can we be too thrifty

thebillet

Many years ago when the kids weren't born we watched every penny so that we could afford to run a nice house and get on our feet in time to have children. Well the day came and my then wife said she was pregnant - doubles all round and excitedly off we went getting stuff together, pram from one sister, blankets from another, baby clothes from another and so on. Well one morning my wife turned to me and said she had had an awful dream. In the dream our yet to be born child was sitting on her lap smiling when suddenly the baby stopped turned slowly and looked up at her and said..."mummy didn't you buy me anything new?".

Oh my goodness we thought what can we do to sort this anxiety out? It didn't take long, thinking cap on and a solution came to mind; we counted out our green shield stamps and trotted off to Argos and cashed them in for a new Sindico buggy. Smiles and relief all round.

13/14 years later while out doing the weekly shop my son took the receipt from me and was looking at it quite carefully as we left, I didn't think anything of it - as we got to the exit he said "you know what Dad; you haven't bought anything that isn't own brand or on special offer!" and he was right.

I still get ribbed for my frugality or bargain hunting but I am happy retired at 55 and the kids are grown up not in debt and I am still the one folk turn to if they need a loan big or small. I'll take the ribbing any day over an interest payment.

(55% on tightness test)

jellyhead

I got 52% which was a lot lower than I expected, but some of the questions were about being mean ... does anyone really escape buying rounds or paying for their own meal? That's not getting a bargain, it's stealing from your friends.

As for following the reduction guns around ... fine if it doesn't cause problems for anyone else, but in my local tesco it's awful. There are certain customers who are well known to all staff, who grab and snatch and demand and basically make the task much more difficult for the member of staff holding the gun. They actually hide out back to do some of the reducing, just so they can get on with their task a bit without vultures snatching things out of their hand or waving things in their face demanding that they reduce it now.

I tried to get some bargains once and was actually slapped by a woman who grabbed the item out of my hand despite her having at least 9 of the same item already in her trolley. I only wanted one! She slapped my hand and grabbed it off me. The shop assistant told me they're always like it, the same people each time.

The staff check with the security guard how many of the known vultures are in store before they go out with a trolley of reduced items. I wouldn't want to be on the known list of vultures, it would be similar to being a known shoplifter imo.

Looking on the reduced shelf itself is a different matter. People take turns and behave normally. It's just when there's a staff member with a gun that all these vicious mad people appear out of nowhere, like old ladies at a jumble sale.

Padstow

Thrifty refers to you and your family, and how you live. Meanness is different.

Poor example, but thrifty would be explaining you will be be buying your own half, rather than joining in a round. Mean is allowing a drink to be bought and then leaving for home.

Maybe a better example was a friend who always managed to leave her purse at home on a night out.
Even worse, those in the canteen queue, "Lend me two quid, I don't want to break into a tenner."

By all means be thrifty, but keep it at home.

FatVonD

I don't follow anyone with a reducing gun but only because they don't reduce the stuff until it gets to the reduced section but I've been known to loiter there until the time the final reductions are done and I'm not remotely embarrassed about doing it. I could afford to buy the food at its original price (5 times higher!) but who in their right mind would pay 5 times as much if the didn't have to??

adelight

purple.sarah wrote: »

How is it scrounging? The shop is offering stuff cheaper by reducing it, it's not like the customer is begging! I keep an eye on when the assistant is doing the reductions because I don't want to miss a bargain by buying something that will be marked down again in the next 10 minutes.

Keeping an eye on them is fair enough I do that too, but following them around, crowding them, snatching things off them, pushing people out of the way and stuffing things under the SA's nose to reduce for you is just horrible. Noone likes to be put under that pressure, it's really quite unpleasant and the reason many staff will refuse to reduce stuff when people are crowding round or will do it out the back. With more people after the reductions and people getting more shameless, how long is it before the SA's start refusing to do it at all or supermarkets stop doing reductions for the safety of the staff? You wouldn't constantly hover over a mechanic fixing your car nagging them to hurry up, you leave them to get on with their job and if you must watch you do it from a bit of a distance and have a little respect!

jetplane

I agree there is a difference between thrifty and mean. I would never not tip, pay my share, take stuff I didn't need or haggle in a charity shop :eek:. Nor would I do without to save pennies.

I admit that if I see the woman with the price gun I have hovered before choosing but I'm surprised there are people stalking her. I have been pushed out of the way when looking at the whoopsie shelf though and I did overhear an old couple saying it was dreadful that they had been reduced to this .

I work in a deprived area and there are often half price extra special meals at greatly reduced price and I know the time they are put out and they freeze well. If someone had slapped my hand and took it off me I would have took one out of her trolley.

Reading your posts I think I'm thrifty but indiscreet which is why my husband has probably felt embarrassed.:o

Li0nhead

There is a line between Thrifty and being mean.

Personally i approach it from that viewpoint of why pay £10 for something when you can get it for £8 just down the road. Think about it follow that advice just once per week and every year thats an extra £100 left in your back pocket.

I do though have my little treats which is wasting money. Holidays, where you are paying to stay somewhere but i like to get out of my 'zone' a couple of weeks a year. Going out for a drink with friends when i know it would be cheaper to dink at home with supermarket offers. Meals out when it would be cheaper to cook at home.
But there is a massive difference in my eyes between making sure you switch from Gas suppler A to b to save £50 per year and going out and spending £50 on a meal (for 2+ obviously).
Saving on the utility is common sense and should always be done.
Spending on the enjoyment of the meal is a little luxury. As long as you come away knowing you could not have got the same quality/service/taste of that meal just down the road for less and i come away thinking 'that meal and experience was worth £50' then i am happy.

I ask the same question to those who say they have no money as i do to those who claim to be thrifty:

Do you Smoke or Drink?
If the answer to either is Yes then they are not skint or thrifty as both are a massive waste of money if you think about it.

I don't see myself as thrifty. I don't see myself as wasting money. I see myself as a conscious spender.

Li0nhead

I found a penny today. One to add to the copper jar.

mwa

Jeez I got 80% on the test, I always blow my nose on the loo paper before I use it elsewhere and probably shouldn't share this but my hubby was mortified the other day when a group of people laughed at me as I picked an empty Maccy D's coffee cup out if the bin to get the sticker (I only needed 1 more and I would have got a free coffee!!) OK maybe a bit too far.... I literally can't bear the thought of losing out on a bargain, sometimes it pays off and people applaud me (Chocolate Oranges for 29p, £10 White Stuff voucher the whole office benefitted from!) but other times I do wonder if people just think I am a tight old git..... food for thought!

Tropez

As everyone's doing this tightness test, I'll have a go...

Have you ever used the leftover milk from cereal to put in your coffee or tea?
Nope but then I don't tend to have cereal and if I did I wouldn't really fancy bits of cornflake in my coffee.

Have you, or would you ever try, to haggle in a charity shop?
No. If I was buying from a charity shop then I'd just pay the price asked if I thought the product was worth it. If I thought I could find it cheaper then I'll just go and buy it elsewhere.

Have you ever re-used teabags?
No. Don't drink tea.

Have you ever deliberately waited to charge your mobile phone at work to save on your home leccy bill?
Work from home, so wouldn't have the option. When I have worked in an office I've charged my phone whenever it is low on battery no matter where I am so no, I wouldn't deliberately leave it.

Do you grab as many freebies as you can, even if you don't need the product being given away?
Yes, though I don't actively go searching for as many as I can get but if I become aware of one then I'll take it.

If in a restaurant, where tipping's appropriate, have you/would you minimise the tip - no rounding up - even if the service was good?
No. I tip solely based on the quality of the service.

Have you ever taken sachets of sugar/condiments from restaurants or shampoos from hotels to use at home?
No. With the paltry amount you actually get in those sachets I'd have to take thousands of them to make much of a difference. Far too much hassle.

If it's yellow, do you 'let it mellow' (do you leave a tinkle unflushed) to cut water bills? (If you don't have a water meter, would you if you did?)
Not any more. My partner is likely to start cutting things off if I don't flush the toilet. In my single days, however, I'll confess I didn't usually flush the loo after a number one.

Have you ever taken anything home from a skip on the street?
No... it could be carrying scabies for all I know.

Have you ever snuck your own crisps, drinks or sweets into the cinema?
Yes, though not necessarily to be thrifty. At our cinema, the "small" drink size is ridiculously large and I'd be willing to bet the cost to size comparison favours it over a 500ml bottle bought from the shop next door. I just find it more convenient to have a small bottle.

If splitting the bill based on 'who's had what', have you/would you ever deliberately put in less than you should, knowing everyone will have to split the extra?
No. I'm not about to try and rip off friends.

Have you ever bought own-brand goods then presented them in a box/container of the expensive stuff (rice puffs in a Rice Krispies box)?
No. Why would I do that? Who am I trying to impress? Plus, despite what some would have you believe, there's a clear difference in taste between say, Tesco own brand cola and Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

If you gave someone a CD, DVD or computer game as a present would you listen, watch or play it first?
No. Normally I would already have listened, watched or played the product myself and would be buying them a gift because I thought they would also enjoy it. Plus, with video games, and the various product keys or DRM that some of them contain it wouldn't be too bright.

Have you ever, or would you consider using a 2-for-1 restaurant voucher on a first date?
I'll say no. You can always use them on future dates.

When it's your round in the pub, have you ever manoeuvred yourself so you can't be found?
No. That's just sad.

Do you have to get every last drop out of every bottle or tube, cutting it up and scraping it out if need be?
No. I get as much out as I can the normal way. I'm not about to start cutting things up.

Have you ever followed the shop assistant with the price reducing sticker machine around the supermarket?
No. If I'm in a supermarket I just want to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. I can't stand those places.

Have you or would you, tell your kids that when an ice cream van plays music, it means it's run out of ice cream?
That's a bit cruel isn't it? Plus they'll end up getting mocked when they repeat such a silly piece of information to their friends.

Have you ever received a present and then re-gifted it to someone else?
Yes, once. It was a DVD box set I received as a gift but I already owned one of the films in the set, so I gifted that to someone else.

Ever gone through the bins outside supermarkets to find receipts with unclaimed loyalty points on 'em?
No. Just no.

13% tight apparently. Suits me.