Does Being Frugal Make You A Loser?

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  issh on 18/05/2011 - 23:17

  +1

  If you’re always buying cheap, generic crap, not only are you making your life miserable, you’re sending yourself a terrible message: “I’m not worth it.” Get used to quality. Get used to being worth it. You’ll be more successful if you do.

  ^this
  i would say this article affects an extremely small minority of this site
  Just by looking at the bargains being posted
  i.e.
  Laptop Deals(on well known brands Dell, Lenovo, etc)
  Logitech Deals
  Apps(for iPhone, Android, WP7)

  IF you are not poor

  +1 if you are not struggling financially-wise, you would take this like a grain of salt
  but for the small minority of people who are financially struggling, and constantly buys cheap, generic items, why does it matter?
  The thing is that if it works, it works. Simple as that. it does not make you a loser.
  i.e. Genuine iPod USB Charger vs $1 iPod USB Charger
  I find that the $1 off ebay are WAY better in terms of build quality then the genuine ones and also way cheaper

  ---

  Also this post from OCAU: Does shopping at Aldi make you look like a tightarse?

  They sell quality products, that are comparatively cheaper than the 2 big supermarkets

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  retiredfeline on 18/05/2011 - 23:23

  +1

  The point is by being frugal about the things that I don't need to pay premium prices for, I have more money left for the things I like splurging on. So there, Hacker News article. :P

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  Cheap Steve on 18/05/2011 - 23:33

  I love being frugal. It's just a big game that I love playing. I should dress better than I do though;)

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  samfisher5986 on 18/05/2011 - 23:55

  +2

  Being frugal is a major hobby of mine. I'm constantly either being frugal for myself, or helping someone else be frugal.

  ---

  Being truly frugal means always looking for the lowest price AND calculating everything related to it.

  So using the above example, being truly frugal would mean calculating whether the more expensive screw driver will last long enough to make the 75c screwdriver not worth it. In addition to calculating time spent travelling as well as fuel costs.

  I always do this, and it will mean that sometimes I won't get the cheapest product, but overall it works in my favor.

  I'm a very frugal person, but I spend more money on cars, technology, and other things that are long lasting and better then others.

  While someone else will spend more money on paying more for things, and eating out regularly, getting the $50 branded 4L olive oil etc…

  ---

  What people forget is that there are people who degrade their lifestyles and happiness to save money. Those people are losers, and I wouldn't call them 'frugal" as they aren't smart with their money, they just don't spend it.

  ---

  The way I see it: if spending the money/fuel/time/etc makes you happy, then do it, but if you are doing it because of ignorance, then your not frugal, your stupid :)

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  llama on 19/05/2011 - 00:07

  +5

  I have a whole ROOM full of stuff that I've bought from here because I am frugal.

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  StewBalls on 19/05/2011 - 04:15

  I couldn't even be bothered following the link to the article; the excerpt alone displays enough ignorance to warrant a resounding 'meh' from me!

  I'll simply move ahead with the serious business of penny-pinching! ;)

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  [Deactivated] on 19/05/2011 - 05:29

  If the term frugal means buying cheap then yes it is
  If frugal means getting value for money then its not.

  To me Ozbargain is getting value for money.

  Getting a free pen, from someone at a Tradeshow etc, which I was attending already to me is a "bargain" unless of course I have to talk with a salesperson for some time or wait in line etc.

  Getting a free pen from a website where I have to put all my personal details like home address is not. (And that's not talking about hacked sites)

  So its time (effort) vs money, which back to old economics at school, its energy spent. Less energy per dollar is a bargain, more is not.

  Trouble is we often only know after the deal if its been a bargain. ie spend more time getting it to work, than buying one that works already.

  That damn hindsight at work again

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  RandomNinja on 19/05/2011 - 09:34

  From the article comments, this guy's post sums it all up for me:

  Jean-Marc Liotier says:
  May 18, 2011 at 1:35 am
  In this interpretation of frugality, you are making the same mistake as those who misinterpret the military principle of economy of forces. Economy of forces is not about sparing one’s forces – it is about allocating a minimum of essential combat power to any secondary efforts so that you can concentrate the most of it on the primary effort. As Carl von Clausewitz’s said : “every unnecessary expenditure of time, every unnecessary detour, is a waste of power, and therefore contrary to the principles of strategy”. In the same way, being frugal is not an end in itself – it is the mean for concentrating your investment power on what actually matters. Now you may debate over what matters – but in any case, once you know what matters you must concentrate on that… And therefore be frugal with the rest.

  As a general life principle, I read that as save money on stuff thats not important to you, spend big on stuff that is important to you.

  For me, Ozbargain just takes this principle further by allowing you to save money on stuff that is and isn't important to you!

  Though one could argue that Ozbargain is also a horrible horrible temptress… /looks at my 1TB HDD from Staples that I totally didn't need.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 19/05/2011 - 11:39

    from Staples that I totally didn't need.

    maybe NOT frugal but a bargain nevertheless LOL

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  berserkk on 19/05/2011 - 11:19

  lol i was all up about to say that getting your identity (i.e. whether you are a winner or a loser) from the quality of your possessions is what makes you a loser in my opinion (which i got from Jesus )

  however after reading his article i agree with the content of what I think he is saying i.e. better to go for the best price/performance than the cheapest option.

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    huntress_love on 19/05/2011 - 11:34

    that make sense, any worthy ozbargain would realise not to always get the cheapest crap bcos it wont last long. so ppl here is either in it for free stuff or value for money. So good quality but for less.

    Dont see how that makes anyone a loser! I know of ppl who has millions and still try to screw over friends for a penny those ppl are losers, but not most ppl who is just smart with money.

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  retiredfeline on 19/05/2011 - 11:51

  Let me rephrase what I posted in another way: Essentially acquiring stuff is a zero-sum game because you can't take it with you, so either you use your money during your lifetime, or your descendants or the state get it. So what you save will get spent some time some way, by you or someone else. But you can trade your savings from frugality for an education, a house, a holiday, a present for someone, whatever matters to you. As long as you are satisfied with the tradeoff and that if you are unhappy with cheaper goods at least it's knowingly (deferred gratification).

  Also +1 to comments that it's often better value to get something durable than something cheap.

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  inherentchoice on 19/05/2011 - 13:02

  Being frugal now just means you'll have more to spend later.

  There are a million + australians who live week to week because they keep spending as much as they earn on everything from lotto and pokies to snacks and cosmetics. I think most of them have pay tv and pay rent instead of a mortgage - am I right?

  I've never lived week to week.

  One day they'll be on the pension while we'll be their landlords and using the money we saved and invested to go on luxury ocean liner cruises - who is the loser then?

  And even before that day, I say that because of being frugal we have already lived it up way more than these week-to-week types. Thanks to OzBargain I travelled to a heap of countries without barely putting a dent in the bank coz of the low price flights. Even though I might have 1000 times more money than others my age, at the cheap asian markets I still bargained for that last 40c less, and I'm similar back home with buying Aldi quality versus Audi quality lol.

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  alebox on 19/05/2011 - 18:20

  if i can save money buying stuff randomly cheaper, and use that saved money to buy even more useless crap, then yes, frugal as hell.

  apparently they have never laid witness to the nerf gun sales at bigw