Spending Habits and Your Personality: Cheap Vs. Frugal

When I was growing up I thought I had the cheapest father on the face of the earth. We weren't necessarily poor, but my dad who had come from poverty and had worked his way to a comfortable middle class in a blue collar government job was very conscious of how we spent money. Dad was never into to name brands per se, so when I came home wanting the latest overpriced brands of shoes or jeans, my dad had 3 primary questions: 1. How much does it cost? 2. Why does it cost that much? And why do you want it?

Most of the time, the things I wanted would be grossly overpriced. And there would be nothing particularly special about them in the way of quality or design (only a name) and the primary reason for my wanting them was...you guessed it..."everyone else had them". Not only would my dad say "No", but he'd stoically lecture me on understanding the value of money, not attaching my self worth to a price tag or mindlessly following high price trends.

Sometimes, I would ask for items that were priced very low, some as low as a dollar. Again, the same questions would apply. 1. How much does it cost? 2. Why is the price so low? And why do you want it? Though the price was low, the item was usually low quality (it'd wear easily or break in a week). And my primary reason for wanting it would usually be because "it's only a dollar".

I didn't understand at the time. But now that I am a working mother of four, I have come to understand the difference between cheap and frugal. Cheap and frugal does not just describe the way that people spend money, it also gives some insight into why they spend the way that they do.