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cheap vs frugal

Discussion in 'Las Vegas for the Frugal (not Cheap)' started by Snowbelle3, Mar 17, 2013.

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  1. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    What is the difference, in your opinion, between cheap versus frugal? Is there any aversion to it being used interchangeably?
     
  2. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    to me being a frugal person doesn't mean you won't spend money for finer things, you just won't spend carelessly at all times.

    cheap people are usually trying to get by at the lowest possible cost, regardless of quality.

    i won't take my girlfriend to dinner at Ellis Island on her birthday under the guise that we're going to a steakhouse, that would be cheap. i will use a coupon for $25 off dinner at the Flame, however, because i am frugal, and be both happen to like the place, based upon a previous dining experience.
     
  3. btaller

    btaller Tourist

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    To me someone who is frugal looks at personally perceived quality vs price and determines if something is a good value. Someone who is cheap will only look for price.

    Say, for example, the IP has a room for $20 and the Flamingo has a room for $30. The cheap person will go for the room at IP without fail. The frugal minded may consider the Flamingo room if they feel that the extra $10 is a good value.
     
  4. jrinct1

    jrinct1 VIP Whale

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    To me frugal means a value play. Even if i had the $$$$$ I would never spend a car payment to go to the snooooooty restaurants to get the YAK tenderloin with aeromatic foam of daises..( just an aggerated joke but i think ya know where i am coming from). Wouldnt go higher than lets say 50 -75 $ without drinks or desset pp under just about any circumstances and the 75$ end IS pushing it. Cheap to me would be doing MCD BK, etc.....but NOT IN N OUT which i flat out LOVE!!!!!...... What i did on my LV trips is go mid range few times( from 25-50 pp) few times frugal( coffee shop or "specials" or buffyies) and 1 time upper end for all meals..
     
  5. searchin

    searchin Low-Roller

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    I dont like either word , I prefer strategic.
     
  6. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    See, I think as soon as you say I won't go over a certain price, you've crossed the line from frugal to cheap. Not that there's anything wrong with being either, because to each his own. For me it goes back to exactly what you said up front...the value play. If you're paying $75 for a meal and that's the rack rate at the restaurant you are at and I manage to get a meal that's normally $500 and I pay $125, I feel good about my value. But that's only because I place value on that meal in the first place. Maybe you don't like Yak tenderloin, so even at a discount it has no value.

    So the answer can be different for different people, because we all value things differently. If I'm a college kid who is going to be in my room for 4 hours a night passed out, I probably don't value the high end room as much as a couple who might spend a bunch of time there.

    There is no right or wrong. If you feel like you got a good deal, then you did. If you feel like you got ripped off, you did. Two people could feel different about paying the same price for the same thing.

    And it's also a matter of percentages. You're not cheap if you know you've got $500 for the entire trip and you don't take a 50% off deal on a $200 meal. Even for half price you're dropping 20% of your budget on one meal. If you're only tipping $1 every 20 hands at BJ and you're playing $5 a hand, you're not cheap. If you're tipping $1 every 20 hands and you're playing black chip, it's a different story.

    And if you do value that fine meal and you know your budget is $500, you're not cheap for hitting McDonalds one night to make up for the other good meal. You're frugal, because you're managing your money to get the most out of your budget.

    And lastly it's a matter of what you want out of a trip. For my wife and I, because of our situation (which I'm not going to discuss) we get two vacations a year right now, and each is exactly two days. We want to get as much as we can out of those two days because we have no chance to get more time, so I pretty much don't hold back.

    In the end, I think you're frugal if you're watching your money to maximize your entertainment on the budget you have. I think you're cheap if you pass up on something you really want when you could afford it.
     
  7. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    so nobody is making the case that the words are interchangeable? not surprised.
     
  8. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    While there is a distinction between the two, I used them interchangeably.

    I do Mcds. And I used to love IP. To me, as cheap as they both are, they provide some of the greatest amounts of value by ratio alone by the mere fact that they are so cheap.

    I came across fried oreos where I live for $3 and near harrahs for $5 and at Mermaids for $1. Both the taste and sheer amount of fried oreos at Mermaids far surpasses that I have encountered anywhere. It's a cheap dessert by its nature but for the cheaper rate, I got a far greater value.

    Cheap does not necessarily mean less value.

    In fact, a lot of things people pay for, they could get for damn near free. I have a VIP club party that I paid $1.50 for from a reservation I made with bookit.com, which has a value of $99. Yes, it was cheap but the value I received far surpasses even the more frugal $49 rates on groupon and such websites.
     
  9. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    Cheap is the person who doesnt tip or tips very little. They are also known to walk from the airport to save cab fare.

    Cheap is someone who gets to the buffet at 330 knowing that lunch ends then and dinner starts at 4 so they can pay lunch prices and eat dinner foods.

    frugal is someone who likes a good deal but doesnt go to ridiculous extremes for the cheapest deal in town. Nothing wrong with using a coupon or staying downtown.
     
  10. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    What is frugal to one is cheap to another.

    They are synonyms but they have distinct definitions.

    Sweetie, do not be surprised.
     
  11. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    not surprised at all.
     
  12. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    A lot of "cheap" people like to refer to themselves as "frugal".
     
  13. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    Precisely.

    What an individual perceives as "frugal" in himself, another person is perceiving as "cheap". Both are happening at once.

    On a side note, I did not ask whether they could be used interchangeably but whether there was an aversion to using it interchangeably.

    My presumption is that, in addition to the truly wonderful definitions here of cheap, there may be further aversion for reasons that probably can't even be discussed on vmb, in addition to the fact that cheap is also a synonym to so many other "dirty" words (as cheap is treated on vmb):

    Definition: poor quality
    Synonyms: abominable, amiss, atrocious, awful, bad news, beastly, blah*, bottom out, bummer, careless, cheap, cheesy*, crappy*, cruddy, crummy, defective, deficient, diddly, dissatisfactory, downer, dreadful, erroneous, fallacious, faulty, garbage, godawful, grody, gross*, grungy, icky, imperfect, inadequate, incorrect, inferior, junky, lousy*, not good, off, poor, raunchy*, rough, sad, slipshod, stinking, substandard, synthetic, the pits, unacceptable, unsatisfactory
    Definition: vulgar, low
    Synonyms: abject, abominable, cheap, coarse, common, contemptible, corrupt, depraved, despicable, disgraceful, dishonorable, disreputable, foul, grovelling, humble, ignoble, immoral, indelicate, loathsome, lowly, mean, menial, offensive, paltry, pitiful, plebeian, poor, scandalous, servile, shameful, shoddy, sleazy, sordid, sorry, squalid, trashy, ugly, unworthy, vile, worthless, wretched
    Main Entry: bawdy
    blue, cheap, coarse, erotic, gross, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, libidinous, licentious, lustful, obscene, off-color, prurient, ribald, risqué, rude, salacious, suggestive
     
  14. sco5123

    sco5123 VIP Whale

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    LOL!! :evillaugh
     
  15. Srvanwyk

    Srvanwyk Low-Roller

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    Haha sooo true especially the walk from airport to hotel... Wtf?
     
  16. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    I think there are degrees to cheapness or frugality. I call myself cheap but I'm probably more frugal than cheap. I'm cheaper than some and more spendy than others.
     
  17. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    The two words simply don't mean the same thing in American English. They may have the same definition, but they absolutely have different connotations. Cheap has a negative connotation, or at least it can. If you call someone cheap, it's not a compliment. It might not be an insult, but it's not a compliment. If you call someone frugal, it's not an insult. It might not be a compliment, but it's not an insult.
     
  18. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    This
    and this

    pretty much wrap up the fundamental difference between the two concepts.
     
  19. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    I don't understand. Are you trying to convince yourself of something?
     
  20. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    agreed, cheap has a negative connotation. some people like to use the term "less expensive" when comparing the cost of things.

    that's a lot like a car dealership selling pre-owned cars. god forbid you call them used!
     
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