Sunoco and the sesquicentennial.

thIt’s the 150th anniversary of the first U.S. nickel, and Mary Hunt is weighing in. The queen of frugality has teamed up with Sunoco to celebrate the birthday of the humble half-dime, which not so coincidentally is the per-gallon amount saved  by Sunoco credit card users.

Given the reaction to a giveaway of Hunt’s “The Smart Woman’s Guide to Planning for Retirement” – or, heck, to anything she has written – I know that plenty of my readers are her fans as well. That’s why I jumped at the chance to chat with Hunt.

She’d given some tips to the Sunoco campaign, such as planning meals around each week’s grocery specials and making your own laundry soap for a cost of – you guessed it! – five cents per load.

That’s frugality, though: Little tweaks that add up to big results. And since like me she is a fan of small change, we chatted about the special power of specie. 

 

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Blowback from Mary Hunt’s book giveaway.

thPlenty of food for thought in the comments on last week’s prize, Mary Hunt’s “The Smart Woman’s Guide to Planning Retirement.” National pundits and rich politicians who think that the economy is going just fine, thanks, should get an eyeful of stories like:

“I am 44. I have no money. No savings. No job.”

“Like others, I have student loans and – in this economy – am earning very little, and struggling to do that.”

“As a 48-year-old whose financial situation has deteriorated drastically due to some serious life changes, I could really use the help.”

I’m 52 and recently lost my job. I have no savings, my husband has been on disability for 20 years and we rely on every penny that I make. … I don’t want to have to work until I die.”

“I have spent more than one sleepless night fretting about this very subject. Divorced, mid-forties, paycheck to paycheck, less than stellar salary, adult kids sometimes need my help, prices up, taxes up…”

Understand: Such comments don’t surprise me, because I’m playing catch-up with my own retirement and also because more than a few people in my life are living fairly close to the bone. Not every pundit and politician has that daily reality check.

 

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