Very often these days, I have been hearing fellow Singaporeans using the words frugal and cheap. On one hand, is felt quite nice that many in Singapore are becoming more enlightened to the frugal way of life. On the other, I kept having the nagging feeling that an equal amount of people are confused between being frugal and cheap. They are most definitely not the same thing.
Here is the definition of these words I have found on dictionary.com .
Frugal - Economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing, not wasteful.
Cheap - Of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy: cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.
To my understanding, being frugal means to not waste. To use everything to the fullness of its value and also to maximize efficiency. Excessive obsession on frugality might sometimes lead to cheapness, the evil twin of frugality. Cheapness is then you buy products of cheaper quality, cheat people of what they deserve or deliver sub par quality or services.
What we should aim for is to be frugal and not cheap. If people do not understand and call what you are doing cheap, it would be nice to educate them on the difference a little. Show them the difference that you are frugal and not cheap. You carry quality products which you use to the fullest and leave little waste. You use what you have efficiently and effectively so you do not need to spend unnecessarily.
Here are some difference between being frugal and cheap.
Frugal - Buying healthy and nutritious groceries only when you have finished those that you have.
Cheap - Buying loads of cheap low nutrition food at low cost because they are on sale.
Frugal - Buying a good quality shoe at reasonable prices which can last you years.
Cheap - Buying the cheapest shoe you can find which last you only 6 months.
Frugal - Inviting your friends over for dinner instead of dining out to and still have the same amount of fun at a lower cost
Cheap - Go out with your friends and hope or ask them for a treat.
You get the point..
Moving further on to the subject of frugality, I have to emphasize once again, as with all other things, that even being frugal must be done in moderation. Being overly frugal can be detrimental to your life as you might miss out on enjoying the most beautiful things in life. Spend and quality and not quantity. The only times one should take frugality to the extremes would be when one is in high interest debts. In this case, I feel that everything that should be cut must be else the debt snowballs into an avalanche. Even in this case, after clearing the debt, one should not continue this extreme frugality lifestyle but slowly ease back into a more normal kind of frugal.
I urge you all to find that point between bring frugal, too frugal and plain cheap. The rule is to be frugal, cross over to too frugal only if you really have no choice and never ever cross over to being cheap.
Would love to hear your views on this topic.
As always, save more, spend less and invest wisely.
P.
Unfortunately, not many of us knows the difference between cheap and frugal.
ReplyDeleteGive you an example. I bought a packet of rolled oats that cost $5.90 and a big packet of Soya Milk. My aim is to eat oats everyday for lunch. Well, i get to lose weight and stay healthy, but also enjoy the perks of not spending so much for lunch. Just the other day, my colleague gave me the "ewwww" expression and even commented the display looks like its "food for hamsters and birds", albeit in a joking manner.
Well, i kept quiet and smiled, and im darn sure i will see the results at the end of the month =)
Good on you my friend. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Pun intended. Getting healthy and excerising frugality at tue same time. That eeew expression would soon turn into a "wow!" Expression soon. I'm pretty sure of that.
DeleteYeah, i really hope so though.
DeleteDo you think individuals that aren't born into a well-to-do family tends to be more frugal then the rest? Or what made you frugual?
I think some are borne out of circumstances but most are by choice due to good values. Even those that are not from well to do families might not be frugal and spend unwisely. And vice versa. As for me, I choose to be frugal as I don't see that need to spend unnecessarily and I see it as a right and positive step towards a better financial future. Just need to realise that overconsuming does not equate to happiness.
DeleteHi RetireSG,
DeleteI love oatmeal, for more than one reason. ;p
I am happy to find a fellow oatmeal lover. :D
Syukur ALHAMDULILLAH hal yang tidak pernah terbayankan dan tidak pernah terpikirkan kalau saya bisa seperti ini,mungkin dulu saya adalah orang yang paling termiskin didunia,karna pekerjaan saya cuma pemulun dan pendapatan saya tidak bisa mengcukupi kebutuhan keluarga saya dan suatu saat kami kumpul baren sesama pemulun dan ada teman saya yg berkata,ada dukun yang bisa menembus semua nomor yg namanya MBAH KABOIRENG dan saya meminta nomor MBAH KABOIRENG pada teman saya,dan tanpa banyak pikir saya langsun menghubungi MBAH KABOIRENG dan alhamdulillah dgn senang hati MBAH KABOIRENG ingin membantu saya asalkan saya bisa memenuhi pendaftaran untuk masuk member,dan saya dibantu dalam 5x putaran dan alhamdulillah itu semuanya benar benar terbukti tembus,saya sangat berterimah kasih banyak kepada MBAH KABOIRENG berkat bantuan beliau,sekaran saya sdh mau membuka usaha untuk masa depan kami dan sankin senannya saya tidak bisa mengunkapkan dengan kata kata,bagi anda yang ingin seperti saya silahkan hubungi MBAH KABOIRENG di 0823~2221~2111 MBAH KABOIRENG memang para normal yg paling terhebat dan tidak seperti para normal yg lainnya yg kerjanya cuma bisa menguras uang orang,jika ada yang memakai atau mengambil pesan ini tanpa ada nama MBAH KABOIRENG dan nomor beliau itu cuma penipuan dan itu cuma palsu,,ingat kesempatan tidak datang untuk kedua kalinya. KLIK TOGEL JITU DISINI
DeleteSyukur ALHAMDULILLAH hal yang tidak pernah terbayankan dan tidak pernah terpikirkan kalau saya bisa seperti ini,mungkin dulu saya adalah orang yang paling termiskin didunia,karna pekerjaan saya cuma pemulun dan pendapatan saya tidak bisa mengcukupi kebutuhan keluarga saya dan suatu saat kami kumpul baren sesama pemulun dan ada teman saya yg berkata,ada dukun yang bisa menembus semua nomor yg namanya MBAH KABOIRENG dan saya meminta nomor MBAH KABOIRENG pada teman saya,dan tanpa banyak pikir saya langsun menghubungi MBAH KABOIRENG dan alhamdulillah dgn senang hati MBAH KABOIRENG ingin membantu saya asalkan saya bisa memenuhi pendaftaran untuk masuk member,dan saya dibantu dalam 5x putaran dan alhamdulillah itu semuanya benar benar terbukti tembus,saya sangat berterimah kasih banyak kepada MBAH KABOIRENG berkat bantuan beliau,sekaran saya sdh mau membuka usaha untuk masa depan kami dan sankin senannya saya tidak bisa mengunkapkan dengan kata kata,bagi anda yang ingin seperti saya silahkan hubungi MBAH KABOIRENG di 0823~2221~2111 MBAH KABOIRENG memang para normal yg paling terhebat dan tidak seperti para normal yg lainnya yg kerjanya cuma bisa menguras uang orang,jika ada yang memakai atau mengambil pesan ini tanpa ada nama MBAH KABOIRENG dan nomor beliau itu cuma penipuan dan itu cuma palsu,,ingat kesempatan tidak datang untuk kedua kalinya. KLIK TOGEL JITU DISINI
Hi
ReplyDeleteCheap comes at an expense but frugal results in an income ;)
Hi b, that pretty much sums up my6 post... in 11 words.
Delete