[lrjohnson]

I guess my travelling isn't exactly frugal; I've gone to Europe twice in the last 2 years, and Mexico twice in the last 3 or 4. I am going to Atlanta in January. I am fantasizing about China!

However, I am childfree and debtfree, and always travel "out of my checking" which means savings does not get touched). People wonder at me washing ziplocs and using cloth napkins and clotheslines and going to thrift stores, and then jetting off to Budapest. But I get very good value out of traveling-I absolutely love it. So it's not frugal, but to me it's not wasteful.

The least frugal thing I do that I actually feel some guilt about: I go out to eat too much. I have cut down some-when we're lazy we get the "luxury" of a can of good soup or a premade homemade frozen casserole, but I still end up dining as a way to socialize with friends. Even if I do drink water/no dessert or appetizer/etc., it's still a lotta dough -that I could be using to see China! ;-).

I really like how on this board there is no chastising-a latte may be a waste or may be a loved and valued treat. (I don't drink them because they don't give *me* good value, not because it's forbidden under frugal rules!) It seems like on this board people see shades of gray and don't expect everyone else to have the same definition of need or luxury.