well at least to me its how its applied, when i see people
trying to take a cent off here and there i think they're thrifty no
matter how extreme.
when they treat me one cent less then is stingy liao 
anyway most of the time i see someone call another person stingy
is only when the other person don't want to treat haha
know a guy back from army times and ocassionally we meet
up to have a meal. he's extremely thrifty, whenever he buys his
food and drink he'll comment on the price and how its not worth it
to eat here and we're talking about comparisions of maybe
10-20cents but he still insists on treating and doesn't put a cap
on what you want him to treat .so maybe he's more of a thrifty
guy.
another guy i know from work likes to think of how to save money
all the time, when you treat him $1, he'll only treat you back max
$0.90 or best if he don't treat at all. and he thinks you're stupid
if you're generous with him, this type i label stingy.