First Cut: The Hunt For Britain's Tightest Person

caledoniaquine

Its on 4oD, just watched it.

hughmungas1986

"a woman who lives in a castle but shops in budget supermarkets"

We haven't got any castles nearby but, I parked next to a brand new Bentley at my local Morrisons last week, the lady appeared laden with bags in all her fancy designer clothes, certainly made me chuckle.

lka200

The lady who lives on her own ILONA known as meanqueen on this forum...
http://www.downthelane.net/
I can assure you that everything that Ilona did on the prog she really does in real life..she is well known for her frugality...wearing mens pants...asking for discounts in tesco etc..

Plum_Pie

One of things which struck me about this show was the amount of time they all spent doing money-saving stuff. A lot of time-consuming habits seemed to me to be most relevant for people with a fixed income - the couple who lived in a castle, the farmers.

For many people, there are things you can do in your spare time to boost your income which will mean you end up with more money than some of the money-saving activities (which I know can (and should!) discussed on other MSE boards!)

E.g.
Part-time job
Study for further qualification to help you career-wise
Doing searches on Quidco* would make you more money than collecting egg boxes and selling them to farmers whose farms you pass.


*I haven't done this for a while - it was true when I joined Quidco a couple of years ago!

I say this as someone sitting in a house without the heating on, who has spent the morning batch-cooking and polishing their taps with vinegar, before you ask me to hand back my OS membership card!

Scarlett25

LilacLillie - I've double posted a few times too, so there's no need to apologise!

Ika200 - Thanks for the info about Ilona......the presenter said she belonged to a frugal site but never said which one!

I thought it was funny when the Channel 4 announcer said the prog featured "extreme moneysaving" as though it was a warning like extreme violence in films :rotfl:

Primrose

I think we all belong to a rather exclusive club. Even Her Majesty walks around switching off lights in unoccupied rooms!

elona

Someone p.m.d me to ask if I was the Ilona on the programme.

No sure wether to feel complimented or insulted!!!

Its not me!!!!!!! Honest!!!

Mine is spelled Elona and with DH and four DDs I certainly do not live on my own.

Going to try to find the programme now and look at my namesake. Wonder if she is the Ilona who appeared once on the Bazaar programme showing how to make your own Moses basket lining?

Caterina

elona wrote: »

Someone p.m.d me to ask if I was the Ilona on the programme.

No sure wether to feel complimented or insulted!!!

Its not me!!!!!!! Honest!!!

Mine is spelled Elona and with DH and four DDs I certainly do not live on my own.

Going to try to find the programme now and look at my namesake. Wonder if she is the Ilona who appeared once on the Bazaar programme showing how to make your own Moses basket lining?

I thought it was you too! OS behaviour and in your neck of the woods, I thought: I bet it is her!

Did you not find it annoying though that they went looking for people in Scotland and Yorkshire, making it sooooo stereotyped? I am sure there are plenty of MSers/OSers - even if they do not call themselves that - in the South of England/Home Counties/West Country, no?

I also found it peculiar that the presenter found all those (normal to me) behaviour as "tight" - surely these people were just being careful with their hard-earned money.

The only one I found a bit disagreeable was the farmer bloke, he sounded very pig-headed in his refusal to even take his wife out once, but not minding her taking him out and paying! That is MEAN, not moneysaving, in my book.

Are there any more of these progs. planned, that anyone knows? Thanks.

geordie_joe

Plum_Pie wrote: »

For many people, there are things you can do in your spare time to boost your income which will mean you end up with more money than some of the money-saving activities (which I know can (and should!) discussed on other MSE boards!)

E.g.
Doing searches on Quidco* would make you more money than collecting egg boxes and selling them to farmers whose farms you pass.

The program was about the way he spent money not how he earned it. For all we know he may do searches on Quidco, but they would never have mentioned that on the program.

Anyway, being able to make more money doing another thing is no excuse for stopping making money by selling egg boxes. If he didn't sell them they would end up in the bin, maybe the recycling bin, but surely selling them to someone who will reuse them is the best option.

Plum_Pie wrote: »

*I haven't done this for a while - it was true when I joined Quidco a couple of years ago!

Obviously not, it's mostly 1 or 2p per search these days.

Plum_Pie

Again, one of the problems with television is that they are making an prog about money - spending it, saving it etc and discussion of other issues might get cut out. E.g. the builder re-sells egg boxes because he thinks it's a waste for them to by recycled but it's presented as a source of income for him. Likewise, Ilona/MeanQueen washes in a tub of hot water and this is presented as MS, whereas in fact it may be partly motivated by strong feelings about energy usage.

When I read this article:

"She hasn't driven a car since 1973 and has only been in a petrol-guzzling vehicle twice since then (once in the hearse at her mother's funeral, the other time when an ambulance came to pick her up after she dislocated her shoulder). Her gas supply was cut off sometime when the last Labour government was in power, and her electricity usage is minimal. She eats only raw food and the only items she ever buys are new trainers - because she gets around by running everywhere. [Joan] Pick is 67 and claims her lifestyle keeps her healthy. "I've been living on nothing for the past 35 years," she says." [my emphasis]

(The woman with a tiny carbon footprint - 13th Nov 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/13/ethicalliving-carbonfootprints)


I immediately thought 'How OS!', although her motivation is the threat of global warming.


Anyway, I wanted to know more about how they had ended up with a hatred of spending money and more about their income (even though they probably would have revealed this!).