# Have you ever been accused of being *cheap* ? If so, what did you do ?



## canabiz (Apr 4, 2009)

As per the title, have you ever been accused of being *cheap* and what was your reaction ? There is a fine line between being cheap and being frugal and certainly different folks interpret things differently.

I have been enjoying the free coffee at McDonald's during breakfast hours recently. I also plan to bring my wife to Milestone's tomorrow night as part of the Free Date night promotion. These are perfectly reasonable things that I feel no problem doing but when I bring them up at the office for conversations, some colleagues do (jokingly) think I am cheap. *Accused* here might be too strong a word but I think you guys catch my drift.

Have you run into these kinds of situations before and what did you do ?

1. Ignore said comments and carry on. You live your life after all.

2. Try to explain the differences between being frugal and being cheap to said persons.

3. Pause and take their inputs into consideration. They may actually have a point.


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## Robillard (Apr 11, 2009)

I think I usually opt for option #1, though I think I find that more often than not, I'm the one referring to myself as cheap, as opposed to co-workers. One of them though has told me that he things it's foolish to be savings money and putting it into the markets. He thinks I should be spending it up while I'm still young and stupid (the stupid part is an embellishment on my part).


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## iherald (Apr 18, 2009)

I've been acsued of it and I usually try to explain the difference between frugal and cheap, but usually I give up and go back to work.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Oy! This may sound harsh, but my take on it is: I don't compare myself to my neighbours (in spending and saving habits, for sure!). 

Why not? It's the wrong point of comparison. 

And why is that? Because most of them are not building wealth.


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## blackjacques (Apr 3, 2009)

*Frugal != Cheap!*



canabiz said:


> I have been enjoying the free coffee at McDonald's during breakfast hours recently. I also plan to bring my wife to Milestone's tomorrow night as part of the Free Date night promotion. These are perfectly reasonable things that I feel no problem doing but when I bring them up at the office for conversations, some colleagues do (jokingly) think I am cheap. *Accused* here might be too strong a word but I think you guys catch my drift.


Enjoying promotions is not cheap in the least. Cheap is when you:


Stiff your dinner companions with the tip.
Constantly get out of using your car for road trips.
Charge a good friend top dollar for a used item!

Frugality rules!

Rob


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## faq (Apr 29, 2009)

I ususally go with #1, however what I found irony is that those people who accused others of being cheap actually is doing the same thing from time to time , or even "cheaper" by their defination ...


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

I've been called cheap more than once!  For me, I just roll with the punches and laugh along.



canabiz said:


> As per the title, have you ever been accused of being *cheap* and what was your reaction ? There is a fine line between being cheap and being frugal and certainly different folks interpret things differently.
> 
> I have been enjoying the free coffee at McDonald's during breakfast hours recently. I also plan to bring my wife to Milestone's tomorrow night as part of the Free Date night promotion. These are perfectly reasonable things that I feel no problem doing but when I bring them up at the office for conversations, some colleagues do (jokingly) think I am cheap. *Accused* here might be too strong a word but I think you guys catch my drift.
> 
> ...


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

My wife call's me cheap .

But that's ok cuz there are others around us who are even Cheaper - just like everything in life, just as long as you aren't the cheapest one around.


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## lazy cdn (Apr 3, 2009)

*frugal or cheap !!!!!*

Frugal is when you do it. Cheap, is when your neighbour does it !


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

My friends call me cheap all the time but they aren't exactly frugal. They tend to look at the price of things after they've ordered them.


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## Kathryn (Apr 10, 2009)

I keep my frugalness a well hidden secret. 

I explain our small house and one car family as 'simple living' and people seem to accept that. I never let my frugalness negatively effect others so people don't generally notice.


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## markievicz (Apr 11, 2009)

At the office the colleagues I'm most likely to be chatting with are a lot like me - young, with mortgages, saving for overseas travel, urbanites with no cars, trying to be green, work with money every day, prioritize entertainment, etc. So we are all on the same page as far as being obsessed with turning off lights, taking TTC, packing lunch, doing free city festivals, watching our statements and other things. But it's pretty light, nobody has a one track mind and talks about money to the exclusion of everything else. And we've all gotten our free coffees this week! 

No homemade laundry detergent makers or ziploc washers among the crew that I'm aware of though.


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## Mintycake (Apr 13, 2009)

*Oh yes*

I've been accused of being *cheap*. I explain there is a difference between cheap and frugal, and if they still don't get it, then I shrug it off.
I actually ended a friendship over this. I got so sick of being called cheap all the time but I was also resentful that this person had a LOT of money (married well) and didn't feel the need to watch the budget (interestingly, before the marriage, this person was fairly frugal too).


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## nick24 (Apr 3, 2009)

I tried to be frugal last night, but the wait time at Milestone's for the Date Night Special was over an hour. So we ended up getting a take away pizza - which probably cost more than a sit down meal! That's a frugalty fail if I ever saw one! Another frugalty fail was driving there in the brand new car that we literally picked up from the dealer only 30 minutes before. Frugalty starts now!


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## ethos1 (Apr 4, 2009)

*By definition - not*

Frugal not cheap

If you understood the definition of cheap, 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheapskate

most would say they are not cheap but are frugal

In our case we verge on being eccentric


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

Surprisingly I haven't had anybody call me frugal or cheap (at least not to my face)!


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

Rickson9 said:


> Surprisingly I haven't had anybody call me frugal or cheap (at least not to my face)!


I know its not face to face but....you're cheap. Done!


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## lazy cdn (Apr 3, 2009)

*chequing account*

does any1 know of a free canadian chequing account without keeping any money on deposit - i just need one cheque to come into the account, and come out, rather than the cheque be sent through the mail.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

lazy cdn said:


> does any1 know of a free canadian chequing account without keeping any money on deposit - i just need one cheque to come into the account, and come out, rather than the cheque be sent through the mail.


PC Financial will do the trick.


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## bpither (Apr 27, 2009)

The people who call me cheap are still working ...


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

bpither said:


> The people who call me cheap are still working ...


...and if somebody who was wealthy and wasn't 'working' called you cheap?


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## bpither (Apr 27, 2009)

I'd say, "how much did you inherit?"


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