For the longest time I was fighting trying to understand the difference between Frugal and Cheap. As we all know in this kind of economy we really have to pay attention on dollar spent. My hubby has already been on the get go since the beginning. I, on the other hand, had problem adjusting the situation simply because I don’t like changes. Anyhow, what is actually living frugally and how do we draw the line between being frugal vs being cheap? My definition of frugal is not spending money on unnecessary stuffs, buy the best quality product available if needed and take advantage on deals as much as possible.
Here is a few examples of what we do in order to save money:
- Eat out only when there is BOGO (Buy One Get One Free). Entertainment book, PaperMint and Restaurant.com are our main sources to get deals.
- Consider your route whenever you go out. If you need to make a few stops make sure they are within the same direction, e.g. you live in North side of town, you need to go to a farm market and you promise to meet your friend who lives in West afterwards. Don’t go to Downtown farm market, instead find another farm market around North or somewhere between North and West that you can pass along the way. You’ll be amazed how much money you save on gas.
- Save electricity by doing the following:
- Combining laundry by setting up your washer in Cold setting. Forget about separating your clothes between whites and colors. Just combine everything and do it all at once. You’re saving electricity by doing so.
- Turn your computer off completely when not in use. Most people use power strip to connect their computer. I’m talking about turning off the power from the power strip to make sure everything is off.
- Use fan instead of A/C and set the temperature to 80 degrees during Summer, or wear more clothes but set the temperature to 65 degrees in the Winter.
- We don’t buy retail price anymore, always at least 60% off. Also we always check out secondhand stores and goodwill stores before buying anything new. Craiglist or garage sale are also good resources.
- Instead of paying $5 for parking in downtown, we opt to meter parking if we know we’ll be there for only a couple hours ($.50 instead of $5). Literally my husband will go round and round to find a meter parking. Silly? For us it’s just a little extra work.
- Find free entertainment in the weekend. Go to festivals, stroll around little shops in historic downtown neighborhood. Make sure you BYOB aka bring your own beverages and don’t buy anything.
- coupon coupon coupon!!! Use coupons on your groceries. Check out your Sunday paper or couponmom.com.
Here is a few examples of being frugal vs cheap:
- We spent $320 on dyson vacuum cleaner, which is the best vacuum you could ever find in the market. We got it on sale for $400 (original price was $450), and we got 20% coupon on top of that. We bought it because we need it, is a well known brand that produce outstanding result and last for a long time. Cheap people will buy the cheapest product in the market.
- Last week TGIF was having promotion where you spent fifty cents on appetizer if you buy any drinks. We definitely took advantage of that. Yes we ended up spending $10 including tips which include 4 appetizers (two of them are free because my husband is a member and the waiter gave one free appetizer to my son), one beer, one soda and a tip. Cheap people would not take this advantage because it is still cheaper to eat at home. However you have to consider the value that you enjoyed through this promotion.
- A few months ago there was a promotion at DSW where you can buy Marc Jacobs shoes at 80% off. I bought a pair of boots, original price was $200 and I paid $40 for it. If there were more colors that I liked or sizes that actully fit me, I would’ve bought more. Cheap people would not take advantage of this because it’s beyond their shopping budget. Again folks, it’s the value that counts, not the sticker price.
I still have to learn a lot about being frugal. The key is to spend your money wisely. Remember, little things do add up. It is ok to go over budget on a certain month as long as you are getting a really good deal out of it and you justify that budget next month.
Tags: frugal living;cheap
