Thrifty or cheap?

Today, I was sitting in my home office repairing holes in a reusable bag. I have several of the same bags and love them for grocery shopping. Some might say that I am being thrifty. Others might call me cheap as I can afford new bags. But I love these bags because they’re light, have a rectangle bottom (boxes, bottles, and jars stand-up) and can be washed. I come by this genetically. I got a sewing machine as a birthday gift for my 13th birthday from my parents and my maternal grandparents, Mama-G and Papa-G as they were called because I asked for one. I wanted a sewing machine because I had seen Mama-G repairing my grandfather’s underwear on it. Learning to sew by machine and hand, seemed like a good skill to have (and I am glad I learned). To my mind, t-shirts with stitched up holes can be worn on the weekends or for exercise, and a repaired 3/4 sleeve top with elastic waist is great for doing garden work, as the elastic keeps mosquitos out. I paired it yesterday with pants that can be cinched by elastic at the bottom to clean my patio stone and came in with no bites (I did douse myself in bug repellent too since mosquitos think I am champagne and caviar). Lately, I have also been darning my socks, which is a skill I learned from my dad. However, this useful skill can’t save all my socks and some just need to hit the trash can because they no longer have elasticity and end up sliding off in my shoes as I walk. Thankfully, I keep a back-up supply so I am never without socks I like or stockings or underwear for that matter. In fact keeping a back-up is second nature for me (maybe this should be my middle name). When I use the last of something and pull out a new one (i.e. a box of cotton swabs, a bottle of olive oil, or my beloved Caffix) I immediately get back-up so I never run out. But I digress since this post is supposed to muse over whether all my sewing repairs and stitching holes up is being thrifty or cheap. I’ll let you all vote. Am I being thrifty or cheap? Now I am off to repair a bra that like the t-shirts can be worn on weekends.

And Mom, you are not allowed to vote as I already know your answer. I am still in mourning over my last pair of Payless flats (and Payless, the store as a whole).