In response to my recent post about splitting expenses with friends, one commenter wrote that there is a fine line between cheap and frugal. I happen to agree.

For example, when dining in a group, I recommend that each individual calculate tax and tip based on what they ordered, but I would never dream of leaving less than a 18 percent tip on my tab, unless service was abysmal. I skip the drink order and stick to an appetizer to save money myself, but saving money at the expense of the wait staff or my other friends by failing to account for taxes or “forgetting” to leave a tip would just be cheap. Here are five more key differences between cheap and frugal:

1. Cheap and frugal people both love to save money, but frugal people will not do so at the expense of others.

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7 Comments

  1. LOL! This article speaks to me because i have always been frugal for a lifetime but never considered myself as such. It’s like it was written at me.

  2. I still dont understand the difference. They read the same to me. What am i missing?

  3. I find that frugal people are great investors because they are misunderstood about why they are cheap.

  4. Yolo! Why be cheap when you should be out there having fun. Nothing worse than getting old and regretting you never lived a single moment.

  5. Most people consider the word frugal to be a negative and it is indeed synonmous to cheap. Most girls i know will not be with a man that they feel is frugal. They want a man to spend everything they have on them. And trust me girls want the world — and the moment you can’t they will move on. Sad reality.

  6. Interesting. Sadly most people are neither. Most cant get enough spending and putting themselves in debt.

  7. And this is why places like the dollar store are everywhere. At heart everyone is frugal we just dont like to admit it.

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