Frugal or tight: Where's the line?

[Martha]

I like Nords definitions of frugal and extreme frugality. To add some more variations, I think of cheap as not being thoughtful where frugality is thoughtful. For example, do the colonscopy at 50 to save yourself cancer is frugal vs. don't do the colonscopy because a future insurance company might find out about the test or because your share of the payment might be $200 is short sighted.

I think of stingy as related to lack of generosity and the stingy person might even go so far as to take some advantage of others to satisfy his cheapness. Stingy people leave small tips or no tips.

 

[ziggy29]

Hey Texans, is this term still used?

I've never heard it.

 

[bbbamI]

Hey Texans, is this term still used?Ha

I know this term very well. I grew up in MO, but have sweltered in TX for the past 15 years.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Some Texas oldtimers I knew-(past tense because most of them are dead) used the term "short". It took me a while to figure out what they meant, as they would refer to some 6 foot guy as short. It meant what many of us mean by "tight"someone who is happy to let you pick up the tab, but somehow never reciprocates. Clearly the only people who fit this desription were in-laws or family members, as everyone else had been banished.

Hey Texans, is this term still used?

Ha

I am a native Texan and have never heard the term, so I am thinking that it is a west Texas saying.

 

[W2R]

I am a native Texan and have never heard the term, so I am thinking that it is a west Texas saying.

Maybe? I have not heard that expression before. My Depression-era parents didn't use "cheap", "tight", or "short"... they said such a person was smart with their money.

 

[Amethyst]

Calmloki, to me these are all mindful/careful/practical measures. (Translation: I'd do the same in your shoes )

Note: If one is able to make sound repairs to an item he enjoys using, that is a fine, practical talent and is part of being careful. If it's only possible to make shaky, unreliable repairs (e.g. if the coffeepot handle is wobbly after being "fixed"), then throw out the broken item and buy a new one already...one is now being cheap.

Amethyst

Our Krups coffemaker is just about right for us - no clock, no doodads, stainless pot (i have a penchant for breaking glass pots as i rinse them, swirling out the water in a cast iron sink). A couple years ago the plastic handle broke at the upper connection point. Priced a new carafe ($38+), looked for a replacement coffeemaker that was the equal of the Krups, and repaired the handle. My repair failed a couple months ago and we went through the same exercise with the same result - another invisible repair. Is that frugal or tight?

Last night we were watching an ad for answers via cellphone - "is there a stupider mascot than the Ardvark?" - at $0.99 per answer! Neither of us would think of using that service - or paying for ringtones or horrorscopes delivered to our cellphones. It's only $0.99!

When leaping up and down in the apartment dumpsters to compact the trash and keep it looking good i often remove towels & clothes & launder and reuse - if nothing else as cleaning rags. Bulky broken wood furniture gets cut up and burned in our stove. Increases the room in the dumpster, makes the dumpster area look better, and heats our home.

 

[Independent]

"Frugal" is when you're saving money so that you can spend it on something you want more. The "something" for a lot of people on this board could be financial independence that allows you to retire.

"Tight" is when you're saving money so it can pile up, and you can count it, but you will never enjoy it.

 

[steve88]

for family who have youngins, do you guys enroll your kids to sports and pay 1200 hefty fees.

 

[Khan]

'Frugal' only affects me.
'Tight' would be affecting other people.

This past winter I had to force myself to turn on lights and radio to get out of SAD.

 

[bubba]

for family who have youngins, do you guys enroll your kids to sports and pay 1200 hefty fees.

Consider that my son is 22 years old now, but I don't remember paying $1200 fees for any sport (if that's what you're asking; not quite sure). He always played baseball (from t-ball up), had swim lessons, and basketball, and there were fees involved but the cost of none of these was prohibitive. In fact, I figured it was cheaper to keep him involved in sports than some other activities he could have been involved with.

 

[Nords]

for family who have youngins, do you guys enroll your kids to sports and pay 1200 hefty fees.

Our taekwondo dojang just raised its monthly fee to that level, so I guess we're in that category now.

When she was aged 3-13 everything was through the YMCA or a community league-- relatively cheap. Dressage lessons weren't expensive but holy crap the gear and the show fees were larcenous. She's been doing taekwondo for five years now so we've been spending on the family/annual plans at a bit less than $100/month.

I think it was all worth every penny. She got to try a lot of different activities, develop some basic skills, and decide what she wanted to focus on. When the alternatives would have been hanging out on the street or at the mall, the sports fees have been downright cheap.

 

[mews]

Nords, I think steve88 meant $1,200 per season (soccer, baseball and such) not per year.

(If that's your family rate, that is pretty good - but then I'm a New Yorker )

ta,
mew

 

[Nords]

(If that's your family rate, that is pretty good - but then I'm a New Yorker )

Each of us is paying $920/year for all the taekwondo we can handle.

Tournaments run about $50-$75 once or twice a year, doboks about $75 (every 2-3 years since she's finally stopped growing), maybe another $50 of pads every year or two, and $250 each if we take our 2nd dan belt tests next spring...

 

[jdw_fire]

When you decide something isn't worth spending money on, you're frugal. When you don't spend money other people wish you'd spend, you're tight...

sooo you are saying that being frugal is dependant on your own thoughts, preferances, and desires but being tight is decided by what other people think about how you should spend your money. given those definitions a person could be both at the same time. sounds like, by your definition, to not be tight a person would need to play the "keeping up with the jones' game" and therefore that definition of tight would probably make every LBYM person tight because someone would think they should spend more on something.

 

[HFWR]

'Frugal' only affects me.
'Tight' would be affecting other people.

This past winter I had to force myself to turn on lights and radio to get out of SAD.

If you are sitting in the dark, in silence, not because you want to or can't afford not to, then that would be across the line, IMHO.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have a 27 year old Sony Triniton in our bedroom that only works in the winter (I think it is very sensistive to fluctuations in electricity and it turns off after a few minutes in the summer). I hate to get rid of it because it works in the non-summer. Now we get only one analog channel on it when it does work as it is not hooked up to cable and I'm not sure the jacks on the TV would accommodate the digital antenna (what jacks?).

I think I am "frugal" because I want to keep the television. DH calls me something else ("tight" is too kind haha) because we have not as yet bought a HD to replace it.

 

[W2R]

We have a 27 year old Sony Triniton in our bedroom that only works in the winter (I think it is very sensistive to fluctuations in electricity and it turns off after a few minutes in the summer). I hate to get rid of it because it works in the non-summer. Now we get only one analog channel on it when it does work as it is not hooked up to cable and I'm not sure the jacks on the TV would accommodate the digital antenna (what jacks?).

I think I am "frugal" because I want to keep the television. DH calls me something else ("tight" is too kind haha) because we have not as yet bought a HD to replace it.

Sounds like its primary function is not as a TV, but almost solely as a dust-collector.

Be "frugal" and buy a replacement TV on Craigslist! Bet you could get something that works all year and gets more than one channel, for very little. You could compromise and get a CRT TV that works.

 

[Khan]

If you are sitting in the dark, in silence, not because you want to or can't afford not to, then that would be across the line, IMHO.

I like dark and quiet, and I can afford the light and sound. I had to overcome the ingrained "don't waste" thinking. It's not a 'waste of money' if it stops the depression.

 

[Kroeran]

sads alternative

SOLVITAL Light therapy Glasses : SAD Glasses LUMINETTE

 

[Bikerdude]

We have a 27 year old Sony Triniton in our bedroom that only works in the winter (I think it is very sensistive to fluctuations in electricity and it turns off after a few minutes in the summer). I hate to get rid of it because it works in the non-summer. Now we get only one analog channel on it when it does work as it is not hooked up to cable and I'm not sure the jacks on the TV would accommodate the digital antenna (what jacks?).

I think I am "frugal" because I want to keep the television. DH calls me something else ("tight" is too kind haha) because we have not as yet bought a HD to replace it.

A digital converter box will work with your current "rabbit ears" or outside antenna. The $40 gov. coupon should cover 95% of the cost. Worth a try IMO.

 

[se012101]

I think the line in my mind regarding being too frugal is when you get a sense that even though the frugal living will get you to your goals sooner, you are essentially trading the years of your life now for the years later down the road. Even without going into miser territory (ie saving for no real purpose other than to accumulate money), it is possible to push too hard imo.

So my wife and I save on the things where a more expensive version wouldn't give us any more enjoyment. For example, we got our couch from Salvation army for 185.00. A new couch could easily cost us 800-1000. But in the end, that wouldn't really get us any more enjoyment, it's a couch. You sit on it.

Just applying that sort of thinking across the board has been very successful for us. We're able to save about 60% of our net income, and we don't really feel like we're giving anything up.

 

[TromboneAl]

Our Krups coffemaker is just about right for us - no clock, no doodads, stainless pot

Love the stainless steel. Our Cuisinart coffee maker and Osterizer blender (cost <$4 at garage sales) both use stainless steel containers, and all of our serving utensils are stainless. This stuff will never break.

 

[Kroeran]

I constantly scrutize costs.

- pause...do we need this or would it actually give pleasure?
- can I buy it used?
- dollar store? (good place to fulfill buying compulsion)
- Wallmart?
- online cheaper? (delivered)
- for services, there is usually a lowest cost alternative that does not advertise

can I do it myself?

my latest conquest is discovering that there are after market monitoring companies for security systemts. 10/mo rather than 30.

On he revenue side, I rent the end of my driveway to a worker at a hospital that is a couple of blocks away.

this approach permits such luxuries as over paying the house cleaner who is an aging single mom with a disabled child.

 

[ziggy29]

my latest conquest is discovering that there are after market monitoring companies for security systemts. 10/mo rather than 30.

When we lived in Houston, we discovered that our insurance company basically paid us to have a home security system. Not only did they have a deal with ADT (and the house already had ADT equipment in it), but the monitoring cost $22 per month but cut our homeowners insurance by 20%. So in the end, the insurance discount more than paid for the service...