It’s been over one year since I published Frugality And Ethics – Are You Being Cheap, Frugal, or Stealing?
This was a post I thoroughly enjoyed writing.
Since last year, I have thought of several more situations that some may categorize as frugal living, whereas others may think it’s flat out stealing. Due to this, I thought right now would be a great time for Part 3 of this series.
I don’t believe there is anything wrong with saving money (this is a personal finance blog after all), but I do wonder how far people will go to save money – whether it be $1, $2 or $100.
No one is perfect and I definitely am not.
However, when does frugal living or cheapness cross the line and turn into stealing? I would love to hear your opinion on each of the situations below.
Dumpster diving for goods.
I’ve never gone dumpster diving but I do know of a few people who have tried it.
Some believe that dumpster diving is stealing because the goods were meant for the trash. Others believe it’s just frugal living.
While I don’t think I could ever dumpster dive, I don’t think this is stealing. Someone actually making use of the item instead of it sitting in a landfill sounds like a much better use to me.
Related article: How To Live On One Income
Taking the coupons out of someone’s newspaper.
For a few months when I was trying out couponing (I was not very good at it), I received one newspaper each week so that I could get the coupons. However, the coupons were rarely ever in there. I did some research and apparently it is somewhat common for thieves to go around and steal the coupons out of newspapers.
Many of these thieves claim they do it because most people don’t use their coupons. However, how do you know if someone does or doesn’t?
To me, taking the coupons out of someone’s newspaper is clearly stealing and not frugal living at all. You should ask for permission before you go around taking coupons.
Not telling wedding vendors that you’re having a wedding.
I didn’t do this with my wedding, but whenever I read wedding budget posts almost every article would say not to tell wedding vendors that you were having a wedding.
Instead, some of these writers would recommend to tell the vendors that you were just having a party. Once you mention the word “wedding,” prices can significantly increase so saying that you are having a “party” might save you some money.
I think this is a difficult one. I’m not sure if this is stealing, as saying that it’s just a “party” is technically not a lie. However, you are purposely leaving information out.
I do think that if you leave out that your party is actually a wedding that you may miss out on some important aspects of your wedding. Usually a higher price is charged for a wedding because extra work needs to be put in, such as with a photographer, DJ, event planner, etc.
What do you think when it comes to this situation?
Related article: DIY Wedding Ideas – Worth It Or A Waste Of Money?
Reading books and magazines but not paying for them.
I still remember one occasion where I had to get a book for research and went to a bookstore near my home. The book was obviously read by someone previously as there were big fold marks on the outside as well as on the inside (it looked like someone folded the book in half), and there were even stains on and in the book. That is just sad!
I see nothing wrong with quickly glancing at a book or magazine to determine if it’s for you. However, if you are reading a majority of the book while not paying for it, I do think that this crosses the line into stealing.
If you enjoyed a book so much to read almost the whole thing (or even the whole thing), then you should either buy the book from the bookstore or just go to your local library and borrow it from there.
Credit card churning to earn sign-up bonuses.
In Part 2 of my Frugal and Ethics series, I was asked by a few readers to include this in Part 3. Some believe that signing up for credit cards purely to earn high sign-up bonuses is stealing, whereas others do not.
To me, I do not see this as stealing.
I’m fairly positive that credit card companies know that many people sign up just for their bonuses. They are probably hoping to find some life-long credit card holders by offering these bonuses. I see credit card churning as a frugal living win!
Have you ever done any of the above? Are the above situations just frugal living or are some actually theft? What other examples can you think of?
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People really think dumpster diving is stealing? Weird. My mom dives, but only into recycled paper bins (for books) or recycling sometimes (for bottle caps for MyCoke Rewards).
I think taking coupons out of someone’s paper is unquestionably stealing.
I have read the majority of a book for free, but only because it was a comic shop and we were in between rounds during Magic tournament. I wouldn’t have bought it anyway, but that’s a feeble excuse. The fact was, I was bored and it was there. Definitely not a shining moment, and probably something I’d try to avoid in the future.
I don’t think the wedding thing is stealing. Parties have DJs and food and drinks too. A photographer is rarer but not unheard of. And frankly, marking something up just because the word “wedding” is used seems unfair to me. If someone wants to mark up costs by 20% or more, I’d say that omitting the word “wedding” is just savvy shopping.
That said, you could miss out on certain aspects of a wedding package. Usually, room stays are included the night before, plus a place to change. Which may or may not be the worth it to you. Worth considering though.
Yeah I’m not sure why people think dumpster diving is stealing, but I have heard that some stores absolute hate it.
I can think of only one situation when dumpster diving could be considered stealing. That is taking from containers marked for recycling. The charge to communities for waste management depends partially on what value that can be recouped from selling recyclables. Taking the high value recyclables is stealing from taxpayers and the community because it could impact the cost everyone pays for the trash-collecting service.
Yes, that is very true! Thanks for mentioning this Nancy.
For all you book lovers out there – try bookbub.com
Tons of free and cheap books for almost any device. And you can choose your genre, so that the the suggestions they send match your interests. I have a lot of free books on my ipad. One daughter has free books on her Nook. Another daughter puts free books on her mobile phone.
Thanks Eckl!
I don’t do it myself, but would fully condone dumpster diving. I can think back on a LOT of times where I, and people I know, took an item to the trash because it was too cumbersome (or in too poor a shape) to send to Goodwill, and couldn’t find anyone we know who would take it. I know lots of people who will leave items on their curb IN HOPES that someone will take it so that it doesn’t have to get trashed.
Many times the intention of the dumpster treasure’s original owner was to give their item a second life, but they couldn’t do it in time. So in these cases, dumpster diving is actually doing the owner a favor.
And sure, you can’t confirm what the owner’s intentions actually were – but, at the very least, you’re doing the earth a small favor, and that’s nice too.
Now that I’m in the midst of wedding planning, I have struggled with the idea of saying that we’re just throwing a “party” as opposed to a wedding. Eventually, we decided to just be truthful. One – I really, truly felt like I would be lying if we left that out. Two – although weddings make things more expensive, I do think that you pay for what you get a lot of the times. A wedding isn’t just some regular ol’ party – so you don’t necessarily want just regular ol’ service.
I would feel like I was lying as well and I wouldn’t want to worry about what would happen on my wedding day if they found out.
Credit card churning is definitely not stealing! It’s called making your money work for you! 🙂 I’m a big fan of credit card reward bonus. It’s how I scored a $1500 flight to Europe for $115!
I agree!
I think the extent people go to and their intentions tell whether or not any of these is stealing. Dumpster diving is technically stealing, but is it unethical? I don’t think so. It was going to the dump anyway and the “owner” doesn’t care.
The only tricky one is credit card churning. While I don’t think it’s technically “stealing” it has always left a sort of bad taste in my mouth, which is why I’ve never done it. We don’t use credits cards that much, so I would ONLY be opening them to get the bonuses, knowing full well I was never going to use them.
Great post! Stumbling it right now. 🙂
Thanks Lena!
So I didn’t do the party vs. wedding thing but I wish someone would do an investigative report on whether it’s true! If it is, isn’t the vendor stealing from people by charging more dependent on whether it’s a birthday party or a wedding?
When it comes to credit card rewards, if the company wasn’t making money they wouldn’t do it. That is why banks stopped offering the rewards on debit cards. Costs began to outweigh the profits. Credit cards create multiple sources of income. They get money in interest and fees from people carrying balances and from the vendors swipe fees, and balance transfer fees etc. So there is no shame in taking advantage of the offers.
I agree, there is no shame in taking advantage of the offers.
I stumbled across this post and would love to see a part 3! You have me thinking about using different emails (personal, school and work) to sign up for a deal more than once (ex: to take advantage of a store discount for signing up with email). I’ve done this and now I’m questioning whether it’s ethically okay. I also have a hard time seeing “extreme” couponers who combine coupons to where the item is free or the store actually owes them money on the item, then clear out the shelf (no one needs 100 bottles of allergy relief!)- worse when they go on to sell it to friends rather than donate. Your post has me thinking. I also cringe when people take or use their work/office supplies or resources for personal use. Thanks for the great post!