Being made fun of for being frugal

Now, we have all been peer-pressured into buying something.
And when we say 'No, I'd rather not spend $100 on monster truck show tickets', our 'friends' retort:

"You're no fun!"

"You're too cheap!"

"You don't have a life!"



You're right, Jack! All my friends bug me and act like I'm a frugal fool!

It's happened to me too. Both of us know the pain of being ridiculed. So what can we do about this socioeconomic menace?


1) Try telling them the truth:

Tell them that that $100 is the water for your wealth-tree, with karma fueling it's ever-present upward climb...

Or, you could tell them that that $100 will let you retire 1 or 2 days earlier, while they are still slaving away at the 9 to 5.

Or maybe that $100 will be the last straw in the haystack that allows your future child to seek out the higher education that they always wanted.


2) Try telling them a lie:

Tell them that $100 is going to quintuple in the next 3 weeks, and you will be an overnight millionaire.

Tell them that you have to get an ass-transplant, and $100 is the last step towards the rear you've always wanted.


3) Ignore their idle financial prattle:

This is probably the most difficult, and effective tactic. It's a proven fact that friends poke fun because they want to get a reaction. By ignoring them, you rob them of the payoff of the activity.

No reaction -->  No reward


4) Show them your 5 page asset sheet, complete with lots of very large numbers:

... And watch them stammer as they wobble away to their fully-leveraged car and mortgaged-up-to-the-hilt condo.

I like this option BEST.

I thoroughly ENJOY the look on people's faces when they come to the realization that saving and investing soundly will beat the pants off of spending like you're going to die tommorrow.

I guess I'm sort of a jerk that way :-P.



Jack, they won't stop bugging me about being frugal, no matter what I do!

Well, you can always get new friends.

In-fact, go to www.meetup.com, and you can find lots of groups nearby you that share your interests, including being frugal.

It's nearly always free to go to meetings, and the people you find there can be incredibly supportive; after-all, they have probably been in the same situation as you!