Calico
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2012
- Messages
- 2,949
My parents were immigrants and had the "long term" attitude present in so many immigrants to the U.S. Frugality was part of that attitude. I learned from them not only how to be frugal, but to be frugal with contentment.
Upon reflection, some of their lessons, both verbally but especially by actions ("more is caught than taught") stood out:
- Frugality gave important skills. Our parents taught all of their children how to cook, how to sew, how to wash clothing, how to make basic auto/household repairs, how to negotiate, etc. Many of those skills paid off for us beyond just frugality.
-Frugality gave patience with a purpose. My parents attitude was "be frugal now so that you can have something in the future". The idea was to have a goal that your frugality would be addressing. With a goal, you did not care about what others thought about your frugality, as you were trying to achieve something.Perhaps that is one difference between being "cheap' and being "frugal".
- Frugality allows you to better control things, and less outside forces control you. This is in terms of what you need vs. what you want. Ones wants can easily be more driven by the outside influence of what others have. With frugality it can be less so.
- Frugality did not mean you could not help others less fortunate. One of my parents favorite sayings was "I was unhappy because I had no shoes, until I met someone who had no feet". Even though we did not have much, they were still doing something to help those less fortunate. It helped me realize, even when being frugal, how blessed I still was.
Your parents sound like absolute treasures!