Frugal Framnett

Being frugal is about more than just saving money. To me, being frugal is about using your resources wisely and being more efficient with everything you do. Unless you are independently wealthy, you probably have a limited amount of time, money, and other resources - and you probably need to find a way to make the most effective use of all of them. To me, doing this is being frugal.

So Says Patrick at Cash Money Life in a blog entitled Being Frugal

I have taken on this topic before:

In this category frugal is a good thing. It means avoiding waste mainly avoiding the wastage of wealth.

If I deem something frugal, then if appropriate for your situation you should buy or utilize it.

Patrick expands on the meaning of frugal and while I believe he is incorrect about the meaning of frugal, giving it a broader meaning beyond the word’s ability, he is correct the characteristics he describes are connected to being frugal.
(more…)

Some years ago a good buddy of mine had a diesel pickup truck. When he purchased the truck it already had a large number of miles on it.

Sometime after he purchased it (from a private party) the truck’s glow-plug controller burned out. Now, the glow-plug controller was essential to starting the truck. However, instead of buy a replacement for whatever they cost the person bought two small screwdrivers and a wire with alligator clips. The screwdrivers were attached to each other with the alligator clips and the driver or companion would manually opening the truck hood and making the needed connection.

A great savings to be sure. Instead of spending the couple of hundred dollars to replace the controller a maximum of $5.00 was spent to set up the manual glow plug control.

However, my buddy started to spend money on replacing – (yeap you guessed it) burned out glow plugs. In addition, we were once stuck in the deer woods on a cold ad blowing night without light trying to figure out where to stick the leads.

Eventually, another solution was found and that was to set up a toggle switch to glow the plugs but the expense of replacing burned out glow plugs continued.

I deem not replacing the glow-plug controller cheap. How about you? Vote & discuss!

Not Replacing the Glow-Plug Controler: Cheap or Frugal?

• Cheapskate!
• Frugal (how resourceful)!

View Results

 Loading …

I wear glasses and contact lenses.

Recently I visited my optometrist and got a new prescription. He issued me a trial pair of contact lenses. Now, usually I am good about not wearing a given set of my contact lenses for too long (I have been getting two week lenses) but the last set from the old prescription and this trial pair I obviously wore too long. How can I tell?

My left eye is red, irritated, and very sensitive to light.

I judge the practice of wearing to wear contact lenses too long as cheap the kind of practice that in the end, may cost way more than what you save. How do you judge wearing contact lenses too long? Please vote and comment.

Wearing Contact Lenses Longer than one Should: Frugal or Cheap?

• Cheap (bad)!
• Frugal (good)!

View Results

 Loading …

So, what Lorie and I do (at least for my shampoo needs) is to have an old shampoo bottle on hand and I purchase the cheapest bottle (as in inexpensive) of shampoo you can find. Then we pour some of that into the old bottle, top it off with water, and shake. I have shampoo.

When I wash my hair (now in the winter that is every other day) I notice no difference from using full strength shampoo.

Participate in this discussion by voting & commenting!

The way I cut shampoo is:

• Cheap (bad)!
• Frugal (good)!

View Results

 Loading …

Here is where I will talk about money saving techniques and judge them to be either cheap or frugal.

• Cheap

Cheap is not a good thing in the context of this category. In this category think of the third definition of cheap. Along the lines of poor quality. Cheap things can actually be expensive in the end.

If a money saving technique, item, procedure, whatever is deemed to be cheap in this category I mean to say: do not buy or utilize it!

• Frugal

In this category frugal is a good thing. It means avoiding waste mainly avoiding the wastage of wealth.

If I deem something frugal, then if appropriate for your situation you should buy or utilize it.