The Frugal Paradox

Being cheap has negative connotations, but I believe that being cheap makes you rich. All my life I have been a bargain hunter. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would still scour the market for day old bread which toasts up fresh in minutes. Frugality to me is a way of life and I don't mind it at all. Yesterday we drove to a free porch sale in our area. My husband found a gorgeous triple ply pure cashmere sweater. I love Craigslist for free stuff. We also picked up a bunch of firewood for the winter. Everything I get for free means more money I get to keep. I even found some kids junk jewelry which my mom is taking to South America where there are people who really have very little. Sometimes in our struggle to buy the new TV, we forget just how rich we really are here in America. We have so much that between Craigslist and Freecycle we could easily furnish most of our needs and the needs of others. I gave away six winter coats this year and I still think I have too many. But I had to let some stuff go in order that other stuff can come in. We're going to have a big clean out this year in order to let more stuff in. Being frugal has made me rich.