Thrifty or Cheap?
The lead article in the most recent issue of the AARP Bulletin (again, my mother’s) is “99 Great Ways to Save.” For those who know me, you know this is right up my alley. My favorite store is Dollar Tree, and before it went 99 cents plus, it was Jacks’ 99 cents in NYC. Yes, I like a good deal.
Some of the ways to save from the article…
2. When using dried beans save the water from boiling to substitute for broth in recipes
9. Book flights on a Sunday to get the lowest price
21. Clean your wiper blades once a month with rubbing alcohol to extend their lifetime
56. Ditch paper towels for reusable bamboo towels and when you're done the bamboo version can be composted
61. Put an ethylene gas absorber in your fridge to help produce last longer
99, Try a pet food subscription service to get a lower price (and never run out)
The bulletin cover
On my semester in Rome while in college, I bought a used leather jacket for $3. It cost me 10 times this to have it dry cleaned. I wore the jacket until it was no longer wearable. This purchase was thrifty. Some of my dollar store purchases are cheap. This got me thinking, “Am I thrifty or cheap?”
Thrifty: (of a person or their behavior) using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.
Cheap: (of an item for sale) low in price; worth more than its cost.
Unfortunately, the definition of cheap isn’t how it is viewed today. Cheap is viewed as a bad trait to have as in “he’s a cheapskate.” Whereas, Thrifty is good as in “ She was thrifty when she bought 10 cans of beans of $1 each and used them throughout the winter.” And I have been told I am both.
I consider myself to overall be thrifty in that I spend money when it is warranted like a new dress to wear to a friend’s wedding and not as in “I don’t need any more sweaters, so I’ll put this one back on the rack.” So how does this correlate to parenting?
Easy. It is an opportunity to teach your kids the value of a dollar and where it is best to spend money or be thrifty/cheap. I am trying to teach this and three other financial lessons to my daughter.
The importance of having a budget (and tracking what you spend)
Why you delay gratification and save money for later
The value of saving money for emergencies, later, or towards big purchases (I am already saving money to pay for myself and my daughter to go to Australia and New Zealand for my 50th birthday in a couple of years)
If I am successful at this, my daughter will have a good financial head on her shoulders no matter when she becomes a millionaire (that’s one of her life goals).