Being Frugal Is Not The Same As Being Cheap

Is Being Frugal the same as Being Cheap, I’m often asked? I’ve never really gave it much of a thought, because I like being frugal and having a few coins left over to pursue hobbies that are endearing to me. I guess I am an everyday cheapskate. I know a lot of people who are cheapskates too! Most of the people who know me say that I am cheap. Of all the people I know, I guess I am the ultimate cheapskate. If being cheap means having just enough left over to do what you wish to do, I guess I am cheap. Cheap in American Society is a often times thought of as being negative, but in my thinking being cheap is a way to look at things in another light. I look at being cheap as a way of life. I am conservative in my spending and only spend money on a thing that add value to my life or helps to improve my health. It is who I am. I spend what little I have on the things that represent the best quality for the amount I am willing to spend for it.

You don’t have to worry about people thinking that you are a cheapskates or crazy for being cheap. As the economic downturn runs it course here in the United States and the World, overall, more and more people are adopting a cheapskate’s lifestyle. In fact, in some circles, it is even fashionable to being cheap. The lines differentiating being cheap and being frugal is blurring as prolong economic uncertainty continues. Okay, being cheap is frowned upon by the masses, and being frugal is accepted by the masses as being tolerable. I’m two coins from being broke which my usual condition is and though I live in a relatively upper middle class neighborhood, there are far more houses vacant this year than anytime in recent memory. Clearly, the economy has affected my neighborhood and the neighborhoods of all my friends and associates. There isn’t a day that I take my daily walks that I don’t discover yet another merchant going out of business or a family who is moving.

On my walk today, I went to Walmart to purchase some seasonal fruit and vegetables and when I got to the cashier, she asked if I wanted to apply for a Walmart Credit Card. I was taken back to a time when I use to have as many as 16 credit cards and many with a very high credit limit. I remember when I close those credit card accounts over the years after paying them off, and thinking what a tremendous sigh of relief I felt when I paid off the last one and closed my account. To hear someone say, “Would you like to sign up for a Walmart credit card? Really took me for a loop. I was flabbergasted and didn’t know what to say because I was so shocked! I hadn’t had anyone ask me if I wanted to sign up for a credit card in over three years or so. Then again, I usually don’t shop at places that even take credit cards. Is that normal?

Well, anyways, here are my cheapskate tips for being frugal. If, you believe that saving money is the same as making money or at the very least, having more to spend on other things, then how about something for free. Did you know that corporations give away hundreds of thousand of dollars of stuff for free, just for the asking? Corporations that many of us have a love and hate relationship with, give away free items just for going to their site.

Getting something for free is just one aspect to being a cheapskate and being frugal. If, you can cut back in other areas of your life, there is a good chance that the stress in your life will also be reduced. Take for example, I use to eat out with almost every meal when I was at the doctor’s office or going through some treatment of one sort or another and it was an expensive endeavor in cost as well as nutrition. I wasn’t eating as healthy as I should and like most cancer patients, the treatment often made me too ill to eat anything at all. So, when I did force myself to eat something, I tried in earnest to eat something that had some nutritional value. I found that by buying food items when they are plentiful and in season, I saved a bundle. I also found that by cooking for several days in advance and freezing planned meals in individual containers, it was very easy to take a meal container with me when I was out all day.

To really save on food items, I prefer to shop at the local ethnic grocery stores, especially the Asian grocery stores, where I find great prices on vegetables, tofu, noodles and fish. I pretty much eat the same way as I did when I lived in Asia. The majority of the meals were freshly-pulled from the Earth and recently-caught fish and shellfish. There is such a wide variety of tasty meals available when you source your meals from your local ethnic stores and surprisingly inexpensive too!

© 2009 Jerome Thomas of Affiliatester Affiliate Marketing & Tips  All Rights Reserved

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P.S., The Picture:  One of my favorite places to heat up my home-prepared meals, but you might want to avoid the bottled sodas that are basking in the 80 degree sunlight.

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