The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

[Enuff2Eat]

all,

first i hope everyone in this forum will post a response here for this topic since we all are members of this fantastic forum.

as for me, i cannot really put my fingers on one in particular but recently i did the following thing to get me closer to RE ...

1) circling around Costco more than once for samples on a sunday
2) bought used tires for my car
3) constant abuser user of ebay
4) cook my wife "fancy" dinner on a special occasion instead of going out
5) make gifts instead of buying gifts
6) last, (sh..sh don't tell anyone) re-pack presents that we got from friends and give it to others.

trust me, there are many more.... it will come back to me soon and will post it. just need to get it out of my system.

enuff

 

[Khan]

Taken leftovers home from employer party buffet (after asking).

 

[Enuff2Eat]

Taken leftovers home from employer party buffet (after asking).

oh yeah, you just remind me that i packed the left over at lunch, including the rolls the restaurant gave us as appetizer.


enuff

 

[Alan]

depends what you mean by cheap

1 a: purchasable below the going price or the real value b: charging or obtainable at a low price <a good cheap hotel> <cheap tickets> c: depreciated in value (as by currency inflation) <cheap dollars>
2: gained or done with little effort <a cheap victory> <talk is cheap>
3 a: of inferior quality or worth : tawdry, sleazy <cheap workmanship> b: contemptible because of lack of any fine, lofty, or redeeming qualities <feeling cheap> c: stingy <my cheap uncle>

By defintions 1&2 probably turning off the water heater when I leave for work, turning it on when I come home, turning it off when I finish the washing up (by hand - I don't use a dish washer) and turning it on again when I get up- by the the time I have risen, gone for a walk, & eaten breakfast, there is plenty of water for a shower.

mmmmm, may be that fits definition 3 as well.

 

[LOL!]

Stayed in the college dorm over Christmas vacation rather than going home because I was too cheap to purchase transportation.

Another Christmas vacation, I survived exclusively on hostess twinkies and cupcakes that were tossed from the vending machine because they were going to expire over the break.

Didn't go to sister's wedding because I would lose the foreign income tax exclusion.

 

[newyorklady]

whenever pass by makeup counters put the expensive creams on my hands.

take extra packets of ketchup and mayo and have a huge stockpile of this in my kitchen

 

[Niko]

Taken leftovers home from employer party buffet (after asking).

I've done the same . . . without asking. I've also done it at weddings, mother's day brunches, professional classes, and even a dinner to which I wasn't invited!

Also making the list:

1. splitting dryer sheets into thirds;
2. making "no gift pacts" around christmas and birthdays with my cheap siblings
3. calculating the dollar/calorie ratio for common foods, to get the most calories for my money (FYI, potatoes give you the most calories for your $$)
4. rinse and reuse tine foil and plastic baggies

I could go on.

 

[dex]

6) last, (sh..sh don't tell anyone) re-pack presents that we got from friends and give it to others.

Someone I knew for years and thought was a close friend did this to me. I ended the close part of the relationship because he insulted my intellegence. I knew the items he "re-gifted" to me he got for free. I gave him gifts I paid for and put some thought into. Think twice before doing it again.

 

[Moemg]

I will not pay to join Sam's club instead when I want to go I look for a one day pass on the Internet .

 

[W2R]

Each time my dear friend, Frank, buys me a cup of coffee, I tuck two extra Equals in my purse. I just use one, so my rationale is that some people really do use three and I could have - - but just didn't.

I have built up an entire container full of these scavenged Equals. Because of that, I don't actually have to buy Equal.

Now is that cheap, or what?

I don't suppose it would impress this crowd to know that I have never subscribed to a newspaper or magazine in my adult life, other than professional journals that were deductible. Also I have bought or rented fewer than a half dozen DVD's, and fewer than a dozen CD's, in my life.

 

[Khan]

I've done the same . . . without asking. I've also done it at weddings, mother's day brunches, professional classes, and even a dinner to which I wasn't invited!

Also making the list:

1. splitting dryer sheets into thirds;
2. making "no gift pacts" around christmas and birthdays with my cheap siblings
3. calculating the dollar/calorie ratio for common foods, to get the most calories for my money (FYI, potatoes give you the most calories for your $$)
4. rinse and reuse tine foil and plastic baggies

I could go on.

Don't use dryer sheets (don't have a dryer)
Don't give (or get) any holiday gifts
Wash and reuse baggies and foil
Thermostat in winter: 60F, 50F at night
A/C about 82F, off at night

 

[Nords]

I lived in a Connecticut apartment for six months (July-December) without heat or hot water.
Spouse and I had just bought our Hawaii home before I left for submarine department head school. We had paid over $25K in closing costs, were carrying a mortgage that sucked almost all the paycheck out of our pockets, and we had a lot of sweat equity ahead of us to turn our home into a house. Our net worth was about zero. Yet amid all of this mess I had to go be schooled while maintaining a separate residence, leaving her to figure out most of the cleaning, painting, & renovating. 17 years later I’m still paying her back.
It wasn’t as nasty as it sounds. The heat & water heater worked but I’d leave it shut off. I’d rise at 5 AM and drive to the base, swim in the pool, and shower/shave in the locker room. I’d study after school and work out on weights or play racquetball and get in a second shower before heading home at 6 or 7 PM. Cooking dinner would heat up the apartment a little and I’d wear long pants & sweaters as the weather got colder. I’d sleep under an electric blanket set on about 25. I sealed off all the air leaks at the window & door frames. My second-floor apartment cooled off to about 50 degrees by December and I bet the adjacent/above/below apartment dwellers were wondering why their heating bills were a bit higher.
My cool ride during that time was a 1989 Yugo, bought from a dealer trade-in for $995. I had to fix the muffler (a $10 patch kit) and I got 40 mpg for six months before I sold it... for $995. I commuted by bicycle most of that time until the winter snows shut me down.


Hey, waitaminnit... doesn't everybody re-gift?!?

 

[LOL!]

Don't use dryer sheets (don't have a dryer)
Don't give (or get) any holiday gifts
Wash and reuse baggies and foil
Thermostat in winter: 60F, 50F at night
A/C about 82F, off at night

Sorry, that stuff is not cheap. It's just normal everyday stuff. Tell us your cheapest behavior!

 

[Khan]

Sorry, that stuff is not cheap. It's just normal every stuff. Tell us your cheapest behavior!

18 year old car with ~70K miles at ~33mpg

 

[Zoocat]

Bought a travel bag, used it on a vacation, then returned it to REI (yesterday). I know this is not only cheap but questionable ethics. :

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Had a mouse get into my secret stash of ramen noodles I was hiding in my closet from my roommates, and cut the parts off that the mouse nibbled on and ate them anyhow.

 

[Khan]

Took a rabbit away from the cat and gave it to a neighbor who knows how to prepare such; got two cooked legs in return.

 

[unclemick]

Hmmm - Ten years in Louisiana without air conditioning in the old fish camp.
1979 - 1989.

heh heh heh

 

[shoe]

For our budget wedding, DH and I borrowed the cafeteria tables from the high school where he taught.( Our guests were quite entertained by the various profane graffiti carved into the tables.) My dress was borrowed, the food all home made by my Slovak mother in law and her sisters, and the music was provided by a record player cranked up real loud. We had a hell of a good time and 35 years later we're still a couple. A good pierogi beats prime rib any day!

 

[Arc]

If this is a contest - I vote for Khan! Please tell me you are single!

 

[Khan]

If this is a contest - I vote for Khan! Please tell me you are single!

Single.

I didn't have A/C 'til I retired and was home all day.

But I live in Ohio not Louisiana; don't think I can outcheap unclemick2.

 

[Arc]

Single.

I didn't have A/C 'til I retired and was home all day.

But I live in Ohio not Louisiana; don't think I can outcheap unclemick2.

What part of Ohio? If driving distance from Pitt then I need to come for a few lessons! I'll leave the wife at home.

 

[samclem]

Took a rabbit away from the cat and gave it to a neighbor who knows how to prepare such; got two cooked legs in return.

And twenty stitches? If that cat is like any I've met, he made you pay something for that bunny!

 

[Fireup2020]

Taken advantage of free food items from a church in lieu of being a Cub Scout leader (volunteer work for food program)

Most of the stuff you guys do (re-gifting, leftovers, ebay, etc)

I typically do not have kleenex around...(tp works just fine!)

Thrift store shopper!

 

[calmloki]

Well, in the 60's at one point I went through my ashtray, stripped the Pall Mall butts, and rolled smokes from the tobacco recovered. Whagh! Almost as tough a smoke as the Gauloises I smoked once in Seattle when i had a bus ticket and had to choose between food and smokes. That was also the era in which I convinced myself that the grey and slippery hamburger was edible since A: a dog would probably eat it, and B: it would be cooked, so any bacteria would be killed.
It's better not to be a smoker and to have enough doss to avoid food I have to convince myself is safe and edible.