While practicing thrift is a commendable virtue, there exists a fine line between being prudent and being excessively stingy. We’ve all encountered individuals who take frugality to an extreme, adopting habits like carrying their own utensils to restaurants, avoiding tipping, and reusing paper towels. While these practices may seem insignificant, these extreme cost-saving measures can have detrimental consequences.
An internet user recently asked, what’s the most frugal/cheap behavior you’ve seen?
Refusing To Buy A New Shirt
The Original Poster (OP) further says, “I know someone that did well with crypto and flipping a house, earns 100 plus from his day job, that refuses to buy a new shirt. Single, no kids, lives at home.
The shirt is destroyed with holes given to him in a promo. My ‘work for a living’ self had to give him a new shirt and some shoes I didn’t wear. I called him out on being a cheapo; his rationale was retirement savings. Cheapo is 31.”
Limiting Toilet Flushes
The author also says he’s heard extreme stories of some families limiting toilet flushes and limiting showers to once a week. “These are not poor people. They have money but are penny-pinching to an extreme.”
The responses below will either embarrass you because you’ve ‘been there, done that’, or simply have you wondering where these people come from!
The Cash Needy Guy
“I knew a guy who always “needed cash” when eating out with a group (in the days before, they were happy to do more than one bill per table). Everyone would figure out how much they owed for food and tip and put their cash in… then he’d collect the cash and pay with his credit card.
I noticed, though, that he didn’t leave a tip. The first time I thought I must have been mistaken. The second time I was sure I wasn’t. He was using everyone’s tip to pay for his meal. There was no third time.”
The Rounding-Off Freak
“Know a dude who pays cash if it’s going to be rounded down and taps to avoid rounding up. The dude probably saves 7 cents a day. That’s like 20 bucks a year, right?” Said one.
“That’s next-level saving lol. I think homeless people are more generous with their change.” Another added.
“De-Stemming” The Cherries
“My brother is pulling the stems off cherries before weighing them at the grocery store.” Said one.
“As a former fruit stand employee, I know that stemless cherries start rotting from the inside almost immediately. Your brother is almost certainly losing money or at least significant quality of the product by removing stems. Lol.” Another added.
Utter Misuse Of The Refund Policy
“Retail employee here at a large-scale Canadian grocery store. I have been working as a GM for roughly 13 years now, and I enjoy handling most of the customer service in my store.
It’s the variety that always keeps me on my toes. We have a store policy that if you didn’t enjoy the product, you’re entitled to a refund if you have 50% of the product and your receipt.
Families have been bringing in Christmas dinner (half eaten) and demanding their money back. Christmas is just one example. Customers have caught onto this so they started throwing massive dinner parties, only consuming half and trying to come back in with everything they didn’t eat.
At first, I laughed and thought it was creative. Now it’s exhausting, and I’m tired of asking people to leave with their new year’s leftovers.”
Grandpa With ‘Elastic’ Socks And A ‘Hole’ In The Floor
“My grandfather. He invested *all* his money to the point where he believed money was to be saved and never spent. His socks were so old the elasticity in them was gone so he used the *elastics from broccoli* to hold his socks up.
And I was never allowed at his house because he had a three-foot wide hole in his floor leading straight down to the basement. He wouldn’t spend the money to fix it because he could walk around it.”
The Usual ‘Miser Dad’ Tales
“My Dad. We weren’t allowed to set the thermostat above 15°C, but if he came home and caught us wearing our coats in the house, he’d get mad that we would wear out our coats.
Also, he made me celebrate my birthday with my brother to “kill 2 birds with 1 stone” even though our birthdays are 38 days apart, and then he gifted us promotional shirts from his workplace.
One time he took a business trip to Texas and promised to bring us back something, and the thing he gave us when he got back was the flimsy plastic wallets they would give you for free when you bought travelers’ cheques.”
Electricity Bill Becomes Scarier Than Death
“Family friend…. he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. On his deathbed, he told his daughter to go to his apartment and turn off the lights because it was wasting electricity.”
Retail Returns
“Retail returns are some of the cheapest people I’ve ever seen. The people that return Christmas decorations after Christmas are the worst.
I also saw a guy at Costco returning flooring after it had been installed in his basement for 5 YEARS.”
Reusing A Roadside Used Mattress
“Back when I was in university, one of my classmates picked up a used mattress from the side of the road that someone had thrown out so that he wouldn’t have to pay for a new one.”
Free Food Maniacs
“Someone with a great pension goes to the food bank because it’s free food. I tried to encourage my mother to do the same, but my mother was mortified about being asked and shocked that this person thought this service was for their household to use.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.