There are times when it’s tempting to lie, steal or break one of the other 10 Commandments to get a good deal but, in living frugally, we all need to stick to being honest. This is not always easy to do, but I want to give some examples that may help you stay honest. Here are some common tactics that some people use that are unethical and sometimes illegal:
Stealing “Free” Merchandise – This one really irked me! We needed some labels for the business. UPS gives their customers free unlimited labels as needed for packing when shipping with UPS. We purchased labels from a lady on Ebay. When we received them, they arrived from the UPS shipping center. The lady told us that was her “other office”! What she did is take our money and then call UPS as if she were me and have them send me “free” labels. The gaul! I confronted her and reported it to UPS. I should have known it was a “too good to be true” deal! Incidentally, this particular lady had made tens of thousands of dollars on Ebay sales of UPS “free” labels. This is not only dishonorable, but illegal.
You need some pens because you are running short so you take a handful from a store that is giving them out. This is stealing. If you take one, that’s fine. Unless they tell you to take them all, it is tacky to take a large number of them. They’re offering them simply as a courtesy.
Limit One Per Customer specials. This is one of those gray areas. The store’s intention when offering “one per customer” is generally for each customer to get the deal only once. This really means you can buy one item one time, not go back three or four times to get more. Sometimes, they say limit one per purchase. If you make more than one purchase, it may be appropriate to go back more than once. If you’re not sure, ask the store manager. If your conscience is bothering you, pass it up. Sometimes stores offer special deals where they actually lose money. If they post a limit it is because they need a certain amount of sales to make up for the loss. If there’s no limit, buy everything if you wish. If there’s a limit, use your judgment.
You buy an item and you use it a few times and then return it because you’re done with it. Stealing and lying. You probably won’t tell the sales clerk you just needed to use it for a few times and even if you do, that’s only OK if it is a rental store. If an item breaks, doesn’t work or is not the right color, it is fine to return it. If you just needed it “for a few times” (like a dress for a special occasion) and know you won’t use it again, you’re stealing if you return it.
If you eat a food item with a guarantee on the box and it tastes nasty, return it. That’s why they offer a guarantee. If you eat the entire contents of the box first and return the mostly-empty box, it probably wasn’t actually nasty.
If you try to pass off your 14 year old child as a 12 year old so that you only have to pay for a child’s meal, you are lying and teaching your child that lying is good when it benefits you.
If you go to a restaurant where it is customary to tip, tip the customary amount (usually 15%) if the service is reasonably good. If you get good service and fail to tip, you are stealing from the server. If you can’t afford the tip, go to a restaurant where it is not customary to tip (like a fast-food restaurant). If your whole family shares one entree and your kids leave a mess of ground up crackers reaching out eight feet from the table in every direction, don’t just tip on the one entree. Tip on the work you create for the server.
If you find a “great deal” that you can’t live without but you don’t have the money in your checking account, don’t write a check. Let it be the “one that got away” If you knowingly write a bad check, you are stealing and lying.
If you find a “great deal”, buy it and then hide it from your husband, you’re lying (unless it’s his birthday present 
. If you have to hide it, you know you’re doing something wrong.
If you charge up your credit cards with frivolous things like shopping and eating out and then declare bankruptcy, you are stealing from the credit card company and from everyone who does business with that company. Bankruptcy is intended to help people who end up financially strapped because of reasons beyond their control, like catastrophic medical expenses or the death of a spouse. It is unethical to declare bankruptcy because you went on a shopping spree, because you bought something you couldn’t afford when you bought it or because you decided to change careers and no longer want to pay the student loans for your old career. (With students loans, it’s not only unethical, it’s impossible. Student loans cannot be erased through bankruptcy and the government is getting very very very aggressive about collecting on them.) You signed that piece of paper when you purchased the item saying you would pay them back and you didn’t. It’s up to you to pay them back any (legal 
way you can, even if it does mean feeling “deprived” for a time.
One more thing about bankruptcy: It is unethical to incur lots of debt “keeping up with the Joneses” and then go bankrupt because the debt is so large. Many people look at others and say to themselves, “Those people are the same age as me. I work hard. I deserve that too.” or “our house is too small” or “our car is a real clunker so we need to buy a brand need one to “save” on repair costs ( a huge myth, by the way!). If you can afford these things, by all means, buy them. If you can’t afford those things, find a way to make more money or learn to be happy with what you have.
Frugal living is about making good financial decisions. There are so many things you can do to spend your money more wisely, so when you think you can get a “good deal”, but it requires doing something that hurts someone else, pass it up.
Whenever you’re in doubt about whether something is ethical, ask yourself if it would be OK with you if the situation were reversed and you were the person potentially coming up short. Be honest. We’ve all heard “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you would object to others doing it to you, you better look for a better way to save.
What are your some of your thoughts on this particular subject?
Post Courtesy of Tawra @ Living On A Dime.Visit us for money saving tips and free recipes!
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d try to pass off of my husband as one of my kids if I could, only he’s way too big and I’d never get away with it. lol. I liked this article. Ethics for being frugal!
Great post!
A Frugal Friend’s last blog post..
I’d like to know what people think about those people that incur lots of debt “keeping up with the Joneses” then have catastrophic medical expenses or the death of a spouse…is that unethical to file bankruptcy then or are they just lucky? unlucky?
Declaring bankruptcy is a huge deal, regardless of your reason for it. Having to do it is nothing, I hope, that anyone takes too lightly…particularly if it’s just because they spent too much on things they didn’t need and can’t afford to pay it. The entire process if overwhelming – there are credit education classes to take, listing all of your debt with the creditors’ information, the emotional turmoil, the embarassment of having your name listed on public court records, etc… Bankruptcy isn’t an easy fix.
What about the person who legitimately used their ccs but now has been laid off in this horrible economy and has no means to pay? CC companies were willing to work with people in the past, but are they now due to the bad economy (I am really asking, I have no idea)? Is that getting yourself into more of a “hole” so to speak or is fling bankrupcty the wise thing to do, regardless of how you got there? People are committing suicide (and their families) because they can’t pay their ccs, mortgage, etc… bankruptcy is there to help those very people. I don’t want to shame anyone who files bankruptcy, regardless of how they got into the position.
There is a reason I do not own a credit card. I can’t imagine having any unsecured debt. I have secured debt, so you can take my stuff if I don’t pay!
I Love your article it makes you think!!!!!
and I will have this in my mind”Frugal living is about making good financial decisions”
Thanks.
Great post! Thank you!
I enjoy this post, because I do believe there are many people who do things without a conscience. I occasionally do bend the rules, myself. My family of 5, soon to be either 6 or 7, depending on what dreams I have, lives in a 975 square foot apartment, and we live on one small income and what I can make subbing in a day care. I coupon and cut corners because it’s how I contribute and how we survive. If a store has cans of salmon on sale, limit 3, I go in Monday and buy 3, and then I go in Tuesday and buy 3 more. 6 cans of salmon feeds my family. That makes a meal for us that isn’t made of hamburger meat or chicken. I think there are always reasons to bend the rules, and it’s up to each individual to decide if the end is worth the means. To me, feeding my family the occasional healthy meal is worth bending the rules. We might be poor, but we don’t starve, and our bodies and clothes are clean. We don’t often get extras, like cookies and crackers unless I can get them for pennies and nickels, and with my teenage boy and almost teenage girl, they don’t last long when we do, but not having clean clothes or healthy food, to me, can’t be stretched into being “happy with less.”
Great writing,Thanks for bringing us back to reality
Great post and good information. Could be considered a little “wag your finger” like, but it does make one think. I paid off all of my debt about 10 years ago. Got married in 2002 and due to bad decisions I allowed in the marriage (using my name!) I have more debt than I’ve ever had before with no immediate means of ever seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. (We’re divorced now!) Everything I get for free or at a deal I’m so appreciative of and “frown” when people take advantage. The rules often change for those who do right when others do wrong. I feel sorry for anyone who has to file bankruptcy because regardless of how one arrives at that solution it’s a stressful and difficult process. Wish I could do it… that’s another story entirely.
i too have had the credit cards and have over extended myself alot in the past and honestly am still trying to get out of the habits of needing the deal…these sites are very in formative but they make you soo tempted to go out and try to nab them all….i have a basement full of taxables and have finally realized use them up,there will be another deal when you run out!!!I pinch pennies til i cannot pinch them anymore and have to give them up finally..how can i get my hubby aboard..he likes me to do them but has no interest in helping this concept.i feel beat down when he acts like cuz i got something FREE its not good enough…can’t understand this..can you??? to me free makes it taste better,clean better and so on……..idk……thanks for istening to my rant
Love the post and I totally agree! I think many people feel entitled. People that do this rob others of free pens, good interest rates and the trust of retailers. I CAN’T believe your Ebay story… so rude!!
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