Scarvey column: Do you want it, or do you need i

My family has an amazing collection of letters from one of my ancestors, Jesse Rolston Jr., a Confederate soldier. He wrote to his wife Mary, who was at home running their Virginia farm advising her on things like how much to pay for clover seed. Sometimes, he made modest requests: salt or a pair of suspenders.

In one letter, he mentioned coffee, which was increasingly a luxury. He told Mary not to "scant" herself — assuring her that it was OK for her to buy a little from time to time

"You need to live while you do live," he told her.

And he was right. A life without coffee, or other such pleasures, isn't much of a life.

Still, too many folks these days haven't dreamed of "scanting" themselves of anything. Whether it's Ugg boots , i-Phones or a 4,000 square foot McMansion, we've told ourselves that we deserve it.

Now, many are left wondering why they weren't more careful during the good times.

The good news is that more people seem to be realizing that pulling back on spending doesn't necessarily mean "scanting" themselves.

Earlier this week on the "Today" show, host Matt Lauer was interviewing "cheapskate" media personality Jeff Yeager. One of Yeager's money-saving suggestions was ditching the cell phone.I got the sense from Lauer's reaction that Yeager might as well have been advocating ripping out phone book pages to use as toilet paper — but Yeager stuck to his guns.

And why not? He practices what he preaches. Yeager cheerfully exists without a cell phone — and reminded Lauer that not so very long ago, everyone did.

I do have a cell phone, but only because it was a gift from my brother when we were spending a lot of time away from home for my daughter's medical care. I rarely use it now and could pretty easily give it up. My husband manages without one entirely, as do the two teenagers currently under my roof (including a Brazilian exchange student).

My daughter in college is the only one in my family for whom a cell phone will soon be a necessity, since her university is phasing out land lines in residence halls.

Consider, as Yeager points out, that the average cell phone plan costs about $100 a month. Many families spend more than that.

As the economy worsens and people need to do more with less, we're all going to need to ask ourselves which budget items add to the quality of our lives and which are luxuries we've grown to see as necessities. Maybe a cell phone is a necessity for you. But maybe not.

In my parents' generation, many families survived nicely with one car. They cooked at home, ate out rarely. They understood household budgeting. They distrusted credit.

At some point, people quit doing the math.

Debt lost its sting.

Saving was for suckers.

We believed advertising hype. We deserved to have "it," whatever "it" was.

Maybe what we really deserve is the peace of mind that comes from living within our means and saving for a rainy day.

Because as we're all being reminded, the rainy day will surely come.

'Bruno' Trailer, Sneak Peek Raise Our Expectatio

The "Brüno" trailer has arrived in all its red-banded glory, complete with outrageous public stunts, nude bedroom brawls and adult toy fights. It's a Sacha Baron Cohen production — what did you expect?

As the trailer's opening reminds us, three years ago, Cohen introduced the world to a little-known Kazakhstani journalist named Borat, whose crude, provocative, "lavatorial" — and, of course, insanely hilarious — comedy appalled and enchanted audiences. The movie that bears his name went on to gross almost $130 million at the box office. By all accounts "Brüno" — yet another spin-off of a character from "Da Ali G Show" — is even cruder, more provocative and perhaps even more hilarious than "Borat." And given Cohen's increased exposure this time around, the film is looking to do even bigger business.

Combining the footage in this trailer with word coming out of last month's South by Southwest Festival, where Universal Pictures screened 22 minutes of "Brüno," we can begin to piece together a rough idea of what this still-mysterious movie about a gay Austrian fashion reporter will deliver at movie theaters starting on July 10. Turn back now if you're even mildly spoiler-averse.

The film begins as Brüno gets ready for Milan fashion week. Perhaps in preparation for his assignment, he tries on a see-through plastic blazer and then dons a pink unitard, with matching Ugg boots and protruding genitalia. He ends up opting for a jumpsuit made entirely out of Velcro. Backstage at a show by Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, he sticks to curtains and high-priced garments before tumbling out onto the actual runway.

The flamboyant Austrian gets fired for making such a mess of things, and thus begins his journey: He travels to America to become a star. Taking a cue from Brangelina and Madonna, Brüno decides to adopt an African baby. We actually see him remove an infant from a cardboard box (with air holes punched in it, of course) from a luggage carousel at the airport.

From there he stages an outrageous photo shoot (Brüno hugging the baby while wearing a beekeeper suit and surrounded by a swarm of bees) and heads to the made-up "Today With Richard Bay" show, a Jerry-Springer-style talker in which Brüno says he gave the child a "traditional African name: O.J." The show devolves into a full-on brawl.

At some point, Brüno seems to lose custody of the baby and decides to reinvent himself as a straight man. The first stop in this quest might be a Sears store, where he tells an unsuspecting clerk, "You might find this very hard to believe, but I am gay."

Brüno's other attempts to engage in purportedly macho activities include: finding his way into a swingers' party and then into the bedroom with an aggressive, silicone-enhanced woman who mercilessly whips him; joining some sort of military training camp, where he stylizes his uniform with a little help from Dolce & Gabbana; and going on an overnight hunting trip with a group of camouflaged Southerners.

"Look at the four of us," he says as they sit around the campfire. "We are so like the 'Sex and the City' girls."

"Oh, no we aren't either," comes one uncomfortable response.

"I ain't neither one of 'em," another hunter says. "I'm Donnie."

"That is such a Samantha thing to say," Brüno quips.

With more than three months until the movie's release date, we can surely expect much more of "Brüno" to trickle onto the Web. For now, we'll just have to savor this first two minutes and 35 seconds of insanity. Brüno putting his infant on the handlebars of a Vespa? Brüno showing up at the mall handcuffed to a man wearing nothing but boxers and a few leather straps? Sacha, can we have some more please?

Eva Longoria Has a Laugh with On-Set Family

Though she’s disappointed her hubby Tony Parker’s San Antonio Spurs lost to the Cleveland cavaliers yesterday, Eva Longoria bounced back with a big smile on the set of “Desperate Housewives” on Monday (April 6).

The brunette beauty sipped her coffee in between takes, filming scenes alongside on-screen husband, Ricardo Chavira, and their children, Juanita and Celia.

Upon finishing up the morning shoot, Longoria changed into some comfy sweats and UGG boots as she made her way to her nearby car.

In related news, it was recently reported that motorcycle crash victim, Gale Harold, will be returning to his role on “Desperate Housewives” beginning May 3 after six months recovering.

“Quite frankly, I think he looks even better [than before the crash],” series creator Marc Cherry jokingly told press.