Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#5): Be frugal

My grandmother was frugal. Not cheap, but frugal. I remember watching her cut napkins in half. And they were small napkins to begin with. I remember her telling me of a young man she dated whose family was well off and after spending some time with them she thought to herself, “No wonder they’re rich, they’re even more frugal than I am!” and she considered herself to be very frugal. Maybe it was because she grew up in the Great Depression. I remember being surprised again when I saw my other grandmother (who enjoyed spending money) also cutting napkins in half. And, as fate or luck would have it, I married a woman who has been known to cut napkins in half.