The thrifty will inherit what's left of the earth

The global economic crisis has prompted some serious rethinking on concepts like 'greed' and 'thrift'. Greed is no longer good and the thrifty will inherit the earth, provided, that is, that the greedy haven't destroyed it by then.

Thrift has had a bad rap in the past. Just look at some of the word associations - 'skinflint', 'frugal', 'mean', 'Scrooge'. A new report from US think tank The Institute for American Values, entitled For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture, attempts to foster a culture that's more amenable to thriftier lifestyles.


Business Week points to a growing number of 'Freegans', who see acquiring things for free (sometimes literally out of a dumpster) as a virtue.


Thrift immediately suggests saving money, but the concept is broader. People can be frugal in their consumption of resources generally, be it personal funds or the world's resources.


A culture of thrift is thus poised to take advantage not only of economic trends but environmental ones. The Australian government is set to ban the sales of incandescent light bulbs from October 2009, forcing a switch to energy saver, or halogen, bulbs.


Being thrifty can be seen as the 'smart' choice. This is the reward of thrifty consumers. They may save in one area of their lives, to splurge in other areas that mean more to them, for example, saving on basic foods to splash out on imported cheeses, which will look impressive at their dinner party. Or, people simply feel the reward of 'doing their bit' if their frugality benefits the planet in some small way.


Various brands have adopted positionings based on thrift, car rental company Thrifty, for instance. But, with frugality increasingly in vogue, others are following.


Australian consumers know that the wolf is at the door. They're beginning to cut back, but, the Mackay Report suggests, behavioural change doesn't automatically follow the realisation that the times are a-changin'. It takes a while for people to wean themselves off spending habits. Most would rather protect their lifestyles and the luxuries they now consider their dues.


Brands, which can help them protect their lifestyles, stand to gain.

Thrifty chic

Thrifty Birthday Girl


Thrifty thinking, once the preserve of misers and cheap dates, is officially cool. As illustrated by JWT's campaign for Thrifty car rental, people are having fun with thrift. That means it's seeping into popular culture (for example, Thrifty ads are giving rise to copycat spoofs on YouTube). Thrifty thinking has become a positive lifestyle choice, a movement no less.

Thrifty thinking is such an engaging concept because it's a game of wits. You can try to beat the system, always getting the better deal, whether it's buying on the sales and getting twice as much, or shopping at a discount department store and passing it off as designer. It's not just about getting things cheap - it's the payoff when you pull it off as something bigger and shinier. Thrift has attitude.

In the Thrifty campaign, that's the dad taking disproportionate credit for getting his daughter a car (rental) for her birthday. It's Thrifty 'borrowing' someone's high-traffic billboard space round Sydney Airport.

Being thrifty is not exclusive. It works for people of all ages and incomes. As the Entourage boys demonstrate, being a multimillionaire superstar playboy, or one of his hangers on, doesn't preclude thrift. Vince orders the most expensive steak on the menu as a takeout when his business lunch goes sour. Drama steals batteries from recording studios for his (very) personal shaver.

With the mainstreaming of green or 'caring' consumption (think Anya Hindmarch's 'I'm not a plastic bag' - environmentally caring, oh! so desirable and the godmother of caring handbags), being thrifty is no longer pejorative. If you're thrifty, it's not that you're cheap, you're just putting more thought into what you buy. You're not a merchandise monster who's destroying the planet for us all through your out of control consumption.

So, join the backlash against record consumer spending, 'buy' your friends a virtual beer, pull in your purse strings and get some thrift. It's all the rage (and, given the global credit crisis, it's kind of sensible too).