When does frugal become being stingy

I'm very frugal but I will not allow it to interfere with my enjoyment of life. I buy secondhand clothing because I can save money and don't really care much if I'm in the latest fashions. But I refuse to drink bad coffee! I don't get premium movie channels because I don't care much about movies and it's a way to save money--I also don't go to the movie theaters but I do have a viewing package with classic movies, etc. I save more than I would spend if I spent as the average person does with cable, entertainment, clothing, etc. I think it becomes stinginess when you're depriving yourself of everything you enjoy. And when you refuse to share with others. I don't give extravagant gifts but if I see something at a bargain that my sister would love, for example, I'll buy it. After all, I can't take my money with me when I die. I just want enough to live on while I'm here and being frugal helps me enjoy life and afford to give gifts and do some special things. So I guess I'd say stingy is when you'll spend nothing except on the bare necessities, inconvenience yourself and others and cling to money the way some people cling to love.

Making soap, making gifts, etc. even grinding your own grain is a great idea. If you can do all that, that's wonderful. For me stingy is taking advantage of someone (hiding when the bill comes, stealing toilet paper from a friend's house, etc That's stingy. I also saw on TV where someone actually got food out of a dumpster, and fed it to their guests. LOL THAT is being stingy. So to answer your question, I don't think you are being stingy at all.

I think everyone has their own level of comfort when it comes to being frugal. For some people, TV is not important. I have gone without it for years at a time and not really missed it. I make my own cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, etc., and use them instead of buying the paper kind. Some people call that stingy, but I enjoy doing it and it saves me money. You probably do things that others would call stingy - we all do, if we're interested in saving money. We all make choices based on what's important to us. (By the way, I do grind my own grain! )

I think that Dragon pretty well nailed just what the difference is in her response. As for the homemade gifts, I guess it all depends on whom you are giving them to. Some people love that stuff. I do. My daughter made a homemade body scrub this year that is amazing. It smells good and your body feels ever so soft after using it. My Uncle owned a farm while I was growing up and we all had big gardens. I grew up with fresh milk,butter, eggs and every thing made from scratch. I love homemade gifts. Someone else might not. This year in my family, the adults drew names and we had to make a homemade gift for 10.00 or under. It was pretty fun.

And what is wrong with making one's own soap, grinding one's own grain, giving up television or making handcrafted gifts? There is nothing wrong in doing any of those things, and doing them certainly does not make one "stingy." It is simply that not everyone possesses the time, energy and/or know-how to do these things. "Stingy" is when one is penny wise but pound foolish. Stingy is being stupid--endangering one's welfare or that of others for the sake of a few cents. That is stingy.

I see the difference as to how your behavior effects others. A frugal person saves or cuts corners when possible. They watch what they spend. Using cost effective light bulbs. Ride your bike to work instead of drive. Rent movies instead of going out. Buy generic foods. Things like that. On the hand, I see someone as stingy if they save money at the expense of someone else. Especially at the financial expense of someone else. Like charging your guests to stay with you. Taking magazines from others' mailboxes. Stealing WiFi. Bum rides from your friends and neighbors. I have an uncle that I consider stingy. His actions, in my opinion, go far beyond mere frugality. However, his actions don't usually effect others financially. But they do negatively effect others. His wife, my aunt, didn't work. This was an agreement between them and he insisted on this. So he felt he had the right to dictate how every penny would be spent. When my cousins were young, they were only allowed two inches of bath water because it saved on water. My aunt even begged to go to work to help pay the water bill, but he refused. (German Catholics - the man makes all decisions, no questions asked!) They used to take vacations. His idea of a vacation would be to pack all 5 of them (I have 3 cousins) into their compact car and drive. When it came time to sleep, he pulled over and they slept in the car. Didn't want to pay for a hotel. When it came time to eat, they ate sandwiches my aunt had packed. Their last trip was to the Grand Canyon. They drove to the GC, got out of the car and looked, and then climbed back in the car and went home. Couldn't spend money to actually do anything. He taught his eldest son well. They decided to have a family get-together at his house (this is my oldest cousin now). It was during the summer time. His wife wasn't allowed to cook anything on the stove or in the oven anything because it would heat up the house.

I think it varies for each person. I like mixing my own laundry soap, as I am sensitive to many things in the commercial soaps. I use vinegar in my rinse to help with softness. I do not have cable TV, because there are plenty of things I can watch without paying for it. On the other hand, I keep the best internet possible. I know people who wash all the plastic bags that come in their house and all plastic containers and they use them for storage. I do not. People rewash foil, I do not. I keep my heat turned down, because I like being cooler. I cook at home because I know what I put in my food.

i think that frugal means you save money but are willing to spend it on things you need but to be stingy means that you don't want to spend money period. i actually admire people that make their own soaps and whatnot to be honest. i think being stingy is when you always are looking for free stuff and don't want to spend any money. i have watched those extreme cheapskate shows and these people talk about saving 5 cents here or there. that to me is being stingy. is it really worth the aggravation?

When it takes the joy out of things?

Frugal is stingy? Yea right! Who cares what other people think, are they paying your bills? No? Then they need to shut up. If you can find a cheaper way to do it then do it and then charge those jerks who scoff at it money. People are becoming more creative since that pile of trash nobama has wrecked the economy so I applaud you for doing it your way. Spit on the haters, who cares what they think.

I have decided that, for me, frugal means not buying clothes I don`t need ( maybe an occational pair of jeans on sale) and doing what you do. Except that I`m back to normal light bulbs everywhere but in places where I don`t need much light. I have problems seeing with the energy saving bulbs so I think my eyes are worth more. Still, I have my internet, and use my computer wrapped in warmer clothes so that house can be less heated in Winter. I turned part of my garden into a vegetable garden and I`m proud of my meager produce. But I will not make soap and will not give up a light cable TV that has enough channels to make me happy. I know how to make cheap gourmet food and I love to cook. I eat very cheap and a lot better than most of the people I know. I don`t like to be stingy

Stingy is very close to being greedy. Frugal is just being careful with your money, not using it for anything unnecessary. Stingy is not spending anything because you just want to keep your money and make it big. You don't want to share nor buy basic necessities. You just want everything free and easy while you keep all the money.

All of those things are smart to do with your money to save, I would say that frugal will change to stingy with your state of mind about your money. As the only difference between the two is really your state of mind. Instead of saving because you want to will change to saving because you don't want to give someone else money.

Im that way here all the time. So I but lots of veggies on sale here. I dont mind eating cheap soups and pasta to save money here. But sometimes when you go 5 -6 days with out meat for dinner, it kinda hurts. But as you know. We do what we have to do to survive. Take care there. Hope you are well.

I think you have great answers. I'm thrifty, but still spend money on things that are important like entertainment. We only live once, so doing without something that would make my life easier doesn't make sense to me. One item that a few of my friends won't even consider buying is a crock pot, which I find to be a huge time saver and means I put a home cooked dinner on the table and can work. One friend told me that if I didn't buy the crock pot I could have put that money in my savings. I told her it won't be saving money, if I stop at Subway every night after work to serve a healthy dinner. Right now, she isn't speaking to me, as she is sure I'm in the wrong and I know I'm not going back to buying dinner several week nights.

im not to sure. actually my son is a little stingy with his frugal. because when we buy food he found out that at times the others in the house get to much in their plate and will throw it out he gets mad and it actually upsets me also. food is so high any more so hes gotten to where hes very careful to what he buys and puts things back in his room.