Praise or damn: character
ExamCareful with money because waste is a fault.
Withholding money even where spending is right.
Both describe not spending. Frugal judges the waste; miserly judges the spender. If the sentence approves of the restraint, it is frugal.
Where it bites
The sentence gives you a neutral fact — 'he never replaced the sofa' — and lets the surrounding tone decide. Look for a word of approval or contempt elsewhere in the sentence, never at the spending itself.
Her ______ habits let her fund the clinic from a clerk's salary.
Frugal · the clause praises the outcome, so the restraint is a virtue
His ______ refusal to heat the house left his own mother shivering.
Miserly · the cost falls on someone else, which is what turns thrift into a fault