"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." My childhood and adolescence overlapped the sunset years of most people who'd grown up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II, which ...

Good or bad, right or wrong, the world has to adjust to a newly frugal American consumer. Why does that matter and what will this “new normal” mean? For the past 15 years – leading up to the current ...

My column this week offers a skeptical take on the popular argument that the current recession has given birth to a new, more frugal American consumer. The argument isn’t so much about what consumers ...

The February 13 issue of Barron’s made a statement that caught my eye: Americans are paying down their mortgages. (See “Paying Down the Mortgage.”) 50% of all refinancings now result in smaller loans ...

Lydia Maria Child may be best remembered today for that beloved poem about going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house, “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day.” But ...

Thrifty consumers know that one of the best ways to save money on just about anything is to buy in quantity so they can spend less per unit. Three giant, household name sellers let frugal American ...