Frugality

Etymology

From Latin "frugalitas", from "frugi" (worthy, useful, temperate), itself the dative of "frux" (fruit, produce). To be frugal was originally to be "fit for fruit" — productive and worthy — so the word carries approval of yield, not just restraint.

noun · /froo-GAL-ih-tee/
The disciplined, thoughtful use of resources to avoid waste.
What it names
A virtue of proportion — spending well rather than merely spending little — which is why it survives as praise while "cheapness" does not.
Example
His frugality showed in buying one excellent knife instead of five poor ones, not in refusing to buy at all.
Related idea
Frugality weighs value and spends where it counts; parsimony is stinginess that withholds even when spending would pay — the virtue soured into a vice.