NT How cheap are you?

[ILLMAS]

I am not talking about being frugal, but the real deal being cheap. Having a coffee mug that is blacker than coffee, taking pastries to an office party to feed 3 to 4 people when there is 20 co-workers, bringing home the soda can from lunch and the foil paper from your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What's your pet peeve about cheap people?

[Guest Taxed]

A distant family member has NOT paid for lunch anytime they go shopping! They go to Costco and sample every sampler multiple times enough to feed lunch! They also go to the Church Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with their grand kids so that they don't have to cook.

[taxxcpa]

The best example of a cheapskate was a guy I knew who bought two or three lemons. He waited until after the clerk weighed them, then asked her to put them in a bag. He explained that he didn't put them in a bag when he picked them up because he didn't want to pay for the weight of the bag.

[ILLMAS]

This happened to my associates client son, first of all they are wealthy, while the son was attending out state college he would always invite his friends for drinks and pay the tab, then one of his friend invites him for drinks for a change and the next day he was approached that he invited for a drink only so that he had to repay the guy back for the additional drinks, guess who no longer invited drinking.

[Yardley CPA]

The best example of a cheapskate was a guy I knew who bought two or three lemons. He waited until after the clerk weighed them, then asked her to put them in a bag. He explained that he didn't put them in a bag when he picked them up because he didn't want to pay for the weight of the bag.

You don't get much cheaper than that!

[Catherine]

A woman I know is notorious for offering to meet someone for an errand or lunch or something and "forgetting" her wallet -- leaving whatever sucker... um, friend - I meant friend, yeah -- to pay for HER lunch, HER errand purchases, and even HER parking fee!!

Eventually (like, months later, after several reminders) she will reimburse for the errands and parking -- but figures lunch was a "treat" -- after all, you had the pleasure of her company!

I don't meet her for lunch or anything anymore and haven't for years. Can't afford it!

[MsTabbyKats]

I have a really really cheap story.

A friend of mine, Anne, is very cheap.

Anne went on a cruise with her friend, Linda (both travel agents...cruise cost $0). Linda was always doing my friend, Anne, favors, like, driving her places.

The ship stopped @ St Lucia. An old boyfriend of Anne's has 4 (grown) children on the island. The 6 of them went on a "day trip" and stopped off for lunch.

The check came. My friend Anne paid for herself and the 4 grown children...but not for Linda!

[jklcpa]

The owner of a company my husband once worked for, and who was also a client of the firm I came out of, bought one greeting card for his wife in all the years they have been married, and she did the same for him. Each year they would dig out their cards and give them over again. People that didn't know them thought this was very sweet and done for sentimental reasons but it wasn't that at all. They both admitted that it was because they were so cheap.

[kcjenkins]

[Lion EA]

My ex-mother-in-law cut napkins in half so they would go twice as far! The first time I was invited to dinner at my then-boyfriend's home, I was so confused putting my napkin on my lap thinking I'd opened it wrong or something.

She also poured half of her dishwashing soap into another saved, empty soap container and added water to water-down each container by half so they'd last longer. She had an entire closet full of gifts. If I wanted to go shopping for a new purse, for instance, she'd pull one out of her closet to give me so we wouldn't have to waste gas to go shopping.

[Catherine]

My mother-in-law (in her 90's, raised during the Depression) STILL unfolds Lipton tea bag wrapper papers and uses the inside to make grocery lists.

[Guest Taxed]

I just remembered, I had a boss who took all scrap paper that had one side blank and had his secretary cut them into 3x5 size and use it to take messages when he was out. Once I wrote the message on a new legal pad paper and got my head chopped for wasting a full page for 5 lines.

[MsTabbyKats]

I know a couple (not married....totally weird relationship) that have been together almost 20 years. In that time he bought her one piece of cheap costume jewelery at a closeout sale.; never a b'day gift, never a Valentine's Day, never a holiday gift......not even a card.

He says "If you buy someone something once, they expect it all the time. So, I don't buy her anything."

Now that's cheap.

[Guest Taxed]

>>> at have been together almost 20 years

>>> So, I don't buy her anything.

He MUST be doing something right??

[mcb39]

I could be considered "cheap" in that I save all of my printing mistakes and use the backs to hand feed and print e-mails and other info that I want to save. (Paper is SO expensive) and I live in the land of paper making.

[ILLMAS]

I could be considered "cheap" in that I save all of my printing mistakes and use the backs to hand feed and print e-mails and other info that I want to save. (Paper is SO expensive) and I live in the land of paper making.

This happened at the firm I worked for, co-worker was writing notes for a client on piece of scrap paper, gave the paper to the client, when client gets home he calls to let her know that piece of paper was someone tax return, after that ALL scrap paper had to be shredded.

[ILLMAS]

Now, I have heard of people buying two ply toilet paper and making two rolls out it. Asking for extra cream and sugar and taking home.

[mcb39]

This happened at the firm I worked for, co-worker was writing notes for a client on piece of scrap paper, gave the paper to the client, when client gets home he calls to let her know that piece of paper was someone tax return, after that ALL scrap paper had to be shredded.

Yes, that could happen easily enough. I generally use the back of tax returns to print MY copy. But, yes, you have to be careful. One of the advantages of being a one person office.

[JohnH]

Speaking of cheap, reminds me of a business dinner years ago in my sales business. A company I was contracting with had sent a chemical engineer out to call on customers and train me on a new product. At the end of the day, Rob suggested that we eat at a nice steak house.

Turns out Rob was the guy whose picture is beside the words "wine snob" in the dictionary. He grilled the waiter mercilessly & repeatedly about several wines on the menu while lecturing me on the chemistry of each wine, etc. He never picked up on the glazed look in my eyes or my total lack of interest in his musings. I don't think he noticed the two or three times the waiter rolled his eyes either. After an unbearably long period of time he made a selection and we FINALLY ordered dinner. When the check arrived later (with the single bottle of wine costing more than both our meals combined), he took a look t it, pronounced it correct, and HANDED IT TO ME!

At a sales meeting a few months later, another rep said of him, "Rob's a great trainer, but if he comes out to work with you, take him to McDonald's to eat. If you go to a nice restaurant, he'll keep you there 3 hours ordering the wine, and then stick you with the check." Yep. Right on all counts.

[Catherine]

In Russian, there is a verb (which I cannot recall right this second), which translates to "I am over-cuted." This picture qualifies.

[Guest Taxed]

>>> When the check arrived later (with the single bottle of wine costing more than both our meals combined), he took a look t it, pronounced it correct, and HANDED IT TO ME!

My brother used to be in sales in the 90s and this one female decision maker of the prospect company told my brother when he took her to dinner, "Don't go cheap on me". The woman got the most expensive wine on the list and I think she asked to go to Chris Ruth or Ruth Chris some expensive steak place.

To add insult to injury, he did not get the sale. They went with a cheaper product!

[MsTabbyKats]

>>> at have been together almost 20 years

>>> So, I don't buy her anything.

He MUST be doing something right??

No....the female is a victim of "emotional batter". She has an addiction to him.....he calls/sees her or something....and her dopamine starts flowing. When he doesn't....she goes thru withdrawal. It's really no different than being a heroine addict.

I think a lot of people who were "brought up being poor" are what would be considered cheap, because they finding spending money on things they could get for free a waste.

My really biggest peeve is people who go to restaurants with you....and sit like a baby when the check comes....or makes a mad dash to the bathroom.

I could go on for hours about cheapness.

[Guest Taxed]

>> My really biggest peeve is people who go to restaurants with you....and sit like a baby when the check comes....or makes a mad dash to the bathroom.

I have a group of friends that meet once a month for lunch and the deal is that we split the check equally. No alcoholic drink on the group tab. We each get turns to pick the restaurant we want to visit. One of my friends is very smart, she figured out a restaurant that allows alcohol to be brought in as long as you pay $1 per person for ice fees. This woman can finish a six pack in an hour and still be able to stand up!

[Gail in Virginia]

I am not cheap. I am frugal. I save zip lock bags (if they have not contained meat), wash them and re-use them. I write my grocery lists on the back of junk mail envelopes. I use the portion of the page for tax payment coupons that I have cut off as scrap paper. I try not to print unless I really need a hard copy. I used to re-roll my adding machine tape and run it through the calculator the second time to print on the other side, but that becomes a pain if you need to tear off a tape and attach it to something to show your addition. I prefer to think that I am doing my bit for the environment.

[taxxcpa]

I do all of the things Gail does to save money on paper. I re-use paper printed on one side to print things like excel worksheets on the other side. I usually print things on a pdf before printing it on paper to make sure i don't print unwanted second and third pages.

I generally avoid places where valet parking is required.

I don't like waste even if it is just a penny or two, but if I need something, I don't waste a lot of time trying to get the cheapest thing of its kind. I place convenience ahead of savings unless it is big bucks involved.