Tough times call for crafty economizing

To: Mary Schmich

From: Eric Zorn

The other day, when I was leaving Home Depot, I hesitated in front of the hot-dog stand where I ritually treat myself to a frank after completing a transaction that leaves me with a false sense of handiness. Then I thought, "No, I can do without," and kept on walking.

It was an act of budgetary, not dietary, discipline. I just wanted to save the $2.

The decision was barely conscious—more an impulse than a strategic exercise of thrift—yet undeniable evidence of my new nagging anxiety about money.

I'm not crying poor by any means. But falling home values, skyrocketing tuitions, $4-a-gallon gas (I paid that much for the first time this week) and other gloomy omens have me exhibiting a form of what my grandfather used to call "shell-out falter."

It seems to be going around. Starbucks Corp. recently reported a 28 percent drop in second-quarter profits, and some analysts attributed the decrease to neo-tightwads reducing their consumption of gourmet coffee drinks.

This development prompted me to invent a new term—"latteconomizing," meaning to economize on lattes and other minor indulgences.

I've cut back myself on premium joe as well as impulse tube-steak purchases.

I've also been using more coupons and buying sale items in atrocious bulk.

Piddling privations compared with what people who are really hurting are doing without, I know. And I'm not complaining so much as confessing and wondering whether I'm on the road to becoming one of those human squirrels who saves old dental floss to reuse as shoelaces.

So are you latteconomizing these days? Or have you decided to be a one-woman economic stimulus and spend this nation back to fiscal health?

To: Eric Zorn

From: Mary Schmich

You're right—you and I are lucky that our economizing doesn't involve cutting back on food in order to afford medicine or the mortgage. But in the last couple of years, not just recently, I've made trims. For example, I:

•Taxiconomize. I've renounced taxis except in time emergencies. This includes trips to the airport. Instead of a $40 cab ride, I take a $7 ride to the train. The other day, I combined the train and the bus and did the whole trip taxi-free. I regret this some, knowing how hard it is for cabbies to make a living.

•Teaconomize. I stopped afternoon lattes ages ago because my body rebelled at coffee. The switch to tea has come with a savings perk of a buck a cup.

•Cosmeticonomize. Except for the occasional designer lip gloss, I no longer shop at the cosmetic counter. CVS stuff works just fine.

•Parkonomize: I've vowed to never again park in a downtown garage. Parking just once a week at 22 bucks a pop added up to $1,000 a year. That buys a lot of tea.

•Cookieconomize: You know those little madeleines Starbucks sells for $1.95 plus tax?

I used to eat them two or three times a week. More than $200 a year on cakes as hard as hockey pucks? Even Proust would say, "Non!"

•Bookonomize: Paperback only. And I resist those 3-books-for-the-price-of-2 come-ons. History has shown that if I buy three, I'll read one.

•Sundayconomize: I don't spend money on Sundays. (Minimal groceries and café stops permitted.) I'm convinced I've saved thousands by imposing a ban on boutiques and Best Buy on the alleged day of rest.

I'm not as fiscally virtuous as this may sound, however. A penny saved is too often a penny spent somewhere else.

Tell us how you're (fill in the blank)conomizing at chicagotribune.com/zorn

Related topic galleries: Starbucks Corporation, Home Depot Incorporated, CVS Corporation, Best Buy Company Incorporated

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