Jeff Yeager is America's funniest cheapskate and in his new book, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches, he offers tons of ways to live economically and joyfully. We recently talked to Jeff and learned how being cheap has become the new cool.
Q: What twist of fate helped you become a cheapskate?
A: I think you're referring to the bizarre story I tell in the book about how I first ended up on the Today Show, which branded me the "Ultimate Cheapskate" and launched my writing career, all as a result of losing a "Penny Pincher Contest" sponsored by finance columnist Michelle Singletary. Now keep in mind that Singletary was offering a $50 top prize so I was plenty psyched—and I'm still plenty miffed that she shafted me on the cashola, but she did tell the Today Show that I was at least the funniest cheapskate in America. And, of course, long before I became a frugal celebrity, the miser gene has run in my family. I'm the latest in a long line of tight-knit tightwads. The Yeager family crest even bears the inscription Spartica Homo Erectus, Latin for "Cheapskate Who Stands Erect."
Q: What does your wife think of being married to one of the cheapest men in America?
A: With all due respect, I'm deeply offended by your question. I'm the Cheapest Man in America, not one of several equals. Matt Lauer even said so! If you don't believe him, then, fine, just ask my pooooor wife, Denise. She should know. After all, we've been married twenty-four years, or, as Denise says, "Nearly three and half wonderful years." Not all at once, mind you. In all seriousness, Denise is a good sport to put up with me and my out-of-control frugal libido. That's why I dedicated my book to her, even though she hasn't read it yet. Yep, I'm still waiting for her to cough up the $12.95, just like everyone else. Sorry honey, you gotta buy a ticket to see the show, even if it's dedicated to you.
Q: So what does it really mean to be a "cheapskate"?
A: All kidding aside—and as you may have guessed by now there's a lot of it in my book—my real message is that we spend and consume too much. The fact is that our current consumer culture in the U.S. and some other developed countries is both unsustainable to the Earth and, frankly, unfair to all the other people on the planet. Wow, I know, that's a serious, even painful message to hear, and that's why I wanted to deliver it with a laugh track. But ultimately the cheapskate philosophy behind what I'm saying is an optimistic, uplifting one. You see, not only is spending and consuming so much—as we currently do—unsustainable and unfair, but in the end it's also unsatisfying and unnecessary for leading a full, happy life. My book is about two things: how to find the best value in things, and, more importantly, how to value the best things in life, which often come without a price tag. Its true message is that you can have it all, but only if you're willing to not pay the price.
Q. Can you be a cheapskate and still be fashion-forward?
A: Funny you ask, because I've noticed that being cheap—spending and consuming wisely, for maximum life enjoyment—is becoming the new cool (or would that be the new black?). You can't embrace the green movement, as so many Americans are rushing to do today, without also accepting that it probably means you need to consume less in your own life. The good news is that being more of a cheapskate, as I define it, isn't about sacrifice—it's really about choices. It's about setting out to amass a quality of life, instead of just a quantity of stuff. It's about the fact that you may very well already have everything you really need or truly want in life, if you'll just slow down along the Road to Riches to realize it.
Read Jeff's blog, Cheap Talk, available at his website, www.UltimateCheapskate.com.
