Shofali Jindal borrows movies from the library and picks up passes for Boston museums there. John Harper hunts at consignment and thrift stores for $25 Armani suits. Ingrid LaSalle brews her coffee at home to save the $150 a month she used to spend at Starbucks. And they’re proud of it. Like most other Americans, they’ve been cutting back and reevaluating their spending. But they’re also finding that it has become cool to be cheap.
“It’s probably not looked at negatively anymore,” said LaSalle, 34, a chef from Cambridge, who was eating a value meal with her daughter Alanna Price at the McDonald’s restaurant in Somerville’s Davis Square.
“It’s not about being stingy. It’s being frugal and smart. For some people, it’s like a sport.”
The withering economy has forced our inner value shopper to come out.
Instead of buying a birthday card, we send free e-cards. Rather than going out for a drink at a bar, we share a six-pack at home with friends.
We buy clothes at Wal-Mart and Costco instead of pricier places. When we do shop at department stores, we arm ourselves with coupons.
Whereas we used to hide our thriftiness for fear of being ridiculed as a cheapskate, now we flaunt it like a badge of honor. We’re proud to buy something for nothing, and then we enjoy bragging about how little we spent.
“It’s cool to be frugal,” said Frederic Brunel, a Boston University marketing professor. “The culture of the moment is to be smart with your money and get the best out of it.”
Brunel, who also teaches consumer research, said he’s noticed that TV commercials are spreading the message that cheap equals cool.
Brunel points to a recent spot for Gillette’s Fusion razor in which the unseen announcer asks consumers to consider that a replacement blade cartridge can cost $1 per week. “That’s money well spent,” he declares.
A new McDonald’s commercial hypes its coffee and suggests that viewers should abandon pricier coffee shops, going so far as to spoof Starbucks customers.
“Now we don’t have to listen to jazz all day long,” one woman says in the ad.
Even President Obama showed that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to look good. During his inauguration, commentators talked about the fact that the first family wore clothes from J.Crew, a mid-market retailer.
“They looked very good but didn’t spend a lot of money on it,” Brunel said.
“That’s the positive side to this otherwise gloomy economic environment,” he added. “It’s about celebrating the fact that you are able to get a good deal and that you are a smart shopper as opposed to being an indulgent and almost mindless consumer, which is being looked down on right about now.
It’s not just clothes and coffee. Consumers are finding other ways to cut down. More people are ordering takeout food these days, in order to avoid paying for drinks and leaving a tip. At the Cheesecake Factory in Braintree, the line at the takeout counter is often longer than the line waiting to be seated.
Shopping at thrift stores has lost its stigma, too. At the Goodwill store in Davis Square, Nick Norrman, 20, of Brockton boasted that he had just paid $2 for a used VCR.
“You can come to these places and get something for nothing,” said Norrman, who also bragged that he “dumpster dives” for food and leftovers from Trader Joe’s stores. “I’m not a big fan of being gaudy and rich. I don’t like paying full price.”
John Harper, 54, has landed some good deals on designer clothes, and he likes to share his finds with his friends. Harper recently found a cashmere overcoat from Italy for $15 and Gucci loafers for $20 at thrift stores.
“My inner cheapo has allowed me to wear amazing designer clothes for next to nothing,” said Harper, a Boston University grad who now lives in Stamford, Conn., where he hosts a talk radio show. The topic of finding more for less has gained currency among his listeners, who call in with their own stories of being cheap.
“If you find these bargains, you feel less guilty about getting them, because it’s less money,” he says.
At Downtown Crossing, Jindal, 31, stood in a winding line of Macy’s customers who were waiting for free cosmetics that the store gave away.
It’s not the only way she’s scrimping. Lately, she’s been saving $50 a week by bringing her lunch to work at the Department of Labor rather than buying sandwiches. She drinks beer at home instead of in bars. And then there are the free movies she borrows from the library.
“It’s always good to be frugal, especially now. You don’t know what is going to happen with the economy tomorrow,” said Jindal, who unplugs all her electrical appliances in her Cambridge home when she goes to work.
She also stocks up on cartons of orange juice at Costco each month. “I don’t know anyone who isn’t cutting back. It’s in to be cheap.”
