The thought of spending precious hours going into restaurants with the sole intention of trying to sneakily place my hands between the cushions of a booth to fish out change and then repeat it, booth by booth and restaurant by restaurant, is almost enough to make me want to go out spend money to prove that I have nothing to do with this new face of frugality. If that wasn’t enough to do it, asking other diners for their leftovers is.
There are some things that I can applaud on the Show Extreme Cheapskates, such as biking instead of using a car, but the keyword here is extreme. As viewers, we have to remember that the show, like 90 percent of the other reality shows out there, is going for drama, for entertainment, for shock value, and yes, even for repulsion.
As Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette fame once pointed out, it is the little things you do or don’t do that save you money, and most of those things aren’t exciting to watch. She complained that when newspaper photographers came to her door for photos, inevitably they would get the same photo, of her hanging her laundry.
The problem I have with such extreme shows, I am not or never have been a fan of Extreme Couponing, is that it gives a certain group of people a bad name. Those of us who want to stay out of debt, use our resources wisely, bless others with extra resources, use the savings to be a stay-at-home parent, or just need to practice frugal living to provide basics for their families, are depicted as some nasty fringe group.
Most viewers, I fear, will except the “reality” shows for reality and believe that no good can come from conserving your resources. If I, someone who has been practicing frugal living for years can feel the urge to go shop after watching a portion of Extreme Cheapskates, where then will that lead us? We already saw where excess spending has gotten us.
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