Being frugal vs being cheap!

Well I think that frugal is about looking out for your finances and making your money go as far as possible whilst being cheap is mooching off of others or not caring about paying your own way! xxxx

To me being frugal is being overly cautious or aware of how one uses something. That can be power as in electricity or gas, water and money. I conserve resources as much as possible. I recently got a wood burning heater installed and the last couple of nights I've used it to cook my dinner rather than use the gas stove. I hop in and out of the shower every other day and give myself a quick wash every other day. I wash up the dishes once a day. I have 2 big tanks to collect rainwater. My laundry water empties onto my grass in the back yard. My dogs eat the food I cook them which keeps them healthy and clean. When I shop I buy what I can afford. I buy things on special and generic brands. I do a little bit of bulk buying when I can. I save my shopping trips for when they are necessary rather than going backwards and forwards unnecessarily. To me that is being frugal. I know some would think I'm cheap but I don't care. I think most people are terribly wasteful and uncaring of our limited resources. To me being cheap is when you pay a very little for a piece of garbage, then give it as a gift to someone or complain and whinge when it breaks down. Or when you give away an unwanted gift. Being cheap is substituting something of poor quality when the expectation is that you will use something of decent quality.

Well, I am not trying to flatter you or to make up an excuse to writing a short response, raydene. The truth is, that I think exactly the same as you concerning these two adjectives. I suppose we´re just on the same wavelength. Being frugal isn´t a sacrifice to me because I believe in not wasting resources unnessasarily. I have always done this even before I had my daughter. When people have kids this sometimes the moment when people think about the generations to come. Of course there are exceptions and I´m not meaning to offend anyone here. Being cheap is related to selfishness, but also to denying oneself the pleasure of having s.th. nice and new, which doesn´t mean bying s.th. you really don´t need or indulging in luxury. I´ve talked to a group of women once who stated that buying new clothes at the age of seventy no matter for whom is not worth the effort and the money. After all, you can´t take it with you when you die. If they want to live that way, fair enough, but denying your husband or other family members the pleasure of having s.th. new is selfishness to me. Love and hugs to you. XXX Dana

you are not being selfish when you are being frugal there are 2 things you considered firstly you mentioned that you save for something better and secondly,you talked about getting something that will not hurt our planet now to me these two are worthy reasons to be frugal and i think you are being considerate to yourself while considering others this is not selfishness if you ask my view

I think as long as you're not hurting anyone or taking advantage of anyone, then it's not "cheap". If you doing something that is illegal, or against the rules - for example, I've heard of people who will eat most of their entree and then put a hair in it and tell the establishment that it came that way and get a second entree for free - I don't think that kind of thing is right. If I'm entitled to a discount, I will ask for it.

i am a very frugal person. i used to be extremely wasteful with my money. i spent money on fast food and material items like you would not believe. upon realizing that i was ruining my health and my pocketbook, i knew i had to make some changes. now i am very careful with the money that i earn. i figure, i worked hard for this money, and i am not going to give it to just anyone! i am very careful with my grocery budget, and strive to not go over it unless there is an emergency. i do not buy material items unless it is a special occassion. i shop according to sales. i do agree that many people are so wasteful with our planet's resources and that saddens me. we are so blessed to live here and i think we should respect our planet.