Thursday Thrift: Cheap v. Thifty

Gaaaahhh!  I just lost this entire post!  I'll repost later.  Grrrrrr.

Okay, I'm back and no, I didn't lose my post on purpose just so I could post that picture of a fierce cheezburger cat.

So.

The Star-Ledger ran a four-part series called 'Cheap Thrills' last month.  It's all about the new black, i.e., frugality.  The very first paragraph of the first part:

Once a word used to describe embarrassingly stingy tightwads who favored inexpensive, tasteless items of poor quality, "cheap" now means chic, hip, fashionable and most of all, smart.

Now, IMHO, this is just part of the story.  Wrt the first part of the definition: There's nothing necessarily bad about being cheap in this manner.  If you like inexpensive, tasteless (and taste is up for debate, even when it comes to items almost universally recognized as kitsch) items of poor quality AND it works for you AND you're happy, then rock on.

Cheap has also meant and continues to mean - at least for me - obtaining things, services, experiences, etc. via questionable means.  Such means might include saving money by stiffing your waitperson (who provided good service) all or some of the tip for good service.  Or saving money by stuffing eats from an all-you-can-eat buffet into your purse, briefcase, diaper bag or what have you.  'All-you-can-eat' means all you can eat at this meal, not all you can ever eat if you were only given the chance.  That's screwing someone else over in order to save money and that, my friends, is cheap.  It is not cheap to bring home leftovers from an a la carte meal.  You paid for that entire portion and leaving leftovers at the restaurant is like (say it with me now) leaving money on the table.

Even though there's nothing morally wrong about being cheap in the first sense of the above definition, it does seem like an ugly word, does it not?  Perhaps that's due to the sense of cheap I described in the above paragraph.  Ugly by association.  I prefer the word 'frugal' or 'thrifty'. 

Getting back to the first article, Adopting A Frugal Mentality: Here are 5 tips to release the inner frugaleer (?  thriftine?  ) in you.

1. Change your mindset.  Amen, sister.  Thrift is a way of life guided by what you've determined is important to you, no matter what your financial situation.  A less expensive car could mean lower car payments for you which could then mean more money at your disposal (figuratively speaking, of course) for paying down credit card debt, retirement, college tuition or outfits for your 11 cats - whatever you value.
2. Don't worry about the neighbors.  Seriously.  Neighbors, peers, colleagues, etc. - they're great, but live to please yourself, not them.  Oh, and family!  Don't worry about what your family thinks of you.  And that goes for lots of things.
3. Think before you buy.  Ever since beginning The Great Budget Experiment of 2009 mentioned earlier, I've been really thinking before buying anything.  And I mean anything.  Earlier this week at work, I concluded that a diet Coke with lemon from  Roma would indeed be worth the $1.50 it cost, if only for the short-term jolt (these 5 day weeks are killing me).  And I spent about $5 on suction cups.  So so far I've spent about $6.50 in unplanned discretionary spending.  (I also spent $9 on lunch out, but I've budgeted a certain amount for some lunches out during the work week, so that's planned discretionary spending.)   Try being an intentional consumer; you might be surprised at how much you don't spend.
4. Look for deals everywhere.  Sure, clip coupons to grocery stores, but also for department stores.  Use online coupons.  There are websites out there that list promo codes for online shopping.  If you shop somewhere on a regular basis, see if they have a rewards program.  The very tasty Mara's has a rewards program under which the basic reward is a $5 coupon (off anything and no minimum purchase) every time you spend $100 (cumulative, tracked on a member card, not all at once).  Plus, you get free stuff on your birthday, your partner's birthday, your anniversary, the owner's birthday, the owner's grandkid's birthday....  For realz.  It's like they'll have a promotion for any reason.  Ask if there are any current or upcoming promotions.

Let's recap.  Cheap in the negative sense (not to mention uncomfortable):

Cheap in a positive sense (it's a win-win for all concerned):

Any questions?