Moderation has been derided for some time now. We live fast and smart, and financial independence has become a term that describes the impossible, if we analyze how much we depend on taking out loans.
Victor and Olimpia Silvestru, the couple
at the center of the novel ‘Zgârcă’, achieve financial independence.
After spending money on phones, watches, and fancy restaurant outings, they
decide to adopt a certain type of frugality that may seem a bit eccentric (they
collect bottles for 50 cents, hunt for deals and discounts, and follow a list
of necessary items to keep track of what they spend their money on and curb any
impulsive spending). Their circle of acquaintances, friends, and family all
have opinions and advice to offer, and the reader is not left unmoved by their
prejudices or absurdities.
The blunt dialogues make for delightful
reading, but they also invite introspection. What do moderation, stinginess,
wealth, and goodness mean to each of us? Victor's thirteen rules hover over
everything, perhaps offering a little encouragement to introspection. I don't
want to reveal them all, but here are two of them:
"Rule 1: Doing your job faster than
others means getting extra work or fixing the work of those who don't do it
quickly. Or well. It's your fault for being perfectionist and dedicated.
Rule 2: Learn to say No.
..."
And other little gems from the novel:
"...
Making a mistake on your own, even if you
find it hard to forgive yourself, only affects you and doesn't make you feel as
bitter as when you make a mistake on someone else's behalf.
To come back and also to stay away from a
place, you only need one thing: to remember the way.
..."
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