13 Comments

  1. That’s not only cheap, it’s pretty gross. I wouldn’t do it because I wouldn’t use a towel that hadn’t been laundered first. Think how many people handled that towel. EW! Secondly, now someone else will be buying their “used” towels. EW again! Please, people, if you can afford the towel, just buy it and use it and you’ll have it for later! Thank you! 🙂

    • I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. My skin was crawling. At first, I thought, oh what a sweet memory. And then I read the fact that they used the towels and put them back and just shuddered!

  2. Have to come down in agreement with you, ladies. Frugal is making the most of your money. Cheap is using something that doesn’t belong to you. and foisting it off on an unsuspecting person.

  3. I agree. Frugal is being sensible. Careful with your money and not wasting money, but aldo willing to spend when you need to. Being cheap is where you refuse to spend money on things that are desperately needed even when you have that money available.

  4. “If you don’t know who Giuliana Rancic is, that’s OK. I spent fifteen minutes Googling her after this article started trending on Facebook, and I’m still not sure I really get the whole picture.”

    I do not know who that is, either. But the way you explain that? You’re “a woman after my own heart!”

  5. I’ve been called cheap by many of my college friends. They didn’t understand why I still lived in my frat house basement ($425 a month FTW) after I got my first engineering job out of college. They didn’t understand why I drove a 15-year-old car until it died. They didn’t understand why I brought in lunch every day instead of spending $10 on somethinga fancy. They still don’t understand why I max out my 401k and Roth IRA.

    I’m definitely not cheap, if I want something, I generally buy it. I always leave at least a 20% tip at restaurants: I’d be extremely upset if a child didn’t get to eat dinner because I’m a snob and it took 2 minutes to get my sparkling water instead of 1.

    But am I frugal? I’m trying to get there. I definitely spend way too much money to be frugal. Right now I’m considering buying $100 rock climbing shoes, and shelling out $80 a month for a climbing gym membership. I could at least find a gently-used $30 pair on CraigsList.

    The difference between cheap and frugal is a mindset. Someone who is cheap won’t spend money because they value money. Someone who is frugal thinks about what value spending money will produce, and then makes a decision. Case in point: a cheap person will spend $50 on hiking boots, leave the tag on, and return them after their trip; a frugal person will research hiking boots, find the best value, pay $100, and use them for a lifetime.

    • That’s a great way to put it, David. Sometimes I fall into the cheap category…like when I refuse to buy new shoes so long that I cause back pain. But I also try to be really mindful of how my money impacts other people. I can’t stand not tipping. I’d rather stay home and eat.

  6. Using the towels in a store and putting them back wet isn’t frugal and it isn’t cheap – it’s a crime. That may sound harsh, but it’s the truth. Using someone else’s property or merchandise without their permission and to their detriment isn’t a “hack”- it’s illegal and unethical.

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