心里也偷偷地怀疑零售商品是卖给笨蛋的，就像那些没有以单层250张一叠来卖的餐巾纸（或大把大把地从快餐店里拿，我们下面会谈到这一点）。
换句话说，我和他们一样节俭，或者说我认为是那样的，直到我开始寻美国最节俭的人。结果发现谈到精打细算和节俭，我充其量只是一张减掉25美分的优惠券。
比如，在与几十个守财奴访谈前，我根本就不知道有很多人在车上放一个空的麦当劳咖啡杯。这样，在任何时候他们发现一个金拱门就可以跑进去“续杯”。
珍妮特•海因茨（Janet Hinz）的爸爸就是这些人中的一个。海因茨是威斯康星州白鱼湾的一位伦理学教授，她把她爸爸作为一个例子讲给学生们听：是的，她提出，麦当劳确实提供免费续杯，但是终生的吗？有的人走进比萨饼店，把红辣椒粉倒进餐巾纸带回家（海因茨爸爸的另一特征），同时还带走大部分余下的餐巾纸，你们怎么看待这些人？这合乎道德吗？你们是否拿过额外的一张餐巾纸，或两张，或20张？她问她的学生。你们如何划定界线呢？
对吝啬鬼来说，节俭和偷窃之间的界线竟如同旧货市场上的溜溜球般纠结杂乱。例如，我听说一个家伙是以这种方式进电影院的：他大步走进来，举着眼镜，嘴上说着：“我在车上到了！”然后继续往里走。
聪明但却不光彩。
与该老兄半斤八两的是一个叫克洛伊（Chloe）的女孩的男朋友：他叫她开车40英里到他家，然后带她“出去”吃肯德基。他用一张“买二送一”优惠券结账，让克洛伊付她的那一半。谈到“一半”，有另一个妇女与她那谈不上大方的男友过得不开心，因此他们决定尝试一些心理，费用平均分担。几次之后，她支付预付款，叫他支付他的那一部分。他拒绝了：“我们大部分时间谈的都是你。”
她40岁生日时与她约会的也是这个家伙，那一天她建议去野餐并带上一瓶香槟酒。“不，”白马王子说，“让我们等到一个特别的时刻吧。”
她很高兴地说不论那个特别时刻是什么，他将要一个人庆祝了。
但是也有些人在吝啬上完全志趣相投。我认识的一对夫妇在贺曼（Hallmark）礼品店里互相向对方朗读贺卡来度过他们的周年纪念。然后他们漫步走出店外，内心感动，钱包未动。
加利福尼亚州贝克斯菲尔德的道格（Doug）和丹尼斯•温斯顿（Denise Winston）夫妇也就省钱一事
达成妥协。当她为周六要做的事制订规划以便能够把它们全部做完而不用走回头路时，他不再讥笑她。“这样可以减少损耗，省时省油，”丹尼斯解释说，她以前是银行家，注意到美国联合包裹（UPS）也是用同样的策略。
当然，UPS可能没有试过她其他的窍门：进餐馆时买一张代金卡。餐馆经常以20美元的价格出售25美元的代金卡，丹尼斯说。然后她和丈夫悠然地走进餐馆，用代金卡买一些减价供应的啤酒，吃些小吃点心当正餐。同时，她还从信用卡上得到5%的返还（所以代金卡实际上只花了她19美元），并且她的钱还在银行里生利息。
丹尼斯知道她可能听起来近乎病态的吝啬，但是温斯顿夫妇却攒了足够的钱买一架飞机。是的，一架私人飞机。
其他节俭的人所透露的技巧可能不足以支付一架飞机，甚至连玩具飞机也不够，但也有一些意义。例如，如果你有一块冻坏的肉，不要把它扔掉。把不好的部分切掉，把余下的扔进炖锅，为你的爱犬做一锅炖肉。
谈到食物，雷•利瑟（Ray Lesser）在克利夫兰长大的时候，他的妈妈和住在街那头的姨妈达成协议。“每个星期二，”他说，“她们就会彼此交换残羹剩饭，然后当作全新的一餐来欺骗我们小孩子。”
纵观美国大部分历史，俭以防匮被认为是值得赞美的，劳伦•韦伯（Lauren Weber）说。她是《信奉节俭：被误解的美国美德故事》（In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue）的作者。本•富兰克林致富了推荐它，家庭主妇把它绣在枕头上赞扬它。但是即使回到当时，韦伯说，人们通常喜欢赞扬节俭更胜于实际实行。事实上，人们一旦实际拥有多余的钱，他们通常考虑把它花掉。想想镀金时代和金怀表，想想1929年9月左右的证券市场。我们从来都不是一个完全致力于节省的国家。但是大规模的、突发性的过度消费好像在上一代达到了顶峰，韦伯说，当投资银行成为大学毕业生的择业首选，当麦氏豪宅（McMansions，由麦当劳（McDonald's）和豪宅（Mansion）构成，意指像豪宅一样大却像麦当劳一样没有特的房子——译者注）如巨型蒲公英般涌现，这些难以供暖、按揭贷款过多的蒲公英最终把我们击垮。
富兰克林式的节俭在韦伯自己的家里毫无疑问是一种美德：她爸爸定量分发卫生纸，在新英格兰的冬天把温控器调到冰冷的50华氏度（10摄氏度——译者注）。但他攒的钱使他的三个孩子可以上大学——他们中意的私立大学。
这就是小气的人的奥密：他们不见得在方方面面都小气，有些人为他人支付教育或度假费用，或者说他们对自己不大方却对其他人大方。
“每个人都有自己的妙方”纽约州布法罗的肯•米奇尼可（Ken Michnik）如是说。米奇尼可的“妙方”是淘
便宜货。为了在汽车空气清新剂上省钱——有人会想这能有多大的开销——他从杂志上撕下有香味的纸片放进通风孔。他在食品杂货店买已损坏的食品，在旧货市场买以50美分一袋出售的别人的化妆品，他用报废的火星塞做钓鱼线铅锤。虽然这些年来，他的吝啬甚至使他妻子发疯，他心底却深藏着一个秘密。
“从我们刚结婚时，我就为了我们25周年结婚纪念每月存钱，”米奇尼可说。当这意义重大的一年来临时，他开始上网搜寻一辆可爱的小跑车。
为她。
毫无疑问，经过漫长而艰苦的讨价还价，他最终在有4个小时车程远的克利夫兰市外到了最佳交易。所以有一天他对妻子编造谎言说他们女儿的车坏在那里了，他们如何需要到车行去接她。“我妻子暴怒，…她为什么不在学校？‟她赌咒发誓了4个小时，”米奇尼可说。尽管如此，他还是设法把她带进了车行，那里有一辆马自达Miata系着一个大大的红结。“她说：…呀，我真希望有辆这样的车。‟我说：…这就是你的车。‟”
米奇尼可补充说：“那一天其他的事她都不记得了。”
米奇尼可赢得了“《读者文摘》美国最节俭的人”大奖，因其毫不松懈的、执著的、有创造性的节俭。如果我们设有最佳丈夫奖的话，他也有充分理由可以赢得。
唉，米奇尼可先生：没有奖金。
守财奴的心理
是什么使一个人把钱攥得比游泳帽还紧？心理学家说大多数节俭的人深信花钱从事实上、字面意义上和道德上都是错的，并且深信挥霍者是罪恶的（挥霍者是指购买没有标注为“次品”的内衣的人）。
如果夫妻俩在花钱问题上背道而驰，他们经常会气得对方发疯，匹兹堡的心理学家伊丽莎白•伦巴都（Elizabeth Lombardo）说。伦巴都是《快乐的你：你快乐的终极秘诀》（A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness）的作者。那是因为节俭的人不能理解为什么别人不像他们一样看待事情：极其昂贵。他们会有这样的观点可能是由于贫困的童年（想想大萧条时期出生的婴儿），或者可能是部分遗传（爸爸穿着衣服洗澡以节省洗衣服的费用），或者可能来自于看到金钱被浪费。无论如何，小气经常与扭曲的自我价值感相联：“我不配花钱。”
另一方面，伦巴都补充说，便宜货简直可以说是一种廉价的刺激，如果它使你感到自己很聪明，那就是件好事。“节俭没有什么错，”她说，“除非你全身心投入不能自拔。”
The Cheapest People in America | Your Money Guide | Reader's Digest
Think you know how to stretch a dollar?
Meet the experts.
By Lenore Skenazy
Crisp rice. Those were the words my 13-year-old scrawled on our shopping list,
and how they warmed the cockles of my cents-off soul. My son had not
scrawled Rice Krispies. No, he was perfectly content to indulge Mom's penchant for off-brand, faded-label, sometimes slightly out-of-date cereal, as he was
either resigned to his fate or (could I be this lucky?) actually unaware that other
people breakfast on a national brand that does not include the occasional
unpuffed, tooth-cracking rice pellet.
That's my boy!
Whether he realizes it or not, that kind of hard-nosed, chip-toothed frugality is
exactly what is called for in these economically tossed times. Debt is
everywhere; jobs aren't. And didn't we all just overdose on Godiva and iPods anyway? And SUVs? It was getting a little gross. Time to spend less and enjoy more! Or at least spend less. Which I enjoy!
最省油的suv排行榜Being cheap comes naturally to me, by way of a mom whose morning pot of coffee was reheated and savored throughout the day(s), between her trips from this outlet to that one to buy discount clothing with the labels snipped out, Quasimodo-shaped candy from the seconds shop, or cookies that looked like Oreos but weren't. In fact, they seemed to be stamped with something in Turkish.
There ar e those who like to distinguish between “the frugal,” who get a kick out of saving money, and “tightwads,” who die a thousand full-price deaths with each dollar spent. But the distinction is lost on me. I'm thrifty because I'm a tightwad and vice versa. Like many frugal folks, I also harbor a sneaking suspicion that paying retail is for suckers, as are any napkins not sold in single-ply stacks of 250 (or taken in giant wads from fast-food dispensers, but we'll get to that).
In other words, I'm as cheap as they come, or so I thought, until I started to hunt for the Cheapest People in America. Turns out I am a mere 25-cents-off coupon when it comes to scrimping and saving.
For instance, before interviewing several dozen cheapskates, I had no idea that there are legions of
people who keep an empty McDonald's coffee cup in the car. That way, they can run in and get a “refill” anytime they spy a golden arch.
Janet Hinz has a dad who's one of them. An ethics professor in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Hinz uses him as an example with her students: Yes, she posits, McDonald's does offer free refills, but for life? And how about people who go to the pizza parlor and empty the red pepper flakes into a napkin to take home (another trait of Papa Hinz), along with most of the rest of the napkins? Is that ethical? Do you ever take an extra napkin, or two, or 20? she asks her students. Where do you draw the line?
For penny-pinchers, the line between thrift and thievery turns out to be as tangled as a yard-sale yo-yo. For instance, I heard about one guy who gets into the movies this way: He strides in, holds his glasses aloft, and announces, “I found them in the car!” Then he keeps on walking.
Clever-yet criminal.
Merely classless was the boyfriend of a gal I'll call Chloe: He had her drive 40 miles to his house, then took her “out” to KFC. He paid with a two-for-one coupon and made Chloe pay her half. And speaking of half, another woman was having a hard time with her less than generous beau, so they decided to try some therapy and split the cost. After a few sessions that she paid for up front, she as
ked him to pay his share. He refused: “We talked about you most of the time.”
This is the same guy she'd been dating on her 40th birthday, a day on which she suggested they pack a picnic and bring along a bottle of champagne. “No,” said Prince Charming. “Let's wait for a special occasion.”
She is happy to report that whatever that is, he'll be celebrating alone.
But then there are the people utterly simpatico in their skinflintedness. One couple I know spend their anniversary at the Hallmark store reading cards aloud to each other. Then they stroll back out, hearts touched, wallets not. Doug and Denise Winston of Bakersfield, California, have also come to a dollar-saving détente. He no longer laughs when she maps out her Saturday errands so she can do them all without making any left turns. “It saves me wear and tear and time and fuel,” explains Denise, a former banker, noting that UPS follows the same strategy.
Of course, UPS probably doesn't try her other trick: buying a gift card on her way into a restaurant. Often the restaurant will sell a $25 card for $20, says Denise. Then she and her husband waltz in, buy some happy hour beer with the card, and eat the bar snacks for dinner. Meantime, she's getting 5 percent back from her credit card (so the card really costs her only $19), and her money