Cheapness... What people would and won't do to save a few bucks...

So I was talking to my friend about planning a night downtown this weekend. We had five people, and cabs only fit 4, which means we'd have to split cabs.

I could tell he didn't like that idea from the beginning, but accepted it. He THEN requests that somebody split the cab he and his girlfriend are in (me and the other two guys are going stag), in order to save ~$10. I didn't dignify him with an answer.

THEN he suggests to bribe the cabbie $5 to squeeze us all into the cab. I should also mention one of the guys going is probably about 250lbs.

Really? I mean we aren't a bunch broke high school students going home from prom! He recently spent nearly $1k on a set of rims and tires for his car, and another $1k booking a vacation to the Mayan Riviera... Boggles my mind to think the lengths some people go through to save a few dollars.

I mean, I am not a big timer by any means, but some things are just not worth giving up my dignity or comfort to save a few dollars.

I will be patient and wait for something to go on sale before buying, but I won't wait 2 hours outside a store in the dead of winter to be the first in line to save money on an HDTV, nor will I waste 10 minutes waiting in a tangle of cars at a gas station to save a few cents per litre on my fill-up.

/end rant.

I stole chipotle napkins because I didn't want to buy a roll of paper towels

edit:
but I was unemployed at the time. I now have a lifetime supply (I use them very rarely)

Originally Posted by otc

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I stole chipotle napkins because I didn't want to buy a roll of toilet paper

edit:
but I was unemployed at the time. I now have a lifetime supply (I use them very rarely)

FTFY

At a bar a couple weeks ago I witnessed a 10+ minute conversation about how to split the cost of a round of drinks. Apparently these people had never heard of buying rounds.

Still not sure if I was more irritated by the cheapness or the lack of basic math skills.

I've been out with some very cheap people and when it came to splitting up the bill they bring out calculators to figure out everybody's exact contribution, including tip. More often than not I'll just wind up paying for the whole thing to spare myself the misery of having to listen to them bicker back and forth.

The worst thing I did was back in college when my toaster oven broke. I survived almost exclusively on frozen pizzas so I needed a toaster oven to live. I went and bought one at Wal-mart, then put the broken toaster oven back in the box and returned it to the store. I still don't feel very good about that, and can just imagine the poor asshole who thought he was buying a new toaster oven after me but got a broken one instead. Good luck trying to return that then.

Jesus I'm an asshole.

Side question.

Someone was telling me about a website in the uk where you can get all sorts of coupons and bookings to restaurants with buy "1 get 1 free" or 50% off deals. It's never crossed my mind to take a coupon to a restaurant, but on a logical level if I am going to eat in said restaurant anyways why shouldn't I save 10-15 Pounds?

K

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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I've been out with some very cheap people and when it came to splitting up the bill they bring out calculators to figure out everybody's exact contribution, including tip. More often than not I'll just wind up paying for the whole thing to spare myself the misery of having to listen to them bicker back and forth.


Annoying, but better than the people who order an $18.99 entree then slap down a 20 when the bill comes, ignoring the tax/tip/shared appetizers/drinks.

Was tempted to pay for their round to get them to shut up, but since they had already paid I would have had to listen to them figure out how to distribute the cash, which would have been even more complicated since a few of them had already put in their share.

Originally Posted by VKK3450

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Side question.

Someone was telling me about a website in the uk where you can get all sorts of coupons and bookings to restaurants with buy "1 get 1 free" or 50% off deals. It's never crossed my mind to take a coupon to a restaurant, but on a logical level if I am going to eat in said restaurant anyways why shouldn't I save 10-15 Pounds?

K

They have those kinds of things here in the states as well, but it's almost never for any good restaurants. It's always for those terrible chain "family dining" establishments with fake character in the form of reproduction movie posters on the walls. I hate those places.

This is my favorite personal example:

Came back to LAX a few years back from a trip with my then girlfriend. We planned on taking a cab from the airport to her place (appx. $50). I had the brilliant idea to instead take a hotel shuttle the first few miles to a hotel and save a few bucks and then grab a cab from there.

She got SO mad - that was the maddest Ive ever seen her. Just fuming at the stupidity of it and at the point of crying cause she just wanted to go home. But I was the alpha male and took charge of the situation and insisted on saving that $4. We arrive at the LAX area hotel and from there we try for 20 minutes to find a cab.

I still talk to her occassionally and we always bring this up. Lol, good times.

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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They have those kinds of things here in the states as well, but it's almost never for any good restaurants. It's always for those terrible chain "family dining" establishments with fake character in the form of reproduction movie posters on the walls. I hate those places.

This isnt so only chains, but sometimes even Michelin star places like Chez Bruce (you book online and get 30-50% off your food, not drink). And that can easily be 40+ Pound off your bill.

K

Originally Posted by VKK3450

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Side question.

Someone was telling me about a website in the uk where you can get all sorts of coupons and bookings to restaurants with buy "1 get 1 free" or 50% off deals. It's never crossed my mind to take a coupon to a restaurant, but on a logical level if I am going to eat in said restaurant anyways why shouldn't I save 10-15 Pounds?

K

There is restaurant.com in the US...lets you buy a $25 (usually off 50 minimum) certificate for $10 to a bunch of restaurants. This is not a great deal by itself *BUT* it frequently shows up on slickdeals.net with an 80% (sometimes only 60%) coupon code letting you buy a $25 certificate for $2. Sometimes cheaper restaurants do $10 which comes to 80 cents.

I believe the coupon code BONUS is currently active. I feel a little funky using them but I have never been turned down. I know that some people will pay cash when they use them...just stick the printout in with the recipt and appropriate amount of cash and walk away so they can't complain.

those special days when they offer a free sandwich, or a free pizza, or a free ice cream cone and you see like 100 people lined up waiting for an hour or two. we just laugh. time saved is more precious to us than a few dollars.

I will wait for a bus rather than taking a cab so long as I'm not with someone or late in meeting someone. At a bar, I inevitably order a drink that's on happy-hour special.

I prefer to think of myself as "frugal" rather than "cheap."

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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I've been out with some very cheap people and when it came to splitting up the bill they bring out calculators to figure out everybody's exact contribution, including tip. More often than not I'll just wind up paying for the whole thing to spare myself the misery of having to listen to them bicker back and forth.

Sounds like me. Picking up the tab is a bad habit I inherited from my father.

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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The worst thing I did was back in college when my toaster oven broke. I survived almost exclusively on frozen pizzas so I needed a toaster oven to live. I went and bought one at Wal-mart, then put the broken toaster oven back in the box and returned it to the store. I still don't feel very good about that, and can just imagine the poor asshole who thought he was buying a new toaster oven after me but got a broken one instead. Good luck trying to return that then.

Jesus I'm an asshole.



I consider myself pretty frugal but not cheap by any means, but I HATE paying for cabs or parking...which is totally unavoidable in a place like downtown Chicago. It's the psychological thing of "what else could I use this money for" and "what am I really getting" that kills me to spend $25 for parking when I could just spend 20 minutes finding street parking, or $50 for a 10 mile cab ride when I could walk a few blocks and take the train for $2. In a larger group I usually end up throwing those values out the window though.

On a similar note, I've always been adverse to using "coupons" and such but recently it seems I won't do anything without getting a severe discount. My social activities nearly revolve around purchases from restaurant.com, groupon.com, goldstar.com, youswoop.com and hottix. The girl and I just finished 4 weeks of dance lessons for a total cost of $54 for both of us and tonight we'll have Gino's East for $10 (+tax & grat) followed by a private dance lesson and Swing party that cost $15. I'm just now looking at all of the certificates I've accumulated, from cooking classes to a cognac "class" to Haunted Tours of Chicago, etc., etc. that I'm almost wishing the winter was longer.

No way I would squeeze Fatboy and 4 others into a cab though.

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

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They have those kinds of things here in the states as well, but it's almost never for any good restaurants. It's always for those terrible chain "family dining" establishments with fake character in the form of reproduction movie posters on the walls. I hate those places.


I once saw this on a list of Worst Pickup Lines: "Hey, um...I've got this coupon...and..."