Are you frugal or a cheap b@$t@rd?

[W2R]

Darn, no cable,I must be a CB. Oh well, I just celebrated my 20-year hiatus from cable in May........ I kept my last cable bill, it was $19 a month for all the channels? I suppose today that would be $80 a month??

Being at least somewhat frugal, I get 65-70 channels (between channels 2 and 99) with my "bare bones basic" cable, for $16/month. I think that so few people know about it and ask for it around here, that the cable company finds it easier to just give us extended basic with the bare bones price. I only know about five people who have bare bones, and they too get all the extended basic channels.

But, some people spend $150/month or so and get digital cable with all the upper channels, music, extra movie channels, and who knows what, lots of stuff like that. If I "over-save" for ER maybe I will use the extra to get that kind of cable service someday. It might be fun.

For years I did not have cable or even have a TV. But when high speed cable internet became available, I got that... and at the time (May, 2000), bare bones cable TV was $11 and they would give me $10 off if I bundled the two. So, for $1/month I could have cable TV. That got me hooked!

 

[cj]

My thoughts on regifting:
Kind of off the topic, but the whole holiday gift thing is just a big economic waste. So much money is spent on things that people don't want or don't need. People put themselves in difficult financial positions in order to comply with some unwritten rule regarding gifts. More than one Christmas present for each kid. Gifts to other relatives. Secret Santa at work. Decoration madness. Kid parties with gifts expected. Etc. Back when I used to see the bankruptcy filers many many had huge credit card bills resulting from gifts to relatives, mostly their children.

Martha - I could not agree with you more!! It gets ridiculous around holiday time. Everyone wants to have gift exchanges, etc., etc. I'm to the point that I just don't want or need any more stuff! And the gifts we give just see so meaningless sometimes. In the past, I have gone to a lot of time and effort to pick out what I think is just the right thing for my nieces and nephews. Then I talk to them in the afternoon on Christmas Day, and they don't even remember what I sent them!! My parents also don't "need" anything, so the past few years I have sent nothing except restaurant gift card, which they enjoy immensely.

My other holiday issue over the past few years is the charity thing. I love to give to those less fortunate during the holidays, and have done this for a long time. But now it seems that every group of people (multiple church groups, work groups, even my weight-loss group) adopts a family or something, and all of a sudden there are dozens of worthwhile causes calling for attention. Like I said, I really believe in this, but the sheer numbers are getting out of hand. And if you opt not to support anyone's individual "cause", people think you are just cheap.

Rant over!

CJ

 

[Joss]

Frugal or cheap ba$tard... I'd claim neither. And many of the CB examples I've seen here are outright theft to me.

My most important influence where money is concerned was my mother. Some of my most vivid memories are of her and dad when they took us to a restaurant as kids. She would make him add and re-add the check several times then calculate the tip to the penny. Her goal was to find any possible mistake the wait-staff made. Finding the desired mistake, she would then launch into a demeaning public scene. I grew to hate it.

As a result, I really don't like money matters. I just live a simple life without a lot of extravagance. My wife and I are very fortunate that we see this the same way. She's not into jewelry or show, and neither am I. Nor are either of us into the "gotcha" game of birthdays, anniversaries or the manufactured holidays. For Christmas we generally get ourselves something, and call it from each other. Then we send the kids money.

I would rather pay full price on the basis of fair and good quality service, than haggle over a few dollars. I don't add up dinner checks more than to say, "$30... ok - sounds about right". And I'll tip $5 for about anything up to $40. Then I just go to a $10 tip.

Frankly, I've come to believe there's a sort of karmic damage that obsessing about money brings, like it shrinks the souls or something. I've been poor to the point that it occupied every waking moment (and many sleeping ones). The situations that caused that were corrected and, now free from those concerns, I can't think of anything less healthy than going back to it. Now I would cut my hand off before I'd do a single thing on the CB list. And I just don't associate with people that are like that.

 

[GatorBuzz]

Well, I just figured out how to save 200 bucks a year, but I don't know if it's a CB or Frugal thing. I think it's frugal. I insisted that my wife cut my hair. lol. She was vehemently opposed to it, thinking she would screw it up. Well, she cut my hair, and I can't tell the difference between her job and the Hair Cuttery. That used to be about 17 bucks a month. No more! Is that CB or Frugal?

 

[Moemg]

I also agree with Martha that holidays have gotten crazy .So little by little I cut back to the things I really enjoy .It has taken so much stress out of the holidays and lets me savor the parts I love . I cut down on the amount of presents I buy and the amount I spend.I also went to a no brainer buffet instead of juggling a huge sit down dinner .I decorate but not every nook and cranny and I have a few friends over instead of a huge party during the holidays .Not exactly super frugal but it's what I enjoy .

 

[youbet]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree here. My brother and his wife received a set of henckel professional cutlery from his SIL (street value $350-$400). They already had a set and regifted it to us. I hardly think this was tacky.

I wouldn't consider having a close relative passing along a nice item to me that he/she had a double of "regifting."

 

[CuppaJoe]

Darn, no cable,I must be a CB. Oh well, I just celebrated my 20-year hiatus from cable in May........ I kept my last cable bill, it was $19 a month for all the channels? I suppose today that would be $80 a month??

I now pay about $19 for "basic cable" which is all the local channels plus some cable like Discovery, food network, lots of Spanish stuff, arts network, ed. channel, local goverment, shopping channels, golf, travel and four PBS stations. It would be great to give it up like you have, it wastes so much time.

*****
Frugal: Whenever I want to hang out at a coffee shop, I buy a pound or half pound of ground coffee for home or the office and get a small complementary cup of coffee. Sometimes the clerk gives a discount if you have to wait for the ground beans. I get re-imbursed for the office ground coffee.

CB would be: rinse out the cup and lid and next time bring my own coffee from home. I swear I haven’t done this (yet?)!

 

[CuppaJoe]

Well, I just figured out how to save 200 bucks a year, but I don't know if it's a CB or Frugal thing. I think it's frugal. I insisted that my wife cut my hair. lol. She was vehemently opposed to it, thinking she would screw it up. Well, she cut my hair, and I can't tell the difference between her job and the Hair Cuttery. That used to be about 17 bucks a month. No more! Is that CB or Frugal?

It's very brave!

 

[Texas Proud]

Well, I just figured out how to save 200 bucks a year, but I don't know if it's a CB or Frugal thing. I think it's frugal. I insisted that my wife cut my hair. lol. She was vehemently opposed to it, thinking she would screw it up. Well, she cut my hair, and I can't tell the difference between her job and the Hair Cuttery. That used to be about 17 bucks a month. No more! Is that CB or Frugal?

Where are YOU going.... my place cost $9 and used to be $8... there are shops that only charge $5... and who gets their hair cut every month??

Is this CB

 

[GatorBuzz]

Hair Cuttery. Fifteen bucks for the cut and two for the tip = 17.00. I could do some shopping, but the places I go to aren't exactly day spas. They're pretty low-rent. However, given the choice between a place that only charges five dollars and my wife cutting my hair, I think I'd actually feel safer having my wife do it.

 

[gettingthere]

My family has started making donations to each-other's favorite charities instead of exchanging gifts at Christmas. Results in much less "stuff" accumulating. I suppose if there were small children involved, we would continue with gifts to them, but we are all adults, now.

 

[W2R]

Well, I just figured out how to save 200 bucks a year, but I don't know if it's a CB or Frugal thing. I think it's frugal. I insisted that my wife cut my hair. lol. She was vehemently opposed to it, thinking she would screw it up. Well, she cut my hair, and I can't tell the difference between her job and the Hair Cuttery. That used to be about 17 bucks a month. No more! Is that CB or Frugal?

My ex, the spendthrift who borrowed to the hilt and lived way beyond our means, had me cut his hair. That started when we were newly weds and he was in the Navy. He insisted that barbers couldn't cut it right and I had to learn how to do it. Cutting hair is not my forte, but I faithfully cut his hair for 23 years. It is nice to be relieved of that responsibility!

I wouldn't say that making one's wife cut one's hair is a CB or even frugal thing to do, necessarily. It could just be a grumpy, picky thing to do. Guess it all depends on your mindset, which I am sure is different from my husband's mindset when we were married.

As for cost, I go to Supercuts ($12), and Frank goes to an old fashioned neighborhood barber who charges about $10.

 

[travelover]

My family has started making donations to each-other's favorite charities instead of exchanging gifts at Christmas. Results in much less "stuff" accumulating. I suppose if there were small children involved, we would continue with gifts to them, but we are all adults, now.

We did the same thing for DW's family - though there is / was some grumbling about using Christmas for an excuse to give to charity instead of each other. It seems that these days everyone has everything they want and more - even the kids. Less stuff is better all around.

 

[dessert]

Someone offered to give me a drill press for free which I gladly accepted.
After a little time and elbow grease, it was ready to go and looked good.
Now that is not only frugal, but smart.

The chuck key for the drill press was missing so I went to the manufacturer with the model # and serial # to purchase one. Sure enough he said he could order me one for $9.95. I knew that this was too much, but I am not a CB so I said "OK", lets order it. After a few more keystrokes on the computer he said that with handling and shipping, it would come to $19.95.
After asking him to double-check his figures, I told him to "forget it" because at that point I felt like a "smart CB".

Here's the "smart frugal" part.......on my way home I went into an ACE Hardware store and bought the chuck key I needed for $3.95.

I vote for "smart frugal".

 

[Sue J]

About gifts to family...

My parents have been retired for over 20 years. Little by little inflation, health care costs and lower interest rates have caught up with them and they got to the point of having to cut back. They were always very generous with birthday, anniversary and holiday cash gifts for my sister and I, our spouses and especially the grandchildren.

But that's the first thing they decided to eliminate and I was very proud of them. They told us that the grandkids would still get a birthday check, but only cards for the adults. And they wanted us to stop buying them gifts. They had sold their house, moved to a condo and really downsized their needs and their possessions. That was a big relief as we had run out of ideas for gifts a long time ago!

 

[Grizz]

Darn, no cable,I must be a CB. Oh well, I just celebrated my 20-year hiatus from cable in May........ I kept my last cable bill, it was $19 a month for all the channels? I suppose today that would be $80 a month??

Umm, in my books, that's theft, and maybe, just maybe, my cable bill would be a little less if everybody paid their own way. Not something that I would generally brag about, but hey, whatever blows yer hair back.

 

[Khan]

Umm, in my books, that's theft, and maybe, just maybe, my cable bill would be a little less if everybody paid their own way. Not something that I would generally brag about, but hey, whatever blows yer hair back.

Not having cable is theft?

I think you are misinterpreting.

 

[theoldwizard]

Uh, sorry but that (re-gifting) is frugal.

To a point.

My daughter was re-gifted a blender at her wedding shower. Because she received 2, she tried to return this one, only to find out that it was several years old and could not be returned anywhere !

eBay is the best way to reduce clutter

 

[Joss]

Goodwill is better.

 

[W2R]

At the rate that things fail these days (planned obsolescence?) one could simply wait for the first blender to fail and then pull the second one out for use at that time. (?)

 

[unclemick]

I had a premonition the Saints were in for a but whipping last night so I didn't go over to watch the game at the only other Saints fan I know(this IS Kansas City) nor offer to spring for Pizza.

CB or Frugal?

heh heh heh - still crying. I expected a close but losing effort. Rats!

 

[FinanceDude]

Not having cable is theft?

I think you are misinterpreting.

 

[Grizz]

My sincere apologies. After re-reading yes, I did indeed misinterpret. I thought that you had been stealing cable all those yrs and were gloating.

 

[FinanceDude]

My sincere apologies. After re-reading yes, I did indeed misinterpret. I thought that you had been stealing cable all those yrs and were gloating.

Um....no........I'm not that clever.........

 

[Jeb-NY]

Well, I just figured out how to save 200 bucks a year, but I don't know if it's a CB or Frugal thing. I think it's frugal. I insisted that my wife cut my hair. lol. She was vehemently opposed to it, thinking she would screw it up. Well, she cut my hair, and I can't tell the difference between her job and the Hair Cuttery. That used to be about 17 bucks a month. No more! Is that CB or Frugal?

You need to go to a barber instead of a stylist. Then cut back on the frequency. The barber I have gone to for years is up to $10, there are cheaper places but I'm not that cheap. Then I try to get at least 4 haircuts per year if I need it or not. I admit sometimes I miss the mid Winter cut and drop back to 3. In a couple more years I will qualify for his senior discount and that will knock $2 off.

Jeb