Thrifty 16 by Articles Uncovered
Published Date: 11/09/06
I am Scottish and Scottish people are notorious for being thrifty. We dont like to waste money and we are not very concerned about materialistic things. Some people mistake being thrifty for being cheap but there is a significant difference. My mother is a Scottish person who is cheap. She spends a lot of money on frivolous things but she spends the money a little at a time. In short, she buys cheap things in bulk.
Thrifty people visit stores like Dollar General and Family Dollar to find great deals on quality products that they actually use. I love Tide detergent, but my thrifty soul cringes when I compare the price of Tide to other comparable detergents. Discount or dollar stores often carry brand-name products at the fraction of the cost. I find my favorite brands for less money at these dollar stores. This is thriftiness.
On the other hand, my mother visits the dollar stores with an entirely different agenda. She has the cheap approach. She likes to buy a lot of stuff, or junk as I like to call it. This junk finds its way into my home. She bought a ghastly multi-colored, flowery, obnoxious robe for me. Its silk! she exclaimed. Actually, it is silk-like. No. Actually it is nothing like silk, but it was only three dollars. What a bargain!
Since the robe is made of a silky material, my daughter loves to pet it. This is my excuse for not wearing the awful thing. My mother likes to pop in anytime. Anytime is often in the early morning. She would ask, Wheres your silk robe? I finally said, Mom, I just cant wear it because the baby likes to play with it too much. That afternoon my mother arrived with another gaudy robe. She managed to find the exact same one. Theyre so cheap, I just couldnt resist getting you another one, she taunted. I think she secretly hates me.
Again, this is not thrifty. This is cheap. I could have bought a robe at a thrifty price in a retail store. The thrifty plan is simple: buy quality merchandise at discounted prices. This requires a little footwork. It may entail visiting a consignment shop or buying items off-season, but thriftiness always centers on quality.
The cheap plan is complex: buy as much as you can for as little money as you can. This may not seem like a complex plan, but this approach to shopping is disorganized. I did not need a robe in the first place. I definitely did not need two robes. Cheap shopping leads to irrational purchases. Please remember that being cheap doesnt save you money. Being thrifty does.
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