What does thrifty or frugal mean to you?

According to dictionary.com these words mean the following:

thrift⋅y  
–adjective
1. practicing thrift or economical management; frugal: a thrifty shopper.
2. thriving, prosperous, or successful.
3. thriving physically; growing vigorously.

fru⋅gal  
–adjective
1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: a frugal manager.
2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty: a frugal meal.


Actually, these words mean different things to each of us as do the concepts that they represent. To me, it means saving on the stuff that doesn't matter to be able to afford what does. To each of us that means something different. My sister is frugal so that she can stay home and homeschool her children.

I am frugal so that my husband and I can have less stress on our jobs. He has a job where he gets paid much like a commission only sales person does. Lowering our expenditures means that he doesn't have to worry as much about how much he makes each week. To me it means that I can work with kids in school rather than in an office job that I hate.

In our family, we are working on becoming frugal. It is definitely a journey - one that we don't always do so well on. We aren't experts by any stretch of the imagination. I've been actively trying to lower our bills since 2003 and the going isn't always smooth. Sometimes I just get so frustrated that I give up and have to start all over.

Frugal isn't a dollar amount either. One can be frugal on a six figure salary too. Frugality is about prioritizing. As a CFO once said to me, "You can't have it all. Where would you put it?" Indeed.

What does frugal mean to you?