Frugal Vs Cheap
In the process of completely overhauling my finances, I’ve gone from being a self-proclaimed bargain hunter to truly frugal. I used to think I was smart with money; I caught public transport, I rarely paid retail for anything and I was inherently cautious with cash. However I eventually came to realise that if you buy a LOT of stuff below retail you’ll be just as low on cash as if you just bought half the stuff at full price. Moreover, the reason I was so careful with big-ticket expenses wasn’t because I was frugal, but rather because I was just so terrible with money that I rarely had any to spare.
In the last two years or so though, I’ve learnt to budget like never before. I watch and record every single cent I spend and this has lead me to find ways to let go of less cash, allowing me to put more into other (more important) avenues. In this way, I’ve become someone who is truly frugal. But where does one draw the line?
There’s a segment on a local radio station here called “Tight-ass Tuesday” whereby listeners call in and tell tales of people they know who are ‘tight-asses’. These stories are usually about coworkers who take their ‘allowance’ of toilet paper home with them and folks who turn their cars off when driving downhill so as to safe on the fuel. Today though, as I was recycling the clingfilm from my sandwich I brought to work for lunch, I wondered… have I gone from frugal to just downright cheap? And what (if any) is the difference anyway?
Dictionary.com defines frugal as being ‘economical’ and ‘not wasteful’ whereas cheap is differentiated by terms like ’stingy’ and ‘miserly’. So perhaps the true difference is just logic and commonsense.
In this way, frugal is about an optimal use of resources, where neither money, time nor material goods are ever wasted but simply put to their best possible use. In terms of being fiscally savvy, this is about minimising wastage and spending your money on things that will help you achieve your goals and bring you and your family happiness. For example, catching public transport or walking to work every day instead of driving because you want to use the difference in cost to save up for a holiday.
Conversely, cheap would then be about unreasonable under use of resources. Whilst money, time and material goods might not be wasted, they’re also not put to good use. For example, refusing to pay for health insurance citing cost as an excuse, despite having ample resources to do so.
Either way, it seems to me there certainly is a difference between the two… and on these definitions I’d prefer to stay on the frugal side of the fence!
If you’ve got a view on where the difference lies between cheap and frugal, feel free to email or tweet me.
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