Monday, July 27, 2015

Frugousie


Frugousie (portmanteau of frugal and bourgeoisie): 

an attribute of the Millennials in which they have much more frugal habits than previous generations, independent of their disposable income.  The Depression created a whole generation of thrift and many of that generation did not change their habits even when their incomes rose.  The Millennials are going through something similar. 

This includes:
  • stores like H&M and Zappos that are known for their fast fashion;  
  • business models like Zipcar car sharing instead of each person owning their own car;
  • P2P sharing services for infrequently used items such as tools so that one item can serve a whole community;
  • P2P donations of excess so that it doesn’t go to waste – food leftovers with Halfbakery, used goods of any kind with Freecycle or Craigslist, P2P services such as Taskrabbit and Fiverr.
I use some of these and I am not a Millennial (despite pretending to be).  But not nearly as often.

Do you use them?  What has been your experience?