Being Frugal, Not Cheap

Being frugal and being cheap tend to get lumped together a lot, especially by people who do not live, or understand, a frugal lifestyle. It is easy to get the two confused. Believe me, even if you are striving to live frugally, it is still easy to get trapped in the mindset of “cheaper is better.” I’ve dealt with that mindset within myself on more than a few occasions.

However, as our family has progressed from living a frugal life out of necessity a few years ago to living a frugal life by choice now, I’ve realized the sometimes error of my ways. There are many occasions where cheaper is not better. Living a frugal life is not indicative of living a cheap life.

My husband and I have committed some time over the past year to reevaluating our frugality. Our goal is to figure out when it makes frugal sense to spend more money and not just blindly follow the “cheaper is better” rule. Now I will be the first to admit our little experiment has been somewhat limited in that we haven’t explored all options. For example, we have yet to try making our own laundry detergent. That being said, here are some of the things we have learned:

Regarding that aforementioned laundry detergent - we used to buy the big bucket of detergent from Sam’s Club, or other store brand detergents. We realized that the generics worked, but not as well. It makes frugal sense to take care of our clothes and make sure they get really clean when we wash them so that we can get the most use out of them. So, I would use almost double the amount I would need or wash a load of laundry a second time. As a result, our “cheap” detergent ended up costing more money because we had to buy twice as much. When we finally got smart and purchased the big box of Tide, we wrote the date on top to see how long it would last. We bought that box on April 6 and just ran out this week. So, cheap detergent, no - frugal detergent, yes. The same goes for dishwasher detergent. We have very hard water and it takes a lot to get our dishes really clean. When we use the cheap soap in the dishwasher, even after I’ve hand-rinsed everything really well, the dishes just don’t get as clean as they should. I then end up having to wash many of them again by hand, or just re-running the dishwasher. When we buy the more expensive brands, this does not happen. I’ve also really noticed this when it comes to grocery shopping lately, especially when stores run a 10 for $10 sale. As an example, I can usually find bottled pasta sauce on sale for $1. Making it from scratch then ends up costing more money. But going with the cheap sauce usually means going with an unhealthier list of ingredients, usually with HFCS at the top of the list. I’d rather make it from scratch then go the cheaper route. The same can be said of white store-bought bread clearanced for $.59 vs. whole-wheat homemade bread. To me, feeding my family a diet that is as healthy as possible is the essence of frugality. We’ve also changed our perspective on shoes. We used to buy the cheapest shoes we could find that would suit our purposes. However, especially for my husband who is on his feet 90% of the day, cheap shoes were not the most frugal way to go. He needs shoes that provide a lot of support and that are comfortable. This helps keep his legs and back from getting fatigued. When he is not at his best physically, it makes it harder for him to work. And although I am barefoot most of the day, we’ve applied the same principle to me. Not to mention, the more expensive shoes tend to last about 4 times as long as the cheap shoes.

I sometimes still struggle with this shifting perspective and have to remind myself that cheaper is not always more frugal. We are a frugal family, not a cheap family. It is an important distinction to make, and one that is worth paying attention to.

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AUTHOR | Kate Miller

Kate, one of the original 3 Moms, is a happy wife and stay-at-home, homeschooling mother of 4 children, ages 9, 4, 3, and 1 1/2. She and her family have spent the past few years purposefully living a simple and frugal life. Along the way, she has learned many frugal and financially-wise tips to help her family save and intelligently spend money while still enjoying an immensely full and wonderful life. You can read more about Kate on her personal blog, A Simple Walk and on her foodie blog, Cooking During Stolen Moments.

Posted by Kate Miller on Aug 7th, 2008 | Filed Under Frugal Living

Tagged as being frugal, being frugal not cheap, frugal lifestyle, Frugal Living, frugality

4 comments
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Sonshine | August 8th, 2008, at 11:34 am >>

AMEN!! I struggle with this shifting perspective as well. I get sooo caught up on the cost of the specific item that I forget to weigh the consequences of purchasing the item.

You mentioned the auto dishwasher soap and it made me realize that using the Sam’s brand is what is not working rather than kids not loading the dishwasher properly! We are having to rewash several dishes in a load by hand or thru the dishwasher again! I think the next time I go to Sam’s I am going to get one of the name brands that they carry and see if there won’t be a difference.

Thanks for sharing!

Holly | August 8th, 2008, at 7:48 pm >>

What a great post. So many people equate frugal with cheap and there is such a difference. With our finances being so tight, I struggle with the perspective too. I just made my own laundry soap for the first time and the jury is still out on whether I will do it again. I’ve actually been very pleased with it, but whether it becomes a regular thing or an experiment still remains to be seen.

Terrific post.

Angela | August 8th, 2008, at 7:59 pm >>

Very well said, and so very true. I have found this to be true with clothing as well as the other items you mentioned. It is a good buy for me if it meets the goals I have for taking care of my family.

Amy | August 9th, 2008, at 12:04 pm >>

So true. For us, it’s sometimes doing with LESS so that we can get a higher quality item. I’d much rather pay more (but I DO use coupons!) for Huggies baby wipes and tear them in half than pay less for a cheaper quality wipe.