When Frugality Crosses Over to Stealing

I love reading Post Secret and when I saw the following secret posted, it pushed my blood pressure up.

Nothing irks me more than a frugal person being crossing a moral line. Stealing coupons out of a paper, not leaving a tip when eating out after the waiter did a fine job, taking the refill cups out of the trash at the movie theater for free refills, taking home the TP rolls or any office supplies from work, buying an item at the store with the intention of taking it back for a refund after using it.

I used to have my paper stolen outright and if web-cams had been common at the time I would have hooked one up to find out who it was and catch them in the act. Not only is the thief NOT being frugal but it hurts two other people, the person waiting for the paper or coupons and the paper delivery person. When I delivered the paper, if someone called in and complained that they didn't get a paper, I was docked the price of the paper from my paycheck.

While I don't see going to the bulk food stores and only eating the samples as stealing because the companies do see this as a way to entice people to buy their product. But I do see a problem with going back for thirds or fourths and making a meal of it.

Some people may see a fine line and others are gray area when it comes to crossing from frugality to thievery. Personally, I think most cases go into the common sense area which means that we need to listen to that small voice in our head that says, "This is going overboard. This is wrong." I believe most people are good people and will listen to that not cross that line, but it still boils my blood to see that some people have erased that line altogether by silencing the common sense and doing whatever they want because it is all about them.

Trent said it well on his site Simple Dollar :
(1)In fact, I would go even further and argue that there is never too much frugality, as long as respect for others exists - what actually creates that line between frugal (good) and cheapskate (bad) is our other values.
(2)Stealing is taking something from anyone - a business, a person, even a pet - an item that they’re not freely giving or selling.