The 20 CVS cards thing really annoys me – I don’t know why the store allows that.

I think of cheap as spending as little as possible, including doing things that are immoral but legal (or at least unlikely to be prosecuted). Cheap is stealing toilet paper from public facilities, not tipping service staff because no one can force you to do so, violating sale limits, using coupons in a way that’s not in accordance with the terms on the coupon, etc.

Frugal is being wise with your money, but not in such a way as would warrant a visit by the ghosts of Christmas Past, etc.

Does anyone know what the standard tip is at a buffet? The server brings the drinks and the bill… I don’t know what they get paid.

Frugal people learn how to use the one they have wisely!

I’m convinced that if restaurant patrons worked as a server for even a week they’d change their tipping ways. I rarely tip less than 20% anymore, and I always tip on the full amount the bill would have been without the coupon. I mean, the difference between 15% and 20% is usually a couple of bucks, which isn’t going to break me, but could really make a difference to the server. (As a bonus, it’s easier to calculate in my head — I just calculate 10%, double it, then round up to the next full dollar.)

ScrappyQuilter brought up a huge issue for me as a Christian — when fellow Christians fail to recognize that their poor tipping really damages their testimony. I figure my tip speaks far louder than the fact that I bow my head before the meal.

As for tipping I do try to aim for between 15-20%, although there has (in I guess the last ten years) been two occasions when the service was so darn bad, I didn’t leave a tip at all.

We don’t ever have food delivered so that one doesn’t arise.

OK, is this cheap? I’ll go to local bookstore, get a coffee, look at some books (very carefully, mind) and then more often than not come home and buy what I decided I like on Amazon as their prices are usually way under the bookstore.

For what minnemom said – I agree. If it says “one per family” I will honor that and won’t try to “cheat the system”. However, if it says one per purchase or transaction, that is different, and I will make multiple transactions to get a good deal. And the stores know you do that too, because the same cashier will ring up 3 transactions in a row for you (without going to the car and coming back in.) If it is specific that you are supposed to only ‘get the deal’ one time though, I think that definitely becomes a moral thing though if you try to do it again, and I won’t cross that line.

Good points here. I’m glad to see that I fall in the frugal category but not the just plain cheap one!

I’m with you on the tipping. Once I went to a luncheon at Olive Garden with my church Ladies Group. We all ordered the soup-salad-breadsticks, but right after we ordered, our server came back with 2 bowls of salad and said that was the last they had because one of their fridges had died and nothing in it was safe to serve–however, because of the inconvenience, our meals were free. We got those 2 bowls of salad plus all the soup and breadsticks we wanted–nobody left hungry, but half the ladies didn’t leave tips! I was so embarassed I left the poor guy far more than I would have otherwise.