I am conspicuously frugal. Anyone who has seen my laptop case - a sleeve I constructed from cardboard & duct tape - knows this.

These quotes are fireworks:

"Frugality is about appreciating simple pleasures and generally easing up in a society that encourages materialism and competitiveness."

"Westacott tells readers, for instance, that if Epicurus, a frugal sage who scorned excess but embraced pleasure, were alive today, he would balk at trading gastronomical contentment for the sawdusty texture of Soylent, much like plenty of aesthetes today."

Also, this extremely radical thought: "However, the actual argument is that public policies should ensure that the poor can afford their first house before the rich can afford their third or fourth."