Money Wise or Miserly?
Are you a smart shopper or stingy? Do people think of you as frugal or tight? And where is the line drawn? According to a story posted on MSN.com, it’s frugal to use a 2 for 1 coupon at a restaurant, but it’s stingy to base the server’s tip on the discounted price of the meal. The article quoted Mary Hunt, author of “ Live Your Life for Half the Price ,” as saying the difference between frugality and stinginess is whether the money-saving act impacts only us or forces our frugality on others as well. “Frugality is the activity required for me to live below my means. Stinginess is the activity of requiring others to participate in my frugality," she said.
Matt’s View
That’s a great way to distinguish between frugality and stinginess. Wise money management involves looking for ways to add efficiency to our spending, but not at the expense of relationships. Managing light switches and the thermostat makes good financial sense, but taping the latest utility bill to the refrigerator as a taunt to all who would dare leave a room without darkening it first may be going too far.
This article filed in: Spending
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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