The Ultimate Different: Being Frugal vs. Being Cheap

Sometimes, I’ll get emails from people about this site, complaining about the prices of the garments I feature on the blog. It’s not “broke” enough for a lot of people and, honestly, I’m okay with that. There are tons of blogs that’ll show you designer knockoffs (recognizing that they’re knockoffs), $5 shirts, PVC/plastic shoes, etc… Unfortunately, Broke & Beautiful is not one of them.

When I feature pieces that are $100 or $100+ – there’s a reason. It’s because they’re worth a helluva lot more than that, usually. As you may notice, I rarely feature big, designer label stuff here unless it’s at least 70% off – and even then, it’s only from a designer who has high standards of quality, and stuff that you CAN’T find anywhere else.

Why the diatribe-esque intro? Well, my darling FB (Fabulously Broke in the City) made a comment on the difference between being “frugal” (she hates that word, and so do I) and “cheap” that hit the nail so on-the-head that I had to mention it here.

For the record, being frugal (a word I hate), means:

  • being a conscious consumer
  • spending your money only on what makes you (and only you) happy
  • making choices with limited impulse buying
  • searching for the best deal for the money and quality you are getting
  • buying quality for what you deem is important
  • having priorities about what’s important in life (a cute new bag or food on the table?)
  • things you buy in the long run cost you LESS

In contrast, being cheap, means:

  • refusing to pay tips or treat others when you go out to eat for various reasons
  • hunting for sales and buying useless items just because they’re cheap
  • spending time, money and gas to chase a buck (no optimization)
  • choosing the cheapest option, ALL THE TIME
  • compromising your sanity by counting toilet paper squares, stepping on different tiles each day, etc
  • being afraid to spend anything and sacrificing yourself
  • things in the long run cost you MORE

Now, I’ve never heard of the tile-stepping bit, but if I heard someone was doing it, I’d definitely make fun of them.

Probably watching Netflix.