The Difference Between Being Cheap and Being Frugal

Frugal=Good, Cheap=Bad. Remember this and you'll save yourself some heartache, possibly a body part, plus a few bucks. The other day I got a reminder on the difference between being cheap versus frugal. I have a pair of Timberland boat shoes that I got on sale for a great price a few years ago at an outlet mall. Unfortunately, they've been worn to their maximum capacity and then some. The soles after years of use are very lopsided and the shoes are now extremely uncomfortable to walk in. They've been in this condition for a few months, but out of cheapness I kept on wearing them. I try to keep to a strict annual clothing budget and I just did not want to shell out extra dough for new boat shoes, especially when to the untrained eye my shoes looked to be in OK condition.

After months of this, my feet took a serious beating. I complained of achy feet so much that the hubs took it upon himself to inspect each pair of my shoes....and sure enough, he found the culprit. Horrified that I would willingly keep putting my old Timberland's on my feet, he gave me a stern talking to. "Shoes can be replaced, feet cannot," he so wisely pointed out. So my message to you is, don't be cheap, it's just not worth it. And to my still achy feet, I sincerely apologize. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my battered shoes for you. The hubs immediately took them away never to be seen again. 

But on a positive note, I do have a picture of some similar shoes I found in my closet that I forgot I even had. I was going to throw them away, because one day I got the bright idea to do yard work in them, and they got super dirty. Who does yard work in suede shoes, right? Anywho, I decided to throw them in the washer, and tada they look like new!

"Being frugal does not mean being cheap! It means being economical and avoiding waste." ~Catherine Pulsifer