I've been thinking..........(uh-oh, look out!)

I've heard many people use the word "frugal" on this board & I'm wondering what you mean by that.

(Melissa sort of got me thinking when she asked what we WON'T be frugal with!)

Sometimes I like to be frugal with money; but sometimes I'd rather be frugal with my time.

I'll give you an example:

My mother got me a subscription to the magazine "Quick Cooking" - it features (as you might imagine) quick recipes. And they are quick, but they aren't always cheap! The other day I was looking at a sweet roll recipe that I thought looked good, but it called for Pillsbury refrigerated dough, which I think is expensive.

Hopefully, you get my drift....

So, would you rather be frugal with your time or your money??

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), March 11, 2002

Answers

Money. But that's because of my situation right now. I have little money and, well, I'm old so who knows how much time I have but I am at peace with time and I fight money all the time. All in all, tho, given the choice, I choose to save money.

-- Dee (someone@heavenbound.com), March 11, 2002.

Ok, I hope this answers you question. You mentioned a recipe that called for an expensive dough? I would have made the dough from scratch. I do the same thing with lots of other recipes. I can whip up biscuits in 5 min. and homeade bread in 15, so If I were going to save the 3.00 it cost to buy pillsbury dough, not to mention I would have to drive there as I dont normally buy these things,( store is 15 miles) I could make them faster.... YEAH I KNOW, Im nuts, LOL. But that is ok, so are lots of us .

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 11, 2002.

I would be frugal with whatever I was short on-time OR money! HeHeHEHE

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 11, 2002.

I have more time than money and Pilsbury dough would cost me both as I would have to go 12 miles to town to get it. Not frugal! I can mix up bisquit dough, pie crust or anything like that in a matter of seconds because I have those ingedients grouped together right above my mixing bowls and I don't need to look at a recipe.

I think we can only measure frugality against ourselves and weigh each method with our own values. Last week, while butchering chickens, we got short on time. I feel enormous guilt for discarding heads, feet, livers and gizzards, instead of processing them. Many people at this forum would never think of eating their yard birds let alone saving parts that you don't find in the grocers' cooler. Now if I am cooking, and don't have enough chicken broth, I will be mad at myself, but I won't go to town to buy any, for no other reason than going to town consumes too much time!

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 11, 2002.

Hello Folks, I always tell my family, "I have more time than I do money!" Frugality has become a cliche with many people but, for me it is a matter of survival. Why would I drive thirty miles into town and spend $3.25 for a set of hinges when I could make them here with some baling wire? Or what sense does it make to drive 75 miles to go shopping at a discount store to buy things that we can live without, when a drive into town and shopping locallty is quicker, and less gas and maintenance on the truck? I read about "buying" peat moss containers to grow seeds in. Why would I waste my money to do that when I can get a 35 pound bag of peat moss and put it in tin cans for just a little time and a heck of a lot less money. I guess if you sum it up it is just a matter of good judgement.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

I believe that we are expected to be good stewards of all we have been given, and what have we got that we have not been given?? If I felt someone was in need of my time, which really is often the case when we think about it, I would go with the easier "fix" for cooking. I think I most often am guilty of being selfish with my time than anything else. It is something I am really having to work on.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 11, 2002.

That's easy. Be frugal with time. You'll only have so much of it no matter what you do. You can always get/make more money. Money is easy to replace. It's fungible. You can always get more of it. Time isn't. It is unique. It cannot be replaced or duplicated and there's only a limited amount of it for each of us.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), March 11, 2002.

I agree with Gary in Indiana; you can ALWAYS make more money, but there are some experiences and opportunities that can never be purchased for any amount of money. Take some time to appreciate those around you RIGHT NOW, not later.

And heather, homemade always seems to taste better to me, for some reason. Maybe the pride you get in doing for yourself, rather than depending on others supplying you with your needs?

Good question.

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), March 12, 2002.

I've found that being frugal with money (in the long run) gives me more time. I guess you can be frugal with both. Anytime I save a few bucks I think about how many hours I would have to have been at work to earn that money. With taxes included, you'd be amazed at how many hours you cut down on the job by saving $2.00 a week here and there. I'm at the point that I can live on almost nothing. this gives me lots and lots of free time. I love.

-- DAVID Constantin In Wisconsin (cajundavid@hotmail.com), March 12, 2002.