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

[WanderALot]

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.

 

[Sue J]

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.

 

[Khan]

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.

 

[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.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

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


enuff

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.

 

[Khan]

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


enuff

I know where it is, apparently some do not.

 

[UncleHoney]

One of my cheap moments will always haunt me.

Before DW and I were married I bought her a set of everyday drink glasses for her birthday. She and everyone else in the family was expecting a ring.

The next evening we went and got the ring and that was the end of my first checking account.

And there's more after that. Back then neither one of us had a credit card and did our honeymoon on cash. The last evening we were about 150 miles from home and it was getting late so we stopped and had dinner at a Holiday Inn. It was pouring rain and had been all day through the mountians of WV, so my wife said it sure would be nice if we could spend the night and drive home in the morning. I said it sure would be nice but there was only one small problem, we only had $20 and we were almost out of gas.

When we got home there were two paychecks in the mailbox and a brand new BankAmerica Card. Life has never been the same.

 

[free4now]

The last evening we were about 150 miles from home and it was getting late so we stopped and had dinner at a Holiday Inn. It was pouring rain and had been all day through the mountians of WV, so my wife said it sure would be nice if we could spend the night and drive home in the morning. I said it sure would be nice but there was only one small problem, we only had $20 and we were almost out of gas.

When we got home there were two paychecks in the mailbox and a brand new BankAmerica Card. Life has never been the same.

That brought back memories of when I started work at the place I just retired from. I was fresh out of college, had moved thousands of miles from home to work here, and had maxed out my credit cards with relocating expenses. My checking account balance was zero, and I had to borrow money for lunch the first day I went out to work with my coworkers. During the wait for the first paycheck I was living off Ramen bought with quarters from my roll of laundary quarters.


I think the cheapest thing I did recently was staying with Opex long distance. For four straight months they added unauthorized $1.99 fees to my bill, and each time I spent probably an hour researching and getting customer service to rescind the fees and say they wouldn't add them again. I think what they were counting on is that no mortal would spend such inordinate amounts of time correcting such a small overcharge. In retrospect, I'll probably not do that again... the next time that kind of thing happens I'll just drop them and move on to another company. But now I have very cheap long distance and they've stopped the overcharges

 

[Moemg]

Sometimes I just stop by Sam's for the free samples .No membership ,No one day pass .I just walk in eat and leave .

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I saw one of my roommates consume 6 hard boiled eggs within 20 seconds at a supermarket salad bar.

I'm pretty sure a couple of chunks of ham went in there too, while I was laughing hysterically.

 

[TromboneAl]

In grad school I had a briefcase that I'd found in a dumpster. It was so broken up, that whenever I flew somewhere and checked it, I had to sign a statement with the airline so that they wouldn't be held accountable for the damage.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

In grad school I had a briefcase that I'd found in a dumpster. It was so broken up, that whenever I flew somewhere and checked it, I had to sign a statement with the airline so that they wouldn't be held accountable for the damage.

i passed my clothes to my son but i got my limits, no underwears and no socks.


enuff

 

[sailor]

hitch-hiked 3000 miles on a business trip from university.

 

[Fireup2020]

And I thought I was cheap because we do not have cable or a home phone (why bother - my cell has no long distance and enough minutes for each month) Packing my lunches no longer rates cheap with this crowd!

I do the napkin thing, do not buy paper towels, Kleenex unless have a horrible cold (rare) - and reuse panty hose for lots of stuff. I refrain from 'washing' out ziplocks (the cheap ones of course) - but do reuse for non sticky stuff. Those little packets of condiments are perfect for camping.

Are we a sad lot? nah, just frugal!

 

[Achiever51]

My mom always reminded us to:

"Use it up or wear it out...
Make do or do without!"

But her advice pales in comparison to some of the tales told here! Road kill...Eyewash showers... Gray hamburgers....hitchhiking on a business trip!!

Thanks for making me laugh out loud today!

 

[thefed]

Thanks for making me laugh out loud today!

ditto

 

[BUM]

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?

No, its work! I have amassed a an Equal mountain because DW drinks a bazillion cups of tea per day with one equal. My daughter visited last month and said "Eeeeewwww, Mommmm you should be using Splenda!"

Here we go...




PS Anybody need a lifetime supply of Equal?

 

[Andre1969]

The other day, I was making a salad, and I asked my roommate to go out into the yard to pull up some onions for it. You know, those little wild green onions that are one of the first things to turn green and sprout up in the spring?

He just looked at me like I lost my mind! I was only kidding, but the more I think of it, hell why not?

 

[tryan]

DW still gives me crap for this one ....

just changed a diaper and DW announced "tubby time", sooo off comes the "clean" diaper .... I set it aside and put the kid back in it after the tub.

Not sure I can ever get out of this one....

 

[samclem]

He just looked at me like I lost my mind! I was only kidding, but the more I think of it, hell why not?

They might taste just fine, they sure smell like onions when I mow over their tops. Probably worth trying, unless you spray chemicals on your yard.

 

[samclem]

hitch-hiked 3000 miles on a business trip from university.

Speaking of costs on business trips: At one time, for a short period, the USAF had a policy of paying travelers the local GSA lodging rate whether or not they actually spent that amount for their quarters. Folks would shop around for less expensive hotels or stay two to a room in order to make a little money. That stopped after a short while--the auditors just couldn't stand the idea that folks might make a few bucks (by shopping around or lowering their standards). All in all, I think it would have saved money over time, as hotels would have actually competed on price for government business and prices would have come down (along with the approved GSA reimbursement rate). As it is now, virtualy all hotels charge govt travelers exactly the max govt reimbursement rate.

 

[dex]

I just did something kinda cheap.

I had 87 cents sitting in an MM account but I couldn't move it to my checking account since it was under 1 dollar. I asked the bank to do it for me!

I'm feeling bad about it.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm considering a cheap thing. We'll be going on a trip soon, and instead of buying a bunch of postcards there, I'm thinking I'll download some images, print them on heavy photo stock, cut them out, and take them with us!

 

[calmloki]

I'm considering a cheap thing. We'll be going on a trip soon, and instead of buying a bunch of postcards there, I'm thinking I'll download some images, print them on heavy photo stock, cut them out, and take them with us!

My Mom, who was a master at thrift, was a world traveler. She spent money where she wanted to spend it and saved it where she wished. On several occasions she did trips (China, Brazil, Alaska) and bought souveneirs at the Goodwill store when she got back. I miss her. In her last couple days she was avidly following about 60 individual stocks that she owned from $50 to $1000 in each. Her stock picks did pretty well, but the relative expenses of purchase and sale were killer. Didn't matter much - she just wanted to "stay in the game" as she said.

 

[renferme]

I have a cheap friend. Some of the wacky things he's done:
1. Has not ever purchased clothes; working wife and kids buy clothes for him.
2. Still wearing clothes from high school (he's 55) !
3. Hem on bottom of pant leg came loose - used a stapler to fix.
4. Shoes with holes in the sole; used a piece of cardboard inserted into the shoe.
5. Dropped a bit of ice cream off cone onto the floor - used a spoon to pick up and eat.
6. Sometimes will wear a polo type shirt to work - worn inside out.
7. Combs his hair with his fingers.
8. Picks out his clothes, not from the dresser, but from the laundry basket; wrinkled.
9. Had a hole in trousers, was told about it, used a magic marker to mark the spot as a reminder not to wear ever again - few days later: he's wearing them again!
10. Buys used cars from government auto auction.
11. When we go out to lunch with the usual group, he'll order french fries and water.
12. A car dealer had a sale and provided hot dogs and a drink for free: he took
the whole family to dinner that day.
--
But... I must say, he paid off his house many years ago, and put 3 kids through college.