Celebrating Frugality

"Broke Girl," over at Be Broke but Happy, recently posted her answer to a reader's question about whether she would still live a frugal lifestyle if she became "Quite-well-to-do Girl." I really liked Broke Girl's answer:

Thrift is a virtue, the quality of using resources carefully (a vital attribute in a world of limited resources).

It's not even a distant cousin to cheap, which is about miserliness and inferior quality. So should you become Quite-Well-To-Do Reader, I hope you would remain thrifty.

(Read the whole post here.)

She goes on to say that she would probably keep 85% of her frugal habits even if she didn't need to.

This post really reminded me of what I'm trying to do here at Frugally Blonde - not just share ideas for saving money (although that's part of it) - but to really celebrate living a certain way.

I realize that lately I have become much more open and less embarrassed about my thrifty habits. It has really become something I believe in, rather than merely something I do out of necessity. Plus, in today's economic climate, I think that most people who notice my gigantic coupon box are admiring rather than sneering.

I agree with Broke Girl that 85% is probably a good estimate of the percentage of frugal habits that I would keep even if I had plenty of money. After all, getting a good value for your money, avoiding waste, reusing things, not over-indulging yourself - these are all practices that have value far beyond the money saved.

But I admit, if I myself became "Quite-Well-To-Do Girl," I think I would buy that bagged, pre-washed salad!

PS - I have a big post coming up this afternoon, so stay tuned!