Ridiculed for being cheap??

[NW-Bound]

Any Fortran programmer among us who remembers the mistake of printing a 1 in the first column of a line? It usually happened when you printed a table of numerical answers, and the leading digit of the first column happened to be a 1, and you forgot to always put a leading space in any line.

For you non-Fortran programmers, that leading 1 of a line is a form feed control. You can slew an entire box of wide fanfold paper in seconds from a highspeed printer, until the page limit of the job is reached. Oh boy, that made the frugal bastard in me felt sooo bad....

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREdreamer When I order something online or do some online transaction at Vanguard, I always print out a receipt. Once I have verified that the transaction is indeed complete, I put the receipt back in the paper tray, upside down, and print something else on the back. But now, I found even better. I print out the receipt using a cheap PDF printer. That way I use no paper, no ink and when I don't need the receipt anymore, I just erase the PDF file.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords We still load up our printer with scrap paper. For most jobs it really has four sides-- front upper & lower and back upper & lower. But now I'm going to have to try the PDF approach for receipts & confirmations-- thanks!

I use CutePDF Writer.....when installed, it shows up just like a normal printer when when you click on 'Print' in the 'File' menu.....it allows you to name the file just as if your saving it (which basically you are). The best thing about CutePDF Writer for frugal folks....it's FREE!

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goonie I use CutePDF Writer.....when installed, it shows up just like a normal printer when when you click on 'Print' in the 'File' menu.....it allows you to name the file just as if your saving it (which basically you are). The best thing about CutePDF Writer for frugal folks....it's FREE!

I bought PDF Master at CompUSA for like $9.99, and it also shows up as a normal printer. I use it a lot. Whenever I find an interesting article on Bloomberg, I use it to create a PDF file that I can archive. Same with recipes, receipts, emails, etc... Then I can load the PDF files onto my iphone and take them with me anywhere I go. I don't have to print anything anymore (well almost)! It's very convenient and I love digital archiving because it doesn't clutter my office.

But the new version of PDF Master costs more like $50, so I wouldn't spend the money on that one. CutePDF is available on CNET I believe. It's free, it's highly rated (if I remember well) but I can't vouched for it because I have never used it... But if Goonie's happy with it, then it must work!

[catdance62]

I've enjoyed all the frugal stories! It's nice to be on this forum with like-minded people! I too, went through my 30's buying this and that, throwing parties a lot, etc. Since I've been in my 40's though, I have totally gone frugal, and really just don't buy much of anything. and the partying days are long over. I hardly even buy clothes anymore and then only on clearance! I drive a 12 year old car (I bought it when new) and love it. My only real hobby now is my goats and chickens and my vegetable garden in the summer. But since the animals provide me with milk, eggs, and meat they pay for themselves. Plus I sell the excess eggs. The only thing I wont' give up is traveling--it keeps me sane, but I do travel cheaply whenever possible! Whenever I hear the siren call of a big-ticket item, I think to myself "Will that make me intrinsically happier? And if so, for how long?" And then I realize it won't make me happier in the long-term.
I am enjoying playing the frugal game!

[Walt34]

Some relatives chided us for our old Chevy pickup truck, bought new in '85. Eighteen years later I sold it only because parts were getting hard to find, and well, I wanted a new one anyway. When we moved I couldn't wait to get the West Virginia tags on it and send a photo to relatives, one in particular, because it looked like the stereotypical WV pickup truck. The paint had peeled off the top, hood, and some of the sides and the rust made a neat photo. But the thing just kept on chugging along and wouldn't die so since it ran I couldn't bring myself to sell it sooner.

We also rarely eat out, wear our clothes 'til they have holes in them, etc.

Like catdance62, we also think about "what will this purchase really do for us?"

[friar1610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords During our working years I used to get comments about our cars-- "Sir, are you still driving that ensignmobile?!? Can't you afford a real car?"

Funny how you could always tell the officers' parking lot from the enlisted parking lot. Officers parking lot full of "ensignmobiles". In the enlisted parking lot you could tell who had just reenlisted and gotten an SRB!

(Aviators, of course, are an exception to the generalization about officers' cars.)

[ChrisC]

There's a place for frugality, but occasionally it can be very annoying to others, when it impacts on their sense of comfort. Thus, if people want to dumpster dive for food, it's their business -- I just don't want to be brought along for the ride!

Being cheap can be a kill joy to others, since it may have a "spill-over" effect in many cases. For example, it irritated my daughter the other day when her driver friend spent 30 minutes looking for the open parking space on the street a 15 minute walk from the theatre to avoid paying for $5 garage parking. Or let's say you're having a fancy dinner party and one of your invited guests brings you a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck -- that would annoy me.

It doesn't bother me at all that people are cheap or frugal about their own business. I just don't appreciate friends who go on the "cheap" with their friends. They'll still my friends (I take them all with warts and all), but I know the friends I will take on vacation with me, when I don't want to nickle and dime the entire experience, and the friends I'll take with me to auctions and garage/yard sales. My parents told me to never be "cheap" with your friends, but don't be stupid!

[socca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisC There's a place for frugality, but occasionally it can be very annoying...

Sitting here on my desk is a folder labelled 'scratch paper' containing sheets of used paper with one side blank - I've used such a folder for years. Across the room in a bookcase, there's a pile of 'scratch paper' about 15" high. Maybe I'm taking this a bit too far...

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socca Sitting here on my desk is a folder labelled 'scratch paper' containing sheets of used paper with one side blank - I've used such a folder for years. Across the room in a bookcase, there's a pile of 'scratch paper' about 15" high. Maybe I'm taking this a bit too far...

Not really, if it is just scratch paper and you use it for that purpose.

Now if you're writing letters to Grandma with "scratch paper," then maybe you're going too far. Unless Grandma does it too, anyway...

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by barbarus tmm99, do NOT let your friend off the hook when, in the future, you are in much better shape than she. It is because of people like her that the economy is quite likely wrecked beyond repair...The less we lay blame on the guilty, the greater the certainty that the financial profligacy will reoccur. Letting these spendthrifts and their political masters get away with the goods, as is happening right now, kicks merde into the faces of the righteous.

the sins of righteousness: did you not benefit from the consumerism of others? are you more upset that you won the game, that they ruined the game or that you ever even bought into the game?

once you discover there is no god, does it better serve your enlightenment to take out your disappointment or your anger upon the priests, the congregation, or upon god?

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum the sins of righteousness: did you not benefit from the consumerism of others? are you more upset that you won the game, that they ruined the game or that you ever even bought into the game? once you discover there is no god, does it better serve your enlightenment to take out your disappointment or your anger upon the priests, the congregation, or upon god?

Ah but grasshopper - there is a God - just that it is not us.

We are but granted the illusion we are allowed to grade is or is not.

She has a wild sense of humor.

Probably lefthanded, tests INTJ, and likes engineers!

So does one put clothes out on the line after the first snow - or make other arrangements?

heh heh heh -

[Grep]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound ... For you non-Fortran programmers, that leading 1 of a line is a form feed control. You can slew an entire box of wide fanfold paper in seconds from a highspeed printer, until the page limit of the job is reached. Oh boy, that made the frugal bastard in me felt sooo bad....

I've done that! The response: "NNNNOOooooooooooooo!!!!!!", with wild, flailing stabs at anything that resembles a "stop" or "off" button, followed by a sinking, shameful chagrin at the massive, useless waste.

[sailor]

Barbarus,
I'm curious - why did you traded Karl for Romans?

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frugality_of_Apathy I try not to give gifts if I can help it. But if you've got something where the outside of the box isn't important to the operation of the gift, I'll just give it a nice coating of leftover house paint.

Mother often wrapped presents in the Sunday comics.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Any Fortran programmer among us who remembers the mistake of printing a 1 in the first column of a line? It usually happened when you printed a table of numerical answers, and the leading digit of the first column happened to be a 1, and you forgot to always put a leading space in any line. For you non-Fortran programmers, that leading 1 of a line is a form feed control. You can slew an entire box of wide fanfold paper in seconds from a highspeed printer, until the page limit of the job is reached. Oh boy, that made the frugal bastard in me felt sooo bad....

Been there, done that. Fortunately I was standing near the printer and hit the off switch after a few pages.

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

When we moved I couldn't wait to get the West Virginia tags on it and send a photo to relatives, one in particular, because it looked like the stereotypical WV pickup truck.

We want to see it. Can you post this picture?

[NW-Bound]

New buyer included in picture?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick Ah but grasshopper - there is a God - just that it is not us.

i've never lived my life so arrogantly as to presume. i suspect you got my drift (and are just playing) but just in case (someone else missed it): my reference was metaphoric, not a judgement call.

my point being that we not only take responsibility for our purchases, as barbarus correctly insists, but also that we own up to what system we have bought into, which seemed absent from the rant. if you do not enjoy the beast gnawing at your ankles, perhaps you should be less concerned with the teeth and more concerned with the beast for it has claws as well.

that i listened to the claims of market pundits when i knew this system was all smoke & mirrors, that i put faith in a computerized version of monte carlo when i have never entered on my own a casino and that i believed in the cult of early retirement when i was raised by a family of such strong work ethic is no license for me to declare holy war if i finally conclude this type of life is not for me. how much more hypocritical (or at least what might be viewed by the true believers as inconsiderate) of me should i continue down this path, kicking stones along the way.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan Mother often wrapped presents in the Sunday comics.

Yup, mine too! Me as well for the right person and the right gift. Also like using appropriate magazine articles or pictures for the right gift - typically with a double meaning to mislead from the wrapped item.

Also a fan of boxing, wrapping in tin foil, wrapping in toilet paper, colored paper, re-boxing, more TP, taping with vigor, string, more tin foil,... ending up with a big package and a tiny gift - sometimes the best or most valuable, sometimes a weird dimestore trinket.

[tmm99]

catdance said

Quote:

I too, went through my 30's buying this and that, throwing parties a lot, etc. Since I've been in my 40's though, I have totally gone frugal, and really just don't buy much of anything. and the partying days are long over. I hardly even buy clothes anymore and then only on clearance!

That sounds just like me, and my friends I've had since my 30's and 40's are the ones who make irritating comments. Maybe they just miss the old me. Too bad!

Your life sounds intriguing (chickens, goats, summer gardens...).

tmm