When does saving become stingy!

seven-day-weekend

Some of the expats I know here in Spain think I'm mean becasye I save 2-euro coins in a jar and don't spend 50E a night watching football in a bar and drinking. I've seen them snigger over the 2-ruro coins bit when it's been mentioned.

But....I've saved enough to pay for all the tolls when we drive to/from UK through France and Spain to the UK this year. Or, one night watching football, which my husband and I don't even like?


I also re-use envelopes but I look upon this as recycling and being a good steward.

seven-day-weekend

Oh yes, another thing....my husband managed to save up some money through some art work he produced and sold. It took him over three years to do this and he just didn't spend the money. When the time came, this money went halfway towards some renovation work we were having done.

Now of course the people who laugh at me for saving seem to think that we somehow have 'pots' of money that has somehow been denied to them.

rainbow_carnage

dancingqueen_tr wrote: »

yep!! working as a wine waitress, I had people with drinks bills of £200 + leave me no tip, whereas those with £10 or £5 always left something...

People who cannot afford to tip the waitress should just stay at home.

Earlier this week we were in a restaurant where you have to share tables with other parties. I overheard the two women next to me discuss their bill. It came to £40. They tipped £1.20. And the waiter was wonderful. I wound up tipping him extra because I felt bad that he got screwed over by the cheapskates.

That's not moneysaving. That's stinginess.

**woody123**

Going back to if rich people are stingier than poor people..

I find that people who have got alot of money to give don't give much but people who are less well-off give more.. My relations who are quite wealthy smuggle a bottle of supermarket coke into our local pub or club and when they order say baileys or malibu they get the coke out and pour it in their glass.

I'm saving at the moment but if i'm asked if i want to go for a beer, or go and watch my local football play, or holidays i nearly always say "yes",, There is more to life than saving and what if your life ends sooner than you think and can't spend the money you have saved..:beer:

seven-day-weekend

I have smuggled a bottle of gin into a wedding reception and just bought tonic from the bar. We were staying at the hotel; we just left the gin in our room.

I very rarely tip anyone - never have.

And I'm not rich, in fact at the moment I personally have no income at all and we live on my husbnads' Teachers' Pension and a small amount of other income - les than £10k.

That's why I smuggled in the gin - can't afford to buy it from th bar as a G & T.

MissHobit

I could think of a few but the one time that always comes to mind is a few years ago now I was asked out on a date by a man that I'd know for a while. He did have a reputation of been rather tight, I'd heard jokes about him hiding in the toilet when it was he's round at the bar and walking 5 miles home on a winters evening to save on the taxi fare etc.

He asked what I'd like to do on our first date? I thought maybe a meal a bit romantic. He told me he knew the perfect place and it was his treat and that I could pay for the next date. Maybe it wasn't true then all the gossip I'd heard just hearsay?

Well it appears it was all true he took me for a 2for1 meal told me not to order a starter or desert as it was only a deal on the main course. I asked the waitress for garlic mayo but as it would cost an extra 50p he asked did I really need it? I bought the drinks all night (soft drinks as driving). When it came to leaving a tip he said that he had but I swear I didn't see any money on the table.

During the meal he reminded me what a good catch he was good job, own house, money in the bank, own car etc. etc. Didn't mention what a tight, greedy a**e he was, I'm sure I heard him squeak when he walked :rotfl:

Alias_Omega

I am one for saving, in the past ive never had any money, and i dont like being overdrawn with the bank, years ago i had an overdraft of £2000 which i was never out of it even when being paid, from them days getting credit was hard and i took a loan to clear credit cards / overdraft which had put me out of buying a new car.

Now that im married, and we live on a single income of about £2200 take home a month, we never have any cash left at the end. Its all taken up by rent, loans, phones etc, and i constantly remind the wife that i dont like to go overdrawn to the point that we nolonger by clothes for ourselves.

I look at the £2200,and wonder where it all goes. When i lived on my own, £1600 would last me all month and i could save £800 ishy of it a month, which i should of bought a house. The benefit of having the savings is that we managed to plan and pay for our wedding within 5 weeks before the little one was born.

Ah well, me mr scrouge, she mrs spend-a-holick..

(1/10 for spelling)

rainbow_carnage

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I have smuggled a bottle of gin into a wedding reception and just bought tonic from the bar. We were staying at the hotel; we just left the gin in our room.

I very rarely tip anyone - never have.

And I'm not rich, in fact at the moment I personally have no income at all and we live on my husbnads' Teachers' Pension and a small amount of other income - les than £10k.

That's why I smuggled in the gin - can't afford to buy it from th bar as a G & T.

Instead of smuggling gin, have you considered just not drinking? I like to have a drink (or 4) as much as the next person, but when money is tight, that's the first thing to go. I would never consider smuggling in my own booze, especially to a wedding, where the food is paid for by someone else. I'd imagine that the hosts would be mortified if they found out.

And as someone who worked in bars and restaurants for many years, I am always appalled by people who somehow think that tipping is optional. The person serving you is depending on tips to pay their rent and buy
food. Their salary (and, consequently, the price of your meal) reflects the expectation that they will receive tips. If the service is bad, then don't tip. But if you refuse to tip for good service, then not only are you stingy, but are stealing from the server. There was actually a case in the States a few years ago where a restaurant owner had a customer arrested for "theft of service". That man is my hero.

helenshappyhens

'They rely on tips, and wages reflect this' .............we have the minimum wage these days so you must get only a whisker less than I do a hour. I work on the checkouts in a supermarket. Do you think anyone would tip me? No ofcourse you wouldnt so why do you expect tips and probably think bad of people who dont tip?

rainbow_carnage

helenshappyhens wrote: »

'They rely on tips, and wages reflect this' .............we have the minimum wage these days so you must get only a whisker less than I do a hour. I work on the checkouts in a supermarket. Do you think anyone would tip me? No ofcourse you wouldnt so why do you expect tips and probably think bad of people who dont tip?

The minimum wage laws do not dictate salary. What they say is that a worker must earn at least the minimum wage per hour. That is not the same as saying that he must be paid this by the employer.

My husband currently works as a waiter. The employer pays him £2.06 per hour. This is perfectly legal as both service charge and tips are processed (and taxed) through payroll. As long as the final total on his paycheque equates to at least the minimum wage per hour, then the employer is complying with the law.

I've worked in places where the waiters do not get a salary at all. It is perfectly legal.

I've also worked behind the till. There is a huge difference between that and waiting tables. A waiter may spend three hours serving a table. If he's competent, he should be able to tell you everything you need to know about the menu, from the origin of the meat to the difference between two vintages of wine. Just because most people don't ask, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know.

The other day, I asked a customer service person at my local Tesco where I could fine a certain rijoa that was on sale. The woman did not know that rioja is a type of wine.

A tip is given for good service, for doing more than just bringing the food. A waiter is not a vending machine.

At a supermarket, I prefer to use self checkout. I find that it does as good a job as a human being.

I did not come up with the tipping system. In fact, I think that it's slightly insulting to the staff. But the alternative is that the waiters will get paid a lot more and the meal will be pricier. At least this way you get the option of not paying for bad service.