"The fine line between frugal and inappropriate"

There's a difference between being frugal, and low-life scrounging.

Sounds like the author wants to base a future article on the fine line between these two.
 
That story about sending out the family matriarchs to a time-share presentation with free muffins on Mother's day because he promised to take them out for breakfast and then thinking he was so clever is so disgustingly tacky that I can't even really believe it's true. Would someone like that ever make such a promise in the first place?

That has nothing to do with frugality. That is a twisted mind.

I'm so glad I don't know anyone like that.

And I don't think the line is that fine between frugality and mooching off someone else, I think it's pretty clear.

Audrey
 
I did enjoy some comments by someone not from LYBM land:
His idea of "presents," whether birthday, Christmas, or wedding, is to give those books that libraries give away free because they want to get rid of them. They're old, but obviously, they're not worth anything.

Then he wraps them in plain butcher paper, and "decorates" them with pictures he cuts out of discarded magazines and newspapers.

By the way, the man is not indigent. He's not wealthy, but none of us are. There's no reason why he couldn't afford a $20 gift and use actual wrapping paper, just like we do.
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​
 
The case of the guy taking his mom to a saleshustle for Mothers day is classic. But I do remember my now step father taking my Mother and us kids to a few free vacation rentals that involved salespiels while they were dating. Then us kids got to keep the free TV or camera or luggage they gave away so we were happy; it ended up working fairly well.
 
Time-share presentations are not exactly free. They cause griefs and anxieties. Sometimes, people end up buying.

Anyway, I would be very, very mad if my son or daughter does that to me.
 
I actually find it quite sad that someone would be proud enough to brag about taking their mother to a timeshare presentation for mother's day. If he doesn't like her enough to spring for a breakfast at a diner or even a $10 gift card from Target, he should stay away from her.

I understand not wasting money, however I think the example in this article borders on just being mean.
 
Sometimes there is a fine line betwen "frugality" and mental illness.

Ha
 
Back in the day when she said 'you cheap SOB,' I knew it was time throttle back or I wasn't gonna get laid.

:confused: :rolleyes:.

Social grace wasn't one of my strongpoints.

heh heh heh - :cool:
 
Reminds me of friends who booked 3 FREE nights at new FL condo after receiving a post card for a time share "opportunity". Told the agent who took the booking " I am NOT sitting for any presentations". They still took the booking and proceeded to hound him to sit for all 3 days.

Not my idea of a vacation ... but they went back the next year (same deal). Too frugal? You decide.
 
Such a personal topic between each individual. How can you measure and really who gives a ****. Call me frugal,cheap,spendthrift or a glutton. Sticks and stones ;)
 
I've known more than one guy like that when I was young. They never got laid. Wonder why?
LBYM, yes...but this guy is just a...well, creep. Glad he's not my son. I'd be more than offended if my son dropped me off at some time-share talk to get the free muffins...brother!
 
Sounds like a made up story. Any timeshare presentation I've been to has been worth at least $100 in some type of gift or compensation.
 
haha said:
Sometimes there is a fine line betwen "frugality" and mental illness.

Ha
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Right you are Ha. I remember years ago when I worked at a bank. We had a customer who was worth millions. He would show up wearing dirty clothes and ask us to add up numbers he'd written down on scraps of paper. He would also insist on being serviced at the drive up even though we told him it was dangerous since he was on foot.

Apparently, he was some kind of stock genius and made tons of money in the market. He was lonely and didn't have much joy in his life. I've often wondered what became of him.

BTW, I've found that often people who are frugal are also quite generous. My DH is that way. Love that man.
 
Munching on items in the grocery bulk bins and casually walking off.
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This is not frugal. This is stealing. Letting interlopers like this into our LBYM world, tends to give us all a bad name.

I resent it because I have always been extremely honest about my LBYMing and would never consider obtaining a discount or freebee under false pretenses, much less steal anything. There are plenty of honest/crafty ways to "beat the system" without resorting to this.
 
Another one I'm still on the fence about... my mother used to order the salad bar for herself and then share a few vegetables with us kids who didn't order the salad bar. In some sense it is justifiable in that restaurants don't offer kid-sized salad bar portions and it doesn't make sense to pay for two adult salad bars just to get a few carrots and broccoli florets for the kids.

It sure made for some good conversations about following the rules.
 
free4now said:
It sure made for some good conversations about following the rules.
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Ain't that the truth!

I've generally led a "rule-following" life, probably to a fault. No rule bending. No interpreting rules to my favor. No ignoring uninforced rules. But lately it's occurred to me that there is little advantage to me to do this. The "feel good feelings" I used to gain from conducting myself so stingently don't feel so good anymore. Perhaps it's because of the way business, and most folks generally, conduct themselves. The world around me is full of gray area interpretations, half kept commitments, misleading advertisements, govt laws-rules-regulations designed to favor folks in power when they were written, liars, thieves and crooks. And, yes, those evil folks who pay for one salad bar and share some morsels off their plate with the kids......... ;)

It's a frustrating world for a "say-do" guy!
 
youbet said:
Ain't that the truth!

I've generally led a "rule-following" life, probably to a fault. No rule bending. No interpreting rules to my favor. No ignoring uninforced rules.
Click to expand...

For another outlook, see "Well, it all depends on what is meant by is."
 
youbet said:
Ain't that the truth!

I've generally led a "rule-following" life, probably to a fault. No rule bending. No interpreting rules to my favor. No ignoring uninforced rules. But lately it's occurred to me that there is little advantage to me to do this. The "feel good feelings" I used to gain from conducting myself so stingently don't feel so good anymore. Perhaps it's because of the way business, and most folks generally, conduct themselves. The world around me is full of gray area interpretations, half kept commitments, misleading advertisements, govt laws-rules-regulations designed to favor folks in power when they were written, liars, thieves and crooks. And, yes, those evil folks who pay for one salad bar and share some morsels off their plate with the kids......... ;)

It's a frustrating world for a "say-do" guy!
Click to expand...

my theory is that even small dishonesties lead to an internal mental disharmony, in that we are built with or evolved the need to self perceive as "good and honest"

anything you do to undermine this contributes to internal discomfort, agitation, when strong enough, or combined with other stressors, increases the chance of self-damaging behavior, self sabotage, which ends up being ten fold more expensive than just doing the right thing in the first place.

part of mental health is committing to complete and absolute honestly in all dealings, especially regarding things no-one would know about.

mental health is the foundation of sustainable wealth
 
free4now said:
One of our perennial topics got an article on my newspaper blog. I like the razor they mention "imposing on others' goodwill".

Dollars and Sense : The fine line between frugal and inappropriate
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In this case their is not a fine line between frugal and inappropriate. It's an 8 lane interstate highway and he's not even near an on-ramp. Plain and simple: This man is an ass.

Simple rule of thumb: If you wouldn't like others to know you do it, it is probably inappropriate.
 
I've always found this subject interesting as it relates to cars.

People who drive an old Honda, Toyota, Volvo, etc., are seen as frugal.

But if you drive the same vintage Taurus, Buick, Cadillac, etc., you're likely viewed as being poor.
 
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