Being "Thrifty"

What does being thrifty mean, really? We're all being affected in some way by the downturn of the economy. So, everywhere we look we see ads for sales, ways we can save, do's and dont's on budgeting, how we can spend our stimulus checks, etc. Are we being led to believe we should be thrifty because we're all going broke? Or are we trying to prevent going broke and therefore being thrifty? I don't think that made sense.
I've been thrifty all my life. I rarely buy anything that's not on sale. Really, you should see me shop. Even when grocery shopping--actually especially when buying food, I spend so much more time than the average person going through the aisles finding the best deal for the pasta sauce I need to get. But this isn't the result of the bad economy--I'm not searching for ways to save money because I don't have money to spend. On the contrary. I buy things on sale because I want to have more money to buy other things. So, this is my question: is being thrifty a result of the media and pretty much the whole world telling you you should be? Or is it something that you learn to do by experience? Is it a smart thing to do??
I took this quick quiz How Thrifty Are you?
I was average. Not too cheap but I don't splurge very often, either. You'll never see me buying $170 jeans because they fit my butt better. And I'm not saying you shouldn't either. That's just how I am and I think I'll be that way all my life. But it's really helped Franco & I in this economy because although we're as tight on money as any other starving student, we've learned how to budget and to stay far, far away from debt. Like the common quote says, It's not about how much money you make, it's what you do with it that matters. I'm just grateful for my upbringing as well as my peace of mind knowing that we'll get through this okay.