I believe it's a good thing to be frugal. Clipping coupons, watching for sales, saving, and not buying on impulse are all good practices to help stretch your dollar.
Frugality is a good thing--being cheap is not.
I sometimes (very often) walk the fine line between being frugal and being cheap. I think I tend to go more to the cheap-side because I've gone so long not having money and when I do have it,
I don't want to let it go.
Not a good thing.
I am slowly learning (the hard way) that there are just some things you don't go cheap on. For instance, buying the cheapest Wal-Mart jeans for your 7-year-old doesn't make sense because there will be a hole in the knee in two days. Yeah, I've learned to buy quality and in the long run you save money. This is true, but there's one thing I just can't get through my cheapsake head--that is to go to a quality salon to get my hair done.
I have a really hard time spending more than $10 on a haircut. I buy the cheapest shampoo and conditioner available. I've had the same blowdryer for who knows how long and a round brush that falls apart every 3-4 brushes that I keep putting back together. And I color my own hair. After I get my hair cut, I come home to blowdry it (because why pay someone for something I can do?) and notice that the "stylist" at Dollar Cuts didn't thin my hair enough so it's all poofy in places it shouldn't be and I curse myself for my cheapness.
Last Sunday morning was one of my cheapsake days.
I have inherited unruly gray hair. For a long time I thought that maybe I'd follow my dad's side of the family and not turn gray until later in life but no, over the past few years my hair has gotten very gray. I have these unruly, wirey gray hairs that grow out the top of my head.
(It's lovely for sure!)
And now I have gray throughout my hair so I've been coloring my hair every 6-8 weeks for some time now. I've used the same Nice-and-Easy color for the past year. (The name "Nice-and-Easy" is so fitting.) It usually takes me about 20 minutes and my gray hair is gone. Simple enough. Well, I had bought some color Saturday but didn't have time to do it so Sunday morning, while getting ready for church, decided I couldn't live another day looking more like Emma's grandmother than her mom, I colored my hair. When I was done, I was shocked! "Natural Light Golden Brown" looked more like "Dark Ronald McDonald Redish-ugly-Brown". I started cursing my cheapness again. What happened? It was the same color I always get and followed all the same directions.
Is coloring your hair breaking the Sabbath?
I don't know!
Well, I was 15 minutes late to church and had to walk in so the whole ward could see my screw up. I felt like everyone could see my cheapness shining through.
I am thankful that it is hair and will grow out and the color will most likely fade over the next week (pray for me) but in the meantime I'll be cursing myself for my cheapness. Hopefully I've learned that you just can't go cheap on hair, but we'll see if my cheapness rules again in 6-8 more weeks!
I wasn't quite sure how Emma and Ethan would do playing with each other since Ethan is six and Emma is only two but they had so much fun together!
Emma got a kitchen for Christmas. (A purple kitchen)
It is her pride and joy. 
She plays with it night and day. 
