Many people believe the terms are synonyms.
Maybe this just happens to me, but I always feel the need to defend the definition of "frugal". I'm not sure if some of you ever get called out for saving money, someone calls you "cheap", you correct them to being "frugal", and they reply with "same difference". They are two completely different terms.
I know there's a simple definition on the sidebar and a bullet that states that we shouldn't fight over this because everyone has their own definition, but I honestly feel like more light needs to be shed on the term. Because they are literally trying to pull off being cheap as being frugal.
What is being "cheap" and being "frugal" to you? I just replied to a post here to someone saying "simplistic frugality" is making your room mates suffer with no AC in the Arizona heat.
In my opinion:
cheap = trying to save money at others' expense
Example:
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AC example above
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Buying low-quality household items that your family depends on
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Using the free Bailey's mug that comes with the Bailey's rum bottle (that they drank themselves last Thanksgiving) as a $20 minimum white elephant gift. (You know what you did, Susan.)
frugal = the first sentence of the sidebar: "Frugality is the mental approach we each take when considering our resource allocations. It includes time, money, convenience, and many other factors."
Example:
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Doing searches for coupons before making purchases.
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Thinking about big purchases, not buying it impulsively.
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Waiting for sales.
edit: added examples
Edit again. Okay, to the random PMs about me being called cheap because “maybe you are”:
What about my post or my post history makes me seem cheap? It is anyone’s interpretation, which is why I asked for their own definition.
There are a handful of people at work who ask me for financial advice because I’m a little more savvy when it comes to finance compared to my peers here. I have been interested in the subject ever since I started my career. A lot of the people who ask me for advice make the same salary as me but ask me how I’m able to afford this or that while maxing out stuff, in addition to investing on top of that. I let them know that I budget. We work in technology and make a decent amount of money, but they do not know how to budget and therefore ask me for advice. When I let them know that eating out, drinking fraps, and buying a bunch of gadgets on amazon every day is part of the problem, they give up and sometimes refer to themselves as living the “young IT professional life” or how they don’t want to save all their money because they’re only young once.
Honestly, I don’t talk finance with these types of people at work anymore because they will resort to being defensive or saying that I’m being cheap because I don’t want to go to happy hour with them when the main reason is because I don’t really want to hang out with them.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, thoughts, or definitions.
December 17, 2018 at 12:24PM
