There are cheap and generous characteristics in people of every class, from the rich to the poor. Being cheap does not just pertain to people who don’t have money, and being generous doesn’t just pertain to people who do, cheapness is a negative mentality that shadows many people of all classes. It is one thing to be frugal and it is another thing to be cheap. In my life like many others, I’ve been generous, I’ve been frugal, and unfortunately in my lowest state, I’ve been cheap. The balance between not being cheap and being frugal is that being cheap is a consideration of only cost disregarding return of value, ethics, and the consideration for others. Whereas frugality is a consideration of not being wasteful equally to all. Getting the most value that is attributed to one of the most important aspects of our lives is intelligence, we essentially get more return for our money. Cheapness however takes away the most value from our lives in dynamic ways.
I was raised by generous parents who were businesspeople that often treated friends and family, they taught me to spend money to make money and not to be cheap when it brings more value to spend money. Generosity is one of the most welcoming traits that can be tricky to balance at times. While a noble and enriching quality that’s essential to fostering kindness, empathy, and social connection to one another, I think that many people with generous natures have to battle with not being taken advantage of. True generosity is through selflessness without any expectations of return that comes from a place of empathy and compassion. People who take advantage of generosity or so-called freeloaders are the ones who don’t have shame in relishing in other’s goodwill repetitively which is also a trait that can be easily identified as cheap. Cheap people at times can even come off as being generous but their generosity is always conditional and they always have the expectation to seek a return. With that said though reciprocation of goodwill is still a universal expression of appreciation.
I went through the experience of losing all financial assets from the downfall of my family business which I was involved in. This experience ignited a cheapness in me that I never thought was in my character. I looked at cost instead of value, I valued price over quality, and sometimes I even valued money over ethics. I became a person that was not how my parents raised me. I was very lucky that I didn’t inadvertently harm anyone due to my cheap mindset during that time period. I was also very lucky that I was able to realize that savings weren’t the thing that brought the most value to my life but the people and experiences of how my money was spent. I was also very fortunate to have a partner that always had a generous nature beside me reminding me who I am.
Cost savings could affect people negatively or even physically such as skimping out on important features when they pertain to health and safety. Landlords or Slumlords that are super cheap get sued, costing them time, money, and stress which could have all been avoided if they just didn’t have that cheap mentality to pinch every penny and had the ethics to take care of people properly. A cheap mindset causes pettiness by making people waste time, energy, and inadvertently money. Cheapness is an unwelcoming trait that detracts the most from a person’s life by how the world treats them in return. Cheapness at times is complicated as well, some people are cheap to themselves meaning that they let the cheap mentality overcome their own actions but are still generous to certain people in their lives mostly like the ones that they love. I’m not promoting anyone to be a saint because I’m far from that myself but to have consideration beyond cost is just a way for each person to bring more value to themselves along with more value to the ones they share it with. Think about that the next time you’re only considering the cost of something versus the value that it brings to your life or the life of others that it can affect.