Am I a Cheapskate?

Recently, I've been reading articles and subscribing to many free e-zines which talk about how to stretch your dollar. We're not in dire straits, but it is possible our economy and other issues both here in America and around the world could get worse before they get better. Put that together with having 9 mouths to feed and it just makes sense to develop a very frugal outlook on spending.

But...I never want to be known as a cheapskate. I've known people that I thought that of (whether right or wrong)and they were usually a person I resented, especially, if we went out to lunch together - OR - went in together on a bridal shower, baby shower or birthday gift for a mutual friend. Do you know what I'm talking about?

I recently expressed to Vance that I felt like I was becoming a cheapskate because I've started doing a few things to save money that I would have never thought of doing before.

1. When I receive any kind of mailing and the packaging material is still good, I reuse it for my own mailing.
2. When you get bills in the mail and decide to pay online...I keep the return envelope and put a label over it and reuse it.
3. I've started using half the laundry and dishwasher soap I normally do.
4. I water down everything from regular dish soap, apple juice to even milk.
5. I plan out my entire week on Sundays and make sure every trip in the car is used efficiently - I even plan out my routes so I'm never back-tracking.
6. I'm learning how cut my grocery bill in half by buying in bulk and buying day or two old things like bread and meat. I even heard of a lady who buys milk a day or two before the sell by date and freezes it (I may try this one).

Then Vance gave me his definition of "cheapskate". He said it is someone who has a surplus of funds, but decides to hord their money and act like they're poor. What we're doing is out of necessity. That made sense to me. It's working, by the way. We've saved a lot of money since I started to these seemingly cheapskate things.

I looked the word up in the dictionary and it said "A stingy person; a person who is unwilling to spend money."