Orphaned in my early teens, I became frugal a) because I was alone and didn’t have anyone to turn to, and b) for intellectual interest, as I like to do calculations (I have many budget/spending spreadsheets).

Agreeing with the article – I was intrigued with a student the other day who said he preferred to buy the most expensive because he assumed it would be the best quality – I prefer to spend least (buying top quality in perfect condition second-hand at garage sales for 1/10th of the new price works for me) and enjoy having money in the bank so I can, without hesitation, book an overseas holiday without a financial concern. Repair, reuse, recycle. Today I took home a perfect kitchen knife someone had put in the rubbish.

I rarely use cash, and have automatic savings plans, my credit card balance is paid automatically each month, and measure water/electricity cost, e.g. 2c/toilet flush, 30-60c/hot shower, and brew my own beer for about $15/23 liters so a 300mm bottle costs me about 25c rather than $3-6 from the pub.

We mostly cook at home, but enjoy a local cheap restaurant for about $10 once a week. I live in the city so mostly walk, and drive my 20yo car worth about $1000 about twice a week which irritates me as it loses value rather than growing like most of my investments.

Rather than the hedonic treadmill seeking good feelings from spending money, instead I get pleasure from saving money!

Much like the comments above some items people feel comfortable spending more on certain items and that is perfectly fine. Some of our site users will spend hours comparing prices and finding the perfect discount and others will simply use what is available. They are both being savvy shoppers. It is up to the consumer to decide what their time is worth and how much they seek to save. How frugal you want to be is up to you but in all honesty we should all have a little frugality somewhere in our lives.

We want to leave you all with the best tip possible because this attacks the heart of the issue before frugality is even brought up. Be a smart shopper and just ask yourself… “Do I NEED this or do I WANT this?” You will be amazed that simply stopping for a moment to think about a purchase is all you need to be a savvy, smart, and frugal shopper. Good luck out there.

I employ many of the most common and even unusual ways to save money but I draw the line at a few things: quality (not cheap) paper towels, I’m not making my own laundry soap, body wash or deodorant, organic foods for us and our pets, don’t have time to grown my own veges, etc etc. As one poster said before, buying quality, and not necessarily the cheapest thing, is truly frugal. Always ask yourself this: do I NEED it? Be honest with yourself.

EVERYONE knows that we frugal. We don't hide it and we're not ashamed of our "cheap" ways. My husband is even more frugal than I am. I cook dinner every night and pack our leftovers for lunch at work; we wear Goodwill purchased clothes & shoes; drive 10- yr-old+ used cars that we paid for with cash. We've furnished our home with inexpensive antiques we got from yard sales over the years; take advantage of sales on day-old bread/pastries & marked down meats & veggies that we cook the day we bring them home from the store; and foodsaver freeze meals for our daughters to take to college so they have home-cooked meals. We're avid coupon clippers. We taught our three young adult daughters to do the same. When they were young they would be given 50% of the cost saving on any grocery coupon that we used if they cut it out of the Sunday paper [they put their initials on the coupon]. It was a great learning opportunity.