Frugality deals with how you reduce costs.
Cheapness deals with how you impose costs on others to reduce costs on you. Basically, you become a parasite on someone else versus being a better handler of your finances. Frugality is not allowing others to be a parasite on you (though all those times you paid more for something you really didn’t need).

Pestering someone to take 2 hours off work to drive you to the airport – you’re imposing costs on them – BIG TIME. Unless the guy is one of those who is lonely and literally begs to spend more time with you (and pesters you for it!) – you’re a parasite here. If he pesters you out of loneliness, he’s imposing you a cost on you, and you’re recovering the cost by requiring the favor. I’ve known many people who were lonely and didn’t pester, and I gladly spent time with them to relieve their loneliness. But when the person starts demanding, and making a stink if I need to do something else, that’s out of line on their part.

A double cheeseburger dressed as a mac? I had no idea that your local McD’s offers that, and that’s not imposing a cost – they’re offering this, so you’re not imposing anything on them. This is doing something based on what they are normally doing. Remember, those who offer it crunched the numbers and accepted that people could do something like this. Now, attempting to do this at a franchise which does not have “dress like a mac” option being offered IS imposing on them.

Walking 5 blocks to save $1 – makes sense in nice weather – enjoy nice weather + get good exercise as a bonus. This however, makes NO sense if it is pouring/snowing/really bad weather – you’re not enjoying nice weather, though you still have the good exercise as a bonus. So then the choice: Put up with bad weather now and get your stuff or wait until the weather is better.

“People feel by getting a deal in a round about way that they are breaking the rules or cheating someone. (e.g. order pasta with unlimited bread and salad, fill up on bread and salad, take the pasta home with you)”

If they are offering unlimited bread and salad, then filling up on bread and salad is not imposing a cost – this is what they are offering. There are no regulations on how much bread/salad versus entree you are to eat is there? The cost of the bread/salad is covered by the profits generated by the entree, so you paid for the bread/salad. So yeah, fill up on bread/salad and take the entree home – you paid for both. HOWEVER, filling up on bread/salad AND taking both entree and more bread/salad crosses the line into a parasite. The extra bread/salad being taken home is not covered by your price paid, so don’t take it.

“Order a small coffee in a medium cup to fill the rest up with milk and essentially get a medium coffee at a small coffee price”

I never heard of a coffee shop offering a bigger cup for free, so this must be a local franchise doing this. My comments about this is the same. If the local franchise offers this, then it is fine to do so. If the local franchise does not offer it, it is imposing on them. Remember, those who offer it crunched the numbers and accepted that people could do something like this.

“Now I would consider it cheap if I asked for 25 tomato slices on my burger and then took the tomatoes home to use on my salad for the next day.”

25 tomato slices on my burger is nowhere near what a normal burger has, and I’m doubting any franchise would do this. Franchises take into account “extra something” and charge a nominal amount for it, and usually the “extra” is an extra serving’s worth. If a regular burger has 1 tomato slice and I was the franchisee, I’d ring up 25 “extra tomato” for a dime each for that’s 25 servings of tomato for that burger. Hey, If you wish to impose a cost on me, you will cover it. That’s frugal.

If a company offers a service on a regular basis, even if it looks “cheap” – it is not “cheap” to take advantage of it. Period.

I totally agree. Their pricing structure is set to make money. Maybe the profit margins are smaller with the double cheeseburger but it gets people in the door. How much do they make if I decided not to go to McDonalds at all?

2 – We disagree on this one. The point is to add the amount of milk you like. No one is going to wreck their overpriced beverage just to get more ounces of liquid for less. If you like a lot of milk, asking for a bigger cup seems like a reasonable idea.

3 – Hmmm. The 2 kids hot chocolates are still highly profitable, so unless these beverages come with a 12-and-under note on the menu, I would proceed with a clear conscience.

4 – Most definitely frugal, not cheap. (Unless you run to get to it before the homeless guy who saw it first…)

5 – You are an idiot if you leave $5 on the street.

6 – Frugal. Plus, walking is good for you.

7 – Not sure. The free salad and breadsticks are not meant to be a full meal. But restaurant portions are out of control precisely because the food is so cheap. If you prefer smaller meals, eating a reasonable amount of salad and breadsticks and taking part (or even all) of the entree home seems like a frugal and healthy choice.

Frugal = Brewing your coffee at home instead of buying it from a coffeeshop.

Cheap = Buying it at the coffeeshop but skimping on the tip.

Frugal = Taking a shuttle bus to the airport instead of paying for parking.

Cheap = Pestering your friends to take 2 hours away from work to drive you to the airport instead of paying for parking.