Frugalista

The global financial crisis is definitely in our midst. Each and every newscast and news articles there is available have nothing to tell us but news about downsizing of companies left and right, mass layoffs happening in every corner of the world, even our own OFW's being sent home from their jobs abroad because of the current crisis. I am so happy that even before the crisis started late last year, I was able to get back into the corporate world (Thank God!) without any hitch, that way I was able to beat the crisis. I was reading the January-February 2009 issue of Preview magazine and it's editor-in-chief Pauline Suaco-Juan discussed about being fashion forward eventhough there is a crisis, and she used the word "frugalista". A frugalista, according to the New York Times, is defined as “a person who lives a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc.”. And, this term has been certified and is already included in the newer editions of the 2009 Oxford American Dictionary. Wow! A new word to describe people who are still fasyon during times of crisis. I think I should adapt the attitude of being a frugalista. It is an irony for me who loves shopping for clothes, but since we are experiencing uncertain times, I have to tighten my belt a bit. I have been trying, for the longest time, to scour ukay-ukay stores around our dear Metro Manila, but I haven't found the time to go to one. This year will just be the perfect time for me to hit the ukay ukay stores, since I know there are alot of hiden fashion treasures available for me there, all I need is patience and a sense of intuition. I would so love to grow my own veggies and fruits, but the place I live in doesn't give me the luxury of having a lawn for me to do so. In place of that, I'll include vegetables in my daily diet. Frugalista is such a positive word! I do not find the word offensive or something, and I think it's just best that we have to be frugal (after all, it is the root word of frugalista) during these trying times. I encourage everyone to live a frugalista lifestyle! There are just a lot of ways to become one, and we have to start TODAY!