Are you being frugal, or cheap?
CHEAP : adj., cheap·er, cheap·est. 1.) Relatively low in cost; inexpensive or comparatively inexpensive. 2.) Charging low prices: a cheap restaurant. 3.)Obtainable at a low rate of interest. Used especially of money. 4.) Devalued, as in buying power: cheap dollars. 5.)Achieved with little effort: a cheap victory; cheap laughs. 6.) Of or considered of small value: in wartime, when life was cheap. 7.) Of poor quality; inferior: a cheap toy. 8.) Worthy of no respect; vulgar or contemptible: a cheap gangster. 9.) Stingy; miserly.
FRUGAL : adj. 1.) Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources. 2.) Costing little; inexpensive: a frugal lunch.
The differences are very subtle, but they are there. As you read about some of our expenses you are undoubtably going to think that we overspent on a few items. There was a great deal of thought that went into these seemly reckless expenditures, and we decided that spending more than you budgeted to get a quality item you need is justifiable. So there is method to our madness.
There is definitely a time to not spend money (do you really need a designer riding jacket?), and there is a time to spend it to get the quality you need (I don’t mind spending a lot on a helmet if its going to be between my head and the pavement).
As I write my reviews I will try to let you know what we were thinking when we made our purchases….
