Frugal or cheap?

So, am I cheap?



I love the dollar store. I mean, I L-O-V-E the dollar store. Tonight I told one of my friends (who also loves the dollar store, though maybe not as much as me) that if it came down to my husband or the dollar store, it would be pretty close. Just kidding of course! ;-) But really, I do A LOT of shopping there.



Have you been to one lately? I mean, a good one.

Dollar Tree is my all time favorite. They have everything there. I mean EVVEERRYthing. They have your run of the mill candles, flat wear, brushes and whatnot's, but they also have frozen food -I mean some name brand stuff that I get in the Acme, they have flip flops, they have ARTS AND CRAFTS (cool stuff too!), fun toys. Heck, they even have lingerie, ovulation predictor tests, and pregnancy tests! I had to laugh the first time I saw the pregnancy tests. I wished (for a brief moment) that I was pregnant so that I could see if it actually was reliable. I joked about this with the girl who worked there, and she said that they actually came from the same place Walmart gets theirs. Who knew? (We do now.)

So anyway, I do A LOT of shopping there. Yes, I've bought their food. It's actually decent, and it's not old, leftover, frozen, unfrozen, refrozen, icky stuff like I was afraid it would be. Yes, I've bought their lingerie. I have a cute little cami/tap pant outfit that I have yet to wear. It's really cute though. Common... two bucks for a cute little number?? Even if it's disposable, I've spent more money on more ridiculous stuff before.
Yes, I've bought the party supplies. Who hasn't? I've bought the cheap toys. Lots of them are REALLY cute though. (And some even have a good mark up price on them!) I buy the arts and crafts items religiously. Really helps pass the time with two kids! And the coloring books, oh my word, the coloring books! I can't tell you how many we have from there. Shipping supplies -bubble mailers, address labels and return labels, packing tape, legal and letter envelopes, stationary. They have it all.

I LOVE the dollar store.

I also love thrift stores. I love to get a bargain there, plus, it's like treasure hunting for me. I love to find a NWT (new with tag for you not so eBay savvy readers) pair of Gap jeans for six bucks or less. I love to leave with bags of kids clothing (which will all be washed on hot water for the first time) for 70 bucks -most still new with tags. I love to get books for 50 cents. I love to find cross stitch packets -brand new again for a dollar, and then turn around and sell them for A LOT more then that on eBay. I love getting fabric remnants from there, and making dresses for Little Miss. I love tearing apart clothing from there, and up-cycling them into something new. I LOVE IT!

Another thing I love, and this is where DH called me super cheap tonight are the kids cups from restaurants. They're thick plastic ones, and they have these great lids. I take them home and use them until Little Miss chews them until the lids no longer fit on them.

We went out to dinner with friends tonight, and Cool Dude, his BFF, and Little Miss each got a kid's drink. Little Miss got two. On the way out, I asked my friend if she wanted the cup. This was as I was grabbing Little Miss' cup. She said no, and noticed I was taking the empty, and told me to take hers if I wanted it. I explained that they're really great b/c of the lids, and Little Miss chews all of the cups, so I have to throw them away. She kinda chuckled, and said that it was a good idea, but I wonder how cheap she really thinks I am????? I mean, they're not the cheap, hard plastic ones that when you bend them they crack. They're the softer ones; the more "high quality" of plastic restaurant cups, if you will.

DH called me cheap when he saw that I had four cups when we were leaving. (Little miss had two drinks.) He told me I was so cheap.

Whatever. Maybe I am. Or maybe I'm just frugal.