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30 Times People Were So Cheap That Folks In This Online Community Thought They Went Too Far
There are a bunch of people on this planet with very contrasting and sometimes even surprising personalities. Some are kind and generous – others are mean and stingy. Sometimes it all depends on the way people raise their children, as most of one's character traits and quirks are adopted from their parents. However, it might also be that financial insecurity could've been influenced by the financial status of one's family.
Thus, a common reason why someone displays signs of stinginess is probably emotional trauma. People overlooked their family struggle and took their insecurity to adulthood, simultaneously believing that money is something that they "lack". Stingy folks have a hard time giving, and in fact, such a thing is not only associated with money per se, as it also affects the emotional aspects of a person.
An online user took it to one of Reddit's communities and asked fellow members to share their stories about encountering some of the stingiest folks ever. The post received over 2.3K upvotes and nearly 5K worth of gripping stories and comments.
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I went for a meal with a group of about 6 friends. When it came time to divvy up the bill one friend said he hadn't got cash on him, but if we all chipped in the cash for our share he would put it on his card. He was also very keen to ensure we all put in a decent tip (in the UK, so tipping is common in a restaurant, but not 'required').
Our friend went up to the bar to pay, but unfortunately for him another member of our party went to the restroom at the same time, and was surprised to notice him paying in cash. We pulled him up on this, and it turned out the stingy bastard was using our tips to cover his part of the meal!
This chap has forevermore been ribbed as having short arms and deep pockets. He is trusted by no one!
My grandmother, as she didn't own a computer, had to mail in all her bill payments. One month she didn't get her water bill or it was delivered to someone else by accident. Whatever the cause, her next bill was for both that month and the previous month and included a late fee that was less than the cost of a stamp.
For the rest of her life she skipped the bill one month and then paid both the next because she saved a few cents by using just one stamp instead of two. This was a woman who had somewhere around a million dollars in the bank when she passed away.
So you're saying its the stamps and not the starbucks keeping me from having millions?
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I have heard lots of stories about people getting rich and then becoming borderline paranoid about using money, like my grandparents neighbors apparently won on lottery but no one knew (in our country its not publicly announced like in US) and while my grandmother was cashier in local shop the only thing that couple bought was liver casserole and pea soup on sale.. and after they died the money was found inside their mattress, never used.
But exact opposite stories are also common, someone winning millions and after year or two everything has been spent and they are in debt :D
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No, it’s actually stupid and stingy. And not worth the 80 cents or whatever.
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My grandmother was really stingy, too. And left my mom a quarter of a million. I' ll never forget that day, because I was the one digging through half a meter of paperwork and adding up the amount of money she left behind, giving hourly updates to my dismayed and then angry parents. They were furious because my gran had palyed the #I am a poor widwo' card her whole life. But eventuallly they enjoyed the extra money. Good for them.
my grandfather would have done this if he had thought of it. That man could squeeze a penny so hard it would form copper wire
When I buy stamps, I buy them by the hundreds, and when I go to buy them again, the price has often doubled in the intervening years. I love that because the USPS raises their rates so often, they now simply sell “Forever” stamps, means that I’m saving a bundle after buying 200-300 each time I need more.
I use about 1 stamp per year on average. Can't imagine what you'd use that many stamps for, unless you mail a lot of birthday/holiday cards.
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she had those millions, because she knew how to cut her expenses like this...
Stingy cheapos will do just about anything. An OCD if I've ever heard of one.
An that's just a portion of the reasons why she had that kind of money!
So let me get this straight. She DIED with around a million in the bank, all the while being stingy with her own living expenses? How is that a virtue? Sounds g-damned stupid to me.
Yeah, cause that 30 cents a year is worth it. People thinking that's how millionaires do it, will never be rich. That women was just greedy and petty.
These are people who have known hard times in their lives and know how much difference a few cents can make. Be a bit more kind to this kind of life experience instead of calling it ‘cheap’. By the way, who benefits from that money in her bank account in the end? Exactly, the family - including this poster.
And she made it more expensive for everyone else, since such a small fee doesn't cover the cost of the manual work included (remember, the water company has to pay a whole collections team, even if it's just one person). Yeah, so 'clever' grandma stole the money from other customers. That's you, guys. Hate these people.
When I was a teen, a guy who i respected a lot paid me to rake his yard. After we're done, he drives me home and on the way we stop at the local country store to buy a soda and snack. I didn't expect him to pay for me because I had my own money now that I'd just earned raking his yard so I put my merch on the checkout counter and then he slides his stuff beside mine like he's going to pay except he didn't. The clerk looks to me since I had money out to pay for it and he looks at me too as if to say, "well, pay her." I was confused, but paid for it. He apologized later and I lost respect for him.
Wow. Massive jerk. Who DOES that? You should have offered to do the yard for free too! /sarcasm.
I used to work as a waiter for a country club. I had a woman tell me she was done with her plate so I cleared it off the table. When I returned to ask if they wanted dessert, she asks "where are my leftovers?"
I calmly responded that she had no food left on her plate. Her response "oh I wanted you to box up the skin from my baked potato so I could give it to my dog."
Requested to see the manager. $80 bill completely free of charge. To this day I swear she had it planned the whole time.
Well, my roommate, despite often bragging about how much money he has saved up and buying weed every other day (so he's clearly got plenty to spend)...
1. Uses my SO's and my toothpaste
2. Picks my used razors out of the trashcan and uses them on himself
3. When it's his turn to buy toilet paper, he buys a 4-pack of the smallest, s***tiest-quality TP he can find. I'm pretty sure he'd buy one roll at a time if he could
4. Used my shampoo and tried to hide it by putting water in it back up to full
5. When SO began his brewing hobby, roommate was all for helping out in exchange for beer... until he realized he was expected to chip in (and help with the process). That partnership ended REAL quick.
6. Broke the toaster trying to cook hashbrowns in it (and I don't mean the oval-shaped ones). Tried to buy one at a c***py thrift shop and complained he had to buy a brand new one at full price. A whopping $30.
Real winner, he is.
If you’re poor, you’re poor and you make do as you can; if you’re not poor and pull shite like this, you’re a social parasite.
My mate lays out a certain number of sheets of toilet roll if you ask to use his loo.
I was working in a restaurant in Montreal and the staff decided to all have a picnic and a few beers together. We all pitched in to get steaks, salads and drinks. I invited a friend that didn't work with us and he showed up with a potato. Yes one potato. He drank the beer, ate salad and steak. Oh... and he ate his potato too.
Went out to dinner, check came in. Let's say it was a total of $40 for 4 people. Three of us put in $12 each, for our parts and tips. The fourth person looked at the cash we put down, counted it, and put in $4.
My brother had an old Fiat 127, the gas dial hadn't worked for a while, so sometimes he would run out of gas. One time he was with my young nephew when it happened again. They pushed it for like half a mile, arriving at the gas station he realized it was rather more expensive than another station further up the road, so they pushed it for another half mile.
A school friends dad made her bread sandwiches because he didn't want to 'waste money' on pointless fillings when the bread would swell in your stomach with water. Oh and that sandwich fillings were a part of the capitalist machine that rules us all.
Was going to have a movie night with some friends. This one guy is a complete miser, told him to bring round some beers and party food. He doesnt bother with any beers, (says he forgot) just brings around his dinner (that he's just bought from tescos) that he wants to cook. Which he does, in my kitchen. Of course he drinks the beers that we all supplied... Halfway through the film he ups and leaves, saying he doesn't like the movie.
A family friend of mine once told his parents that he was sharing his school lunches with a classmate, and that he was worried about this classmate's financial situation. His parents were concerned, too. They met with the principal. Eventually they asked their child which classmate, specifically, was in possible financial trouble. "[Redacted] Pritzker." (One of the wealthiest families in the country — billionaires.) "...we think he'll probably be okay..."
A girl in undergrad lived off campus her senior year. While on campus she would fill her gym duffel bag up with university rolls of toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, etc. She said she managed the whole year off our schools paper products.
She would also go to thrift stores and search out patagonia fleeces. They have lifetime warranty so she would ship it back to patagonia saying the zipper was broken, etc., and they would send her a new one. She was master level stingy and scammy.
The Patagonia thing is just working smart. If the original owner had a clue, they would have done the same - their laziness is her reward.
Hang out with a group of friends around 6-7 people and we decided to chip in for a large meal except for one guy, he said he's not that hungry because he just ate. When the meal arrived we all started eating and chatting at the same time and that guy just kept eating and eating and once he's done he pretended he got a call and left us.
I stopped hanging out with a co-worker because she would always say she was not hungry when we went to the bar. Then when I ordered appitizers for myself she would pick off my plate. Like half the plate. Every time. Even though I would ask " are you sure your not hungry cause the food I order is my dinner"
My dad once took a broken fork to the aerospace company he worked for and had a highly skilled welder weld it back together. This was a cheap s**t dinner fork.
The amount of time/money that cost the company, taking into account the "highly skilled welder" who had to do it.... He prolly should've just payed 50c for a new one
Worked at Wendy's one summer when I was in high school. This one guy would come in and order a large size of fries. Dump half of the fries in a bag and come back and say that he wanted fresh fries and that these ones tasted too stale. I only caught what he was doing because I had noticed that one of the times he complained the fries had just come out of the fryer.
I had a friend that worked in a bank... they had a coffee station with donuts for people waiting to see loan officers. They had to stop, because homeless people would come in and eat all the donuts and drink the coffee as soon as they opened up. I think the bank should have just bought an extra box and made an extra pot to put behind the building for the homeless people encamped in the woods behind the bank.
My friend's dad would abuse Walmart's return policy. He would do things like get a gallon of milk, drink most of it, fill it back up with water, and take it back to exchange it.
Went to a wine bar with a groupon, the place was super dirty and just not worth staying at and spending more, so we got up to leave.
They asked us to wait and brought us a tab, for like 40 cents, the tax... Never have I been taxed on top of a Groupon...
I have a mate who doesn't believe in tipping (necessary here in .za; most waiters don't earn a wage and live off tips only). Rather than under-tip the expected 10% if the service wasn't 5-star, he'll use any excuse he can think of to not tip at all.
He's also known to round off his portion of the split bill.
Downwards.
I've heard people admit they will go to Costco for "lunch" and just walk around to every sample table getting little free bites until they're full.
My flatmate stole tp from his office when it was his turn to buy... only he stole 1 roll and thought that was equivalent of the 16-pack the rest of us buy (srsly, you don't have to buy that often and it's like 2-3 bucks for 16!)
I don't know where you live, but where I am, a 12 roll pack costs closer to $12 than 2 or 3 bucks.
When I lived in Paris after college my housemate and I were really poor.
She worked out how much everything cost in each supermarket and would go to 3 supermarkets to get the best value from each (fruit from one place, meat from another etc).
She doesn't like sugar in her coffee, I do. Whenever we went for coffee (€1.50 espresso) she would take the extra sugar sachets for the coffee I'd have at home.
This didn't bother me at all, they're the perfect serving size.
Her mum came to visit us and just went out and bought a bag of sugar for us.
I have seen people picking through public ashtrays looking for half smoked cigs, my old roommate included.
Guy I worked with used to unscrew the jar off the coffee dispenser on the wall & empty into a plastic bag and take it home, same with the sugar, cheap a**e office coffee!
There's a big a** fishing tournament ever summer near me and the people that set it up go to home depo and buy like 2 grand worth of flowers and then just return them.
I work in a greenhouse in the summers. I won't take back flowers or plants if people try to return them. I don't know where that plant goes once it leaves my greenhouse and the last thing I need is my entire greenhouse to be affected by a pest or bug from a returned plant.
My uncle takes the back seats out of his 1990s minivan, to increase mileage.
I took the rear seat out of my Subaru for the same reason. It's not like anyone ever sat there.
My friend sat in his car for 3 hours on a Saturday night rather than pay a $5 cover charge.
Probably didn't want to pay the cover charge (entrance fee) for a bar or club and stayed in the car while his friends went in.
Bought a fake otterbox destroyed it and went to the otterbox shop to get a replacement.
When I was a waitress, people would order water with lemons and extra sugar packets. Apparently, they would make ghetto lemonade. I started charging extra for the lemon slices. Like seriously? The lemonade is $1...
Note: this post originally had 32 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Some people steal because they don't want to spend the money. They are being cheap.
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I can understand when poor people go above and beyond to save money, but it's horrible when people who have plenty of money are still taking from others.
Probably that's their strategy to have plenty of money, which is both sad and how the world actually works.
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I earn a good living and can afford everything I need, however, I will still hunt for the best bargain I can find, I hate to waste money. That being said, many of these are just downright theft.
I love a bargain too. But we know some things need to be brought with more money. What we do is spend intelligently
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And people wonder why the prices keep going up at these places they have to cover all the theft SMH
Taking one or two samples on occasion is one thing. Making it your regular meal may not be theft, but it is downright selfish. There is a fine line between thrift and theft.
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A woman I once called a friend always expected me to pay for our drinks and would even take my smokes because 'she forgot hers'. Repeatedly. Had money to buy new dresses each week, her rent and car and dog were paid for by parents/boyfriend. Told her off in August and never looked back. Saved a lot of money, too.
My office used to do a Friday lunch every week until this one guy did the "I'll put it on my card, just tip well" thing. We all saw him pay cash. He was confronted and we never did a Friday lunch again...with him, or the three co-workers (who weren't there) that took his side.
I grew up with a single mom and two siblings and most of my life I've been relatively poor. If I couldn't afford something I did without or figured out a way to save up enough to do it. It has certainly paid off now that I'm in a financially stable situation since I have very thrifty habits and am a careful shopper. I've never stolen anything or tried to game the system like these folks. Mostly because I couldn't live with myself if I did.
I had a friend who once "lost" her credit card while eating lunch, so I paid. But of course, she "remembered" it when she wanted to buy a book later.
You should've found a book you also wanted, then make her pay for it.
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Back in the day when I had roommates, we had one who traveled a lot. We all split evenly the rent, electric, etc, bills. Since she traveled, she would divide up her portion and only pay for the days she was not traveling. We put up with this for a few months (why? IDK). When she chipped in $.89 towards the oil bill, we called her on it. She got really mad at us, moved out, and left us with a huge amount of tolls on the phone bill. Good riddance!
Like Sophia on the Golden Girls said: "Some people are so cheap they'd squeeze a nickel 'till the buffalo pooped!
There's a guy who used to work with my ex and is a total scrounging shithead. Now and again he would call my ex out of the blue. He'd start off being all nice saying he is just checking in and all that crap. Then he'd ask for a loan and give a sob story.
It's not stingy to recycle or re-purpose clothing. It is not scammy to hold a company to the Ts&Cs of an offer like a lifetime guarantee. I wish there were more people in the planet like this girl.
Former employer and his wife bought and sold houses and businesses regularly. They kept a copy of every set of keys and never shopped for food. Instead they entered the shops at night and the houses when the owners were at work and helped themselves to small quantities from each place. Who remembers exactly how many of everything is in the shop? In the houses who can be sure another family member didn't eat this or that? These people had a yearly income tax bill of $300,000.
That is so messed up. I hope they were caught and arrested.
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You want cheap? When I left 1st husband he took me off HIS bank accounts & only gave me $280...& 4 kids. For divorce, I didn't have money to get to the state he filed in let alone pay for a lawyer so got nothing. This was at the beginning of the internet & I had never been on it & didn't know I could find help on there. Fast forward many years later. I found out I should have gotten part of his military pension and since I still lived far away from where the divorce was I had to hire a lawyer without much to go on. Turned out to be a bad lawyer. That was 2 hears ago. Ex was supposed to pay me until the Military started giving me part of his pension directly, about 9 months. Never got the back payments I should have for about 20 years, about $200,000. Even the money he gave me for those 9 months wasn't right amount & he skimmed about $1500 off the top. Had to jump through many hoops to file per se & have hearing next Tues to get my $1500.
My father in law has a screen in the living room displaying the real-time utility bills.
A friend of mine wanted to return damaged mattreses after his kids were jumping on them for about a month.I was so glad when the shop gave him a big no!
One interesting thing which my mom says is that money comes to those who spend well... by well, i mean by buying things that is needed and not skimping unnecessarily. Splurge where it is needed. These misers will never have money come to them because they never spend when required.
Some people steal because they don't want to spend the money. They are being cheap.
Load More Replies... I can understand when poor people go above and beyond to save money, but it's horrible when people who have plenty of money are still taking from others.
Probably that's their strategy to have plenty of money, which is both sad and how the world actually works.
Load More Replies... I earn a good living and can afford everything I need, however, I will still hunt for the best bargain I can find, I hate to waste money. That being said, many of these are just downright theft.
I love a bargain too. But we know some things need to be brought with more money. What we do is spend intelligently
Load More Replies... And people wonder why the prices keep going up at these places they have to cover all the theft SMH
Taking one or two samples on occasion is one thing. Making it your regular meal may not be theft, but it is downright selfish. There is a fine line between thrift and theft.
Load More Replies... A woman I once called a friend always expected me to pay for our drinks and would even take my smokes because 'she forgot hers'. Repeatedly. Had money to buy new dresses each week, her rent and car and dog were paid for by parents/boyfriend. Told her off in August and never looked back. Saved a lot of money, too.
My office used to do a Friday lunch every week until this one guy did the "I'll put it on my card, just tip well" thing. We all saw him pay cash. He was confronted and we never did a Friday lunch again...with him, or the three co-workers (who weren't there) that took his side.
I grew up with a single mom and two siblings and most of my life I've been relatively poor. If I couldn't afford something I did without or figured out a way to save up enough to do it. It has certainly paid off now that I'm in a financially stable situation since I have very thrifty habits and am a careful shopper. I've never stolen anything or tried to game the system like these folks. Mostly because I couldn't live with myself if I did.
I had a friend who once "lost" her credit card while eating lunch, so I paid. But of course, she "remembered" it when she wanted to buy a book later.
You should've found a book you also wanted, then make her pay for it.
Load More Replies... Back in the day when I had roommates, we had one who traveled a lot. We all split evenly the rent, electric, etc, bills. Since she traveled, she would divide up her portion and only pay for the days she was not traveling. We put up with this for a few months (why? IDK). When she chipped in $.89 towards the oil bill, we called her on it. She got really mad at us, moved out, and left us with a huge amount of tolls on the phone bill. Good riddance!
Like Sophia on the Golden Girls said: "Some people are so cheap they'd squeeze a nickel 'till the buffalo pooped!
There's a guy who used to work with my ex and is a total scrounging shithead. Now and again he would call my ex out of the blue. He'd start off being all nice saying he is just checking in and all that crap. Then he'd ask for a loan and give a sob story.
It's not stingy to recycle or re-purpose clothing. It is not scammy to hold a company to the Ts&Cs of an offer like a lifetime guarantee. I wish there were more people in the planet like this girl.
Former employer and his wife bought and sold houses and businesses regularly. They kept a copy of every set of keys and never shopped for food. Instead they entered the shops at night and the houses when the owners were at work and helped themselves to small quantities from each place. Who remembers exactly how many of everything is in the shop? In the houses who can be sure another family member didn't eat this or that? These people had a yearly income tax bill of $300,000.
That is so messed up. I hope they were caught and arrested.
Load More Replies... You want cheap? When I left 1st husband he took me off HIS bank accounts & only gave me $280...& 4 kids. For divorce, I didn't have money to get to the state he filed in let alone pay for a lawyer so got nothing. This was at the beginning of the internet & I had never been on it & didn't know I could find help on there. Fast forward many years later. I found out I should have gotten part of his military pension and since I still lived far away from where the divorce was I had to hire a lawyer without much to go on. Turned out to be a bad lawyer. That was 2 hears ago. Ex was supposed to pay me until the Military started giving me part of his pension directly, about 9 months. Never got the back payments I should have for about 20 years, about $200,000. Even the money he gave me for those 9 months wasn't right amount & he skimmed about $1500 off the top. Had to jump through many hoops to file per se & have hearing next Tues to get my $1500.
My father in law has a screen in the living room displaying the real-time utility bills.
A friend of mine wanted to return damaged mattreses after his kids were jumping on them for about a month.I was so glad when the shop gave him a big no!
One interesting thing which my mom says is that money comes to those who spend well... by well, i mean by buying things that is needed and not skimping unnecessarily. Splurge where it is needed. These misers will never have money come to them because they never spend when required.
