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Tales of the Cheap

idfnl

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Would love to hear more about this. Stories about cheap people fascinate me to no end. My ex has a sister that's so cheap she waited out a parking meter. I mean ******* sat there for 12 minutes until it ticked over. I mean, who... don't give a penny to the man. In fact I should start a thread.



True story: I waited tables during college in Georgetown back in the late 80s. Dantley came in for lunch. Me and another hoops can chose to buy his lunch, because we were such big fans. He left the waiter $2 on a $30 tab, then walked down to his Silver Shadow II and rolled out. Did we feel like fools and were we really disappointed.



I could fill pages with my father. He doesn't believe in porch lights.
 
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Harold falcon

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I have some cheap tendencies brought about by my lower middle class upbringing. Probably the number one rule is never pay somebody else to do something I can do. This includes plumbing, electrical wiring, driveway paving, floor refinishing, etc. This may not result in the prettiest possible solution, but I've been pretty good at doing these things so far.
 

idfnl

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I have some cheap tendencies brought about by my lower middle class upbringing. Probably the number one rule is never pay somebody else to do something I can do. This includes plumbing, electrical wiring, driveway paving, floor refinishing, etc. This may not result in the prettiest possible solution, but I've been pretty good at doing these things so far.


We should define terms....

Frugal
Economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful

Cheap / cheapskate
Stingy; miserly; reluctant to give or spend; not generous; one who tries to avoid paying a fair share of costs or expenses

You're talking frugal which is sensible. Cheap is a different animal.

For example, we were out to dinner with a parents family friend a couple of years ago. One of the guys at the table is notorious. After dinner (a story in itself), we went to the downstairs bar for espresso. We each had a few, as one person asked for the check he immediately went to pocket for a cigarette and sheepishly said 'you can't smoke in here, can you?'. So he went outside while we paid the bill... like $12 each. That's a cheapskate.
 
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Harold falcon

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Fair enough. I'm frugal then. I always tip at least 100%.
 

Wade

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I have a friend who is a waiter. He showed me a pic he took of a bill for a dinner that run ~$150.
On the tip line, the person wrote, "Sorry, struggling single parent"


There's also a documentary on 740 Park Ave where an ex doorman said David Koch was cheap as hell even though he's one of the richest people living there if not the richest
 

Harold falcon

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That's reprehensible.
 

idfnl

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There's also a documentary on 740 Park Ave where an ex doorman said David Koch was cheap as hell even though he's one of the richest people living there if not the richest 



I read the book 740 Park, good read, and yes, this was in the book as well. If I remember correctly most residents would give thousands, Koch would give $50 (in a check mind you).
 

Pilot

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I worked at an athletic club through college. It was a pretty nice place which attracted a solid middle class with a few middle upper members. We had a lady who just blatantly stole the towels we handed out for workouts, showers, etc... She would always get three towels to go sit in the sauna (she was a large woman) and would stuff her bag with them and keep her head down when she quickly walked out... every time. I equate this to paying for a nice hotel room and stealing the towels and hangers. Did this for years, literally years (no idea what she did with the towels), before we revoked her membership.
 

Jr Mouse

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Went out on New Years with some friends a couple years ago. Hit a nice Japanese restaurant for dinner. One of my friends invited a few dudes he knew who met us at the restaurant, took one look at the menu and then proceeded to leave and grab a cheap slice of pizza down the street instead of joining us. I requested that they never get invited out with us again.
 

dah328

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Went out on New Years with some friends a couple years ago. Hit a nice Japanese restaurant for dinner. One of my friends invited a few dudes he knew who met us at the restaurant, took one look at the menu and then proceeded to leave and grab a cheap slice of pizza down the street instead of joining us. I requested that they never get invited out with us again.


That's not cheap. They did the right thing upon seeing that the menu prices were higher than they were either able or inclined to pay. Cheap is staying for dinner but sticking you with their tab like post #3 above.
 

idfnl

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That's not cheap. They did the right thing upon seeing that the menu prices were higher than they were either able or inclined to pay. Cheap is staying for dinner but sticking you with their tab like post #3 above.


I'm in the middle. Its one thing to not be able to pay, there I agree, but able and not inclined to the detriment of the social setting and a group, that's cheap.

I waited tables for years in school so I was exposed to a lot of tight asses. One of my favorites was this DC businessman who came in regularly with a group. It took a few times for me to understand why on some occasions he would order house wine by the carafe and on others very nice wine from the list: when he paid it was carafe and when others paid he ordered nice wine. The guy would grab the wine list and order, and make a joke like "can't let Johnson order wine, you know what he's like". He got away with it because I never saw him with a regular group.
 
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Jr Mouse

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That's not cheap. They did the right thing upon seeing that the menu prices were higher than they were either able or inclined to pay. Cheap is staying for dinner but sticking you with their tab like post #3 above.


I see where you are coming from but disagree. The prices were not outrageous and it's not like they couldn't have just split an appetizer and had a beer with us then got a slice a pizza afterwards. Plus I think one should anticipate the cost of a dinner like that before agreeing to to out and join a group like ours. It also wasn't a secret we had plans to sit down and enjoy a nice meal.
 
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Harold falcon

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Jr, stop hanging out with poor people. Come over to the 53%. It's a lot more fun here.
 

Gibonius

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Had a guy in grad school who always wanted to go out to lunch, but wanted to go places where you could get something for less than five bucks. If you can't afford an extra couple bucks for something decent, just don't eat out so often. I don't want to eat at Taco Bell because your ass is too cheap to go somewhere half decent.



Jr, stop hanging out with poor people. Come over to the 53%. It's a lot more fun here.


What really sucks is when you're too poor to live decently but don't have any deductions and still pay income tax. LAME. I paid income tax all through grad school.
 
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