Do you care when other people call you cheap? Or do you wear it like a badge of honor?
I recently got this letter from a woman whose aunt died. She hadn't seen her aunt in 30 years, yet she was being asked to chip in $500 for the funeral. https://www.thepennyhoarder.co...ed-for-aunt-funeral/ She's always been frugal, so she refused. Now she's worried that her family is mad at her.
I agree that $500 is a lot of money for someone you haven't seen in a long time. I think the letter writer made the right decision by not giving $500. But she's been losing sleep over the fact that her family might be angry at her.
This is a tough one. I'm proud to be cheap when I'm getting a good deal. I like to brag about my frugal habits, like driving cars forever and being several iPhones behind the world. But it's tough when someone is pressuring you to open up your wallet. I get why the letter writer feels self-conscious. When everyone else is contributing toward a cause or to help out someone else, most of us really don't want to look cheap.
Do your friends or family members ever criticize you for being cheap? If so, how do you handle?