Got savings that should last a while. If being frugal made you a super athlete and being a cheap ass was an olympic sport, I'd be invited to compete for the “skinflints” but would end up declining after seeing the price of the flight I wasn't paying for. Turns out if you literally only spend money on food, shelter and transport for literal years you can build a little nest egg.
Also got a work ethic that I'm extremely damn proud of, a work ethic that makes managers happy. And I'm not going to offer it up to anyone. While all these companies search for candidates like me, I'm just going to let them keep searching until they realize, “shit, we REALLY are going to have to increase wages, aren't we?”
And then maybe then I'll think about getting back into the workforce, and being a contributing member of the economy. Maybe eat out a restaurant for the first time in 3 years. Or stop sewing holes shut in my shoes and just buy a new pair.
But as it stands now, this is my new protest. I'm just not going to contribute anymore, beyond what it takes to subsist at the most basic level.
*skinflint – noun, a person who spends as little money as possible; a miser.