Are you a cheap bastard?

[Sahara]

One thing that I could never wrap my head around was people insisting on buying new, extremely expensive clothing for their babies and small children, who outgrow it before it even gets used a handful of times.
We are a two income, upper middle class family. We live in the arctic, where everything is already super expensive. When our daughter was born in 1999 we bought used cloth diapers, only using disposables when necessary. When my daughter no longer used diapers we sold the now cleaned cloth diapers to someone else. They are probably still out there being used. All of her clothes, and I mean all of them, came from garage sales and the thrift store. We would buy fifty dollar pants, expensive shirts and jackets, and everything else for fifty cents or a dollar. None of this in any way affected her or our self esteem. She did and still does look and dress like a model. She still shops the thrift store for clothes. Now at age 21 she has a ton of money saved. Has put herself through four years of med school, even though we can afford to pay for her. So the thrift lessons that wife and I learned from our depression era parents carry on.

 

[khryslerkid]

It's hard to be cheap if you don't have much money to start with.

We used to say "He's so tight he squeaks"

 

[Wojo68]

I wish I was a little more frugal. There's a difference between frugal and cheap as F. Life is to short. Couple friends are cheap as ****. I'll be starving but in 45 min appetizers will be 50% off, so we gotta wait.

 

[68gtxman]

We grew up poor but never knew it. My first bike was $5 and then I handEd it down to the next. Mom sewed our clothes and then we handed them down (6 kids). Dad was in the USAF and highest rank was TSGT. They bought a single wide trailer in Wichita Falls TX. He had to build a bedroom and living room addition to it to beddown the 8 of us. He bought used lumber, a hammer, saw and nails. He couldn’t afford to buy a tape measure, so he used a string. They sold the trailer for more than they had in it. He bought a used VW microvan (23 window?) to drive us up to Alaska. It survived for a few years until it was totaled in a 23 car pile-up on ice. He was still able to sell it for more than he bought it for. Dad always said “You’re on your own when you turn 18, so either get good grades in HS and get a scholarship or get ready to learn how to dig ditches.” This scared the hell out of me at age 10 (this was over the top for a kid), but it made me look forward and plan for the future.

We found every method of making ends meet that most poor people could use. We just looked at it as spending wisely. My life has been very successful and I could have fully retired 20 years ago. But, it didn’t occur to me to slack off then, considering that I was earning more money then (and now) than at any other time in my life by far. Only my older brother has been more successful. He lucked out as an accountant and partnered up when young with an accounting firm who had billionaire clients. He will be forced to retire next Spring. I am a professional engineer and I do forensic engineering for my own firm. I have an association with a company that does all my advertising, invoice collections and administrative stuff. I raise my hourly rate every year by $50 per hour to try to lose clients, but it doesn’t work. I am still doing as much work as ever (but getting paid a hell of a lot more to do it). I got my work ethic from my parents. The chores they assigned to us taught us how to clean, cook, and repair pretty much anything. The biggest thing that I learned on my own was not buying the cheapest things all the time. Buy well made furniture and you won’t be replacing it every few years. That kind of stuff. But also, never cheat anyone - including yourself.

 

[MarPar]

I'm so cheap that I'll always peal off unstamped stamps on incoming mail and reuse them on outgoing mail.

Peal?

 

[Ron H]

Wow – could write a book about this subject. My dad was cheap as could be even though he made great money and my mom worked earning a good wage at Briggs & Stratton. Unlike dad, she loved to spend money but would go ape on ‘sales’ buying tons of whatever and freezer stocking. I inherited a lot of my dad’s stuff – he was never one to toss anything thinking someday it could be used for some project. Nothing worth much; but as I just retired having so much of his and my chit in the garage, attic, and basement, I’m going through stuff dumping it, taking to Goodwill, or the Restore as the clutter is driving me friggin nuts now. And my in-laws, super frugal they were. My father-in-law passed 12 years ago with his shop just loaded with stuff that’s still sitting there. He made fantastic money at AT&T and retired at 55. Reckon my mother-in-law is worth a million at least. She’s in a nice retirement home costing $400/day. She's liking it and doesn’t want to come back to her large house, so that just sits empty now. Always thought wow, he had boatloads of money; but always lived like a pauper – no new stuff, never took vacations, rarely any new furnishings, etc. The room furnishings, no ****, some of it they bought in the ‘50’s. His last pickup (first one he ever bought new) in ’91 Dodge 2500 setup with a plow I have (use it for our shared ¼ mile driveway), plain Jane as could be, no A/C, stick, he drove until he died. But, hey suppose some truly like living this way and no concern that all they worked for and stashed away will eventually be passed off for someone else to spend it. Well my mother-in-law is cashing it in living where she wants getting tended to hand and foot...so some payback for her.

 

[slimt]

One thing that I could never wrap my head around was people insisting on buying new, extremely expensive clothing for their babies and small children, who outgrow it before it even gets used a handful of times.
We are a two income, upper middle class family. We live in the arctic, where everything is already super expensive. When our daughter was born in 1999 we bought used cloth diapers, only using disposables when necessary. When my daughter no longer used diapers we sold the now cleaned cloth diapers to someone else. They are probably still out there being used. All of her clothes, and I mean all of them, came from garage sales and the thrift store. We would buy fifty dollar pants, expensive shirts and jackets, and everything else for fifty cents or a dollar. None of this in any way affected her or our self esteem. She did and still does look and dress like a model. She still shops the thrift store for clothes. Now at age 21 she has a ton of money saved. Has put herself through four years of med school, even though we can afford to pay for her. So the thrift lessons that wife and I learned from our depression era parents carry on.

Or buying the wife to be a huge diamond ring. Theres a quick way to see things go south. House and all when you cant match or better it yearly.

 

[Dennis H]

Price of milk and eggs out of control. 81,500 Redeye no problem. Yes I’m cheap.

 

[Builderguy]

Will not buy a Big Mac, but will order a cheese burger with extra pickles, add shredded lettuce, add Mac Sauce.

 

[Duckmanreno]

I’m so cheap I take my glasses off to keep from wearing them out.

All joking aside nothing cheap about my hobbies. Waterfowl hunting, fishing, boats and the Charger. And the wife and I enjoy going out to eat now that we are older.
So I’m not really cheap

 

[Photon440]

did not no there are still stamps in use

That's because you never mail me anything.

 

[moparwacko]

Not cheap, raised that way.
Dad was the cheap one, 51 F1 needed a starter - us kids pushed started it for a summer. Same F1 needed a voltage regulator since it was overcharging the battery. He let it charge on the way to work, put a matchbook in the regulator for the ride home -at least a couple of months.
We didn't know you could buy sliced bread until we went to school.
Am I cheap, heck no. I want for nothing in the way of tools- nice tools. I figure I've lived many years on the cheap, raised 4 kids, it's my turn.
Ok, but i can't give up saving the last few drops of oil out of the new jug for my pump oiler......