How am I frugal?

Sometimes, I forget I am technically frugal. I blame TLC for bombarding me with shows about couponing and extreme cheapskates for raising the bar on what it means to be frugal.

Then I decide I need to be frugal, check out websites with helpful articles about becoming frugal and leave frustrated because I am already doing everything they suggest.

In order to remind myself that I am frugal, I decided to keep track of moments that remind me I am indeed frugal. I thought about keeping a physical journal, but decided it would be easier to just make occasional entries here that are tagged frugal.

Yesterday I was in Target. When I was ready to check out, I chose one of two available lanes. I went for the one that had the fewest people with the least amount of items. Unfortunately, this did not mean it would be the fastest lane. While waiting for my turn, I noticed a woman checking out at the other lane with a shopping cart full of throw pillows in various sizes. I thought she had perhaps recently moved to town and needed pillows.

She was in conversation with the cashier when I noticed her.

Cashier: I know what you mean, sometimes you just need a change.

Customer: Yeah, I was just looking at my living room and was sick of the colour. I needed to get new pillows now!

Her words bounced around my mind while I continued to wait to check out. I was a bit baffled by this action. You don't like your living rooms colour scheme so you just go buy items to change the colour scheme?  I continued to listen, being bored of waiting and nosy, and learned she has a different colour scheme for each season in her house. So it wasn't even the case of having the same colour scheme for years. She regularly changes the colour scheme in her house based on the season and decided she didn't like the colour scheme she normally had for spring time.

This was a moment when I realized I was frugal in this department.  It is probably a normal habit to change out the colour scheme of your various rooms based on the season. I do recall that my mother in law has a different bed comforter and rug set for at least two seasons.

And why shouldn't people change their houses rooms linens and decorating based on the season? It would be a little odd to have winter colours bombarding the eye during the summer.

Still, that isn't how I roll. I have the same throw pillows no matter the season. I never really thought it was an option to just go out and buy a bunch of throw pillows and rugs and curtain at full retail price because I was bored of a colour scheme.

I'm not certain what it would take to make me change the colour scheme for our living room. Even if something happened to the couch, and we had to replace the couch, this wouldn't encourage me to replace the other chairs and blankets and rugs and curtains.

So, just a reminder to myself when I wonder how I am frugal. I am frugal because I don't just rush out and drop a few hundred dollars on throw pillows because I am bored with the colour scheme in my house.