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My mother has always been that type of person who tried to find an easier/cheaper way. For example, let's say I need something for school she then says "oh no there is notebooks and pencils at the house" or like when I was going to advance into my next belt in karate($35) "Why so much? I could just buy a belt myself." Someone please do tell me a word my mother portrays

Jack
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    Adjectives: thrifty, provident, prudent, economical, frugal, scrimping, parsimonious, penny-pinching, miserly. Nouns: Penny pincher, cheapskate, miser. – chasly - supports Monica Sep 09 '15 at 22:06
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    For the school supplies, I'd call her "down right cheap" (every kid should get the chance to start the year with at least some new pencils & notebooks). For the karate, I'd call her "a realist" for recognizing that the bought belt will serve you just as well as the class (as well as "wise" for recognizing that overloading kids with non-stop after-school activities is not so wise). – Papa Poule Sep 09 '15 at 22:18
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    There are many words for this. You haven't given a hint about the connotation you want, good or bad. Or are you asking us the judge your mother? – candied_orange Sep 10 '15 at 04:00
  • I would say the person is economical, economizes, practices economy. – Hot Licks Feb 08 '16 at 03:31
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    A sensible person. In this context, they're displaying their frugality. No indication of being a miser is given, as none of these items are a necessity. – Mazura Apr 08 '16 at 05:38
  • Could someone add a single-word request tag? A phrase-request flag? I can't do it personally, if I do I can't single-handedly close it as a duplicate. – Mari-Lou A Apr 08 '16 at 08:14
  • This type of question keeps cropping up time and time again... and the answers are always the same... – Mari-Lou A Apr 08 '16 at 08:14

4 Answers4

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She is being a niggard.

Example:

A niggardly tip to a waiter.

It means that the tip was ungenerous or scanty.

Nagarajan Shanmuganathan
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I would say that your mother is economical:

marked by careful, efficient, and prudent use of resources : an economical shopper

[Merriam-Webster Dictionary]

Resources could be extended to include things like time and money

ringo
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Apparently, your mother likes to cut corners.

cut corners

tv. to do something more easily; to take shortcuts; to save money by finding cheaper ways to do something. (As if one were speeding somewhere and took the shortest way possible through intersections, i.e., by making left turns that cut across oncoming traffic lanes.) I won’t cut corners just to save money. I put quality first.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Also, you might consider scrimpy and skimpy.

scrimpy

: tending to scrimp; frugal; parsimonious.

Random House

skimpy

: too thrifty; stingy: a skimpy housekeeper.

Community
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Elian
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Not listed by chasly but I believe is appropriate enough to offer an answer:

stingy.

I believe the choice to not spend less than $10 on school supplies is obsessive regarding eliminating money expenditures. Thrifty connotates the degree of withholding is congruent with one's means. Are you on public assistance for poverty? If not, then perhaps your mom grew up in a poor family where penny-pinching was a way of life. Then there those with obsessive compulsive personality disorder who hoard and are notorious cheapskates.

Stu W
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