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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:16 PM   #61
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Nah, just cheaper than you...with different habits carried over from one's earlier years...

I remember at my first job in the Philippines, the accounting clerks reused the calculator paper rolls--reversed 'em and fed 'em in again. Paper was/is expensive. Even in school, almost all of our textbooks used newsprint paper; otherwise, not many could afford to buy them.

When I first came to computer school in the US, I was really impressed by the thick, white paper and color text books and the white print-out paper but I would just linefeed to print out my programs and try to save the paper. I was appalled to see my classmates do a whole page feed for a few lines of code.

Now, I'm more wasteful although I still find myself trying to use the front and back of paper and cutting them into fourths for scratch paper, grocery lists, etc.

I do like fancy stationery and have quite a lot but can't find the time to hand-write my letters as often as I did long ago.

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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:19 PM   #62
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Eat at a $2.99 bufffet restaurant that had packets of lemon juice. I would order water and put in the lemon juice and equal and have lemonaide.

Buy huge packs of bacon (at discounted prices) and eat bacon sandwiches for weeks at a time.

I am still driving my 1991 Toyota pick-up.

Several years ago the long distance phone companies would pay you $50-$100 to switch phone services -sometimes they would negotiate for an extra $25. The more you switched the more offers you received.

My Aunt and Uncle were masters - they were mutimillionaires - but when I stayed there as a kid, they would tear one paper towel in three pieces for our dinner napkin! They would also use the paper grocery sacks as trash can liners - they would REUSE them until the bottom would not hold trash anymore.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:25 PM   #63
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.


Nothing cheap, if keeping the thermostat low and keeping cars forever don't count.

And there's no tax on my favorite activity, hiking in the mountains.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:42 PM   #64
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
Now, I'm more wasteful although I still find myself trying to use the front and back of paper and cutting them into fourths for scratch paper, grocery lists, etc.
The back of the grocery receipt makes a great grocery list.

I actually bought a calendar for 2007, first time in at least 10 years.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:51 PM   #65
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by scubamonkey
I would order water and put in the lemon juice and equal and have lemonaide.
LOL. My MIL does something very similar when we go out to eat...she orders water with "extra lemon on the side". Then she squeezes the lemon into the water along with some sugar and mixes her own lemonade!! I always tease her about it and refer to it as "cheapskate lemonade."

That also reminds me of something else that she does which I think crosses the line from frugal to cheapskate...she subtracts the tax from the dinner bill BEFORE calculating the tip. :
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:52 PM   #66
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by clifp
I thought I was pretty cheap, until I read this thread, you folks are scary.
Just don't have any of them over to your house - when they get back home they'll be giddy with excitement over the 8 squares of toilet paper they lifted from you....



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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:54 PM   #67
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

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Originally Posted by JustCurious
That also reminds me of something else that she does which I think crosses the line from frugal to cheapskate...she subtracts the tax from the dinner bill BEFORE calculating the tip. :
Hope she doesn't frequent the same restaurant often, or she might get some 'additions' to her food between the kitchen and the table

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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 02:59 PM   #68
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

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Originally Posted by runchman
Hope she doesn't frequent the same restaurant often, or she might get some 'additions' to her food between the kitchen and the table

You're right. When I'm with her, I always make sure to make up the difference so that the server doesn't get jipped.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 03:40 PM   #69
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Worked where they had lunch meetings on friday. People would drink the provided soda and throw the cans in the garbage for the cleaning lady to take. I saw her one friday and asked if she took them. She said no so I started to take them, rinse them out and bring them to the can place. They also used to throw out high quality deli sandwiches, cookies and all sorts of food. I had teenagers at the time so brought them home and of course they were gone pretty darn quick.

The worst was the week we had platters of bagels. There was a platter of poppy seed bagels that was unopened and they were going to throw the whole thing away. I took it home and scraped the seeds off, sliced them and froze them. The kids were impressed that I broke down and got the expensive bagels.

My son gets a prize though. When he graduated from college he had no loans and was adverse to debt. I gave him my old honda with 160,000 miles on it and bought a new one (standard of course, cheaper.)
He drove it to 225,000, and the airconditioning went out around 200,000 miles and he was living in Florida. Saved him a bundle on insurance and car payments.

I'm thinking of wearing the same dress to son #2's wedding that I wore to son #1's wedding three years ago. My sister is horrified but I've only worn it once.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 03:56 PM   #70
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

HI,

Every other Saturday when I was a kid my Granparents would come over and we would sit around the salt and peper shakers and the sugar bowl, tearing open all the little packets and pouring them in. My Grandparetns were kleptos and would steal them by the pocket full wherever they could get em.

W
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 04:22 PM   #71
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
There was a platter of poppy seed bagels that was unopened and they were going to throw the whole thing away. I took it home and scraped the seeds off, sliced them and froze them.
You must have good eyesight and a sharp knife, those seeds are small!
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 04:27 PM   #72
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

I'm cheap, but I don't steal.

My parents taught me that everything belongs to someone/something and permission must always be asked.

We asked neighbors if we could
gather apples from the orchard remnants on their property
harvest some asparagus growing wild
gather firewood
gather herbs
gather horse droppings (for compost)
cut a tree for Christmas.

We gave permission for a neighbor to hunt on our property (and he gave us a share pan ready).
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 05:29 PM   #73
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

I take many meds and have a 4x/day pill sched which often means taking pills while not at home. I put the pills into baggies and bring the baggies home for re-use dozens of times.

Popeye's Fried Chicken used to have little packets of honey like the ketchup packets. I would always take a few of these home with me after each visit. I once used them in my tea on a cross country car trip. I brought tea bags with me and would go to McDonalds and ask for a free cup of hot water and make tea w/honey out in my car to stay awake. I didn't stay in any motels on the trip as I slept in my car at rest stops. I made it from VA to CA in 2.5 days. It took 3 days to come back. I was so screwed up that after the trip I was hallucinating.

I take paper napkins from restaurants for use at home. My wife hates it.

While in college I didn't have enough money for insulin or food (don't ask). I would take showers at the neighboring college THAT I WAS NOT ATTENDING to save money on hot water.

I used my friends' meal passes at the collage I was attending to get free meals (the food was horrible). (and the portions were so small)

I read an aniversay card to my wife while we were at Hallmark to save buying her one for our 25th anniversay.

I used to stop and pick up firewood lying on the side of the road.

I am less cheap now that I am older (I turned 53 yesterday).

Mike D.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 05:38 PM   #74
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeD
I am less cheap now that I am older (I turned 53 yesterday).
Happy Birthday! I would get you a card, but instead why don't you just read one at the store!
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 05:43 PM   #75
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Thanks. I am so glad email is "all you can eat."

Mike D.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 06:42 PM   #76
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Here's a conversation I overheard between DW and the homeowner at a garage sale:

DW: How much is this?
Owner: 25 cents
DW: How about 10 cents?
I can beat that. Here's the dialogue between DW and a lady who was renting out a room in her nice house near a national park (boonies) in India:

DW: How much for the night?
Landlady: 250 Rupees (about $5) and that includes breakfast
DW: We'll give you Rs. 200 ($4).
Landlady: Ok, that's fine.

I still make fun of her for that since she's always saying that I'm the cheap one. She's far from being cheap, but she got caught up in that everything-is-negotiable-in-Asia thing! Nice room too. We could have gotten another room in the lady's house for Rs. 100, but I wanted a TV.

A week after staying at this lady's place, I spent $4 on a beer at a $400/night hotel.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 07:21 PM   #77
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

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Originally Posted by bright eyed
why not cloth towels? i bought like 20 kitchen towels and dinner napkins at a garage sale for $1 and now we use them instead of paper towels - except for the gross stuff - helps cut down on the paper towel bills and waste...it was like an epiphany since my family had always used and abused paper towels growing up...they also have some bargains on kitchen towels at tjmax etc...if you pick them up once in a while you will have a good collection...
Oh, I have plenty of cloth dish towels in the drawer right near the paper towels. That's what I use when I wash my own hands. But that's not untouched enough for him! I'm sure when he moves out on his own, he'll get this one figured out.

Someone else mentioned phones and I thought of another cheap thing we do. We have "Measured Service" on our home phone. It's a very reduced price ($2.21) for 30 outgoing calls a month. Of course, there's the Line Charge and all the mandatory fees that everyone pays. But, we hardly ever use the full 30 and if we do, it's only $.08 for each additional call. I figured out one time that I'd have to make over 60 calls a month to reach the cost of Unlimited Local Calls. I've had measured service for over 25 years and never felt the need to pay more for unlimited calling.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 07:33 PM   #78
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

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Someone else mentioned phones and I thought of another cheap thing we do. We have "Measured Service" on our home phone. It's a very reduced price ($2.21) for 30 outgoing calls a month. Of course, there's the Line Charge and all the mandatory fees that everyone pays. But, we hardly ever use the full 30 and if we do, it's only $.08 for each additional call. I figured out one time that I'd have to make over 60 calls a month to reach the cost of Unlimited Local Calls. I've had measured service for over 25 years and never felt the need to pay more for unlimited calling.
I've had that for years, forgot about it.
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.
Old 03-12-2007, 07:44 PM   #79
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

During college...

Go to the $1 movies where if you bought a large bucket of popcorn, you could get a free refill. Would search the floor of the movie theater for an empty bucket, take it to the bathroom to clean it, then take it to the snack counter and ask for a refill.
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Old 03-12-2007, 07:55 PM   #80
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Re: The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

where is the exact line between stealing and being cheap again ?


enuff


Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Lu
During college...

Go to the $1 movies where if you bought a large bucket of popcorn, you could get a free refill. Would search the floor of the movie theater for an empty bucket, take it to the bathroom to clean it, then take it to the snack counter and ask for a refill.
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