I am not frugal!

When we were freshman in college, my older sister Brooke and I were having a sit-down talk with our parents about the usual;
responsibility, personal finances
…blah, blah, blah.

My Dad could see that Brooke was getting sensitive, so he lovingly said…
”honey, I know you are being frugal…”


Brooke jumped up off the couch ready to walk out and dramatically shouted
“I..AM..NOT..FRUGAl..,Dad!”
Stunned, my Dad grinned a little then calmly said…
”Uh…I don’t think you know what that means Brookie.”
It was so funny. I still tease her about it.
Ever since then I have always loved the word “frugal.”

And it seems now all of a sudden it’s hip to be frugal.
Some of the most popular websites and blogs are dedicated to showing off their frugality.

Dean will argue otherwise, but I do love being thrifty.
Case in point…

Last month I was at DI looking for some new underwear and bed sheets (just kidding)…
I was looking for a rabbit cage for Lauren’s new rabbit.
While there I glanced down on the bottom shelf and saw a brand new stovetop all wrapped up still in the box with the protective plastic still around it.
The price tag said $30 dollars. Forget it, I thought.
Then I called Dean and he said, sure bring it home.
Needless to say it fit like a glove.
Dean and the boys lifted the old one out, and slid the new one in place practically during a commercial break.
For my own satisfaction, I looked up our model number on line, and found out the cooktop retails at Sears and Lowes for .. $799.00…SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY NINE DOLLARS!

Yeah, I slept well that night. My question is; who throws this stuff out?

THE BEFORE: the old 1970's monster that came with the the house, took ten minutes to boil water, had only one working burner, and years of caked on yumminess

THE AFTER: a clean, mean cooking machine